DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS - JOKER 3
(JAPANESE to ENGLISH Fan-Translation)
**NOT PROFESSIONAL VERSION**

​

Information
ID: 000400000016ad00
Platform: 3DS
Release Date (JP): March 24, 2016
Genre: JRPG, Monster Collecting
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Quest_Monsters:_Joker_3

Other Releases

• 3DS-JP: PROFESSIONAL version February 9, 2017

Team

• Hacking: Z6n4
• Programming: Z6n4
• Translation: Z6n4, Mami, JasonPK, FailSnail, ErdrickTheHero
• Editing: Z6n4, JasonPK, FailSnail
• Graphics: Z6n4
• Font: Z6n4
• Testers: Z6n4, Ryushin
• Special Thanks: Murdersbane, Icyson55, Neobeo & everyone else associated with FTI

Report all bugs to: [email protected]
Please try to include images and a brief description. Do not post them here, as we do not have time to skim the dozens of posts on where to get a copy of this, how to do this, etc. For questions, please check the FAQ section below.
Please include a luma crash dump, screen shot of luma crash dump, and explanation if at all possible.


Changelog

=========
== v 1.0.2 ==
=========

• Bug fixes
  • Certain monsters used to appear dead at the beginning of battle
  • Certain stealth boxes used to crash the game upon being opened

=========
== v 1.0.1 ==
=========

• Fixed black screen caused by original xDelta patch 1.0.0
  • this was caused by a bad layout .arc file

=========
== v 1.0.0 ==
=========

• Known bugs (not yet addressed)
  • Game Crashes
    • Stealth Box reward messages causing crashes in-game
      • 1 in Wood Park (forest area) after unlocking monster riding
      • 1 in the Grim Tundra (icy area)
    • NPC related crashes
      • Inside Fallen City, talking to Scout Q Monster or Butler (near the King) may cause a crash.
      • Starting or Accepting a Ranked Battle (multiplayer)
    • (unconfirmed) Leaving the 3DS closed in sleep mode too long, crashes the game (happened mid-combat).
  • Enemies are spawning dead (appearing in battle with grayed out icon)
    • This is due to a text overflow issue. Some monsters may spawn only in groups, or only by themselves
    • This is due to things like "Monster Name" and "Monster Name A", where the first causes an issue, and the second may not.
    • Known/Reported List:
      • Bulby Baby (Silent Meadow)
      • Tantamount (Magma Park)
      • Slimecicle (Iron Ark - Laboratory)
  • Translation Errors
    • There are few sklls and abilities in the game with the word "Snooze" in them that should actually be "Statis", relating to other Statis-based skills.
    • Scout Q #14 should require a Belmud with the "Fencer" skill, not "Warrior".

Download & Patch Instructions:

Spoiler

NOTICE: If you have trouble beyond this, consult the FAQs below!

*** Requires Luma3DS 8.1+ and Boot9strap to be running on your 3ds ***

* If you don't have custom firmware: https://3ds.hacks.guide/
* If you're on A9LH, upgrade to B9S: https://3ds.guide/a9lh-to-b9s
If you're on a lower version of Luma

1) Download the following tools:

a) HackingToolkit3DS v9 (https://github.com/Asia81/HackingToolkit9DS/releases)​

- v10 and V11 are not working correctly at the time of writting this (11.28.2017)​

b) xDelta UI (http://www.romhacking.net/utilities/598/)​

c) Our latest patch files

• Layered FS (v1.0.2) - https://bit.ly/2Spuxqp
• xDelta (v1.0.1) - http://bit.ly/2zijQw1

d) Hourglass9 - https://github.com/d0k3/Hourglass9/releases​

i) Place the Hourglass9.firm onto your SD card, in the ".\luma\payloads" folder​

e) Decrypt9WIP - https://github.com/d0k3/Decrypt9WIP/releases​

i) Place the Decrypt9WIP.firm onto your SD card, in the ".\luma\payloads" folder​

2) Dumping the Game to a CIA/3DS format

a) If you have a Digital Installed version (by any means), use Hourglass9 to extract your CIA.​

i) Hold start, turn on your 3DS, and whe prompted, launch Hourglass9
ii)Open Hourglass9 -> Miscellaneous Options -> SysNAND title to CIA.
iii) Use the arrow keys to find the title ID listed above (/title/00040000/0016AD00)
iv) the CIA should get dumped to your SD card as "000400000016ad00.cia" in the "files9" folder.​

b) If you have an official cartridge, use either Hourglass9 or Decrypt9WIP to dump to a .3DS format.​

i) Insert the cartridge into your 3ds.
ii) Hold start, power on the 3DS, and select either Hourglass9 or Decrypt9WIP when prompted.
iii) Look for the option "Gamecart Dumper Options", and selected to "Dump & Decrypt Cart (trim)".​

c) If you obtained your copy by other means, you need to make sure it is decrypted. Use Decrypt9WIP to do this.​

3) Extracting the RomFS and other game contents

a) Run the HackingToolkit9DS.exe (from step 1.a) and enter either "D" for your .3ds file, or "CE" for you .cia file. It will then ask for the game file (you put in that directory) without the file extension. ie. if the game was "game.cia", you type the word "game" and press enter.​

i) when asked about decompressing the code.bin, choose "n" for No.​

*** If your extraction fails, make sure you are using v9 of HackingToolkit3DS, and your game dump was decrypted. ***​

4) Applying the XDelta Patch to the RomFS

a) Once the extraction is complete, open the tool downloaded in step [1.b], called xDelta UI.​

b) Select the "Apply Patch" tab.​

c) For the "Patch", select the "dqmj3.romfs.xdelta" file that we provided you in step [1.c]​

d) For the Source File, select the "DecryptedRomFS.bin" that you just extracted in step [3.a]​

e) For the Output File, select the folder you extracted everything too, and name it "PatchedRomFS.bin"​

f) Click the "Patch" button to finish patching your RomFS.bin file​

*** If it says your have a checksum MD5 mismatch, then your DecryptedRomFS.bin is not valid ***
*** Hackingtoolkit3ds has an option "RFSE", that lets you extract a RomFS. Try running this to see if it says the RomFS is valid ***​

5) Rebuild the game with patch applied

a) Re-run HackingToolkit, and select "RFSE" to open the Rom Extractor.​

b) Choose to extract the "PatchedRomFS.bin" you created in Step [4.d & 4.e], and click "Go".​

c) When this operation complets, it should have extracte to a folder called "PatchedRomFS_". You will now delete the "ExtractedRomFS" folder. Afterwards, rename the "PatchedRomFS_" folder to "ExtractedRomFS". Close the RomFS extractor after this and delete the "PatchedRomFS.bin".​

d) Now choose "CR" to rebuild a .cia, or "R" to rebuild a .3ds. When prompted, name it "DQMJ3-english",​

and if prompted for major/minor versions, select 0 and 0.

6) Setting up your SD card

a) Transfer the newly constructed game file from Step [5.d] to whatever SD card you need it on.​

b) Copy the Luma folder we provided to your SD Card as well.​

c) Next go, into (now named) "ExtractedRomFS" folder, which contains your extracted, patched files.
Find the following 4 files and move them all to these specific locations on your SD card:

* .\luma\titles\000400000016ad00\romfs\data\Script\Field\Event\A01_02\A01_02.mes
* .\luma\titles\000400000016ad00\romfs\data\Script\Field\Demo\demo851\demo851.mes
* .\luma\titles\000400000016ad00\romfs\data\Message\ItemHelpMessage.mes
* .\luma\titles\000400000016ad00\romfs\data\Message\MenuMessage.mes​

7) Setting up Luma 3DS patching (if you haven't already)

a) Press and Hold the "Select" button on your 3ds, and power it on.​

b) When the Luma 3DS Configuration screen appears, you need the following option turned on.​

* Enable Game Patching​

c) Press "Start" to save these configurations, and the 3ds will load as usual.​

8) Installing Official Update v1.1

a) Launch FBI on your 3DS, and the load the 3ds title keys site on your PC/Phone​

b) Search for 0004000e0016ad00, and then click the "QR Code" Icon for the "Patch". The name should be "更新データ Ver. 1.1 DQM ジョーカー3" and it is serial "CTR-U-BJ3J"​

c) Within FBI, launch the "Remote Install > Scan QR Code" feature, and scan the QR Code. It will prompt you to install titles from the CDN (answer yes to all).​

d) You should now be able to launch version 1.1 of DQM Joker 3 in english, enjoy!​

Project Backstory

Spoiler

"After our last project (Terry's Wonderland 3D for 3DS), JasonPK and Z6n4 were restless, and looking for some new projects to tackle. They had wanted to work on Dragon Quest Monsters 2 (3DS) but ran into some problems.
Suddenly, Joker 3 appears out of nowhere. Z6n4 quickly dismantled the game files, and immediately started work on the menu. However, due to lots of new 3DS Framework files, progress grinded to a halt.

However, shortly after the release of Joker 3, Z6n4's child was born, meaning there was a lot of time spent at home for the foreseeable future.
Work continued as the tiny team (this time around) continued to work on the game. Fairly burnt out after their last translation endeavour wrapping up on 6 months prior,
they were feeling the midnight oil burn again from working on this project.

It wasn't long until others started popping up to help including, ErdrickThe Hero, FailSnail and Mami. Mami is a native Japanese speaker, which breathed new life into the project.
As Mami progressed on the script along with Z6n4, they finally began to see a light at the end of the tunnel, ironically around the end of 2016 (Christmas day to be exact).
Mami handed over a bunch of remaining script files, and along size Z6n4, they had a fully translated game!

There was still one problem however... and it was a big one...
This time around, the developers of the game had baked lots of text limit sizes into the compiled code binary, which was causing tons of crashes, cutting things off in-game, or just rendering them blank.
This made the project pretty much unplayable in their opinion.

Z6n4 spent the better part of 2017 working on these issues, and received some big tips and found some valuable resources in the FTI team (specifically Icyson55 and Neobeo).

Unfortunatly Z6n4 couldn't figure every little thing out, but the team so no point in delaying a release anymore.
After all... it's the holidays!

Happy Holidays to everyone, we hope you enjoy this special gift from us to you!"

-Team Joker

Project
This is a full translation project, including:

• Menus
• Custom Font
• Story/NPC Dialog
• Network support
• In-game Image translations
• New localizations terms for monsters/items never used in English before.

FAQ

Spoiler

How do I play this?
* You will need a 3DS that is running Luma CFW (custom firmware).
* Luma must be running the option to allow game patching.

How do I use the xDelta Patch?
* There are instructions above. You will need a dump of the game (physical or digital), decrypted, and the listed tools and means above to decompile, patch and recompile it.

What should I do if I can't patch this on my own?
* I'm sure we've all discussed "that site". Perhaps search on there for a copy, or one of the methods provided.

Are there any other options?
* Yes, here are all of the options you can use to play this game, with more methods details in later steps:

* NTR - just need raw files and LayeredFS Plugin
* CFW - cia install (requires pre patched and re-built)
* Flash Card - 3ds file (required pre-patched and re-built)

​

What about my old saves?
* Use JKSV, it's a very nice save import/export tool, to back up your original saves. They will have the Japanese Game ID, and so will this version (because we are not changing the game id for this release for any reason). It is always a good idea to do this, because you never know what may happen, as everyone has different versions or may acquire them somehow.

I'm confused about the version numbers... HELP!
Ok, it's fairly simple:

1) We have only released 1 patch, at version 1.0

2) The official game is always 1.0

3) The latest eShop update (at the time of writing this) is v1.1

4) Any numbers listed above for our changelog, or our releases are OUR numbers, not the official game version numbers.
​

Help, it still isn't working!
* Alright, my favorite point! If you are here, it is because you are running Sky3DS, Gateway, or some old form of homebrew or Hax. Our team spent lots of time on this project, so please... Take a few minutes and do some research. Update your "hax" method, and maybe even get on Boot9strap like the rest of us. Everyone seems to be running a different (old) FW version, old BIN files for the "hax" and old BINs for their Flash Cards. Consult others at that point, as they may have tested on that. We ONLY tested on B9S and A9LH at various points.

Not all text is in English
During this installation, we had you patch the original game with our english patch. We also had you install the official japanese v1.1 update.
This means that any files in the v1.1 update that were considered "updated" will be used instead of the patched game files.
This is why we had you place specific files on your SD card and enable luma patching. Using other methods like NTR for instance, WILL NOT WORK unless you manually create your own RomFS LayeredFS patch and base it off the v1.1 executables.
Trust me, it's easier to just update your install to Boot9strap and follow our guide.

I'm not using Luma or Boot9strap
Then good luck. You likely won't be able to fully patch this to play the way we intended it unless you have a strong understanding of CustomFW and 3DS/CIA file structures.
Again, it's all free to do and easier to update.

Please make us a Gateway Patch or something other than Luma!
We have no intention of doing this. I believe this is laziness on the users part that we do not need to account for.

Where can it be purchased?
* Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Monsters-Japanese-Compatible-American-Nintendo/dp/B018QPYTNY
* Ebay - https://www.ebay.com/itm/SQUARE-ENI...oker-3-Nintendo-3DS-Japanese-ver/263343483390

 

[Mikemk]

You can't update the installed game?

 

[AriaPaxen]

You can't update the installed game?

No idea.... the only method I can find, even on this site says you need the game title and the usual method of installing it but Freeshop was shut down and I don’t know or have found any other methods. I also just installed Luma3ds about a week ago just to play DQMJ3 so still very very new at this sort of thing

 

[CHVR]

When I go to the arena the most of the dialogues are untranslated. is there a fix for that?

 

[Dajj]

" I believe this is laziness on the users part that we do not need to account for." you can tell how badly he was waiting to write just that..... #bitter #af
that AFTER saying "You likely won't be able to fully patch this to play the way we intended it unless you have a strong understanding of CustomFW and 3DS/CIA file structures." so..... the lazy one is the user while the messiah with all the knowledge (and free time) just blatantly refuses to do it easier and everyone that does things differently is a lazy person, like, wtaf.
tell that bitter kid "laziness" bs to switch HB and CFW devs.

 

[DJPlace]

When I go to the arena the most of the dialogues are untranslated. is there a fix for that?

do you have the 1.1 update installed?

 

[Plasmaster09]

Would it still work if I instead use the patch on an updated CIA?
Edit: welp guess this thread is ded. guess I'll try and hope the english text still takes priority.

 

[AriaPaxen]

*Screams in Frustration* Ok How do I reinstall both Luma3ds and the Game/Update patch the way the People who worked on the game properly? Because I have no clue on what the heck on how to do any of the steps they gives at ALL! I'm not tech savvy and while I can understand basics from youtube videos on Installing Luma3ds, everything they tell us to do to Install the game and the update Patch...it just confuses the hell out of me, plus I'm high functioning Autistic that's more Art and creativity aligned mentally so some one please help!

 

[Plasmaster09]

*Screams in Frustration* Ok How do I reinstall both Luma3ds and the Game/Update patch the way the People who worked on the game properly? Because I have no clue on what the heck on how to do any of the steps they gives at ALL! I'm not tech savvy and while I can understand basics from youtube videos on Installing Luma3ds, everything they tell us to do to Install the game and the update Patch...it just confuses the hell out of me, plus I'm high functioning Autistic that's more Art and creativity aligned mentally so some one please help!

1) DO NOT use YouTube guides for installing Luma. Use the actual guide at 3ds.hacks.guide instead.
2) All I can say is try to read through it bit by bit.

 

[Kralich]

Really great fun - it's just a shame the variety in the bestiary seemed so lacking compared to the first two games. Not by numbers, but by unique headcount - recolours abound VS cool implementations of other monsters (a favourite I remember from DQMJ2P was the Xiphos!)

 

[AriaPaxen]

1) DO NOT use YouTube guides for installing Luma. Use the actual guide at 3ds.hacks.guide instead.
2) All I can say is try to read through it bit by bit.

I actually did both, I had read the guide first but it still confused me so I went to youtube just to help me make sense of it. the problem I'm having is that not all the text in DQMJ3 is still English. I just want to know how to fix that with out people or the guides people recommend confusing the heck out of me
like I said i'm not tech savvy and I just want some help figuring out how to get the text that switched from English back to Japanese back to English again, please

 

[DynastyVic]

So I have been reading that the English update patch 1.01 untranslates the game back into Japanese.

But I read that if you follow the instructions. It will be fully patched as english.
Is this correct or is the english 1.01 patch having issues still?

 

[mozg]

So I have been reading that the English update patch 1.01 untranslates the game back into Japanese.

But I read that if you follow the instructions. It will be fully patched as english.
Is this correct or is the english 1.01 patch having issues still?

patch 1.1 override some translations, but i encountered this only in some spell books that sold on wi-fi square.

 

[bahamut920]

It's the DQ Monsters official update that undoes some of the translation work, AFAIK. Seems like it changes some of the descriptive text or something.

 

[DynastyVic]

It's the DQ Monsters official update that undoes some of the translation work, AFAIK. Seems like it changes some of the descriptive text or something.

I saw an English update version for 1.1v.

Does this still apply or better keep it in the original form?
If not, I can delete the update patch from the extra data if I am correct?

 

[sapsie]

Hello. I'm trying to use the LayeredFS patch on the older translation of DQMJ3 which I already have a save on. I made a backup on checkpoint and used an unmodified japan cia with the new patch enabled. The game works with the layeredfs patch upon the first launch, but after restoring my save from checkpoint it causes a luma crash before the title screen. I'm unsure of what I'm doing wrong since the patch seemingly works so long as I don't restore my save. I appreciate any help in advance.

 

[mozg]

Hello. I'm trying to use the LayeredFS patch on the older translation of DQMJ3 which I already have a save on. I made a backup on checkpoint and used an unmodified japan cia with the new patch enabled. The game works with the layeredfs patch upon the first launch, but after restoring my save from checkpoint it causes a luma crash before the title screen. I'm unsure of what I'm doing wrong since the patch seemingly works so long as I don't restore my save. I appreciate any help in advance.

Try Your save with unmodified version

 

[sapsie]

Try Your save with unmodified version

\
The save works on an unmodified japanese version of the game. Only after modifying it and changing the save file will it crash. The translated game does work if there is no save file present.

 

[mozg]

\
The save works on an unmodified japanese version of the game. Only after modifying it and changing the save file will it crash. The translated game does work if there is no save file present.

Just to clear some things, after restoring save with checkpoint, both version of the game (unmodified and modified) crash?

 

[sapsie]

Just to clear some things, after restoring save with checkpoint, both version of the game (unmodified and modified) crash?

After restoring the save with checkpoint, only the unmodified game will crash. I can play my save file in the japanese version.

 

[mozg]

After restoring the save with checkpoint, only the unmodified game will crash. I can play my save file in the japanese version.

I thought unmodified = japanese, anyway, I assume there is some informatin in your save, that generates crash on translated version (for example monster name)