Translating Grandia 1.1.1

[3style]

Ok, new releases:

Disc 1 v0.8.1 (4/21/2020):
- Translated remaining untranslated text in battle menu (Auto Icon)

Disc 2 v0.8.1 (4/21/2020):
- Translated remaining untranslated text in battle menu (Auto Icon)
- All voices are now synchronized with the Japanese Audio
- Text has been added to in-game cutscenes where it originally wasn't present.
- Fixed clock reset bug when Guido left the party.

As always please report any bugs or issues.

With both discs now at Version 0.8.1 here's what remains to be done:

• Fix Text Alignment Issues in the Options Menu
• Fix Text Alignment Issues in the Save/Load Menu
• Fix Text Alignment for "Ambushed!" and "Your Initiative!" in battles.
• Try and find away to get Guido's full name to fit into the Battle Results Screen.
• Polish up the Battle Results Screen (Some of the earlier parts look a tad sloppy).
• Translate the Credits
• Uncensor the Script (Coffee References mostly).
• Figure out the FMVs and add subtitles.

Really great work! but I have some issues.
I have burned the game (quality cdr) and I can play it up to the first scene on the bridge. When I press a button here the screen gets black and I can only hear the audio playing. I'm running on real hardware, all region bios and with a Pseudo cart.

 

[TrekkiesUnite118]

Really great work! but I have some issues.
I have burned the game (quality cdr) and I can play it up to the first scene on the bridge. When I press a button here the screen gets black and I can only hear the audio playing. I'm running on real hardware, all region bios and with a Pseudo cart.

I'm not able to reproduce this. Can you give more info? Specifically:

• What kind of CD-R did you use?
• When you say first scene on the bridge what do you mean exactly?
• What button are you pressing and when are you pressing it to make the screen go black?
• What kind of Pseudo Saturn Cartridge are you using?

 

[3style]

I'm not able to reproduce this. Can you give more info? Specifically:

• What kind of CD-R did you use?
• When you say first scene on the bridge what do you mean exactly?
• What button are you pressing and when are you pressing it to make the screen go black?
• What kind of Pseudo Saturn Cartridge are you using?

- I'm using Verbatim AZO cd-r, works with other Saturn backup games.
- After this scene when I press the button "Start" or "A", the screen gets black and hangs.

- I'm using the red Pseudo cart with the 1mb and 4mb switch (version 6.314).

The Sega Saturn is attached with a RGB cable to a CRT tv.

Thanks.

 

[TrekkiesUnite118]

- I'm using Verbatim AZO cd-r, works with other Saturn backup games.
- After this scene when I press the button "Start" or "A", the screen gets black and hangs.
- I'm using the red Pseudo cart with the 1mb and 4mb switch (version 6.314).

The Sega Saturn is attached with a RGB cable to a CRT tv.

Thanks.

Ok, so a couple things:

1. I don't know much about Verbatim AZO CD-Rs. I haven't had good luck with newer Verbatims, but I've heard some say the DataLifePlus ones are still good. Basically you want Professional or Archival grade CD-Rs. Flip the disc over after burning and you should be able to see distinct lines that mark boundaries between the different tracks. In Grandia's case you should see 2 distinct tracks, the Data track and the CD Audio Track.
2. Those Red Pseudo carts are junk. There's no getting around that fact at this point. You're not the first to report an issue with them. The game has been tested on my 3 different Saturns (A late 95/early 96 Model 1, 2 late 96 Model 2s) that are equipped with mod chips. The game on those systems does not exhibit any of the issues reported with these Red Pseudo carts. Others who use an older good quality Action Replay they flashed or one of Cafe-Alpha's cartridges don't report this issue either. So those Red Cartridges are cutting corners or just doing something different that's causing these kind of issues.
3. Finally, just because other games don't show issues doesn't mean your CD-RS, Burn Quality, or Cartridge aren't to blame. How much the CD Drive is accessed varies from game to game. If the games you used before just did a few small loads and ran everything from RAM, you won't see as many issues. If they at most did CD Audio Playback, you might at most see some audio skipping.

Grandia is a game that really works the CD Drive. The game uses ADX Audio that is constantly streaming off the disc. On top of that it plays multiple tracks at once. For example in the starting area of Parm you have the music playing, as well as an environmental sound effect track, and the occasional voice clip. That's up to 3 different ADX tracks all streaming off the disc simultaneously. The game also continues playback uninterrupted while it loads other data off the disc. This is why when you open a menu or go into a house or a different part of the map, the music keeps playing with no pauses.

What's going on in your case is you're opening the menu, which is it's own separate program that must be loaded into RAM off the Disc. So while it's loading in, ADX audio is continuing to be streamed uninterrupted off the disc. Something is going wrong though and the game is not getting the data it expected for the menu program, so it hangs. So either the CD-R or the burn isn't up to par and the Saturn can't read it, or the Pseudo Cart is mucking with the bus that's causing the Saturn to not read the data properly off the disc.

So as much as you might not want to hear this, if the CD-Rs check out as being good quality then it's most likely your Pseudo Cart.

 

[3style]

Ok, so a couple things:

1. I don't know much about Verbatim AZO CD-Rs. I haven't had good luck with newer Verbatims, but I've heard some say the DataLifePlus ones are still good. Basically you want Professional or Archival grade CD-Rs. Flip the disc over after burning and you should be able to see distinct lines that mark boundaries between the different tracks. In Grandia's case you should see 2 distinct tracks, the Data track and the CD Audio Track.
2. Those Red Pseudo carts are junk. There's no getting around that fact at this point. You're not the first to report an issue with them. The game has been tested on my 3 different Saturns (A late 95/early 96 Model 1, 2 late 96 Model 2s) that are equipped with mod chips. The game on those systems does not exhibit any of the issues reported with these Red Pseudo carts. Others who use an older good quality Action Replay they flashed or one of Cafe-Alpha's cartridges don't report this issue either. So those Red Cartridges are cutting corners or just doing something different that's causing these kind of issues.
3. Finally, just because other games don't show issues doesn't mean your CD-RS, Burn Quality, or Cartridge aren't to blame. How much the CD Drive is accessed varies from game to game. If the games you used before just did a few small loads and ran everything from RAM, you won't see as many issues. If they at most did CD Audio Playback, you might at most see some audio skipping.

Grandia is a game that really works the CD Drive. The game uses ADX Audio that is constantly streaming off the disc. On top of that it plays multiple tracks at once. For example in the starting area of Parm you have the music playing, as well as an environmental sound effect track, and the occasional voice clip. That's up to 3 different ADX tracks all streaming off the disc simultaneously. The game also continues playback uninterrupted while it loads other data off the disc. This is why when you open a menu or go into a house or a different part of the map, the music keeps playing with no pauses.

What's going on in your case is you're opening the menu, which is it's own separate program that must be loaded into RAM off the Disc. So while it's loading in, ADX audio is continuing to be streamed uninterrupted off the disc. Something is going wrong though and the game is not getting the data it expected for the menu program, so it hangs. So either the CD-R or the burn isn't up to par and the Saturn can't read it, or the Pseudo Cart is mucking with the bus that's causing the Saturn to not read the data properly off the disc.

So as much as you might not want to hear this, if the CD-Rs check out as being good quality then it's most likely your Pseudo Cart.

Thanks for your detailed explanation. I flipped the cd, but asside from the complete "burned" surface (almost complete), I cannot see distinct lines that mark boundaries between the different tracks. What kind of cd-r brand do you use and at what burn speed? I cannot burn at 4x, my burn speed is 16x I believe. I'll try a different cd-r brand or otherwise getting the Action Replay cart.

 

[themadhaxor]

First off, if you are burning at high speed (anything over 4x), the discs will never work correctly in the Saturn (if they have in the past, you've been lucky) and this will also put more stress on the ageing laser of your Saturn.
You want to burn at 4x or slower (the slower the better - 1x if possible) If your current burner doesn't allow it, find an old Pioneer IDE burner on eBay.
Mentioning this, it also depends on your burner - Pioneer burners are by far the best. All other burners I've tried cause issues with retro systems.

Ditch the pseudo cart and get a Phantom mod chip if you want to use real hardware.
I have a flashed AR Cart that works fine with Pseudo - but for modded/patched games, a mod chip is a must.

In terms of media - you want gold / archival grade CDR like these TDK ones:

PREMIUM 30 x DATA BANK CD GOLD Blank CD-R 80min Recordable Disc TDK CD Quality | eBay

DATA BANK GOLD BLANK CD-R DISCS. Other Disc Storage Solutions. 30 X DATA BANK GOLD SERIES CD-R. - Premium Gold Surface CD-R. Premium Quality Discs! Voxlink 6 Port USB Charging Station. 8 Port USB Charging Station.

www.ebay.co.uk

Hope that helps, but feel free to ask questions 🙂

 

[TrekkiesUnite118]

Thanks for your detailed explanation. I flipped the cd, but asside from the complete "burned" surface (almost complete), I cannot see distinct lines that mark boundaries between the different tracks. What kind of cd-r brand do you use and at what burn speed? I cannot burn at 4x, my burn speed is 16x I believe. I'll try a different cd-r brand or otherwise getting the Action Replay cart.

Show a picture of what you're seeing as from what you described as "burned" surface could be what I'm referring to. Basically the cheap CD-Rs look the same after they've been burned vs what they looked like before they were burned.

I personally use JVC Taiyo-Yudens, but those are getting hard to find now as the new ones made aren't made by the same company factory anymore.

First off, if you are burning at high speed (anything over 4x), the discs will never work correctly in the Saturn (if they have in the past, you've been lucky) and this will also put more stress on the ageing laser of your Saturn.
You want to burn at 4x or slower (the slower the better - 1x if possible) If your current burner doesn't allow it, find an old Pioneer IDE burner on eBay.
Mentioning this, it also depends on your burner - Pioneer burners are by far the best. All other burners I've tried cause issues with retro systems.

Ditch the pseudo cart and get a Phantom mod chip if you want to use real hardware.
I have a flashed AR Cart that works fine with Pseudo - but for modded/patched games, a mod chip is a must.

In terms of media - you want gold / archival grade CDR like these TDK ones:

PREMIUM 30 x DATA BANK CD GOLD Blank CD-R 80min Recordable Disc TDK CD Quality | eBay

DATA BANK GOLD BLANK CD-R DISCS. Other Disc Storage Solutions. 30 X DATA BANK GOLD SERIES CD-R. - Premium Gold Surface CD-R. Premium Quality Discs! Voxlink 6 Port USB Charging Station. 8 Port USB Charging Station.

www.ebay.co.uk

Hope that helps, but feel free to ask questions 🙂

I'm not sure if you have to go that far. My Burner only can do 16x as well and I don't have these problems. Again I'm not using Gold CD-Rs either. Mine are Silver Taiyo Yudens that are marked as Professional Grade.

 

[3style]

It’s working now!
I have burned the disc with Alcohol120%, DAO raw mode and I have no issues yet running the game. Also the distinct track lines are visible now on the disc.
Thanks for your support.

 

[themadhaxor]

Glad you got it all sorted 🙂

 

[cww80]

I can't get this to work on Fenrir. I assumed it had to do with the region, but nope. It plays fine as a burned copy, but I'm over burning discs.

 

[TrekkiesUnite118]

I can't get this to work on Fenrir. I assumed it had to do with the region, but nope. It plays fine as a burned copy, but I'm over burning discs.

Talk to the Fenrir people then. If it works as a burned disc then the issue is clearly the Fenrir.

 

[nanash1]

I can't get this to work on Fenrir. I assumed it had to do with the region, but nope. It plays fine as a burned copy, but I'm over burning discs.

Did you check if the original Japanese version works? If that's the case then maybe there's a problem with the way you patched the ISO and not the Fenrir.

 

[cww80]

Excellent. Finally got it working. Obviously Fenrir still needs work, but also it's really sensitive regarding the ribbon cable. Had to clean it. Then did a bin/cue rip. Success! Thanks for your excellent work regarding this Trekkies.

 

[themadhaxor]

Glad someone has tested this with Fenrir, as I'm thinking of investing in one later this month (fed up of stupid twitchy Saturn lasers and burning coasters that almost work). Also my old Pioneer burner that worked great at 4x for burning Saturn discs has gone to the computer graveyard [goodbye, you served me well!] and the replacement I now have only burns at 8x minimum (I burned 7 coasters...only 1 half worked... and I was using the same Verbatim CDRs that all of my four Saturns lasers like...). So enough of CDRs - time for an upgrade methinks!

 

[frodis]

cww80, I have not been able to get disc 2 to boot with Fenrir. It just goes back to the Fenrir game select screen. Checksums matched before and after the patch and I tried it in ISO/WAV/CUE and also converted to BIN/CUE. Not to get the thread too off course, but the Fenrir, so far, has been good. Installation didn't go so well as the PCB has holes designed to mount inside your system, but they're off by a hair. So it doesn't quite fit. Furthermore, they gave me a 3D printed bracket to use, and it promptly cracked while trying to attach it. Once I got it all connected, it seems to work great. TrekkiesUnite118 THANK YOU for all your hard work! It is truly a thrill to get to play Grandia on Saturn in English. We are all so lucky!

 

[cww80]

cww80, I have not been able to get disc 2 to boot with Fenrir. It just goes back to the Fenrir game select screen. Checksums matched before and after the patch and I tried it in ISO/WAV/CUE and also converted to BIN/CUE. Not to get the thread too off course, but the Fenrir, so far, has been good. Installation didn't go so well as the PCB has holes designed to mount inside your system, but they're off by a hair. So it doesn't quite fit. Furthermore, they gave me a 3D printed bracket to use, and it promptly cracked while trying to attach it. Once I got it all connected, it seems to work great. TrekkiesUnite118 THANK YOU for all your hard work! It is truly a thrill to get to play Grandia on Saturn in English. We are all so lucky!

Make sure to email 8bit mods. Order batches 1-3 get new ribbon cables sent for free. All new orders come with new ribbon cables. Info is here.

Fenrir FAQ & Troubleshooting

The following is a collection of frequently asked questions and general troubleshooting with Fenrir. Before referring to this guide, please make sure you have the latest Firmware and Loader installed in your Fenrir. You can get both from this link. Instructions on how to apply the firmware...

8bitmods.com

I'm still waiting for mine of course being in the us. But I cleaned mine with Metal cleaner and it works much better, but still doesn't work perfectly. Audio messes up at times, will report when I get the ribbon cable.

 

[frodis]

Make sure to email 8bit mods. Order batches 1-3 get new ribbon cables sent for free. All new orders come with new ribbon cables. Info is here.

Fenrir FAQ & Troubleshooting

The following is a collection of frequently asked questions and general troubleshooting with Fenrir. Before referring to this guide, please make sure you have the latest Firmware and Loader installed in your Fenrir. You can get both from this link. Instructions on how to apply the firmware...

8bitmods.com

I'm still waiting for mine of course being in the us. But I cleaned mine with Metal cleaner and it works much better, but still doesn't work perfectly. Audio messes up at times, will report when I get the ribbon cable.

Thanks for the tip. I think my ribbon cable is okay though. Everything I've tried that is known to work, works. Disc 1 of the latest translation patch of Grandia works fine. Disc 2 won't even boot up to say "Please insert disc 1" or whatever message is supposed to appear. I've tested the ISO/WAV/CUE, converted BIN/CUE and a burned disc and all three boot fine in emulation. So I'm guessing it's just the Fenrir, but I was hoping someone else tried disc 2 with Fenrir and got some positive results.

 

[TrekkiesUnite118]

Thanks for the tip. I think my ribbon cable is okay though. Everything I've tried that is known to work, works. Disc 1 of the latest translation patch of Grandia works fine. Disc 2 won't even boot up to say "Please insert disc 1" or whatever message is supposed to appear. I've tested the ISO/WAV/CUE, converted BIN/CUE and a burned disc and all three boot fine in emulation. So I'm guessing it's just the Fenrir, but I was hoping someone else tried disc 2 with Fenrir and got some positive results.

If you're seeing this message:

It means as it clearly states that there is no Disc 2 save file present on your Saturn. You need to complete Disc 1 first other wise Disc 2 will present that screen.

 

[OriginalName]

If you're seeing this message: (snip)

I misread what frodis said the same way at first, but they're saying that that message isn't coming up. It's not booting at all for them.

Like you say though, seems like an issue for the folks at Fenrir to sort out.

 

[frodis]

If you're seeing this message:

It means as it clearly states that there is no Disc 2 save file present on your Saturn. You need to complete Disc 1 first other wise Disc 2 will present that screen.

Thank you for your response. That is my exact problem. I'm NOT seeing that screen. When I choose to boot disc 2 using Fenrir, it simply goes back to the Fenrir menu and I never see that screen. Disc 1 comes up and plays fine, as do all the confirmed working games I've tried. It's actually a pretty short list of games that are not working on Fenrir, but maybe this disc should be added to that list. I was hoping to play through the game on my Saturn, but I would probably be better off using emulation, until I, or someone else with a Fenrir can figure this one out.

***UPDATE*** I checked the Fenrir website and there was an update posted only hours ago. I added that update and DISC 2 NOW BOOTS! It is a good day! Thanks for reading my messages