ROM Hack DS roms: default text file format?

[RaulCortez]

Is there any default text file format? Or some encryption or something? Searching for the texts in unpacked roms isn't too productive and helpful.

 

[FAST6191]

Many roms use a standard type text encoding. Compression is not uncommon and is usually GBA bios LZ77 V or W ram safe. Failing that is usually one of the bios function decompressions:
http://nocash.emubase.de/gbatek.htm

Japanese roms often use shiftJIS and unicode (I am not sure about the Euc line). There are sometimes some slight tweaks/extra characters but a bit of corruption/brute force helps here.

US/Eu often use ASCII (normally with a different extended set to "standard") or unicode. US/Eu Konami games use a common table most of the time that has the lower case matching with upper case ASCII. Owing to extra space 16 bit encodings are not uncommon either in US and Eu roms.

 

[RaulCortez]

OK. Hmm... would CrystalTile help me decompressing the ROM LZ77? Is there any other tools that allow me to decompress the text so i can translate it? I can't find any text in any rom. I'm using DSBuff to unpack the .nds and then i'm using HexWorkshop to search text on the files.

Also, hmmm... could you share that table and tell me a good hex program compatible with tbl? Windows app, please. Those damn DOS apps really suck and really hurt the eye. ^^'''

Thanks for the help, FAST6191. I sent you an PM, check it please.

 

[Jei]

Also, hmmm... could you share that table and tell me a good hex program compatible with tbl? Windows app, please. Those damn DOS apps really suck and really hurt the eye. ^^'''

I use Windhex. It's easy to setup and you can customize the way it looks.

 

[FAST6191]

Decompression, crystaltile has some decompression available but a more general purpose editor will be needed on occasion.
LZ is the most common but huffman, run length (RLE) and the other bios compressions are used.
http://www.romhacking.net/ has a few (use the GBA based ones as they are the same)
Also I use the demo file in this tool:
http://gbadev.org/tools.php?showinfo=56

Table files. Grab a bunch of the windows editors from the romhacking.net and try them for yourself, they lack some of the more advanced features of hex workshop, tiny hexer (one of the few editors able to flip nibbles), and X ways forensics editors but they work (they also can get relative text based stuff done).