Messages

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: The Legend of Xanadu Dub Project - Auditions Wanted]

Sorry folks, we've been quiet for a long time.

The dub is moving forwards, but at a glacially slow pace.

SamIAm gets very little time to work on it now that he's the father of a young child. That's just Real Life (tm) getting in the way of hobbies, no matter how much we both want to get this all finished and released.

If you're a parent, then you know that's just how it's got to be.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Anearth Fantasy Stories - Translation Development Blog]

Interested in any outside help at this stage? I'm a kind of knower of Japanese. (Don't really know where to place my level.)

Thanks for the kind offer, but I'd really prefer to wait for SamIAm to have the time to work on it.

It's not just a question of translating the words themselves, it's a question of making the translated language sound good to read on the page, and giving the characters their own personalities with your choice of words.

I know that SamIAm has both the translating, and story-telling skills to do that.

You have no idea just how much time we spent on the LoX translations/scripts tweaking the lines to try to give each character their own "voice".

I don't know how well we succeeded ... but I don't really want to approach Anearth with any less care and attention.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Galads Game Dev Thread]

I gave you a working version of Squirrel that had been modified for the new HuC nearly a year ago.

Yea, kinda.   You changed register names, and I *think*(?) maybe made it so only vsync based timers worked with Squirrel.    It's been awhile since I looked since I don't use your HuC.   Maybe this isn't the case.

Anyway, you're the one that broke the semantic versioning concept with your changes.   Should've called it HuC 4, lol. 

Don't put the onus on us to update something that you rendered not working.   Go ahead and give out/post your patched up version.   Just make sure you explain the who/what/when/where/why of it.

Actually, Uli Hecht was the guy that changed the zero-page parameter names for the assembly variables, in order to stop them from conflicting with regular C variable names.

It was one of his many, many improvements to HuC.

I just changed his variable names again to make them consistent with the standard C naming convention for internal variables.


You are right, it would have been rude for me to have expected you to make lots of changes to Squirrel in order to have it work with the new HuC.

So, I didn't.

Instead, I took the time to look at Squirrel, and made a bunch of small modifications to it so that the same code would work with both the old and new versions of HuC.

Then I gave the changes to you, and asked you to make the single-character change to your proprietary, closed-source Squirrel MML converter tool, that would make the whole package releasable for folks that wanted to use the same version of Squirrel interchangeably with both the old and new versions of HuC.


Since, a year later on, you have indicated that you don't wish to do that, and have now given me permission to openly distribute the modified version of Squirrel, then I can just write a small filter program to change the output of the Squirrel MML converter so that it will work.

If someone really wants to use Squirrel with the new version of HuC, then I will have a reason to do that.

That's where you're likely going to get into the whole "open source/licensing/omfg what now" hoojoo, but it's like, this is shit about 6.5 people are using in the grand scheme of things.

Huh??? Where did this come from???

We settled the whole Squirrel/Open-Source question a couple of years back, and I totally respect your wish to keep your code private and closed-source.

I don't particularly like it, but I do totally respect it ... it's your code to do with as you wish.


But it's that decision, plus the appearance of all of michirin9801's wonderful PCE DefleMask tunes, that spurred the creation of Huzak.

As you and others repeatedly point out, MML is so 1980s, nobody is going to use it, and Deflemask+your new sound engine will stop judgment day, so what's the point anyways?   

DefleMask+Huzak definitely won't "stop judgment day", but they will certainly give PCE musicians and developers an alternative to Squirrel.

Are you trying to discourage developers/musicians from using Squirrel, if they wish to use the new version of HuC?

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Graphic, Sound, & Coding Tips / Tricks / Effects / Etc. Tools for development]

I am trying my hand at some beginner programming to create some tools for myself for making art, and am having trouble finding the latest version of HuC. The public facing links seem super old, and one Elmer hooked us up with a couple years ago is dead too (a dropbox link, I think he hosted it there personally).

I've always put the link to my latest build of HuC in the "The new fork of HuC" thread,  and a link to the post is included (with a whole bunch of other stuff) at the top of the stickied "TED v2 Programming Notes" thread.

https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=20120.msg436168#msg436168

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Finally started programming a small game]

Welp, there goes using Squirrel/MML, lol.

Why?

I gave you a working version of Squirrel that had been modified for the new HuC nearly a year ago.

I've given out "pre-release" copies of the working code to anyone that's asked for it in the meantime, while waiting for you guys at Aetherbyte to get off your behinds.

Squirrel works fine with the latest version of HuC.

DefleMask is going to be a much better option for most folks, though.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Anearth Fantasy Stories - Translation Development Blog]

How far along would you guys say this project is?

It's been quite a few months since I even looked at it.

The main game and battle sections have been investigated and I know how to hack in the translations for them. The only section left to investigate is the one that displays the static picture and scrolling text when you hit 7 years old (or something like that).

However ... SamIAm doesn't have the time to even look at doing the translation until after the LoX dubs are finished, and so there's been no pressure on me to move things further forward.

Sadly, we're at the "don't hold your breath" stage.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: [CC65][linker][help] How can I configure CC65's linker to build PCE roms > 8k]

Is the compiler/assembler actually referencing ZP as word addresses each time?  :/

If a label is tagged as a ZP label, then (IIRC) it will usually use ZP addressing ... except inside procedures, when all the rules change because nested label space handling is horribly broken in CA65.

BUT ... any label in $00xx range is automatically addressed as ZP if possible, and anything in our $20xx range is word-addressed.

I proposed a couple of quick-hack workarounds ... but they would still break in nested label spaces.

CA65 needs some serious work ... and the current maintainers are treating the source code like the Holy Grail.

Another reason for me to mess with HuC ... it *can* be messed with, and the only reason that its code sometimes sucks vs CC65, is because of specific CC65 peephole optimizations that could (not trivially, but with some work) be applied to HuC.

Both compilers are based off of Ron Cain's original Small C.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: [CC65][linker][help] How can I configure CC65's linker to build PCE roms > 8k]

For targets with the 6502 CPU (and derivaties) I am using CC65.

For the PCEngine I have not been able to get it to build any rom bigger than 8k.
Currently I can get a working build if I use 8k in $E000-$FFFF.

Could someone please help me on this?

See here ...

https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=18654.msg448587#msg448587

But, after further investigation ...

I *really* don't recommend using CC65 on the PCE at this point, because the compiler and assembler really don't like that our PCE's HuC6280 processor has zero page at $2000 instead of $0000.

Also, their PCE library support was woeful the last time I looked.

They've been mulling-over how to fix CA65 for nearly 9 months now, and the trail has gone dead.


That's why I started putting so much effort into fixing up and improving HuC instead.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Anearth Fantasy Stories - Translation Development Blog]

I mean, we know there's a whole FOUR giant pages of posts, here, but if you're genuinely interested in the project you should read those 4 pages before posting. That way we don't get a bunch of posts saying, "I'd prefer subs over dubs, please!" when it's been made clear subs are too daunting a technical challenge and don't align with the goals of the project.

You might want to read those 4 pages again. I don't think that I said what you think that I said. 

According to elmer though: "Every scene that is voiced also has a message box with the text of the speech inside it."

Correct! 

Anearth will have subs instead of dubs, because all spoken text is already subtitled in the game, and the subs can be (fairly) easily replaced with English. Timing the text against the original Japanese voice will be a bit of a PITA, but there's no on-screen animation to sync to.

Some crazy lunatic can come along and do a dub patch later on for the voice if they want to. 


The LoX games, OTOH, have no sane way to sub the cutscenes, and dubbing is the only way to tell the story properly. The only reason that we have a chance of dubbbing the LoX games competently is because Falcom released the entire backing tracks to both games on CD so that we can mix in our own voice recordings onto the original music.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: TED v2 Programming Notes]

it happens just passed the cutscenes as the adPCM audio starts to play and the main character gets out of bed.

Thanks!

The problem actually happens MUCH earlier in the game's boot process when it looks like the game is doing some half-assed check for some kind of Hudson development kit, and then it enables some debugging code.

Having the System Card image in the TED v2's RAM triggers a nasty bug in that code which blows up the game when the ADPCM plays.

I've got a simple one-byte patch to the CD game to make it work ... but it'll take a bit longer
(if ever) to figure out how to safely auto-patch the game itself from my TED-patched System Card image.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: TED v2 Programming Notes]

Well after all my testing I never thought it could be the game I was using. I was testing Dragon Slayer II. For whatever reason this game crashes on the first game screen that has ADPCM audio with every system I've tested it on. So there is some bug with this game and the patched file working correctly. Anyone else else stumble across any other games it won't work with?

Hmmmm ... that's really good to know!

There is definitely a potential issue with the patched system card on the TED v2, in that the HuCard ROM is actually in writable RAM instead of ROM.

The patch already has one bug-fix in it to deal with Gate of Thunder erroneously writing to ROM area ... but that was the only game that I knew of that did that.

Perhaps you've found a 2nd game that needs a fix. I'll have to take a look at that.

Is the crash during the 1st ADPCM that's in the castle, or is it in the 1st cutscene when you start the game?

Thanks for the report and the confirmation that other games work!

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Graphic, Sound, & Coding Tips / Tricks / Effects / Etc. Tools for development]

Does it still generate noise when changing waveforms as is normal with the standard Hu6280?

Unless touko has come up with some brand-new way to reload the channel's waveform buffer that doesn't involve turning the channel off for 250 cycles, then "yes", it'll still generate noise/distortion on a standard Hu6280.

I tested the technique with michirin9801 last-year/this-year and abandoned it myself for use on a regular PCE (not an SGX).

But perhaps touko is doing something really clever to reload the waveform data that avoids turning the channel off.

touko: Would you mind sharing your code for reloading the waveform?


P.S. I tried switching the channel to high-speed (6 cycles-per-sample) and then loading the waveform buffer without turning the channel off ... but that introduced another unpleasant distortion.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: The Legend of Xanadu Dub Project - Auditions Wanted]

And not is posible , out one version, only subs, and in future dub version?.

I'm not sure that we're using the same language here. In my head, "subs" refer to subtitles ... i.e. adding subtitles to the cutscenes.

We cannot technically do that in the LoX games and run on a regular PCE.

Dubbing is our only choice to have the games run on a normal console.


The translated-games themselves have been basically-finished for nearly a year now, and could be released in a week or two (maybe a month or two with a full beta-test cycle).

Both SamIAm and I have complete toolsets for patching the games from the original CDs, and he has my complete source code for the toolsets.

If one of us got run over by a bus, the translated games could still be released.

I don't see much danger in these translations totally disappearing. The worst that would happen is that they'd be released with the original Japanese cutscenes, and SamIAm's very-professional-looking dub script.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: The Legend of Xanadu Dub Project - Auditions Wanted]

How goes the dub guys?

It keeps on moving forwards ... but at a very slow speed. 

Both SamIAm and I have been distracted with Real Life (tm), as have a lot of the cast.

But, on the positive side, SamIAm has sent the core cast some early mixes of a number of the LoX1 scenes so that they can hear very-roughly what things are going to sound like. 

They clearly point out to me that I'm going to have to do a *LOT* of messing around with the timing of the visuals in order to make each scene sound natural and not like it was assembled from a bunch of separately-recorded cuts (which it is, of-course, being assembled from). 

To my great sadness, there's not a hope-in-heck that the dub will be done and released this year.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: TED v2 Programming Notes]

When pressing 'RUN' within the patched cd system bios, the 'WAIT A MOMENT' status stays for a lot longer than on a proper system v2.1 card, and then proceeds to a black screen, but never progresses past there.

Sorry, I've been busy dealing with my personal life for the last week+.

IIRC, the TED that I got on last-year's Black Friday was a 2.5, and I have the rest of the equipment.

I can test it here and try to reproduce the problem ... but I can't see why Krikzz would change the FPGA's register settings with 2.5.

It *could* possibly be something to do with voltage regulation and bus-loading on your particular hardware.

Do you know if the capacitors have been replaced on your system?

What are the specs on the 3rd-party PSU?

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Nantettatte Engine: A PC Engine Birthday present for you and yours.]

In honor of the PC Engine's upcoming birthday, we present to you: Nantettatte Engine.

Woo hoo, thanks! 

Glad to see that you've not totally-abandoned the PCE for that measly MSX. 

By the way, what does Nantettatte mean?

Isn't it obvious???

"Nan tête-à-tête" is clearly Arkhan's mispronounced declaration of his secret habit of getting advice on his love life from his Grandmother. 

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Huzak - Yet another music driver]

By the way any news on a possible release before Christmas ?

Nope, no real news.

I'm not able to do much to help SamIAm with the LoX dubs, so I really should get back to it.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: PC-FX GA Brand New]

Can you rip and run commercial games from HDD?  Probably not, but I bet any home brew games would feel pretty snappy compared to if you burnt 'em to disc.

If you've got a compatible sound card in your PC-98, GMAKER PLUS comes with a program that lets you create and use a CD Image on your HDD, but I've not used it.

The programs that run the board are all DOS based, and that limits you to 2GB FAT16 partitions, so you're not going to store lots of CD images on your HDD.

This video is really interesting. So are the programs he's loading at the end (which he said were DOS based) using that 3D acceleration that is only found on the card version of the FX?

You've got to reboot into DOS to run the board, but it includes a couple of graphics utilities that run in Win95 (16-bit Windows).

You can see him trying to run a couple of example programs that load data into the PC-FXGA's RAM and run from there.

Here's the fighting game funning properly ...

The other stuff, where you see him running "mixplay" or any "*.mix" file, is just playing back pre-rendered video from the HDD.

How about:
B) Providing more cool information about that piece of hardware.

What do you want to know?

Search YouTube for "PC-FXGA" and you'll find a bunch of videos.

Just remember, there was never any real commercial development for the board, so everything is pretty half-assed.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: PC-FX GA Brand New]

So are there any advantages to playing FX games this way? Obviously the video could be slightly better since it would be RGB. Are there any other potential upgrades like access speed?

Nope, not that I can think of.

I don't remember any improvement in level loading speed when I was working on the Zeroigar translation, but a fast CD drive will definitely have a better seek time. I was a bit worried about that when we added the subtitles to the video, but SamIAm confirmed that we were OK on real hardware.

The PC-FXGA's video doesn't display on the PC-98's RGB monitor ... you need to plug a composite or s-video TV into the PC-FXGA board.

The board's main point of interest is that it contains the PC-FX's 3D hardware that never shipped for the original console.

But you needed to buy the extra-cost GMAKER or GMAKER PLUS packages in order to get the development software for the board. It's not included in the base package that the OP is selling.

I've never actually seen the retail packaging for that add-on software.

Luckily, someone posted the complete package on one of those sites that we can't mention here. 

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: PC-FX GA Brand New]

FFS Elmer, stop being a tool.

My second post, after I'd been accused of threadcrapping, was definitely a bit more dickish than I'm happy with, but there's nothing in my initial post that I have any problem with having said.


The OP was making a claim that was incorrect, and then posted a link to a video that contains a bunch of inaccurate statements.


But, apart from that, he posted a lot of really good pictures of what he's selling, and the price seems pretty reasonable.

That doesn't stop it from being a pretty $150 paperweight if you don't have a correctly-spec'd PC-9801.


This is a nice video of someone actually running a PC-FXGA in their PC-98 computer ...

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: PC-FX GA Brand New]

Maybe I incorrectly assumed I didn't have to explain what this is... Here of all places.

I don't think anyone here is a stranger to odd Japanese hardware.

Actually, not here everyone knows all the details of everything that NEC made, especially in the PC-FX realm.

If Esteban, with 23K posts is asking questions, then, perhaps, it's not a bad idea for me to clarify things, especially since you've not posted this in the "PC-FX Sales & Trades" section.

Sounds like it's not for you, but don't threadcrap calling it a paperweight.

Nope, it's definitely not for me.

I already own a PC-FXGA DOS/V ... and actually have it working, which it doesn't look like you ever did with your PC-FXGA PC-9800.

You're the guy that claims that what you're selling "Turn your PC-98 computer into a PCFX." and "This has the ability and software to create your own pcfx games.".

Errrr ... Nope.

It actually doesn't really (in practice) do either of those, and if you'd got it working, you'd know that.

But instead, everything looks sealed, and you're pointing to a video with an authority-figure that didn't get his working either.

For both of you, it's just a cool-looking conversation-starting shelf-candy paperweight.

So ... you need a late-generation Japanese NEC PC-9801, or a PC-9821 computer (not an IBM PC).

Unless you've got one of those, which are pretty darned expensive in the USA, it's just a big paper-weight.

If you can actually refute what I said, then please go ahead. I'd love to be corrected.

Please tell me how you've either got that PC-FXGA working to play games without a compatible PC-98xx system, or how you are getting cheap cheap 486+SCSI-CD NEC PC-98 systems imported from Japan into the USA.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: PC-FX GA Brand New]

Luke Morse does a great YouTube video on it :

It's a nice un-boxing video that shows the package contents, but he's not very accurate on the actual details, i.e. it really wasn't a popular board at all.

When I was looking a couple of years ago, they weren't that uncommon on Yahoo Japan, even in brand-new condition (IIRC there was a large stock of unsold units).

The specs on the box show the minimum specs for the PC-9801/PC-9821 computer that you plug it into, for a start.

So ... you need a late-generation Japanese NEC PC-9801, or a PC-9821 computer (not an IBM PC).

Unless you've got one of those, which are pretty darned expensive in the USA, it's just a big paper-weight.


The PC-FXGA DOS/V (green box) is the ISA-card version of the same thing that plugs into an old IBM PC-compatible (with approx the same specs).

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Henshin Engine Game for TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine]

Woo hoo, this is all great news! 

Congratulations on battling through the process of pulling everything together.

[PC-FX Discussion / Re: Street Fighter Zero 2, how well could the PCFX handle it?]

But what about the Game Boy/Colour and the Master System? I've read that their sprites can be either 8 or 16 pixels wide, and that the GB can display up to 10 sprites on the same scanline without flickering, whereas the SMS can do 8, if the sprites can be a full 16 pixels wide then that means the GB could cover the entire width of the screen with sprites, just like the 4th gen consoles, and the SMS could do twice the horizontal real estate that the NES could, but if they can only display 8 pixels wide sprites when using the maximum allowed amount on the same scanline, then I'm gonna have to re-think a few things and hold back on some spriting ideas...

I'm afraid that you're going to have to "hold back on some spriting ideas"! 

Those are 8-bit machines with 8-bit video hardware, so basically half the VRAM bandwidth for display (or less) ... and thus half the pixel data (or less).

The GB has 8x8 or 8x16 sprites, but that's 16 high, not wide. 10 sprites-per-line = 80 pixels per line for sprites, i.e. 1/2 a screen.

I've never developed for the SMS or the NES, but a few minutes googling says that they both support 8x8 and 8x16 sprites, with 8 sprites-per-line, i.e. 64 pixels-per-line, i.e. 1/4 screen (they're both older hardware designs than the GB).

[PC-FX Discussion / Re: Street Fighter Zero 2, how well could the PCFX handle it?]

Huh, that's something I never knew, I thought the PCE was capable of displaying 16 32px wide sprites on the same scanline...

Do you happen to know if other systems of the time also had this limitation? Like say, the Game Boy or the Mega Drive?

Nope, a 32-wide wide sprite counts as 2x16 pixel sprites on the PCE.

It's roughly the same "one screen width" pixels-per line graphics-processing limit on all of the 4th-generation machines.; i.e. the SNES loads 34 8x8 sprites (270 pixels), and the MegaDrive loads up to 20 16-wide sprites (320 pixels).

That's why your wish for Flame Zapper Kotsujin just isn't practically-achievable. It's also why the SuperGrafx is such a powerhouse for it's time.

It's not the dual backgrounds, since the other machines had those.

It's because it could display 32 sprites (512 pixels) per-line when no other 4th-gen home game-console could.

Note: I'm deliberately leaving out both the Neo Geo since it was expensive Arcade hardware, and also the X68000 since it was an expensive Home Computer ... and I'm biased!!! 

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: ISO: Neo Geo AES System]

OTOH ... jamma-nation-x goes by board revision which is significantly more helpful. At best, AES serials give you a vague indication of the board inside. At worst, it doesn't help at all.

Absolutely, a board-revision is a much more solid way of determining *why* a situation exists, and *how* to fix it. But it involves opening up the case and looking, which not-everyone is willing to do.

It also doesn't rectify the issue that the jamma-nation-x site doesn't show any before-n-after screenshots, and just asks you to bow to their wisdom.

That wisdom might well be rock-solid, but I wish that they'd actually backed it up with decent screenshots.

It sounds like the AES is a piece of shit.

Yeah, I've been dumb and just plugged the darned thing in and enjoyed the games. Stupid me! 

I didn't realize that the games would have played better or been more fun if only I'd had a different board revision, or had swapped out my capacitors! 

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: ISO: Neo Geo AES System]

That nfggames article is older than dirt and extremely out of date.

OTOH ... he actually has pictures, and his pictures show what-I-would-call over-saturation on the later models, but that's just a personal preference.

http://www.jamma-nation-x.com/jammax/tutorials.html

NeoGeo > AES > RGB Ratings for AES

Now although the 3-6 gets a B-, it's for stock RGB quality. Make that trace cut fix and the RGB is A quality

That guide makes it look like they *all* need modifying, with either trace cuts or recapping, and it seems to imply that they're *all* A-rated after the different fixes.

Do you have any info that shows that rev 3-6 is better than any of the others after the "fix" on that site?


Either way, this really reminds me that I should probably sell my AES some day soon (CIB US version, 16xxx serial number). Especially since the ASO 2 & Viewpoint carts that I have, have hit crazy pricing at this point. 

[General Gaming / Re: RetroBlox : Another new Play-Everything "Retro" Console]

Yarr, the site's working for me now, but it might as well be dead.

Yep, it looks like they paid the overdue bill. 

There's still fuck all for updates.

Since they claimed that they got enough private funding to finish off system, I expect that the "fans" (whoever they are) are all irrelevant now, and that we won't hear much from Nulltard's peeps until they are either close to production-ready, or they burn through the cash.


You can look to the Saber Rider guys for what it looks like when a team is close to "burning through the cash", i.e. nothing to show for months followed by the announcement of a new "partner" (with cash to inject), and an expansion of the goals so that the new partner can believe that their investment will be rewarded.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Gai Flame/Guyframe - translation patch, beta version]

Thanks! 

It's really great to see other folks working on translations.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: The Legend of Xanadu Dub Project - Auditions Wanted]

Didn't you say something along the lines of not wanting to alter the original game's vision or something like that? Or at least, wanting to alter as little as possible...

Yep, and that's why the change almost-certainly won't be made, even if the voice sounds a little bit younger than the original.

I imagine that SamIAm would have an honest-to-goodness heart-attack if I actually went ahead and changed the hair-color!

A little arrow on the menu or a slightly better-looking map screen is one thing, but changing one of the characters is going a little too far I'd say...

OTOH ... to play Devil's Advocate ...

He never says that he's Areios's Grandpa, Areios never refers to him as Grandpa, nor even ever mentions that he has any living relatives.

We have no idea at all what his actual age is. Heck, we don't even know what Areios's age is!!!

Nothing in what "Grandpa" says is specific to him being a close family-member.

It's a matter of absolute irrelevance.

What "vision" is there in his hair being whitish-pink instead of brownish-pink? What difference would it make?

Would Star Wars be a different story if Uncle Owen's hair was blonde instead of brown?

Sorry, I don't wanna impose my opinion or anything, but it's just something I felt was worth saying...
Keep it up!

You absolutely weren't imposing your opinion, and it was worth saying.

I've tried the hair color change, and I actually think that it looks damned good.

But, as-you-say, it feels like a step-too-far, just like some of the other things that we've tried-and-rejected.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: PC Engine Briefcase and CD Rom 2 Issue]

So there isn't a bios patch for the V1 everdrive available for it to make it okay to leave it inserted?

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it too much on a TED v1, because the fix (i.e. removal) probably causes as many long-term problems as the bus-fighting.

What we're trying to avoid is having two devices (the DUO's RAM and the TED) driving the PCE's data bus at the same time.

The problem is likely more severe on the TED v2 which uses onboard 3.3V RAM (and doesn't clear it) together with level-shifters. That combination is pretty-much-guaranteed to fight with the PCE, and a lot of them are extra-thick cards which are much more likely to damage the PCE's HuCard connector over time.

Luckily, it's easy to fix by using the modified BIOS.

The TED v1's circuitry is much simpler (just an overdriven 3.3V flash chip IIRC).

There's less to damage, and I *believe* that Krikzz actually wipes the entire flash (leaving $FF) before programming the new HuCard image, which will avoid the worst of the bus-fighting.

It's still a problem that a good designer would not allow in their design, but AFAIK it's much less likely to damage the PCE.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: PC Engine Briefcase and CD Rom 2 Issue]

Depends what version of the everdrive you are using.  If you are using version 2 then it should work.  Just load the bios and the game should load.

Nope ... not on a briefcase.

You need to use my modified system card image in order to enable the RAM on the TED v2.

It does not work and can damage your hardware!

elmer made a custom version of the 3.0 system card that will work on a TED v2 without harming your console.

It's only the SuperCDROM and DUO machines that will have the potentially-damaging bus-fighting when using an unmodified System Card 3 image on a TED (v1 or V2).

A briefcase or TurboGrafx should be OK (AFAIK), but just not work (because the 240KB of System Card 3 RAM isn't present).


The OP can find the modified System Card 3 images for the TED v2 (that works safely on ALL PCE/TG hardware) here ...

https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=20120.msg436168#msg436168

Ok ive checked my TED and its version 1.2 that's probably explains why the system 3 bios isn't working

Sorry, you'll either need a TED v2, or a real System Card 3, or even an Arcade Card Pro.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: The Legend of Xanadu Dub Project - Auditions Wanted]

Just curious to know if there are any updates worth sharing.

Yep ... Burning Man was awesome again this year, but bloody hot (record temperatures, I believe)! 

Gonna be that guy again but how has the dub been coming along?

After losing all of August and the first two weeks of September to my little trip, I'm trying to catch up with the world and find that out myself.

It looks like things have really slowed down during the last couple of months with the cast's Summer commitments getting in the way.

On top of that, it looks like poor SamIAm's time has been severely restricted due to the realities of life with a wife and a very young child.

I've had to manage developers in his situation before, and I'm not-at-all surprised that he's had far less free time than he used to enjoy as the bachelor that he was when we started translating games.


Now that my time is open again, I'll be looking to add whatever help I can in getting this all pulled together.

Was a voice for Areios's Grandfather ever decided on?

I think that we'll be going with the gentleman who has already recorded an excellent performance of the lines for us.

His voice is a little bit younger than we'd like to have as the ancient Grandfather figure, but there's no problem in changing one palette color in the intro graphic a little and making the picture of him look a tiny bit younger.

There's never any mention made in the game that the character really is Areios's Grandfather, and it's not important to the story (it's the only time that you see him), so I have no problem with him being Areios's Dad or even a Village Elder.

Having said which ... if we somehow run across an actor with an old voice, then it would be nice to keep the same audible-age as the original Japanese actor.

What Elmer and Sam are pulling of here can be compared to only to Working Designs Arc the Lad collection or Growlanser Generations.

The dub is a huge amount of work, and honestly, I'd really recommend that translations avoid doing one, if possible, it's just too big a commitment unless the leads involved can dedicate almost-fulltime work to it.

I'm absolutely amazed at what Burnt Lasagna and his Ys IV dub team achieved!   

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine / TurboGrafx 16 CDRom ?]

It is actually possible to use a CDR-35D-01 with a TurboGrafx or PC-Engine, but it requires swapping the drive controller IC (marked D78C14GF) since the drives use different firmware.

Now that's an obscure and fascinating piece of knowledge! 

I wonder how-on-earth that was discovered. 

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Henshin Engine Game for TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine]

Yup, the reveal of the complete game will be on August 11th... just ten days from now. Obviously we will have to have it finished before then... the 9th is the last day I'll be able to do anything for it here so it has to be done by then, as I'll be traveling to Phoenix on the 10th with the final build in hand.

Best wishes for the big reveal/launch at the Game-On expo this weekend! I hope that you guys will be posting photos.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Xanadu II Translation Development Blog]

Going with the blue background and white letters led them to use the complimentary Orange against the background to make anything they wanted to stand out do so.   

So the question becomes to me what is it that you and sam want the arrow to do.  stand back in the background as a reminder or is it to be a more obvious marker to the player to another screen.  there are merits to both.  As you want the player to be able to find it, but you also don't need attention called to every time after they know it's there.

I'm going to lean towards the Orange based both on its location on the screen and the fact that it donates an action the player can take.  and it just feels more intuitive to the design, almost like I don't have to think about it being an arrow, in the same way, you don't think hey there is a stop sign you just instantly stop.  that being said I find the white also appropriate and could be swayed perhaps to change my stance.

I think that's an excellent summary of the situation and the choices! 

I think it should be white because it's just a little hint that there's more to the menu.  You can play the entire game and never need to access the inventory, so a glaring orange billboard seems a bit much.

And this is basically the argument for using the white arrow.

It's the smallest change that we can make that *might* give the player a clue that there's more to see if they press right on the joypad when they're at the edge of that part of the menu.

In that case, while I like the look of the white arrow better, I'd say go for the orange one because, as it was said by more than one people before, it can't be missed, but not only that, there's already another orange arrow elsewhere on the screen, having this particular arrow also be orange would make the UI look more consistent you know what I mean?

And this is the argument for using the orange arrow.

Falcom are using the color white for "status/information/deselected", and orange for "current-selection/selected/press-this".

They are already using the same orange arrow on the switch that changes between the ICON and CFG buttons (i.e. the menu changes when you press that button).

So an orange arrow already has a defined meaning in Falcom's UI design, and putting another orange arrow on the border is consistent usage.


A white arrow is never used anywhere else in the game to signify anything. It has no defined meaning. But perhaps you could consider the white "deselected" buttons as giving enough of a clue.


I do understand the idea of making the smallest *visible* change in order to give the player a clue, especially when, as Necromancer says, you can play through the whole game without ever going to the Inventory screen.

The problem is (from my POV), that a white arrow is actually a *bigger* change to Falcom's UI, because it has no meaning, and doesn't fit in with their design scheme, wheras the orange arrow looks like it could have been a part of the original screen.


At the end of the day, I don't think that it really matters which color we use; but I strongly favor consistency in meaning and operation, and so lean towards the orange arrow. It's just (IMHO) clearer what it means.

And now that I've said that ... the white arrow is what is currently implemented in the game! 

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Xanadu II Translation Development Blog]

Is an Orange arrow with a white surround possible?

Hahaha ... good try! 

Nope, there aren't enough pixels.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Xanadu II Translation Development Blog]

Folks ...

1) Blinking isn't technically possible.

2) For gawd's sake, that would be lousy UI design! You're thinking of a modern UI with a mouse ... game UI designs with a joypad only flash/pulse/blink the current selection, especially in the mid 1990s when this game was made. Whatever happens, the color chosen has to fit in with the existing game, you can't go crazy!

So ... solid white or solid orange.

Nobody has yet actually advanced an argument as to how their choice would fit in with the existing color choices of the other on-screen elements, or why that color choice is preferable to the other.

C'mon folks ... this is an essay question, and not a multiple-choice! 


<edit>

In any translation project (or development project) that involves more than one person, there will eventually be a disagreement on some issue or another. How the people involved resolve that issue is going to be a great factor in determining how well they work together, and whether they will continue to work together.

So ... it's import that you can make an argument for the things that you believe in, and that you also know when you *don't* believe in something strongly enough to argue about it.

If you haven't noticed, SamIAm and I don't always agree on stuff. But we have managed to form a relationship where we can disagree, have a logical argument, and then come to a consensus and move on.

The color choice here is an example of something where you guys can consider a fairly small design/translation choice, and then figure out how you'd argue with your partner to put forward your personal preference.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Xanadu II Translation Development Blog]

Hahaha ... yep, that Inventory screen is pretty hidden. I only found out about it when I accidentally pressed "right" when the cursor was at the edge of one of the upper boxes.

That's pretty poor UI design on Falcom's part, and there really should be an arrow icon on the border of the box.

And so, now there is an arrow! 

But the next question comes, what color should the arrow be?

There are 2 potential choices in Falcom's color palette ... white, or orange.

SamIAm and I look at these screens, and have pretty-much the same reasoning for our personal preference ... but then come to opposite conclusions.

So, just for fun ... what do you guys think, and more importantly, can you justify/explain your preference in relation to Falcom's other use of colors on the screen? 

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Xanadu II Translation Development Blog]

Whens the expected release date? Christmas?

I have no idea.

Recording has been going a lot slower than we'd hoped, and we temporarily lost a couple of actors to summer vacations.

Good post-production and lip-sync will take time after all of the recordings are done.

Then there's final-testing to catch typos or mistakes that we've made.

I'll be really, really sad if we miss this year but, at this point, I just can't be sure.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Visual PCE Music Player V3 Update]

Excellent, thanks! 

I remember seeing the music player on your video about how developers made their music. It looks like a brilliant tool for aspiring musicians who want to learn how the PCE masters made their music.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Xanadu II Translation Development Blog]

That smiley could mean a lot of things...

.
.
.

or just nothing. It would be very cool of them if they were actually interested in, and looking forward to, the translation.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Xanadu II Translation Development Blog]

Falcom just posted this old artwork from Xanadu on twitter.

As NightWolve kindly pointed out at the time, they posted it back in March as well ...

《懐かしのイメージイラストその二十三》1993年 「風の伝説ザナドゥ」PC-E CDR版 ARPG
熟練度：武器や防具に熟練度と呼ばれるパラメーター設定。熟練度が上がると武器や防具が強化され、武器は敵を攻撃した分だけ、防具はダメージを受けた分だけ熟練度が上昇する。 pic.twitter.com/jpZsbl3XFg

— 日本ファルコム (@nihonfalcom) March 27, 2017

They must really like that picture ... I know that I certainly do!

I like the comment from the person that saw that picture BITD and thought the game was about the girl in the middle, Sophia (which, in a way, it kinda is).

Maybe they are doing an English conversion or anticipating this release......

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Huzak - Yet another music driver]

No problem! I'm busy myself at the moment.

This month is going to be lost to "vacation" preparations, so I'm not going to get much more PCE-stuff done until September.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Off the Wall... released !?!]

https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=22492.0

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Anearth Fantasy Stories - Translation Development Blog]

I imagine (but don't yet know for sure), that those "unique" string tables contain all of the same strings as the other levels, but with some added extras for the story.

OK, that's confirmed now! 

Every battle contains exactly the same set of strings, it's just that those 5 battles with "special" opponents contain an extra 14 strings each for that opponent's custom responses.

All of the dictionaries (contiguous blocks of null-terminated strings that are accessed by skipping through the block) for the Battle overlay have now been identified and dumped.

There are some unused strings that can be removed to make a bit more space for the English translation ... so I'm fairly hopeful that we won't hit any major problems (in the Battle overlay) from limited space.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Huzak - Yet another music driver]

Maybe you can postpone the multi song stuff for a v2

Yeah, sorry, can't do that ... I need that capability so that Gredler & DK can have both Sound Effects and Tunes.

Kinda important for homebrew.

If you have a real pressing use for it ... send me a PM, and we can talk.

Some people already have copies of the current WIP ... but even though they've got it, it's not much use to Gredler & DK at the moment without HuC hooks.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Huzak - Yet another music driver]

Yes, I really need to get back to this and finish it off enough for a release.

The big thing that's stopping that (apart from sample-support), is adding the modifications to the converter to process multiple DefleMask files so that you can convert a few different tunes and add sound effects as well, all into the same bank of music.

That's ongoing.

[Off-Topic / Re: Michirin's PCE Music Thread]

If you want to hear Michirin9801's wonderful songs playing on your PC Engine, here are the PCE ROMs for the tracks that don't use samples (i.e. 90%+), playable on your PCE with my Huzak driver.

I got permission to post these a while back, but somehow never got around to doing it.

These include a few bug-fixes from the original February versions that you got if you bought the album off of Bandcamp ... which is something that I would urge everyone to do in order to help support Michirin9801's wonderful music!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qsmjfvrcmgv4tr1/Michirin9801-2017-07-29.zip?dl=1

[Off-Topic / Re: Michirin's PCE Music Thread]

Another excellent PCE tune! Thanks!