Help me dump the text from a SNES game.

[reyvgm]

I was wondering if someone here could help me dump the text from the Super NES game called S.O.S. (Septentrion in Japan) by Vik Tokai. The game is already in English, but I would like to have the text dump for another project.

I tried using hex editors to search for the text (Monkey Moore, Font Searcher), but it seems the text is compressed. I mean, I'm not an expert either, the most advanced stuff I've done is make table files. And even those were for games were the text was easily found. I do not know ASM either, so going that route is beyond my reach.

Are there any other programs that can let me dump (or at least find) this game's text?  I can also follow directions for more complicated stuff, as long as there's a detailed step by step instruction.

Anyway, that's it and thanks in advance.

[Vehek]

I'm very bad at explaining things, but I've managed to find out how it reads the text.
S.O.S. encodes its text in 5-bit values. Once it gets the value, it converts the value into a text character.

[reyvgm]

Hey, thanks for the reply!

Could you make a table file that allows me to read the text? Or tell me the hex codes for A and z so I can make it myself?

Although... would that even work?

[KingMike]

If he's saying the game stores text in 5 bits per character, a table file alone isn't going to help.
You'd need a custom dumper to read the text 5 bits then convert to text/control code, and repeat.
(although only 5 bits means a 32-character limit, and the game looks like it has a full upper/lowercase font, so it would need more than 32, unless it uses some sort of variable packing)

[reyvgm]

Hmm... I see. What can I do then? How can I get this dumped?

[Vehek]

(although only 5 bits means a 32-character limit, and the game looks like it has a full upper/lowercase font, so it would need more than 32, unless it uses some sort of variable packing)

S.O.S. uses an ASCII layout for its font. Once unpacked, 0 through 25 (decimal) correspond to letters a through z (lowercase). A control code (0x1F) capitalizes a text character, and all strings have their first letter capitalized unless the capitalization control code is used first. There are a few punctuation marks characters (space, question mark, and period) after the values used for the alphabet, but most punctuation is done by a control code (0x1E).

Hmm... I see. What can I do then? How can I get this dumped?

Which parts of the text are most important for what you're doing?

[reyvgm]

Oh, you're going to do it?

The end game stuff is the most important part. But there are 4 to 5 endings per character, so I doubt know that all the text will be neatly placed one after the other. I don't really mind punctuation marks or capital letters. I can add those myself if it makes the process easier for you.

[gablethon]

hello everyone, i'm new to this place.

i'm sorry for digging up an old topic such as this one but i'd really like to have access to the dumped text and graphics of this ROM.
is it possible?
thanks in advance for any answer.

[reyvgm]

Message Vehek about it. I think I still have it around somewhere, but I won't release it unless he gives permission since he was the one that dumped it.

[gablethon]

thanks Reyvgm, it's done. i want the text and graphics so i can try to make an open source remake of this excellent game, so i'd like to access the texts so i can be sure of how many survivors there are and their dialogs lines.

[Vehek]

Sorry, I don't have any dumped graphics. I only have the English text. I also tried working on the Japanese version once, but the text values weren't consistent enough to accurately dump entire sections at once. Why look into the Japanese version? The translation is not the best after all (not just wording, but problems like inconsistent name romanization) and as reyvgm has written elsewhere, a bar with two drunk survivors got cut.

Here are my text dumps and notes on the game.

[gablethon]

thanks alot for those text dumps!
yeah i'm aware of the differences i used to own the (imported) japanese version myself (i'm french and it has never been released in europe) so i have seen them in action. for the japanese texts i can't really use them as i don't speak this language.
also the word "perished" will not be in my version of the game (let's call a cat a cat!)

for the graphics, no problem i'll fin another way, i made a graphical walktrough few years ago with alot of the original graphics but i was just curious about the way they were made. i now have alot to do with the dumps. i'll keep you aware of the progress i made on the future game if you want.

[Lestat]

Did you intend to translate this game in French ?

Because if you are, I'm interested

[gablethon]

hello everyone interessed in this game!

i've been busy lately in trying to make a remake  of this game 'which will include the original map and a new one with a new story similar to the classic one. here's the new map (W.I.P.) huge file!!


the old map has been sucessfully extracted!