vbt
Staff member
I have a win98 VM if needed, it should be able to run the duck encoder, normally it was running on w3.11.
- Thread starter ProxyCell
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cafe-alpha
Established Member
cafe-alpha
Established Member
Erf, until this morning I totally forgot that I didn't published the translation page for this game ... in fact I actually forgot for around one year that I did something for this game 😀
Ninpen Manmaru translation page can be found here : PPCenter :: Translation - Ninpen Manmaru
I'm not the author of this translation and just made the page above itself. So, special thanks to Alex Kid and Simon Fang for the translation work
Ninpen Manmaru translation page can be found here : PPCenter :: Translation - Ninpen Manmaru
I'm not the author of this translation and just made the page above itself. So, special thanks to Alex Kid and Simon Fang for the translation work
vbt
Staff member
well done, it will deserve a new patch !Hey there!
The other day I decided to mess around with CrystalTile in hopes of finding the front end graphics.
My mission was a success:
Still working on the logo, but at this point it's just a question of art.
Hit a bit of a snag - the icons for the save locations are 16-bit images, and CrystalTile doesn't seem to parse them properly, or at least I can't find the right format. The save text is all regular 8-bit indexed bitmaps though, so I'll be able to replace them next time I have a few hours.
Also, can someone please translate these? I assume they are chapter names that show up in the Continue menu.
While you're at it, there are also these:
and these
I can deduce what some of those are through Google Translate, but some come out pretty wacky, especially the chapter names.
Also, can someone please translate these? I assume they are chapter names that show up in the Continue menu.
While you're at it, there are also these:
and these
I can deduce what some of those are through Google Translate, but some come out pretty wacky, especially the chapter names.
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Okay, here's an edit of cafe-alpha's patch that should include my front-end localization. Still waiting on someone to provide definitive translation of the messages I posted above, as some of them made no sense when ran through Google Translate.
EDIT: Tried the game on real hardware and it runs and looks fine. My concerns about readability on a CRT screen were unfounded.
EDIT2: I missed the stage names on the map screen. Also, I REALLY hate my attempt at the logo. Will certainly redo it later.
EDIT: Tried the game on real hardware and it runs and looks fine. My concerns about readability on a CRT screen were unfounded.
EDIT2: I missed the stage names on the map screen. Also, I REALLY hate my attempt at the logo. Will certainly redo it later.
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mrkotfw
Mid Boss
There may not be enough people to help out, but I think @cafe-alpha knows Japanese.
Maybe also post your question on r/SegaSaturn?
Maybe also post your question on r/SegaSaturn?
I messaged cafe-alpha a few days ago, but no response so far. Generally, it's fine, all but one stage names follow a simple formula ("Hopping Village", "Rumbling Dungeon", "Swaying Bridge", "Bouncing Clouds", "Rocking Ninja Shop"), and the rest are just load/save messages I'll probably need to test on real hardware to know what each of them does exactly.
All in all, this seems like a super simple game to hack art assets into, and cafe-alpha did all the hard translation work.
Edit: How does this sound for level names? (last to first)
All in all, this seems like a super simple game to hack art assets into, and cafe-alpha did all the hard translation work.
Edit: How does this sound for level names? (last to first)
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privateye
Established Member
Nice work! To make this a truly complete translation patch, the ending which plays after beating the final boss needs fixing.
In patch utility v0.2 the game will crash to a black screen at the ending. I informed @cafe-alpha about this bug and he modified the patch utility in v0.3 so that Ed1.txt (the translation file for the ending) becomes Ed1.dmy in the patched output. This means that the ending text is now left untranslated so that the ending can actually play.
In patch utility v0.2 the game will crash to a black screen at the ending. I informed @cafe-alpha about this bug and he modified the patch utility in v0.3 so that Ed1.txt (the translation file for the ending) becomes Ed1.dmy in the patched output. This means that the ending text is now left untranslated so that the ending can actually play.
Actually, the original work was made by Simon Fang (translation) and Alex Kid (hacking). Cafe-alpha re-hosted the translation and made a nice patch utility for it.
I am still in process of redrawing the assets I find throughout the game, and will release a version once that's done. I have a Windows 98 machine where I can try to re-encode the ending video, but as far as why the game locks up with the translated text, I'll have to compare those files in a hex editor to see if something is missing. Either way it's a bridge I'll cross once I get to it: )
Thank you! I only discovered this game recently and this translation literally a few days ago. I wanted to try my hand localizing stuff for a while, and NPM is probably a good place to start!: )
Okay, here's another update. All, or at least most graphical elements should now be translated. I am currently writing a tool to edit background files, which should allow me to remove Japanese text in a few of them, like the Save screen for example. I also want to edit level textures with writing on them, as "NEXT TRY" doesn't really say level-end.
I briefly looked into correcting the issue with the ending text, but so far I have trouble decoding the way text is stored. Anyone here knows anything about this? The English file is only about 1kb larger than the Japanese one, so unless memory is super tight for the ending scene, size shouldn't be an issue. This leaves a format error or some sort of a hard-coded check. Again though - will cross that bridge when I get to it... and by that I mean I'll actually have to beat the game to get to the ending, which isn't going all that hot. Damn, this game is tough: )
Edit: My .GRP parser tool finally works properly! Now I can change those error message screens without problem.
Edit2: Finally found where the in-game textures are stored. Surprisingly, they are 16-bit tiles of 24x24, which sounds kind of like waste of VRAM... but what do I know?
I briefly looked into correcting the issue with the ending text, but so far I have trouble decoding the way text is stored. Anyone here knows anything about this? The English file is only about 1kb larger than the Japanese one, so unless memory is super tight for the ending scene, size shouldn't be an issue. This leaves a format error or some sort of a hard-coded check. Again though - will cross that bridge when I get to it... and by that I mean I'll actually have to beat the game to get to the ending, which isn't going all that hot. Damn, this game is tough: )
Edit: My .GRP parser tool finally works properly! Now I can change those error message screens without problem.
Edit2: Finally found where the in-game textures are stored. Surprisingly, they are 16-bit tiles of 24x24, which sounds kind of like waste of VRAM... but what do I know?
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I remember giving up on this game at the last stage, 20 years ago. The tank controls make de game so damn hard on later levels and this penguin has a sword but can't attack enemies... 🙁
Maybe I should give it another try because your work is amazing.
cafe-alpha
Established Member
I skipped your message, and all the messages about translation projects from several other people because I was tired to contribute in translation project to then see unrelated people making quick cash from that. More details are available in the thread here.
Several years ago, I contributed in Policenauts translation project and (as everyone else involved in this project) didn't requested (nor received) any money for it. It's frustrating to now see it available for the modest sum of £30 (around USD 37) on Mr Ninja' store.
But, rather than giving up in Ninpen Manmaru project, I realized it's better to make it widely available for free rather than letting reproduction market the only place to find it. So, please let me know if it's OK to upload your updated translation patch on my homepage.
Additionally, I can give an hand regarding wacky Japanese expressions if there are still some requiring translation.
Hi. I just heard that this cute little platformer had received an updated English patch months ago. I just patched the game, burned it to a Verbatim CD-R, and found out it works on my JP Saturn with Pseudo Saturn Kai Lite.
Am I allowed to upload the Bin+Cue files for the patched rom?
Am I allowed to upload the Bin+Cue files for the patched rom?
Attachments
cafe-alpha
Established Member
Legally speaking, only uploading a patch of what is modified from original contents is allowed.
But since that there are folks selling physical copies of translated games (for Ninpen Manmaru and many other other games too), I personally consider uploading a pre-patched disc image as a "bad but not dirty" behavior. I still wouldn't do that on my homepage, but wouldn't contact game copyright holders if I find that somewhere on internet.
But since that there are folks selling physical copies of translated games (for Ninpen Manmaru and many other other games too), I personally consider uploading a pre-patched disc image as a "bad but not dirty" behavior. I still wouldn't do that on my homepage, but wouldn't contact game copyright holders if I find that somewhere on internet.
To cafe-alpha: I think that ip.bin should be dumped skipping first 16 bytes, check how SF3Patch team did it whith Shining Force III. As it is now (tried with darkfalzx 20200302 version) Kronos doesn't run resulting ISO because of raw header piece in the beginning.
Also, to get the final structure of ISO as close as possible to original I used mkisofs' sorting feature:
bin\mkisofs -sysid "SEGA SEGASATURN" -volid "NINPEN" -volset "NINPEN" -publisher "CAFE-ALPHA" -preparer "VBT" -appid "NINPEN" -abstract "ABSTRACT.TXT" -copyright "CPYRIGHT.TXT" -biblio "BIBLIO.TXT" -generic-boot ip.bin -o cd.iso tmp_cd
Resulting BIN (converted from ISO whith IsoBuster) is mostly identical to original redump.org-compatible BIN - that is, differs only in translated parts and checksums. And it works in Kronos (ISO works too, but CUE had to be changed to MODE1/2048).
Sorting list and sample ip.bin are in attach.
Also, to get the final structure of ISO as close as possible to original I used mkisofs' sorting feature:
bin\mkisofs -sysid "SEGA SEGASATURN" -volid "NINPEN" -volset "NINPEN" -publisher "CAFE-ALPHA" -preparer "VBT" -appid "NINPEN" -abstract "ABSTRACT.TXT" -copyright "CPYRIGHT.TXT" -biblio "BIBLIO.TXT" -generic-boot ip.bin -o cd.iso tmp_cd
Resulting BIN (converted from ISO whith IsoBuster) is mostly identical to original redump.org-compatible BIN - that is, differs only in translated parts and checksums. And it works in Kronos (ISO works too, but CUE had to be changed to MODE1/2048).
Sorting list and sample ip.bin are in attach.
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