Mystery of the Emblem Translation Patch

[endgel]

I can't take the patch out of the zip.

When I try to take it out, it tell me that the format is unknow or that it's broken.


 

[VincentASM]

Seperate files (v. 0.96)

• v 1.0 patch
• v 1.1 patch
• Readme

I noticed the patch is at romhacking now. That's good to see, although the comments weren't exactly very positive. Oh well, I should have seen it coming : /

BTW how is the variable/reduced width font going :?

Also I really need to finish that revision of the script... I can't remember when I said it last, but the upcoming Easter holidays looks like the best time for that or playing Suikoden XD.

[RPGuy96]

I, ah, haven't been working on it.  I was looking at easily accessible variable width fonts, and I didn't find anything I liked as much as the current font.  Most SNES-era VWFs are kinda plain.  :\

And Suikoden is short, you should be able to do both <_<

[Balcerzak]

I noticed the patch is at romhacking now. That's good to see, although the comments weren't exactly very positive. Oh well, I should have seen it coming : /

Wow, that reception was ridiculous.  Everybody seems so enthralled with their hero worship, that it's a little disgusting.  I mean, even if one were to use use something as an interim with intent to replace it later, one should have the courtesy to not mention it.

I haven't yet got a chance to play this, but I'm sure I'll enjoy the hard work you've put in.

[RPGuy96]

Vincent finished the script revision (must have been an all-nighter  ), and that's what the new patch (v.97) includes.

[VincentASM]

Well, I was actually doing the revision for a couple of hours in the afternoon XD

I may have rushed the latter half of the script a little, but those parts already flowed well anyway IMO.

Anyway, hopefully I nailed all the typos (and didn't create any new ones) and made the script flow a bit better :S

[Sarah]

I can't take the patch out of the zip.

When I try to take it out, it tell me that the format is unknow or that it's broken.


 

I had the same problem.  After poking around with the file a bit, I found that the problem was that, oddly enough, the file was Gzip compressed, under which the actual (PK)Zip compressed file was located.  Assuming you're using something that can handle Gzip compression (Most compression software/non-Windows operating systems) you should be able to rename the file to Fe3.zip.gz and have that work.

As for the patch itself, I must thank and applaud RPGuy and Vincent for putting in all the time and effort needed to get it (pretty much) finished.  Unlike the whiners at romhacking, I actually appreciate the work put into something like this, especially since I know how much easier it is to start a project than it is to finish it.  Plus, it's the perfect thing to push me to finally play through the one FE I haven't completed.

[VincentASM]

Someone at GameFAQs pointed out a minor-ish bug with the latest release(s?) of the patch.

Basically, in battle the Status bars flicker around.

Also I noticed a couple of script things that I must have overlooked. I'll send the revised scripts to you soon XD

[RPGuy96]

I had the same problem.  After poking around with the file a bit, I found that the problem was that, oddly enough, the file was Gzip compressed, under which the actual (PK)Zip compressed file was located.  Assuming you're using something that can handle Gzip compression (Most compression software/non-Windows operating systems) you should be able to rename the file to Fe3.zip.gz and have that work.

Really?  Er, whoops.

Basically, in battle the Status bars flicker around.

As far as I know, that's a zSNES problem, not a patch problem.  It happens on the originals for me, so it isn't a patch problem (though it could indicate that I'm using bad originals if this doesn't happen to other people).  And it doesn't happen on SNES9x or BSNES, which, again, leads me to think that it's an emulator problem.

It is annoying, though.

[VincentASM]

Ah, I see.

I didn't notice since v1.36 (the one I use) doesn't have the status bars flicker.

Also in the latest patch the in-battle descriptions aren't garbled anymore for me, although it just says the name and numbers (it's still better than garble though XD).

Anyway I think it might be a good idea to point out that problem in the Readme or something : o

[Devon_v]

Really?  Er, whoops.

As far as I know, that's a zSNES problem, not a patch problem.  It happens on the originals for me, so it isn't a patch problem (though it could indicate that I'm using bad originals if this doesn't happen to other people).  And it doesn't happen on SNES9x or BSNES, which, again, leads me to think that it's an emulator problem.

It is annoying, though.

I can confirm that the bars flicker in ZSNES but they do not in BSNES. Also, the delay before the opening scroll doesn't happen in BSNES, it behaves exactly as the unpatched ROM does. It's likely they are both ZSNES issues.

However, the opening scroll text is garbled. The first line or two of each section print correctly, but the remainder seems to overflow the text area and then just turn into garbage. This is on a 1.1 ROM, with patch .97 in BSNES and ZSNES.

There are also a few text glitches. Marth's name is "Mar" in some windows, notably the main unit window, and the battle messages for finding items after defeating enemy units are backwards. It says things like "Silver enemy had."

I, ah, haven't been working on it.  I was looking at easily accessible variable width fonts, and I didn't find anything I liked as much as the current font.  Most SNES-era VWFs are kinda plain.  :\

What about adapting the existing font into a VWF? Most of the thin letters have excessive serif and offset kerning to disguise the fact that it's a fixed-width font. If they were cleaned up, I think it could work. At least a pixel could be shaved off most lowercase letters, and some could drop two or three. That might get an extra letter or two into each item name, and it would certainly free up some space in the text boxes. Text space seems really tight as it is, and there are a number of things that don't fit. (using the proper English "Armour" doesn't help, either. )

[RPGuy96]

However, the opening scroll text is garbled. The first line or two of each section print correctly, but the remainder seems to overflow the text area and then just turn into garbage. This is on a 1.1 ROM, with patch .97 in BSNES and ZSNES.

Yeah, I'm aware of that issue.  I think the string lengths are hardcoded *somewhere*, but I can't figure out where.  It should be a fairly easy fix if I can find where that is, but I've had no luck so far.

There are also a few text glitches. Marth's name is "Mar" in some windows, notably the main unit window, and the battle messages for finding items after defeating enemy units are backwards. It says things like "Silver enemy had."

In Japanese, "Marusu" (I think that's right) is only three letters, so the game decided to put the Fire Emblem symbol in the fourth and fifth character slots (assuming Marth has it) and it doesn't bother printing anything in excess of those three letters.  Hence, Mar.  There's a reasonable amount of other graphical stuff - highlighting not working properly for strings that are longer in English than Japanese, long names not erasing properly in various status screens, longer menus not erasing properly, etc - that are probably very small fixes - some integer hardcoded somewhere - but I'm not sure how to look for them.

Oh, and the awkward phrasing on in-battle stuff is a case where my reordering hack doesn't work - the newlines screw it up.  I'm fairly confident I can extend it to fix that sort of thing - right now it's something like "[enemy]\n [item] had," and I think I can make it "[enemy]\n had a [item]."  I just need to actually, uh, do it.  Starting a job + Brawl has cut down on my free time a bit.  <_<

What about adapting the existing font into a VWF? Most of the thin letters have excessive serif and offset kerning to disguise the fact that it's a fixed-width font. If they were cleaned up, I think it could work. At least a pixel could be shaved off most lowercase letters, and some could drop two or three. That might get an extra letter or two into each item name, and it would certainly free up some space in the text boxes. Text space seems really tight as it is, and there are a number of things that don't fit. (using the proper English "Armour" doesn't help, either. )

Ah, a VWF is already in place for the regular dialogue (I'm just not really using it), but, for the menu stuff, the game's code is all fixed width.  So I'd have to write an assembly routine to handle that, and, quite frankly, I don't know enough assembly to pull that off.

[kain611]

Not sure if this is my first post or not.


Anyway I've been following FESS around on its last 4 domains I do believe and have never been a big poster. I however just read the crap that was wrote on Romhacking about this patch and I want to stress to rpgguy96 and VincentASM and to anyone else who has tested, or helped in anyway thank you and the whole community does not share their sentiments.



Well I guess thats all I wanted to say. So thanks for all your hard work. I'm playing Mystery of the Emblem and loving it!! Thank you!!



(wanna piss Gid off more, finish Tactics Ogre for the SNES before he does;))

[Devon_v]

Yeah, I'm aware of that issue.  I think the string lengths are hardcoded *somewhere*, but I can't figure out where.  It should be a fairly easy fix if I can find where that is, but I've had no luck so far.

Nothing worse than hardcoding. Except encryption I guess. I'd noticed the other string issues but I figured they were obvious and just not fixed yet.

[chaosxs]

can someone help me use the patch i love fe and im new to emulaters.  I just joined today.  Send me a message please.  And thx for the hard work of the translation.

[Musashi]

If you're only looking for general directions on how to apply the patch, look here. If you have a specific problem, you'll need to elaborate a bit.

[VincentASM]

Just for the record, what are recommended emulators to use for this patch?

I know this might seem like a silly question, coming from somebody who worked on the patch

The reason I ask, is that the most obviously recommended emulator doesn't emulate the in-battle menus properly (the flickering that we discussed earlier).

Also, while I'm here, RPGuy, could you submit the v 0.97 patch to romhacking.net? ^^

[RPGuy96]

I use ZSNES 1.51 and curse at the flickering cause I'm lazy.  I'd recommend BSNES, I guess, but I was having trouble installing the package and didn't feel like compiling it from source.  I imagine most people won't have that problem, though, and the latest version of SNES9X would probably work, too.

And, sure, I'll update the readme with this sort of information and then submit the patch.

[Devon_v]

Just for the record, what are recommended emulators to use for this patch?

I know this might seem like a silly question, coming from somebody who worked on the patch

The reason I ask, is that the most obviously recommended emulator doesn't emulate the in-battle menus properly (the flickering that we discussed earlier).

If it avoids the flickering, SNES9X would probably be the best to recommend. I prefer BSNES, but it's not as user friendly, and it has insane system requirements.

Also, using BSNES means no savestates, which means you have to suffer the game's brutality just like on the SNES.

[Barrylocke]

I have a question about the patch. I've been playing, and when I did chapter 1, it was fine, except levelups only showed the numbers, not the stats that went up. After I got to chapter 2 though, all battle "commands" (like "Marth attacks Thief! 8 Damage!") are replaced with random garblings. I'm using ZSNES 1.36. Is this a problem with the patch, or should I try a different emulator?

Thanks again.