Hacking Anybody interested in Shin Megami Tensei 1 GBA fantrad ?

[HiD]

I've been doing some rom hacking with this game to the point I have full control on what it's doing and displaying.
I figured I could work on an english version of this one using existing english trads. The goal would be for people to be able to play a port similar to the iOS one, but on their VITA using existing GBA emus
I can put a few screenshots of proof of concept tonight (translation and rom manipulation).
Cheers

SNES vs GBA

 

[Kaibutsu01]

Absolutely! I wonder why this hasn't been done before, since the GBA version is kinda better on a few things.

 

[dude1709]

A translation would be awesome @HiD

 

[ceifadorx]

man if you finish this hack you will be hero for many people.
i played smt a little time ago, and i did enjoy, but i thought the snes version very primitive comparing with smt 2 and the recent one. i would love to play these games again in gba

 

[Fugelmir]

I remember hating the shit out of this game until I actually sat down and learned the mechanics.

Why do they even allow the main character to allocate stat points into intelligence and magic?! He doesn't learn any spells!!!

 

[blazevx]

I would love to have a fan translation of SMT 1 and 2 for the GBA however I would request if you could offer a sound restoration patch because the GBA OST is horrible in comparison to the SNES version.

 

[H1B1Esquire]

I remember hating the shit out of this game until I actually sat down and learned the mechanics.

Why do they even allow the main character to allocate stat points into intelligence and magic?! He doesn't learn any spells!!!

The game is sexist. Kidding, but maybe the mentality of the time during production is showing. Plus, I think the weapons hint at what you should be focusing your class on.

 

[AttackOtter]

The intelligence and magic points are actually for late game armors that require certain stat allocations before you're allowed to wear them. And one stat decreases the amount of damage you take from magic attacks I believe, so it's not actually a bad stat to train.

Now about the GBA translation project.
I actually looked into this a while back, and the ATLUS translation of the game on iOS is very similar in structure to the GBA rom. Not 1:1 of course, or we could just emulate it, but the structure is similar enough that if someone where able to hack the font and text display routines, it shouldn't be too difficult of a project to then insert the script.

 

[Kasmow]

I really want this and SMT II to be done. A lot of fans would be pretty happy with your project
Also, if this is so straightfoward, how long would take to finish? Updates would be appreciated.
.

 

[Fugelmir]

The intelligence and magic points are actually for late game armors that require certain stat allocations before you're allowed to wear them. And one stat decreases the amount of damage you take from magic attacks I believe, so it's not actually a bad stat to train.

Yeah Magic reduces damage taken by spells and Intelligence decreases the odds of being affected by status ailments like poison or instant death, but you'd be better off putting stat points into speed and vitality as the most immediate threat in the game is physical damage.

I hope the game gets an official english port for consoles.

 

[Red_Slash]

I dunno about most people (I take many don't even know SMT these days, Persona kinda stole the limelight from it in an unfair way) but I certainly would like to see the GBA ports translated, since they look cleaner and the interface is a lot friendlier. I don't know how I could help, but you can contact me if you think you'll need playtesting and such. Also, if possible I suggest you use the current demon family nomenclatures to ease the familiarity (and probably save some space).

Getting to see SMT2 GBA get the same treatment would be most excellent.

 

[AttackOtter]

The first one already got an official translation with the iOS port, so the translation itself won't be an issue. The problem is the hacking more than anything.
For the second game though, it'd have to be translated from the ground up at worst, depending on how different the SNES fanTL and graphical remake scripts are. And even then, with using the fanTL, a lot of terminology and consistency work would have to be done with the first game's TL since the fanTLs did not use preexisting translation terminology at all.

 

[Red_Slash]

Like I said, what I suggest as a space saving measure is using the nomenclature of a recent game for demon families (SMT Strange Journey for example) as a space saving measure.
As for the IOS game, it is basically the GBA game, in any case.

I'm not privy to the SNES <-> GBA differences script wise, but having played both SNES games, they are competently translated except for a few hiccups on the technical side (addendum patches fixed those, thankfully).

 

[AttackOtter]

Er, I don't know what you're trying to get at? There's no need for a space saving measure if the text routines are hacked. The nomenclature of the iOS translation is perfectly fine, and uses the same demon names that show up in other entries of the series, like SJ.

And I wasn't discussing their quality. The quality is fine. What I was talking about is how different they are from ATLUS's official translations and terminology. Which is why there'd need to be an editing pass or two to unify terms and translations between an SMT1 patch and an SMT2 patch.

 

[Red_Slash]

I know the IOS version uses these names. The Demon family name modernization dates back to to SMT3 on the PS2, the first game that was ever officially in English for the series; Strange Journey, Devil Survivor and SMT4 basically followed suit.

The fan translation uses romaji readings so for a slime you'd have Gedou: Slime instead of Foul: Slime.

Also, even if the text routines are hacked, unless you add a VWF, the display space can be rather limited.

 

[AttackOtter]

Er, yeah? That's kind of the point of using the iOS translation? I really don't understand what your point is.

And that's not the only thing the fanTL differs on. A lot of terminology used within the game's plotline itself is different between the two, from small things, to series staples like the Expanse. The entire script for the second game would have to be gone over to fix issues and inconsistencies between the iOS version and it to bring it up to the canon terminology.

The point of hacking the text routines is to make a variable width font in the first place. If you only settle for building a half-width font, you're losing space overall and it's a lot more difficult to make a suitable translation.

 

[Red_Slash]

I never said demon family names were the only thing that is different, it is only the most obvious aspect that is different. I do agree though that the second game presents the most challenge. At the very least, the hacker responsible for the SNES translations mentioned the engine is very similar between both games, both externally and under the hood. If the same is the case with the GBA ports, working on the first game will at least lay down the framework for working on the second.

 

[Deleted User]

I think tons of people are interested! Fans of the game would love this

 

[Red_Slash]

Yeah, I think that is the case. The GBA ports are enhanced and a sort of sweet spot between the PS1 ports and the SNES originals.
I don't mean to mini-mod but shouldn't this be in the GBA section? I'm aware of what the OP proposed in the initial post, but still.

 

[HiD]

Just one quick shot to show a proof of concept.
I injected the whole iOS intro script into the GBA rom.
The character spacing is a bit off, but I'll come back to that later when I have most of the script done.