ROM Hack [Request] E.X. Troopers English Patch

[manupera]

I know that there is a thread for this kinda stuff, but I believe that this game really needs some more attention.

Footage of the game here:

Informations here: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.X._Troopers

The game was not translated in english because of this (mostly):
"[E.X. Troopers] was not planned for Western release.
You can tell this because all of the text is ‘hard coded’ as actual art. The text isn’t just standard ‘text’ that could be swapped relatively easily…
…To localize a release, one would have to redo a ton of art in the game, not just do the localization and loc QA."

Now I'm asking you, translators of GBATemp.. wouldn't it be easier to do on the 3DS with all the programs that we have?
I hope that someone takes up this project, because I believe that this game is really, really good and deserves to be played by more people!
Please, translate this game!​

 

[DarkSynopsis]

I'm kinda surprised this isn't a thing yet, do keep in mind though there is a 3DS Translation Request Topic which has this game has been asked for multiple times.

Thought this game might at least have a menu translation or something by now so its a bit easier to navigate, I've seen Proof of Concept stuff for this game on PS3 I think but never really anything for 3DS, I believe at this point Kuriimu can handle most of the files this game has? maybe? its been awhile since I checked but I believe it uses the Arc format Capcom uses for games on the 3DS which Kuriimu does support.

Though if there really is that many images I could see why it would be a hassle, recreating images can be a huge pain, seems like a stupid reason for a localization team not do it though.

 

[linkenski]

I know why this never became a thing.
People did look at it for translation modding when it originally shipped, but discovered that all its text files are stored in images, not strings. It means outside of making all the translation passes you'll need to constantly photoshop the translations into the UI images and things like that. It's not impossible, it's just needlessly cumbersome compared to other translation projects.

 

[manupera]

I know why this never became a thing.
People did look at it for translation modding when it originally shipped, but discovered that all its text files are stored in images, not strings. It means outside of making all the translation passes you'll need to constantly photoshop the translations into the UI images and things like that. It's not impossible, it's just needlessly cumbersome compared to other translation projects.

I'm kinda surprised this isn't a thing yet, do keep in mind though there is a 3DS Translation Request Topic which has this game has been asked for multiple times.

Thought this game might at least have a menu translation or something by now so its a bit easier to navigate, I've seen Proof of Concept stuff for this game on PS3 I think but never really anything for 3DS, I believe at this point Kuriimu can handle most of the files this game has? maybe? its been awhile since I checked but I believe it uses the Arc format Capcom uses for games on the 3DS which Kuriimu does support.

Though if there really is that many images I could see why it would be a hassle, recreating images can be a huge pain, seems like a stupid reason for a localization team not do it though.

Guys.. I know that text is in the images and I know about the topic..

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As I told in the thread, wouldn't it be easier on the 3ds?
And I didn't post in the other topic because I kinda want this game to get some more attention

 

[Rikua]

Guys.. I know that text is in the images and I know about the topic..

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As I told in the thread, wouldn't it be easier on the 3ds?
And I didn't post in the other topic because I kinda want this game to get some more attention

Actually, as someone who has unpacked and re-packed both versions of the game, the PS3 is by far the easier choice. With the Ps3 version you can quickly unpack and re-pack the image files for insertion without having the copy the whole game (12gb I believe) back and forth. That aside, it was the only version where it accepted my photoshopped replacements, the 3ds version would just crash if it found out I messed with the image packs. @linkenski is correct, unpacking this crap and repacking is ULTRA cumbersome, especially when you have to re-install the cia every time to add something new.

 

[manupera]

Actually, as someone who has unpacked and re-packed both versions of the game, the PS3 is by far the easier choice. With the Ps3 version you can quickly unpack and re-pack the image files for insertion without having the copy the whole game (12gb I believe) back and forth. That aside, it was the only version where it accepted my photoshopped replacements, the 3ds version would just crash if it found out I messed with the image packs. @linkenski is correct, unpacking this crap and repacking is ULTRA cumbersome, especially when you have to re-install the cia every time to add something new.

Hm well, that's true, but with Luma is another thing!
Example: the no outlines patch for su/mo or the mods for smash (visual ones), can't we do something like that?

 

[Rikua]

Hm well, that's true, but with Luma is another thing!
Example: the no outlines patch for su/mo or the mods for smash (visual ones), can't we do something like that?

Unfortunately, those are different kinds of patches. The SUMO mod for no outlines is a simple hex edit, which means the code is already there, you are just replacing a string to have a different result. With the Smash mods, I'm not super familiar with the 3ds version, however, both Brawl and Sm4sh didn't "replace" files, it was just told to load them from a different location (SD card in this case). While I'm not sure how that would work for E.X Troopers, I can say that the 3ds game does NOT like it when you mess with those image files.

 

[manupera]

Unfortunately, those are different kinds of patches. The SUMO mod for no outlines is a simple hex edit, which means the code is already there, you are just replacing a string to have a different result. With the Smash mods, I'm not super familiar with the 3ds version, however, both Brawl and Sm4sh didn't "replace" files, it was just told to load them from a different location (SD card in this case). While I'm not sure how that would work for E.X Troopers, I can say that the 3ds game does NOT like it when you mess with those image files.

Exactly! We have to call the images from the sd card! That's what I was trying to say ahaha
I believe this could be done with a little bit of effort and maybe we could really do an english patch..

 

[DarkSynopsis]

Luma won't make a difference in this matter, if edited images didn't work injected into the CIA they won't work with Luma's Game Patching, its just a quicker way to test it does nothing for compatibility.

 

[Joom]

especially when you have to re-install the cia every time to add something new.

You don't have to do that since Luma has LayeredFS support. You just make a folder in "luma/titles" with the title's ID as the name, and then put the modified files there. Then you just enable game patching. Also, regarding the game crashing; you probably used a bit depth that the 3DS and/or game doesn't support. I believe it has to be either 24 or 16. I remember when I tried using a 32bit depth for a CIA logo the 3DS really didn't like that and did some weird stuff because it couldn't properly handle the alpha channel.