My PC-98 translation projects

Segger

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Of course! You can play it on PSP via Neko Project 2: it has very good compatibility, very fast gameplay and near perfect sound. In contrast with Retroarch PSP, using NP2 core, the games are too slow and unplayable.
Pictured below: Dead of the Brain, a legendary horror-VN recently translated into english, which I highly recommend.

Oh damn nice. I didn't realize NP2 was fast or stable.

Welp, you’ve spurred me into purchasing a :psp: USB charge cable and a new crappy Chinesium battery for it. I haven’t played my it in over a year since I couldn’t find the charger and was pretty disappointed with the battery life I was getting anyway. Maybe I’ll just charge off a power bank when it gets low this time .

Dead of the Brain is such a dumb sounding title but the premise sounds fun, horror VNs tend to be pretty gripping. I’ll definitely check it out if my PSP still works fine, hoping I didn’t fry it by using the wrong charger at some point.. :unsure:
 
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Stellar

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not sure if there’s a PC-98 core available for them, if anyone has one I’d be interested in hearing if these translations run.
I am running YU-NO on my RG351P with no issues.

But don't expect a lot of PC-98 games to be translated.
 

BabaJeanmel

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Holy Girl Force Lakers is now complete and available for download!

Download it from here.

NP2_0000.png
 

Nikokaro

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Thanks buddy, you made some nerds (including me) happy. 🤣
It works great on my dear PSP. Beautiful and unforgettable bgms, nostalgic anime artwork, but the gameplay is very, too slow: too bad. Then again, games from that era are all like that: they require a lot of patience. 😅

1653125775174.jpg
 

BabaJeanmel

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Fast battle mode can speed up the gameplay a bit. Dunno if it's viable on psp, but no wait mode can be of help, too.
The full game, vn parts included, takes 7-8 hours to finish.
 
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BabaJeanmel

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Hello, sorry but it's very unlikely. It would need some pretty complex hacking, along with a full revision of the script (some pc-98 lines are different from the Saturn version, and the Saturn script is the one that's dubbed).

I've planned a little maintenance update for Yu-No, though. And also one for Lakers, as there are a couple formatting errors and typos remaining in both games.
 

SuperNintendo64

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Neko Project II Kai on retroarch windows is giving me an strange error

The Emulator starts but it stops at some message with a "21" in it

What could it be?

(also, currently the neko project II kai core aint working with save states. Maybe downloading an older one could be a good idea, but how can i do this?)
 

BabaJeanmel

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Dunno about your error, but here are my settings for np21kai on retroarch: PC-9801 VX model, base clock 2,4576 Mhz, CPU Feature Intel Pentium, CPU Clock Multiplier 12, RAM Size 13. Try to set your core this way and see if it does the trick for you.

Otherwise if you're on Windows, give NP21fmgen a try. It's way better.
 

SuperNintendo64

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Dunno about your error, but here are my settings for np21kai on retroarch: PC-9801 VX model, base clock 2,4576 Mhz, CPU Feature Intel Pentium, CPU Clock Multiplier 12, RAM Size 13. Try to set your core this way and see if it does the trick for you.

Otherwise if you're on Windows, give NP21fmgen a try. It's way better.
I am on windows now, got a mini pc for the living room. I will give it a try, Baba. Thank you very much for the tip

Ill also take a picture of what it says on my neko II kai project and post here, just for kicks, since you know japanese

pc98].png


EDIT: here´s what i get when i try any game on Neko Project II kai newer core on windows retroarch

Its the first time im seeing this. Im used to play on npIIkai core on android and never saw something like this.......
Dont have any clue on what it means
 
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BabaJeanmel

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I have no clue what is happening there. Basically you got an "illegal interrupt error number 21H", and you're asked to reset the computer. I never had to deal with something like that... The game has been extensively playtested both on real hardware and emulators, and it's the first time it happens.

Is your image properly patched ? A corrupted executable MIGHT crash at start with cryptic errors such as this one... Just a wild guess. But again, if you manage to run the game on standalone np21, it may just be a np2kai bug.
 

SuperNintendo64

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I have no clue what is happening there. Basically you got an "illegal interrupt error number 21H", and you're asked to reset the computer. I never had to deal with something like that... The game has been extensively playtested both on real hardware and emulators, and it's the first time it happens.

Is your image properly patched ? A corrupted executable MIGHT crash at start with cryptic errors such as this one... Just a wild guess. But again, if you manage to run the game on standalone np21, it may just be a np2kai bug.
I think i should have been clearer: this error aint showing on any specific game, its showing on all games.

And to make everything stranger yet, it only happens on one computer. On my other windows PC the np2kai core is running fine

thank you for the translation. I understand there´s nothing i can do to fix it now, maybe some future np2kai core update will fix it (and bring back save states, that would be nice)
 

BabaJeanmel

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Progress report:

- Almost reached 50% for Lakers 2. I've got my hands a bit full with IRL stuff atm (moved to a new house with my family, lots of stuff to do...) so don't expect a release before the last quarter of 2022. Good news is that the first half of the game is already being playtested/grammar checked.

- I'm not planning to do a full Lakers 3 translation. If we get to crack the engine, I might enhance the menu patch a bit (there is a lack of space in a couple menus, and lots of graphical elements in the main battle UI), but the VN part is huge and not really interesting compared to proper date sims like Dokyuusei or Pia Carrot, so...

- On the other side, making a full english patch for Dante would be nice. But that would require some extensive hacking I'm not capable to do on my own (uncompressing the text, redirect some engine calls triggered by specific characters... not a small job)

- DK3 is not abandonned, but I clearly moved it to "low priority" for the moment.

- A maintenance update will occur for Yu-No and Lakers 1, based on some feedback I got. I'll try to release these (minor) revisions next month. Thanks to everyone who reported these errors to me (don't hesitate if you find some more!)
 
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BabaJeanmel

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Hit the 60% milestone for Lakers 2. Here are a few screens of the current progress.

FWG_If6UcAIl0_g.png
FXvCF4VVEAAN0hz.png
FaJa253WAAIDLFj.png
NP2_0000.png


This will be my last big project for some time. Once it's finished, I will take a sabbatical year (apart for the ocasional maintenance patch here and there, or maybe a couple small-scale projects such as Disc Station or doujin games).

So that means I'm dropping Dragon Knight 3 for the moment. If anyone wants to do it, please feel free to do so (it's not like you need my permission after all, of course ^^)
 

ecto

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This is looking great! Thank you.
I can imagine how straining this is (I did some translations for a board game, and the scope was a lot less complex)

Maybe at some point the interest to start another project comes again. We will wait patiently until then. Thanks again for so many great new things to play with on the PC98. It's much appreciated!
 

BabaJeanmel

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It can be a bit tiresome at times, but I enjoy doing it. Plus it actually helps me improve both my japanese and my english. But it's very time-consuming, and I have less and less spare time these days... That's why I'd like to slow down a bit for the coming months.

As for new english-translated games for PC-98, a lot of nice projects are in the works by others than me ATM. You won't likely run out of good stuff to play anytime soon :)
 
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