I have the same problem of the guy above, can`t create a character, the save just... dont save. Maybe is a ant-piracy method?
Im using the og hardware btw (Japanese DSi + TWiLight Menu). Previous english patches for this game worked normal before.
It also crashes after 3 or 4 attempts, I took a screenshot of the crash, idk if it helps
FWIW, I've alerted the Reddit MapleStory community of this ongoing effort, but I imagine the target audience for this specific game has most probably moved on a long time ago.
I can't read either, So at most, I can help with the English side of things. But at this point, wouldn't it make more sense to just make the whole patch gender neutral if no proper help arrives? That would 100% weed out all the issues. Also, what LLM did you use for the translation?
Would it be worth trying to compare how it does with the Korean text and see if any contextual clues are lost between the two?
Sorry for the plethora of question, I've had this game on my shelf for about 15 years, having only stumbled through one scenario only. Would be nice to get back to it and actually have a clue about what is going on.
Thanks @Truner, proof reading the English text is what we currently need. Since @Chris_Highwind is looking at the Warrior line, pehaps you can try going through the Rogue storyline?
Perhaps I should explain a little on how the LLMs were used and the translation method. The translation with LLM was not done simply by just pasting the text in, ala google translate. I used a few commercially available LLMs. I will not name them since their effectiveness hinged on other factors explained below. However, for those in the know I used a few frontier models, which there are only so many right now. The translation was done in a manner better than google translate as these were added in
- custom dictionary of game keywords
- pronouns dictionary for gender
- game keywords type (the brackets that indicated place, name, etc)
- functions to get context from other lines only if needed
- function to check both Korean and Japanese text for context
I ran through the text using different LLMs multiple times for consistency and checking. Initial translation was using Japanese, but yes Korean text was also used later. All of this gives a result better than google translate with more consistent results, and makes it such that the translation handles sentences with unknown MapleStory english words like "Ellinia" "Horntail" differently since one is a place the other is a boss monster. Tone matching is done. Informal Japanese is replaced with informal English, more robotic language is also replaced with LANGUAGE THAT CORRESPONDS, etc.
The weakness is in the files itself. As seen in the Google sheet, the text is 1. Not in chronological order 2. Does not have the speaker's name. So, just looking at the file itself we don't know if it is one person speaking, or it is a conversation that ping pongs around 3 different people, or it is 3 different conversations from speaking to 3 different NPCs. That is where the pronouns and subjects may have errors. Luckily, most of the game dialogue can be translated independently without looking at other lines, and the few that requires context is usually straight forward in the lines around. From the feedback per chapter so far I can say this is the case most of the time. However, there are still cases of errors, for example using the pronoun 'her' since the names Sophia and Maya were nearby, when we actually know the line was refering to the grandpa 'him' when playing that chapter, thus we corrected that. As stated before both Japanese and Korean language sometimes do not have pronouns in sentences where we require them in English, so context is used to determine gendered pronouns. Regarding using neutral pronouns, that is already the case being done when there is no context around, there is a lot of "that person" or "what have they have done" etc in the text, some have already been manually changed to gendered via proof reading.
Another thing is that the tranlsation is more akin to "anime subtitle" translations. As long as it is grammatically correct the translation follows the Japanese way of speaking. Sometimes the Japanese sentence structure reemphasises words when "few word do trick", and sometimes we see english that is 'technically correct' but people don't speak that way. However, I have done my share of proof reading and see most cases the translation does translate to 'correct' english, not just technical correctness. Even in cases with the awkward english, because of the "anime subtitle" translation no context is lost, and as English only readers we can definitely discern what is trying to be said. In my own proof reading changes and others' proof reading, we have to practice a little creative writing to correct awkward english. I don't disagree with this, as it improves the translation, but it does change a little bit of the tone. For example some characters may seem more silent with shorter quips. For this reason I try not to change too much of the "anime subtitle" translations, though all suggestions are welcomed. This is a gray area the LLM translation does not touch, so this proof reading period can help with this.
In summary,
- Was Korean text also used for translation? Yes
- Is the translation perfect? No, there is some awkward but readable english, pronoun/subject-object errors due to missing info in the files.
- Can a real Japanese/Korean translator do better? If they are also a native english speaker, yes they can improve the few instances of awkward English. For parts with missing info, no, they definitely cannot regardless.
- At this time, I don't think it is feasible to find tangible, professional university-grade bi/tri-linguist to work on this without being paid? It's been 15 years, and translators won't be able to work as fast anyway.
- Can we native english speakers improve the translation, without being biligual? Yes, see above. All the errors are purely related to english or just the game context. All the heavy lifting for readable "anime subtitle" translation has been done. Imo it is well above the "barely playable if you don't read the story" level. You kind of pause for a moment in some text because of the english, when that happens kindly fill in the google doc with your suggestions. Alternatively, just play the game and finally find out what the story is talking about, I myself found out more about my fav storyline (the archer) without any issue, and saw the character growth and emotional scenes in a new light.
quite a bit of rambling, but these are some insights to this tranlsation project hope it helps
I have the same problem of the guy above, can`t create a character, the save just... dont save. Maybe is a ant-piracy method?
Im using the og hardware btw (Japanese DSi + TWiLight Menu). Previous english patches for this game worked normal before.
It also crashes after 3 or 4 attempts, I took a screenshot of the crash, idk if it helps
I've used MapleStory_ENG_Houst_ver2.7z, 5967 - MapleStory DS (Japan) .nds and following the instructions, I can't create a character, after inserting a sign, it returns to title screen and it doesn't make a save slot, tried with korean version too and doesn't create a character, after some tries seems like crash the game, I'm using a R4 infinity with 4GB micro sd, a .sav is generated in micro sd
I've used MapleStory_ENG_Houst_ver2.7z, 5967 - MapleStory DS (Japan) .nds and following the instructions, I can't create a character, after inserting a sign, it returns to title screen and it doesn't make a save slot, tried with korean version too and doesn't create a character, after some tries seems like crash the game, I'm using a R4 infinity with 4GB micro sd, a .sav is generated in micro sd
you need to apply the anti piracy patch on the room first and THEN the translation patch, you will need to uncheck the Checksum Validation option to be able to apply the translation, but it works I'm already at chapter 4 with the warrior without any issues
Hi buddies. Has anyone here tried it on YSmenu? As for me, I tested the pre-patched rom available on RGT (CDRomance revived) with a R4 Gold Pro (YSMenu), and I get an error like the one in the picture. Why? Am I the only jinxed one?
you need to apply the anti piracy patch on the room first and THEN the translation patch, you will need to uncheck the Checksum Validation option to be able to apply the translation, but it works I'm already at chapter 4 with the warrior without any issues
once you got the rom with AP patch, follow translation patch steps with Delta Patcher and before Apply patch, open settings and uncheck Checksum validation. TY to EnderParis.
Hi buddies. Has anyone here tried it on YSmenu? As for me, I tested the pre-patched rom available on RGT (CDRomance revived) with a R4 Gold Pro (YSMenu), and I get an error like the one in the picture. Why? Am I the only jinxed one?
Exactly same issue here, this error is because of the ID of the game missing in infolib usually, but weidly enough, there is a rom fix for YSMenu that I downloaded, and did not worked either, I have the same version 7.06.
New NDS file created, only one version created since the problem for compatibility seems to be solved in the comments.
Made some changes to the dialouge for consistency. Generally only minor changes to the dialouge. Toward the end seems like the community didn't have many changes to suggest.
This will be the final update for the translation. Those updating their rom archives please use this patch!
New NDS file created, only one version created since the problem for compatibility seems to be solved in the comments.
Made some changes to the dialouge for consistency. Generally only minor changes to the dialouge. Toward the end seems like the community didn't have many changes to suggest.
This will be the final update for the translation. Those updating their rom archives please use this patch!
Hello, just found out about this today, thanks for your efforts!
Also I know it might be too late now, but is there still any chance to help with proofreading the translation? I played the game in Japanese a while back and was always curious about working on translating it, and it seems the latest version still has a couple of rough parts.
-- [COMPLETE] MapleStoryDS Translation Project 2025 --
15 years ago MapleStory DS was released
15 years ago we had the first English translation project... which was then subsequently abandoned...
Over the years that went by, there were many projects that were started then abruptly ended
Today, we now have a full English patch for the MapleStory DS game.
This is a follow up to a post I did in 2021, where I just put English keywords in a Chinese rom for playability.
In this update, the rom has been translated fully to English using Japanese.
Summary
All text have been translated to English.
Conversational language
Actual funny lines without broken english
Good grammar, no spacing or spelling errors
Translated from Japanese via LLM, then proof read. Errors like syntax, missing spaces were fixed. Some run on sentences in the dialogue, though nothing serious.
Additional notes on the translation, it is more akin to "anime subtitle" translations. As long as it is grammatically correct the translation follows the Japanese way of speaking. Sometimes the Japanese sentence structure reemphasises words when "few word do trick", and sometimes we see english that is 'technically correct' but people don't speak that way. However, I have done my share of proof reading and see most cases the translation does translate to 'correct' english, not just technical correctness. Temper your expectations a little, as the text is still somewhat Japan-English sort of speaking.
Proper highlighting of keywords like places and items have been applied throughout.
Dialogue text line breaks have been done so words don't end abruptly at the end of the textbox.
The "story" page has been left with text overflowing across lines.
Due to the limitation ds, the text will always having varying lengths due to character name variations.
No line breaks have been added to give a more 'justified' style of text (within the ds limitations) for the story summary page, fitting in with the theme.
Graphics, maps, menus are all in english, as per previous projects
Credits to
DarthNemesis for MapleTrans, the nds repacking software
twiztidsinz for the English graphics Everyone who worked on the MapleStory translation project over the years
-- Download Patch file --
Follow the instructions to patch the file Google Drive (Patch in 7z zip) Baidu Drive (req login)
-- Update --
-- 2025.11.18 --
From some feedback on some further edits to the translation, I've removed all the links except one, the gdrive folder.
Rom translation is going to be updated for final fixes, and remaining links will be put back when done.
By all means the rom should have everything translated, with only some occasional contextual errors.
I have opened a google doc to any proof readers that can help on suggesting corrections to any parts. Seems like there may be some parts that still require slight edits, like gender "she">"he" or name>he/she/you that need to be played through to understand.
I will set a timeline of 1 month until 2025.12.18 for this proof read extension to accept any suggested edits.
Go to the google doc and google sheet with any suggestions on corrections / parts that need to be reviewed
-- 2025.11.25 --
Week 1 Update
New NDS file created, there are two versions of the same translation, using two different roms in case for compatibility.
Community Changes:
~15 lines changed total in warrior chapter (total 589 lines in one warrior chapter file)
- 4 pronoun changes (It seems she hasn’t come back yet -> he hasn't come back yet)
- 3 changes on wording/ spacing changes
- 8 changes on awkward english (You were alive? -> You're alive?)
Also changed capitalisation according to feedback
The Tree that Grew>The Tree That Grew
Other changes:
- Leafre changes
- Toys storyline related changes
- Bulk changes to some names for consistency
- Minor changes to dialogue across files
-- 2025.12.16 --
Week 4 Update
New NDS file created, only one version created since the problem for compatibility seems to be solved in the comments.
Made some changes to the dialouge for consistency. Generally only minor changes to the dialouge. Toward the end seems like the community didn't have many changes to suggest.
This will be the final update for the translation. Those updating their rom archives please use this patch!
Leave a thanks if you read this in the future, happy mapling!
Part of the charm was that it's quite similar, at least from what I can remember. Still 2D platforming with combat and skills etc, just with a bit more dialogue and a more concrete story this time.
This is pretty great!
I remember following the original translations and it was a shame that they were abandoned. Maple Story always had a special place in my heart due to how genuinely fun the world and characters were.
I was excited when I saw the thread pop up on the main page, but seeing this is machine translated completely deflated me. It doesn't matter if you proofread it, ultimately it's STILL not an actual translation, it's just relative guesswork by a machine.
I was excited when I saw the thread pop up on the main page, but seeing this is machine translated completely deflated me. It doesn't matter if you proofread it, ultimately it's STILL not an actual translation, it's just relative guesswork by a machine.
Honestly, with how good technology has been improving some machine translations with human adjustment end up better than ideology filled translations that end up altering character personalities and whole plot points and story arcs.
Honestly, with how good technology has been improving some machine translations with human adjustment end up better than ideology filled translations that end up altering character personalities and whole plot points and story arcs.
Does anyone have a fix for this or does the patch just not work on DSTT. I feel like I've tried everything but still get that error code. The original works just fine just not the patched version..
Hi buddies. Has anyone here tried it on YSmenu? As for me, I tested the pre-patched rom available on RGT (CDRomance revived) with a R4 Gold Pro (YSMenu), and I get an error like the one in the picture. Why? Am I the only jinxed one?
Does anyone have a fix for this or does the patch just not work on DSTT. I feel like I've tried everything but still get that error code. The original works just fine just not the patched version..
GUYS!! I figured it out. Apparently the game doesn't work on the YSMENU. If you are open to downloading the TWiLight Menu instead it works on that one. https://wiki.ds-homebrew.com/twilightmenu/installing-flashcard
Give it a shot! Hours of searching and I finally figured out how to get it on DSTT. Woot!!
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