ROM Hack Daikoukai Jidai 4 - Rota Nova

R

rockyspirit

New Member
OP
Newbie
Level 1
Joined
Dec 25, 2010
Messages
3
Trophies
0
XP
10
Country
Brazil
First of all, hello. This is my first time posting here and I'm already giving a try at some serious hacking.
I'm a programmer, know some Japanese and like hacking stuff when I have the free time, so I decided to try something for the DS.

I've been trying to hack Daikoukai Jidai 4 - Rota Nova for the DS and had some success. To summarize what I have:
  • I can change most text in the game. However the strings are confined to the same size as the original Japanese one.
  • I've found the character texts. Apparently, menu and some other text are images.
  • I've figured out some of the format in the character text files.
And this is an image, where I changed the original "???"(Clau, shorthand for Claudio) to Claudi(so as to maintain string size):
conceptproof.png


Now for the technical stuff. This is a .zip file with some information I've gathered and an application which I've written in Python and PyGTK.

If you try importing the file SC0.DK4(available after unpacking in data/data), you'll notice that a python exception is thrown. An SJIS to UTF-8 conversion wasn't possible. If a certain byte is equal to 00h, I suppose the following data is an SJIS text. Doesn't work everytime.

And, finally, this is my request for hackers alike. What am I missing about this file? Or, what is the best approach to figure out this stuff?
 
  • Like
Reactions: DarkDante
R

rockyspirit

New Member
OP
Newbie
Level 1
Joined
Dec 25, 2010
Messages
3
Trophies
0
XP
10
Country
Brazil
Noone answered my request but no reason to fret. I've found (part of) the answer myself.
I can now read and rebuild the text files. I don't expect any text to be missing, but who knows?

First, the updated informational file is this. I wonder if anyone cares to read that?
Next, the tool for translating and an initial translation. (Edit: the tool had a missing file and bug. Fixed that.)

Steps to test:
  • Install Python, GTK+, PyGTK and LXML. If you use Linux(like myself), you won't have much trouble. Sorry, I haven't tested on Windows or MacOSX but do tell me if you do.
  • Unzip the tool and translation. Unpack the rom somewhere.
  • Run the tool(the main.py file). In the tool, load the translation file(sc0.uc4).
  • Export the file(File->Export File) to //data/SC0.DK4 and Repack
  • Run wherever you like. Tested on both Desmume and real hardware with M3DS Real flashcart.
  • Start the game as Rafael Castrol. You should be fine if you don't touch the D-Pad.
The game will skip the text after 2 English sentences and that is what I need to investigate. The game loads the modified file fine but there seems to be something else to guarantee the text has the same size.

Edit: Scratch that. It seems it was an issue with alignment in the file.

And as for some images(The names are not in the same file):

screenshot1nix.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
M

metastase

Active Member
Newcomer
Level 2
Joined
Jun 25, 2013
Messages
32
Trophies
0
Age
43
XP
191
Country
United States
OMG this is the only DS game I wish was translated. If this was a new release on another console I would buy whatever that is just for this game alone without thinking twice.

Sorry I can't offer any help but I wish you all the luck in world because games like this really deserve it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DarkDante
DarkDante

DarkDante

Well-Known Member
Member
Level 4
Joined
Jan 24, 2015
Messages
359
Trophies
0
Age
30
Location
DarkLand
XP
425
Country
Japan
metastase said:
OMG this is the only DS game I wish was translated. If this was a new release on another console I would buy whatever that is just for this game alone without thinking twice.

Sorry I can't offer any help but I wish you all the luck in world because games like this really deserve it.
Click to expand...
Really difficult to get it right? I hope something can be done. I really want to try it.
 

Site & Scene News

Go to forum More news

Popular threads in this forum

DS ML Shell

Will I not get my flashcart from aliexpress?

Read and Write roms to a GBA Flash cart's Mini SD card with an R4 and a DS Lite

Homebrew GBA  GBA Exploader on modern libnds...

DSi in 2024...

Help with DS Flash Carts. Which are best besides the OG ones?

Weird R4 Firmware.bin dump

Mario hoops 3 on 3

General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
  • S @ salazarcosplay:
    hunter x hunter
  • S @ salazarcosplay:
    he has not allowed anyone to continue it for him for example
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    https://www.reuters.com/world/us/tr...violent-retribution-after-verdict-2024-05-31/ oh boy here we go
     +1
  • Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty:
    @salazarcosplay, theres a dragon ball af mod for budokai 3
  • Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty:
    updated ship of harkinian, gonna install some hd texture pack
  • Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty:
    I might download rayman revolution for my ps3
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    I may try the new ram site, and download more RAM to my Switch. Not sure if ddr3 is the right ram
    for it tho. Edit- no it uses floppy Ram, just like @AncientBoi
     +1
  • Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty:
    aeiou
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    And sometimes Z
  • SylverReZ @ SylverReZ:
    @K3Nv2, MAGA supporters be wearing tin foil hats lol.
     +1
  • Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty:
    @SylverReZ, whats maga?
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    It stands for Maniacs Against General Acceptance
  • Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty:
    @BigOnYa, people rejecting general consensus about stuff?
     +1
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    Yup, nuh its really just Trump followers
  • Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty:
    @BigOnYa, im not american so i dont care about trump
     +1
  • Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty:
    or us elections
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    Me niether, us north Koreans don't care
  • Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty:
    good night
  • BakerMan @ BakerMan:
    i don't care either, even if i'm american
  • BakerMan @ BakerMan:
    truth be told, i agree with psi, i dislike both candidates, but i'd probably vote trump simply because the economy was better during his presidency
  • AngryCinnabon @ AngryCinnabon:
    Just be careful, if trump ends up winning and using project 2025 America might really change...for the worse.
  • AngryCinnabon @ AngryCinnabon:
    I'm not american and even that sends shivers down my spine.
  • AngryCinnabon @ AngryCinnabon:
    anything that offers trump an opportunity to become an actual dictator
    is bad in my book, i could care less if it wasn't for that...
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    Canada: America's Russia
  • NinStar @ NinStar:
    people are so dramatic that I can't even tell if they are being serious
    NinStar @ NinStar: people are so dramatic that I can't even tell if they are being serious