Recently, I learned that while there are same-sex romance mods for both the 3DS and the PC versions of RF4(S), there isn’t a fully compiled one for the switch version (shout out to this thread though). I know this game is relatively old now and probably not cared about anymore but I was still curious to see what I could do. Therefore…
Introducing: Rune Factory 4 Especially Gay Edition (download linked here)
Note: I did most of my testing on a hacked switch with CFW so I can’t say whether it will fully work for emulators. You’ll obviously need a hacked switch for this mod (if not trying to emulate). If you’ve never added a mod to your hacked switch then check out this tutorial but here are the basics:
Basic Instructions:
access your MicroSD card:
Navigate to /atmosphere/contents (or Mods/Rune Factory 4 Special/contents/atmosphere/Especially Gay if using Simple Mod Manager)
Drop provided 010051d00e3a4000 folder (unzipped) into atmosphere/Especially Gay
Insert your MicroSD card into your switch (if removed for access) and start the game
Success!
Your first indicator that it worked will be the gender choice right at the beginning of the game (it’ll look like in the screenshot below)
Based on the files from both the 3DS and PC mods as well as some previous threads on them, I’ve been able to edit the scripts, swap or (in rare cases change) the voice lines, swap the models, and swap the sprites for Lest and Frey (the protagonists). There are a few things I haven’t managed to fix or swap yet such as most of the voicelines for nicknames you can ask your partner to call you. For example, Xiao Pai might call her girlfriend Princess in the text but her voice line will still call her Prince. I’m debating of just muting those voicelines but I haven’t done so yet. I also haven’t out something that makes sense for the inn bath gender signs.
I was trying to play through the game to look for any further edits or glitches that I might have missed but life hit like a freight train so I’d really appreciate having input from others on anything I’ve missed or that doesn’t work. There’s a lot of text to cover here so any help would be appreciated. So far I’ve covered most of the actual story and romance related holidays but I haven’t gone through all of the romances (I’m especially unsure if the baby events have been switched properly) so while everything should be switched I can’t confirm it’ll be 100% perfect and I’m sure there are errors. If you find a line that is wrong then please post a screenshot with the text and give a bit of context to the situation if you can.
Regardless, I hope at least one person enjoys this mod!
The Download Link Again
Introducing: Rune Factory 4 Especially Gay Edition (download linked here)
Note: I did most of my testing on a hacked switch with CFW so I can’t say whether it will fully work for emulators. You’ll obviously need a hacked switch for this mod (if not trying to emulate). If you’ve never added a mod to your hacked switch then check out this tutorial but here are the basics:
Basic Instructions:
access your MicroSD card:
Navigate to /atmosphere/contents (or Mods/Rune Factory 4 Special/contents/atmosphere/Especially Gay if using Simple Mod Manager)
Drop provided 010051d00e3a4000 folder (unzipped) into atmosphere/Especially Gay
Insert your MicroSD card into your switch (if removed for access) and start the game
Success!
Your first indicator that it worked will be the gender choice right at the beginning of the game (it’ll look like in the screenshot below)
Based on the files from both the 3DS and PC mods as well as some previous threads on them, I’ve been able to edit the scripts, swap or (in rare cases change) the voice lines, swap the models, and swap the sprites for Lest and Frey (the protagonists). There are a few things I haven’t managed to fix or swap yet such as most of the voicelines for nicknames you can ask your partner to call you. For example, Xiao Pai might call her girlfriend Princess in the text but her voice line will still call her Prince. I’m debating of just muting those voicelines but I haven’t done so yet. I also haven’t out something that makes sense for the inn bath gender signs.
I found that exporting the bntx as a png with Switch Toolbox, editing it in an image editor (I used Gimp), and importing it to the toolbox again with the R8_G8_A8_UNORM format is what worked for me. I tried importing someone else’s mod from PC to see if it would work (obviously not sharing that because it’s someone else’s work) but found that the images needed to have their top layer manually replaced within toolbox (with the format properly changed) before I could view them without my switch crashing. also, the alpha channels are wonky afterwards (understandably as they’re from the replaced image in this case). I haven’t fully figured this one out yet but if anyone’s interested in further exploring it Planchoa had a very useful write-up of her attempts to do so over at gamebanana.
I’ve edited the script/nicknames/quest info using Chrisblue’s awesome program Rune translator. The script is inspired by all the versions that have come before it. That includes: Wijetron’s 3DS mod (with Lillievela’s updates), several PC mods (including Rastrum’s, Auaurorau’s, and Ryuuseirune’s work), MysticElodie’s Lesbian focused patch of the PC mod, and Violasarecool’s Pico specific rewrite (which makes the little ghost girl simply clingy rather than weirdly perverted). All the script changes can be found in the attached excel file. Additionally, I’ve started trying to rewrite Margaret’s sleepover events to be less awful but I’ve only done one so far (turning the complaining about weight one into the girls being jokingly jealous of Forte for having such a competent little brother).
I was trying to play through the game to look for any further edits or glitches that I might have missed but life hit like a freight train so I’d really appreciate having input from others on anything I’ve missed or that doesn’t work. There’s a lot of text to cover here so any help would be appreciated. So far I’ve covered most of the actual story and romance related holidays but I haven’t gone through all of the romances (I’m especially unsure if the baby events have been switched properly) so while everything should be switched I can’t confirm it’ll be 100% perfect and I’m sure there are errors. If you find a line that is wrong then please post a screenshot with the text and give a bit of context to the situation if you can.
Regardless, I hope at least one person enjoys this mod!
The Download Link Again
