ROM Hack Game Center CX : Arino no Chosenjo 2 (New Start?)

[Aeter]

Hey man, take it easy, the speed and quality at which you're producing this translation is already incredible.
Some translations take years, I wouldn't even mind having to wait for 2 more months.

You need to release it when you are comfortable with the end result , not when fans want it to be released.

 

[MarkDarkness]

Maybe only as a brief mention but okay, I could "warn" about the third entry in the series, not that that had any hope of being officially released in English anyway.

Okay, as far as the game is concerned I have been rushing through the Adventure and RPG games looking for last minute bugs. I heard reports the final credits for the RPG are a bit messed up so I've put my Desmume on turbo and I'm trying to blast through to the end legitimately to see/fix that.

The last of the magazine covers and the Triotos tile swaps were prepared yesterday so once they are in the game that may be the last of the graphics that need any immediate attention...I think. There is issue with the whole "Light" edition of Guadia Quest Saga but it Is clearly written in many places it is the "light version" so it maybe isn't such a big issue.

There is just so much text overall in the game I'm bound to miss something along the way, even with the help of the testers. If I miss something, I'll have to patch it up in later editions of the patch, I guess.

I know I'm under a lot of pressure to get this patch out but I do want to make sure the whole game works and there aren't any serious lingering bugs.

The progress of your translation has already been way faster than most projects I've ever followed [and I've been in the ROM hacking scene for almost two decades now], and amost all other efforts include multiple people working on specific areas.

So yeah, I don't think you should rush 1.0... I don't think anybody in their right mind will be complaining that this is taking too long.

 

[nimbylive]

I created an account purely to voice my thanks and praise for the work that has gone on for this game. I am amazed every time I come here and see so much being done. Truly impressive. I cannot wait to get my hands on the translation patch.

Again, truly, there is a lot of great work here.

 

[NighTrekr]

I similarly just created an account to thank you for your work on this translation. There are so many great games that never got official translations. We're all lucky to have talented people who are willing to devote their free time to do stuff like this. I wish I had the Japanese knowledge to help!

 

[Aaron Chmielowiec]

Okay, thanks for the support, everyone.

I played through the RPG. I confirmed that when you use the "alternate" method to get to the ending, everything works fine; the game is completable. There are/were a number of inconsistancies with the item names in the menu vs. when you find them from a chest or in a dungeon. It still might take a bit to sort all these out. Anyway, I'll leave some screenshots here because this page needs more color.

EDIT> Here it is running on real hardware:

 

[Calitar]

First of all I want to once again say what a great job you guys are doing. Don't try to rush. I've been waiting for this since the game's release (5 years!). I think I can wait a little while longer. (I'm replaying the first game in the meantime. I didn't know I could start a new Story save without losing my Freeplay unlocks)

This may have been addressed before (I seem to recall it coming up but I can't remember the details) but is there a reason why the ellipsis is displaying in the middle of the line? Is that something you plan to try to tackle before the first release or is that for a later update? Also ellipsis should always have three periods (possible exceptions for the classic game full line of periods to indicate either a long pause or dialog from a Silent Protagonist).

EDIT: Playing around with the unpatched version I see that's how it is in Japanese (4 dots in the middle of the line). Hmm.

 

[RadioShadow]

The rule for ellipsis in English is "3 dots". There was a post on romhacking about it. I'll try and find it.

Japanese games always seem to use ‥ and is in the middle. Looks really silly with English text.

 

[GHANMI]

http://legendsoflocalization.com/qa-japanese-ellipsis-usage-and-english-translation/

Three dots for English.

I usually do non-English translations where I can disregard this completely
My guess is that the font has a character that's [two dots] repeated twice (or it could be actual individual separate dots? in which case a fix for this)

But I'm personally okay with the four dots in the screenshot above.
Arino's Challenge 2 is supposed to be a pastiche of the NES days in this specific RPG segment.
Official NES localizations often didn't bother to follow strictly the "3 dots" rule. Since this game already has intentional broken Engrish, why not this while we're at it.

 

[Aaron Chmielowiec]

Oh, those things are my bane but I will do what I can with search/replace.

The big issue is not only that the original Japanese usage in this game is inconsistent, the usage, appearance and position vary as well.

In the main game, it is three periods. In the RPG and Adventure, the dots range from 2 to 6 and are in the middle or are just periods. In message windows it is almost always periods.

I don't mind which usage we use but I haven't gotten around to that yet when there is other material to fix and test yet.

 

[Calitar]

Oh, those things are my bane but I will do what I can with search/replace.

The big issue is not only that the original Japanese usage in this game is inconsistent, the usage, appearance and position vary as well.

In the main game, it is three periods. In the RPG and Adventure, the dots range from 2 to 6 and are in the middle or are just periods. In message windows it is almost always periods.

I don't mind which usage we use but I haven't gotten around to that yet when there is other material to fix and test yet.

Oh wow that's rough. I certainly understand if you are unable to find and change them all before the first release. Post-release I could screenshot any I find (along with any other errors), if that would help.

 

[Aaron Chmielowiec]

That's all right. Once I finish the RPG in it's entirety (wow, this thing is looooong) I plan on looking at more of the little details like this.

In graphics news, the Game Shop background was reworked slightly to add the JoycoLand logo and patch up some Japanese in the background.

The Triotos DX tiles have yet to be swapped but graphical mockups were already made. The title to Guadia Quest Saga (Light Edition) is the last thing to do before doing a 2nd pass to see if there are any graphics to patch up better than the first pass.

EDIT> I'm getting there...slowly (RPG Progress) 9 hours in!?!

EDIT> Defeated a bunch of bosses, cleared a bunch o' castles and towns. I'm in the ending stretch now before I face the final boss. if I give any more info than that I'll probably be spoiling the game for everyone.

 

[Fishaman P]

Once you're onto final polishing, it should be noted that in Retro Game Challenge, "Haggle Man" has a space in it. Really minor, but still.

EDIT: Apparently this is inconsistent.

Spoiler: RGC images

 

[Aaron Chmielowiec]

That's okay, there are a fair number of random inconsistancies in the original game anyway.

All right, update time.
-------------------------
First, except for the Guadia Quest Saga title screen logo, all of the graphics in the game are now complete.

I'm nearing the end of the RPG based on an obscure Japanese walkthrough I found. I have been correcting files along the way as I find errors and inconsistancies. Edit> I'm at the final boss now but I have to head back to work; I'll finish this later. There was one file that still had Japanese in it and a bunch of misaligned text...oh well, better I find it than someone else.

Upon confirming the RPG is okay and then the Adventure (and some random spelling errors found elsewhere), this patch is pretty much ready for prime time...minor inconsistancies aside, I suppose.

Mark_Darkness has a site we've been putting together so that may coincide with the release of the patch, too.

 

[Truner]

Some Mega Man games had Megaman on the title screen. He's officially still called Mega Man.

Anyway, terrific job on the game, Aaron! I'm so hyped for it!

 

[Mirby]

So excited for this project release. Wish I could've helped in more ways than just being like YAY THIS IS BEING MADE.

and no it's not just so i could be in the credits

okay maybe just a little

 

[cubeboy]

Official NES localizations often didn't bother to follow strictly the "3 dots" rule. Since this game already has intentional broken Engrish, why not this while we're at it.

I agree, since the goal of this game is to recreate the experience of games at the time, I would keep it at 4 periods, and if you REALLY didn't like it, you could maybe change it outside of the actual retro game play. I'm not really bothered personally seeing 2 or 4 periods, and I spent almost 2 of the last 4 years writing math proofs seeing 3 periods every class period

EDIT> I'm getting there...slowly (RPG Progress) 9 hours in!?!

EDIT> Defeated a bunch of bosses, cleared a bunch o' castles and towns. I'm in the ending stretch now before I face the final boss. if I give any more info than that I'll probably be spoiling the game for everyone.

That's about as far as I got in the game before giving up. I probably could have kept going, but it started to get pretty hard for me since I didn't really know how to use the Guadia's properly.

 

[Aaron Chmielowiec]

and...I finished the RPG.

I have confirmed all 3 possible endings work, though the ending scroll in the "Best" ending were still in Japanese and need to be translated :/ There aren't so many lines, though.

cubeboy> I used a cheap combo of Attack with Player 1, Healt (heal all for 70HP) with Player 2 and Weaken with Player 3. It takes a bunch 'o' rounds but it worked for many of the harder enemies in the game I found.


(I would post pictures but that would be a major spoiler...wait, we have a tag for that here, don't we...)

Warning: Major spoiler! View at your own risk. Can you resist the temptation?

Spoiler

Once I clean up that text and check it again (Ugh, I have to beat the Creator *again*!?!?) I'll be happy with where it is right now. I haven't checked every possible combination of each item, weapon, skill and spell against every enemy in the game but I got through a full playthrough of the game with a variety of everything I could get my hands on so I hope it works out for you all.

All right, let me get this RPG out of the way tonight and go back to do one final check on the Adventure games.

EDIT> Okay, after a few hundred file updates and changes to the RPG Intro and Extro that should do it for Guadia Quest Saga...

Ah, for those interested, it took just under 12 hours for me to beat the RPG.

(Also, the website domain has now been registered and the web site for this patch/project should be all up in a matter of days...)


So, milestone reached, I guess. All 9 main games are tested to be fully completable in English. If the last title graphic is done tomorrow, that will be another milestone, and perhaps the last one before release.

 

[joek0]

I just created an account to post on this board.

I have had an import copy of this game for a long time. I have beaten every game and have even written 2 guides on gamefaqs.com. I may finally be able to finish my Wizman FAQ at last. I can't wait to replay this game in a language I can understand.

Regarding Guadia Quest Saga:

Spoiler

Have you tested the post game material. There is a post game fight in the Arena along with a secret dungeon to go through.

Off to play my import copy until then!

Here is a great Japanese wiki for the game to look through Aaron. Check it out if you have not seen it already!
http://www29.atwiki.jp/ds_gamecenter_cx/

 

[DickMarlowe]

The link you just posted is incredible : it lists, among other things, the requirements for all three magic rods on each stage of Wizman, and the position of these elusive D-E-M-O-N letters in Super Demon Returns !

Rad.

 

[Aaron Chmielowiec]

Yep, I made use of that link. Actually, for the project website I was thinking about adding a game FAQ section with things like this in English. I wrote up a guide to both adventure games in English and wanted to list up all 1290 Arino sounds in the game, etc. I wonder if that sort of material is better left on gamefaqs, though.

Thanks a lot, joek0, and yes, I am aware of the content you posted in those "hidden" tags. I loosely tested it all but not intensively. It's a shame you weren't around here earlier. I would have loved to have someone like you try the Alpha/Beta earlier on.

All right, I'm doing a sanity check of the Adventure games now. I already beat it twice before but some of the bg art and translation was changed a few times so I probably should make sure it all still works.

As far as I can see the other testers report all of the other games are completable and work fine so I hope that means everything else is done. I may do hex searches in the game for any Japanese characters just to be safe but right now it looks to be 100% in English (or Engrish in some spots though that is intentional) barring the Guadia Quest Saga main title screen, which is the last graphic in the game to change anyway.