Author
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Topic: Article on translation hacking (Read 1142 times)
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Neil
Romhacking.net Staff
Full Member
Gender: 
Posts: 223
Circuit Rider
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i've discovered that there are enough other 'neil mortensen's in the
world to fairly well hide my sekrit identity from google searching
potential bosses |
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Gideon Zhi
Full Member
Gender:
Posts: 241
Ruins Chaser
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I seem to recall DQ5 having one of the programmers' phone numbers in it. Neil can probably elaborate on that.
Monstania,
for what it's worth, had evidence of a fishing minigame that was
clipped from the final version. You can still access the various rods
by hacking the game's ram, but they don't do anything, as far as I'm
aware. |
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Eien Ni Hen
Full Member
Gender: 
Posts: 125
Ncha!
Location: Austin, TX
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You
mean... he had like REM coding statements which talked about such
things? I've never heard of that before, but that is fascinating. I
mean, that's probably one of the most interesting things I've heard in
a long while! Almost like hidden treasure for people to discover...
Care to elaborate? Have other games had this?
Oh
yeah, apparently lots of RPGs have this. Emerald Dragon had tons
of dialogue that never made it into the finished version. It even
had a programmer with his own harem. I hope Nightcrawler doesn't
mind me posting this, but here's the chunk in question:
我が、ハーレムにようこそ<kp>
Welcome to my harem.<kp>
私が、女体開発の赤沢です
私事で申し訳ないが、一言
言いたい‥‥‥<kp>
I'm Akasawa, Female Character Designer.
I'm sorry, but there's something I'd
like to say...<kp>
『あー、疲れた！』<kp>
"Man, I'm SO tired!"<kp>
だいたい、「だんな」といい、
「おやじ」といい、人のことを
変質者よばわりしやがって畜生<kp>
You call me "Master"
or "Grandpa," but don't
call me a pervert!<kp>
まっ、いいけどね。<kp>
But, whatever.<kp>
では、軽く自己紹介です<kp>
And now for a brief introduction.<kp>
名前
赤沢正雪<kp>
Name:
Akasawa Masayuki<kp>
住所 〒８６１−１１
熊本県菊池郡合志町豊岡
２０００−１２１１<kp>
Address:
P.O. Box 861-11
Kumamoto Prefecture
Kikuchigunkoushi City
2000-12111 Toyooka Block<kp>
好きなの
『赤ずきんチャチャ』<kp>
Favorite movie:
"Akazukin Chacha"<kp>
嫌いの
『ひじき』<kp>
Least favorite:
"Hijiki"<kp>
<clear bg 10>
I'll admit things like this are kind of neat, but this block really made me do a WTF the first time I saw it.
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Soon
the super karate monkey death car would park in my space. But Jimmy has
fancy plans... and pants to match. The monkey clown horrible karate
round and yummy like cute small baby chick would beat the donkey.
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Eien Ni Hen
Full Member
Gender:
Posts: 125
Ncha!
Location: Austin, TX
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I might as well throw in my two cents while I'm here. I've been a
translator in "the scene" for a couple years. I think I started
back in...um, maybe 2001, I guess. I mainly focus on the
translation part of translation hacking, so I'm not qualified to answer
some of these questions. Anyway...
2)
Is the motivation to create translation patches simply to allow people
to play games in their native language, or are there other reasons? Has
money ever been offered or supplied for a fan translation? Also, do
many people start projects and then grow disinterested over time, never
finishing them?
I've always done this because I get a giddy thrill out of someone playing a game with my
script. Arrogant, I know, but that's honestly how I feel.
Also, I just plain enjoy translating. Video games are unique to
translate because they're interactive, whereas manga, for example, is
just words on a page. Plus, they're good practice for any
up-and-coming translator. However, I've never done it for the
fame, and I can't imagine anyone who would. As far as I've seen,
ROM hacking and translating is a tough, thankless, non-paying
job. You really have to want to do it.
That being said,
there are a ton of projects that go unfinished because of lack of
interest. I've worked on several (Farland Symphony, Vagrants
Story, Tokimeki Memorial, Little Master 3) that have just sort of died
or disappeared. It sucks because I put some serious work into
each of the above games, but that's just sort of an understood risk
with "the scene." People have real life stuff that comes up, and
real life almost always takes precedence over hobbies, unfortunately.
7)
Can you give me some idea of how long it takes to create a final patch?
Perhaps give examples where it’s been done quickly, and where it’s
taken a long time.
I'm going to echo what everyone else said
here. It can take anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple
years. For instance, Miracle Girls (a little platform game) took
me maybe 2 weeks on and off to translate, while Emerald Dragon (an RPG)
has taken me about a year. And the hacking aspect alone can add
months onto a project.
12)
Many people say they dislike emulation, “except when it’s to play
translated games”. Does the community feel that the act of creating
translations, in some ways legitimises ROMs, emulation, and dare I say
it, “piracy”? Is this a concern for people?
I would say that
most of the people in our community echo the sentiment of "If you like
the game, support it by buying it!" I myself don't see a problem
with ROMs, especially those of dead systems. I've gotten exposure
to a lot of different, obscure games thanks to the healing power of
emulation. As for ROM translations, I've always asserted that fan
translation of any sort is a good thing. It allows people access
to things they wouldn't get otherwise and is unfettered by censorship
and needless editing. You know, piracy is such a buzz word these
days. Obviously it's become more common, but I think some
companies treat it like the gaming industry boogie man. A great
example is Nintendo's official stance on ROMs
as seen on their website. And yet, as far as I know, only maybe 2
or 3 projects have gotten slapped with C&D orders. I don't
support piracy, but I don't think it's going to bring the downfall of
the gaming industry any time soon. I'll step down off my soapbox
now. 
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Soon
the super karate monkey death car would park in my space. But Jimmy has
fancy plans... and pants to match. The monkey clown horrible karate
round and yummy like cute small baby chick would beat the donkey.
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KingMike
Full Member
Posts: 231
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Magna Braban (an obscure SNES RPG) had chunks of dialouge that I don't
believe were used (no missing scenes, but just extra text in existing
scenes). Also some text that was probably for menus (there must've been
some sort of item-storage feature. And also I think the priests
originally would clear status ailments as well as saving the game.
Whereas in the final version, I think all status is cured after a
battle.)
Another project that was translated about 5 years ago, still sitting while I study programming.
And
there was also Equinox (an SNES action-puzzle-RPG). Found what seemed
to be a whole plotline that went unused (to my knowledge, but this game
would pwn me after a few levels, so I can't say for absolute sure). |
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Neil
Romhacking.net Staff
Full Member
Gender:
Posts: 223
Circuit Rider
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there were debug menus in dq5 (inaccessaible I do believe. i don't
think the code for them was still around). there are also a SHITLOAD of
unimplemented skills and stuff in dq6 as well as a debug room (which is
accessible through a little bit of saveram hacking...) |
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