Hacking NeoGamma + Japanese F-Zero GX + USA Wii = English w/ missing text, menu, etc

[koohiisan]

I'm trying to boot my retail disc of F-Zero GX using NeoGamma 9 on my USA Wii via HBC.

I've installed cIOS 249 (v 56) and 250 (v 57) using the d2x cIOS installer.

F-Zero GX *boots*...but...the only logo I see on boot is the Sega/Nintendo logo...the AV logo is missing and just a black screen appears. After that, I get a YES/NO prompt (which should be in Japanese but isn't). I don't have a memory card in, so it's asking if I know that...then a blank prompt which I have to hit a button to pass (I can hear the sound effect so I know it's a prompt). After all that goofiness the regular racing demo plays, but without *ANY* of the text including the game logo...it's just the demo, or the video of Deathborn and Black Shadow if I let it keep playing.

If I hit start I see the scrolling F-Zero GX menu background, but *NO* menu items...only the text ticker at the bottom shows. Going into Grand Prix (for instance) results in still missing menus, although I can see vehicles and the track info without all the rest of the graphics.

I can start the race...but...clearly the game is not loading properly and instead being forced into English mode, which may be responsible for why it's missing the graphical items(?).

My goal is to boot the game in Japanese on my USA Wii and it look correct. PLUS, I'm using NeoGamma instead of Gecko because I want to apply the codes to access F-Zero AX mode. As it stands, I'm booting it into a glitched English mode and it's still GX, not AX.

What do I need to do to get this to boot properly? Ideas? (I can live without AX mode, I just want it to boot right!)

Thanks!!

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Well, it sounds like it's reading the language setting, and trying to use English, but the graphical assets for English have been removed from the Japanese disc.
You don't need NeoGamma to boot retail discs by the way - you can just use Gecko OS.
Is there a reason you need to use the japanese version? Since you have a softmodded Wii you could download (yarrr) the USA version.
NeoGamma should have a language setting for games, but I don't know if this applies to GC games. You can try changing it to Disc Default (or the equivalent) however and it might work correctly.

 

[koohiisan]

Thanks for your idea, I'm kinda partial to the Japanese version since I have logged a gazillion hours on it on my self-modded USA/JPN GameCube, so I was hoping to get it working on my Wii and use my save data. But, the missing assets made me a little concerned about letting it use my precious memory card.

I tried Gecko OS, and it always had similar results, although I'll revisit it again to see if I can force Japanese language there. The main reason I went to NeoGamma instead was for the sake of using GC codes, which aren't supported in Gecko OS.

I saw the language setting in NeoGamma, but maybe that's just for the Wii System Menu and not for GC games as you said. I'll play with the settings in NG/GOS and see if I can get anything to work. Thanks! Let me know if you come up with any additional ideas!

 

[koohiisan]

Well, here's what I've tried again just now:

Gecko OS (older version) rebooter with language set to Japanese and region free - fails with error about not finding menu.

NeoGamma 9 b56 rebooter setting of Japanese and region free - can't read disc on Disc Channel.
w/ Force cIOS option (FWIW) - same behavior.

WiiLoader w/ Japanese and region free = *ACTUALLY* reboots into region free mode which allows me to play the GC F-Zero GX disc from the System Menu Disc Channel...but it's still missing the assets and the only Japanese text is in the 'do you want progressive scan mode' menu. After that it goes back to English mode.

 

[Lumstar]

It's prototype content. The translation still has awkward grammar in places.
You can use an Action Replay code to force the game to display Japanese. At least on GC.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/8846

See... Devices like modchips or freeloader do not change the console's region. On US GC means JP games get run under English.

Main result of that is invisible to average users: memory card format stays US.
So saved data may only be (without 3rd party tools) copied to a US memory card, or read by US consoles.

But some games get compatibility issues. Corrupt text most often, even some Wii ones like Haruhi.
A few GC games have save related trouble.

US/JPN language switching was an NTSC GC devkit feature. Not intended for public use.
Nonetheless games left in the ability. Also notable are Star Fox Adventures (US/JPN) and Xenoblade Chronicles (US/PAL).

 

[koohiisan]

Nice find! I added those codes and...nothing. :/

Then I read that I might need to patch the MIOS in order to get GC AR support working. So, I patched v10 of MIOS and...

Voila! The screen which was English YES/NO and no text or border before is now visible!

After that, it actually continues and gives me the F-Zero AX title screen! Whoohoo!

But then it says "You've got explanation!" and promptly dies with a black screen. :/ But, that's an issue with the codes, *NOT* the loading of GC games. Thanks to your assistance it looks like that works as expected. I turned off the AX v4 code and it booted just fine into GX mode and I was able to do everything (except still not tried memory card).

So, to properly set region and avoid the extra codes...do I need to use something like AnyRegion Changer?

 

[koohiisan]

BTW, for those who also might find this page looking for how to get AX working with the Japanese game on English Wii, v2 of the F-Zero AX code did get me to the AX mode, but the title screen still says GX (that's a change not present in the v2 code). I'll try to get in touch with the person responsible for porting the codes to the Japanese version and see if it can be made compatible with the later versions of the AX code!

The track countdown time is present and seems to work as expected and as it would in the arcade as well!

Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[koohiisan]

FWIW, I found a page with all of the Japanese F-Zero AX in GX codes...everything! Enjoy!

http://board.gscentral.org/showthread.php?t=65303

Thanks again for everything!