Would anyone want to work with me on a retranslation of SD Snatcher? I'm fluent in Japanese, and I want to see if we can give the game a full translation that fits better with the Mega CD version. I could handle all the translating duties if someone else wants to do the programming side. I know that Sonic_aka_T expressed an interest in something like this before... Another project I've worked on is the Policenauts translation at Policenauts.net

Very good!I think anyone that has the knowledge should assist osiris and people wanting to make the translation perfect.

This is a very good post and i am glad there are people out there that want to make a better translation of Sd-Snatcher

Sounds like a lot of fun, and I'd definitely be up for it! I can handle the reverse-engineering and adaptation of the game. We'll also need at least one person who would be willing to input/process all the text (a lot of work) plus we'll need someone who can make (or already has) a version of the game which has no bugs and will work fine on emulators. Gilian Seed, Go!!!

Ghehe, I've played with this idea as well for some time, but never actually started doing anything because of lack of time. Anyway, it would be an interesting project, as the current Oasis translation is not very accurate. And of course a game like SD Snatcher does deserve such a translation.

how 'bout picking up the translations project of Illusion City instead... gheh.

Cool, there's also a RvdM song on the policenauts website. love'm
That game, was is for Playstation.??

That sounds great !!!!
As ro said, and about IC ??
I'm waiting for a Policenauts translation too !!! On Saturn, Playstation or 3DO ! But I think that if one day such a translation will be made, it will for the Playstation...

Oh nooooo, then I'll have to finish SD-Snatcher again...

First again when Oasis had translated it, then when I got my SCC...

Well hello mirror maze!

Well, first we'll need to find someone who would be willing to edit and input the text. Then I'll need to check if it's technically feasible (which I'm pretty sure it is), then I have to write a disk viewer, then Osiris has to translate the text, then I have to reverse-engineer and localize the game, then someone has to input all the text, then we have to test-play the game, and then you'll get to finish SD-Snatcher again!

I'm afraid the only area I'll be able to help with is the text translation. But I'm glad to see people are interested in something like this!

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how 'bout picking up the translations project of Illusion City instead... gheh. Cool, there's also a RvdM song on the policenauts website. love'm That game, was is for Playstation.??

Do you have more information about that translation project? My email is marc AT junkerhq DOT net

Yes, Ruud did a remix of a song from Policenauts for that website. The Policenauts English patch for the PlayStation version is still scheduled to come out some time later this year.

Toby, weren't you also involved in the whole oasis translation projects back then? (together with those 2 other dudes, uhm can't remember names)
So if you've done that job before, ye must have some resources already.

I'll be willing to help with text input, sure no problem. I'd be honored.

Osiris, here is info about Illusion City in English (and Portuguese).

It would be great to get Snatcher translated.
Long ago this was discussed. There are some details in the texts that refer to Japanese topics, difficult to translate. Have luck anyway.

By the way, are you talking about Snatcher or SD Snatcher?
I know Snatcher for Mega CD (it has quite some differences in the texts from the Japanese one), but never heard of SD Snatcher...

Hi everybody,

Osiris already knows me from JunkerHQ and I really would like to help with the retranslation in anyway if I can. So I have some questions.

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We'll also need at least one person who would be willing to input/process all the text (a lot of work)

What do you mean exactly with that? Why you need someone to input text? The problem I think first of is identifying the Japanese text inside the game. Then you can extract it to a readable form which can directly go the translator. The translated text can then be converted back to the game format if it will fit. It won't as already Oasis had to leave out things so we need to compress it and/or create a new text system as what they did in Snatcher. So I can't understand why someone should manually input some text. Could you explain that?

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plus we'll need someone who can make (or already has) a version of the game which has no bugs and will work fine on emulators. Gilian Seed, Go!!!

Did the original version have some serious bugs then apart from theater ticket bug? I think somebody around here has the original game, so getting a real Japanese image of it shouldn't be a problem then. As far as I know the original version should work fine on the blueMSX emulator.

Sonic_aka_T probably mentions input/ processing of the text because of the method he suggests: creating a disk viewer for the game and inserting the translation yourself manually. You're probably thinking about extracting a script and later inserting it (compressed or not), not bothering with creating a viewer. In that case manual input is minimalised.

And considering the bugs Sonic_aka_T was talking about, I think he is referring to the bugs which are present in the current English version by Oasis, since I never noticed any on the original. Oasis caused some minor errors in the game due to the patch. But since it was their first translation project you can't hold it against them. I'm sure plenty of people were very glad to have this translation. So kudos to them!

But to elaborate on the bugs that were in the current english version, here is an indication;
- when you enter a name other than the default, you're not able to use the 'e'; if you try, it'll be regarded as though you chose end
- during the game you can open junker crates. If it contains cash, the text either shows you get 0 or 66535 (don't remember which); but you still get the amount you were supposed to
- the biggest error is when you make a diskimage of your original english disks. IIRC there was a copy protection on the first disk. Creating a faulty diskimage from it caused a level regression at certain points in the game. Most notably: after the long Elijah demo your strength, def, acc etc are reduced to such a state you're no longer able to hit the enemy. Very annoying.

That's about all I can remember. Way back in the day I created a solution to these problems. Never distributed it in any way tho. If it should prove helpful for this project I could create a patchfile. But probably there's no need since you'll start off from the original japanese version...

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Osiris already knows me from JunkerHQ and I really would like to help with the retranslation in anyway if I can. So I have some questions.

Great, because if we're going to do this we'll need some help!

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What do you mean exactly with that? Why you need someone to input text? The problem I think first of is identifying the Japanese text inside the game. Then you can extract it to a readable form which can directly go the translator. The translated text can then be converted back to the game format if it will fit. It won't as already Oasis had to leave out things so we need to compress it and/or create a new text system as what they did in Snatcher. So I can't understand why someone should manually input some text. Could you explain that?

Like you said, the first thing is to get the text in a readable format. Usually I skip the extraction process and just write a disk-viewer the translator can use to view the disk. This disk-viewer has an option to note the offset of a text and the translation. This means we end up with a text file with a bunch of offsets.

Then it's up to the person who'll enter/edit the text to put pointers to the new text strings on all the old offsets. Usually the length of the original text is also required in order to point back to the old text. I tend to go for more memory in favor of compression by the way. Since Japanese text tends to have extremely short expressions no amount of compression is going to ensure a 1:1 fit, so I just claim an extra 64kB of RAM (not really a problem on the MSX system) and make that the new memory requirement. This way we need not bother with bit-fiddling and compression and all the nasty stuff that goes with trying to fit 20 characters in a space where there used to be 5 characters.

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Did the original version have some serious bugs then apart from theater ticket bug? I think somebody around here has the original game, so getting a real Japanese image of it shouldn't be a problem then. As far as I know the original version should work fine on the blueMSX emulator.

Knowing Konami that prolly was a feature, but no, I'm really referring to the most common crack in circulation which has a bug when you launch a rocket. I wouldn't want to use that version, nor would I want to use the original version which will probably just say "please don't copy our software" if you run it on an emu. I think I may have found a suitable version already tho...