Phantasy Star II Improvement v4.4 | ReConstruct: Phantasy Star IV v1.2

[mziab]

This sounds like it could be a one-byte change or something easily done with a cheat code.

[FlamePurge]

I was asking for a way to revert it for me personally, not for you to prefer it. But if that's an issue for whatever reason, I understand.

Oh, I'm sorry! I'm so used to people asking me for alternate versions. PM me and I think we might be able to work something out.

[FlamePurge]

Phantasy Star II Improvement v4.2 is now available for Genesis and Steam.

Changes:
- New addenda applied atop the primary patch: Doubler (2x EXP/MST), No Red Flashes (Disables screen flashing red when characters take damage), Original Names (Approximates names used in Japanese version)
- Kain can now equip weapon VULCAN
- Weapon Wave Shot adjusted: 67 dmg, two-handed, 45000 MST price
- Armor ElastcVest adjusted: 29 DEF
- Hugh's tech list overhauled (Requires leveling him from LV 1 to acquire)
- Anna was given techs ZAN and GIZAN (Requires leveling her from LV 1 to acquire)
- Tech FANBI now costs 6 TP
- Corrected typos


ReConstruct: Phantasy Star IV v1.2 is now available for Genesis and Steam.

Changes:
- Typo corrections.

[FlamePurge]

Phantasy Star II Improvement v4.3 is available.

- Rolf can equip weapon SHOTGUN
- ElastcVest renamed Cyber Vest; now gives ATK +10 in addition to DEF +29
- Rolf learns tech ANTI at LV 18
- Nei's tech loadout slightly adjusted

Spooniest and I weren't able to update the Steam version of the mod. The Genesis Workshop Tool doesn't seem to be accepting mods from either of us anymore. I may try again in the future but now it looks like the Steam versions won't be updated anymore.

[Red Soul]

An excellent set of balancing fixes. The only way this could be even better would be if it had a real time map add on like Sega AGES Phantasy Star haha. Also kudos for giving people the option to use the Japanese names, a real plus for a purist like me.

[FlamePurge]

Thank you very much! I'm glad I was able to tweak PSII for user friendliness.

[Red Soul]

Indeed. I also appreciate the lessening of flashes and such other animations as my eyes tire easily when games have such effects in excess.

[mikeprichard]

vivify93 - I'm just coming back to PSIV after many, many years, and am greatly enjoying your ReConstruct hack; thanks so much for sharing this! I do have a question for you or another expert on the forum. I'd like to edit the ReConstruct version of the rom just to change the Technique and Skill names to some personal preferences (e.g. Foi > Fire 1, Gires > Cure 2, etc.), and I think, given the disassembly for the ReConstruct rom, I'd be able to do this by editing only the associated "TechniqueNames" and "SkillNames" values in the ps4.asm file according to the guide at https://www.romhacking.net/documents/830/. However, I have no idea how to create the ReConstruct rom disassembly package in the first place. Would you or another expert please be able to provide a disassembly of the ReConstruct rom, or detailed instructions? Thanks very much!

[lan-vuhoang]

Actually

1. Rebecca and Peaches' retranslation is closer to the original Japanese script. 90% of PSIII's English localized script is made up.
2. The tech names weren't changed according to Rebecca and Peaches' whims; the non-combat techs actually do have weird and random names in Japanese. Rebecca notes this on her website. http://www.sceneryrecalled.com/trans/ps3item.txt

I have actually made an addendum of their PSIII retranslation that renames the techs to align with PSII and IV, if you're interested? I do heavily recommend the retranslation over the made-up official localization.

I would also like to take this opportunity to make a general statement to please not put down others' projects in order to uplift mine. Of course nothing is above criticism, even free labor projects like this. I know I've made my own fair share of criticisms, but it's in poor taste to entirely shut down others' projects. (Even when I criticized Bishoujo Senshi Translations' take on Sailor Moon RPG, I still noted the positives.)

By "original script", I mean the English version, which is the version that I played on my iPad in my free time.

Also, where is that addendum patch?

[mikeprichard]

vivify93 - I'm just coming back to PSIV after many, many years, and am greatly enjoying your ReConstruct hack; thanks so much for sharing this! I do have a question for you or another expert on the forum. I'd like to edit the ReConstruct version of the rom just to change the Technique and Skill names to some personal preferences (e.g. Foi > Fire 1, Gires > Cure 2, etc.), and I think, given the disassembly for the ReConstruct rom, I'd be able to do this by editing only the associated "TechniqueNames" and "SkillNames" values in the ps4.asm file according to the guide at https://www.romhacking.net/documents/830/. However, I have no idea how to create the ReConstruct rom disassembly package in the first place. Would you or another expert please be able to provide a disassembly of the ReConstruct rom, or detailed instructions? Thanks very much!

Is my request for a Reconstruct rom disassembly package perhaps against the forum rules, or is it just that nobody knows how to provide one? Sorry if I sound impatient/uppity, but I'm getting near the end of my playthrough and would still like to mess around with this.

[Spooniest]

http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=370.msg4549#msg4549

Per the "Forum Rules" Thread in the Newcomer's Board (edited for emphasis):

Rules of Thumb:

General community ethics suggest the following rules of thumb. While not official rules you will be penalized for, repeated failure to act appropriately will likely cause your peers to report you for a rule 1 violation.
[...]
    It is never a good idea to request someone else do work for you. That includes asking for someone to make a utility, do a translation, write a document etc.

I would say, if you are really that jazzed about the idea of having Simple English Names for Spells/Techs in PS4, then you might consider taking the time to sit down and try to figure out how to do it yourself. As I have come to understand it in my years on the site, if someone doesn't wish to fulfill your request, then they are under no obligation to fulfill it, or even respond to it.

We do this (mod games) because we have an idea in our head that we want to make. Some modders like taking requests, some don't, and some can go back and forth on it, but as the Forum Rules of Thumb state, it's frowned upon to simply ask someone to do a large amount of work for you, regardless of any other circumstances in play.

[mikeprichard]

I would say, if you are really that jazzed about the idea of having Simple English Names for Spells/Techs in PS4, then you might consider taking the time to sit down and try to figure out how to do it yourself. As I have come to understand it in my years on the site, if someone doesn't wish to fulfill your request, then they are under no obligation to fulfill it, or even respond to it.

We do this (mod games) because we have an idea in our head that we want to make. Some modders like taking requests, some don't, and some can go back and forth on it, but as the Forum Rules of Thumb state, it's frowned upon to simply ask someone to do a large amount of work for you, regardless of any other circumstances in play.

Of course, it's completely reasonable that modders are under no such obligation! These are all passion projects kindly shared with the community, so that's just common sense. I just didn't know whether requesting/sharing disassemblies specifically is prohibited. Unfortunately, as I can't find any resources here or elsewhere to give me any hints as to how much work this would be, or how to actually disassemble the rom (which I would have been happy to attempt myself without asking others should such resources have existed), I guess I'm out of luck.

EDIT: I've now completed my playthrough, so the above request is moot.

[Spooniest]

I am not really sure about that end of the project, myself, it's viv who keeps up with the disassembly stuff.

I just do beta testing and script consulting, so I'm kind of as in the dark about it as you are, heh.

If I was gonna do my own Phantasy Star II mod, I'd want to do something about two issues; the battle backgrounds and the lack of any dialogue from the side characters, but I don't think I would want to. Those are issues that the game devs themselves would have needed to fix, and I feel I would be venturing too far into fanfic mode, to write actual new dialogues.

But FF6-9 actually have a system for injecting dialogue based on which characters are in your party at the time, and to me, that doesn't seem so hard as long as you have a large enough text bank to fit all the text, and a system for setting flags for who is and is not in the party. Then it's just a matter of knowing when to point what lines of dialogue where.

But, like I said, I wouldn't want to do a project like that, because that's going way overboard in terms of attempting to read the authors' intent rather than simply edit the story. I'unno. I would feel like I was engaging in (as Tolkien put it) "purposed domination of the will of the author over the mind of the reader." (Tolkien was addressing the question of whether LotR was an allegory.)

... I'm sorry, I've forgotten where I was going with this.

[Jackie Lyn]

I'm just posting to say I am excited to have come across this patch a few days ago. I played the original Phantasy Star on PS3 about a decade ago when it was part of the Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection. The interface was dated, the random encounters were a slog and a half, and I was consulting a guide constantly during the later portions, but in spite of all its flaws, there was a certain naive charm to the game that I just fell in love with. I tried to go directly to Phantasy Star II after finishing, but once I realized I was in for another round of incessant random encounters and long dungeons, I decided to put it off until later... and then I forgot about it. Flashing forward to this year, I just finished the new Switch version of Phantasy Star last week and was wondering if there was something a bit similar for PSII. I checked around and quickly stumbled upon this.

If I was gonna do my own Phantasy Star II mod, I'd want to do something about two issues; the battle backgrounds and the lack of any dialogue from the side characters, but I don't think I would want to. Those are issues that the game devs themselves would have needed to fix, and I feel I would be venturing too far into fanfic mode, to write actual new dialogues.

But FF6-9 actually have a system for injecting dialogue based on which characters are in your party at the time, and to me, that doesn't seem so hard as long as you have a large enough text bank to fit all the text, and a system for setting flags for who is and is not in the party. Then it's just a matter of knowing when to point what lines of dialogue where.

But, like I said, I wouldn't want to do a project like that, because that's going way overboard in terms of attempting to read the authors' intent rather than simply edit the story. I'unno. I would feel like I was engaging in (as Tolkien put it) "purposed domination of the will of the author over the mind of the reader." (Tolkien was addressing the question of whether LotR was an allegory.)

... I'm sorry, I've forgotten where I was going with this.

In terms of additional dialogue and character development options, I feel like the PSII Text Adventures could offer some material, since they offer insight into the characters' backstories and motivations. You could have characters reference back to relevant events from those or make some remarks about a location they'd previously been to without straying too far into fanfic territory.

[FlamePurge]

i hope you've enjoyed psii improvement so far, jackie lyn. it's definitely a passion project.

[lan-vuhoang]

This might be a bit off-topic, but I would like a patch similar to Breath of Fire Text Cleanup, but for BoF2. Sure, there's a re-translation available, but remember about the purists.

[FlamePurge]

i had one planned but it's been on the backburner for a few years. i basically have to rewrite the entire script since bofii's translation is so poor.

[lan-vuhoang]

i had one planned but it's been on the backburner for a few years. i basically have to rewrite the entire script since bofii's translation is so poor.

I don't need an entire rewrite. I just need some of the following:
1. Move the ellipsis character (...) to line up with the bottom of the text instead of the center and remove the spaces preceding it.
2. Some spelling mistake fixes. (Equip lod/bait -> Equip rod/bait, etc.)
3. Some GBA lines injected into the SNES version. Even though the GBA version has flaws of its own, in some places, its script could be a revision of the SNES version's script. Eg. ("The Line got got away." -> "The Line got snapped.")
(Correction: The original line (The Line got got away.) is still seen when the line drop to the bottom of the screen. Don't know is it intentional or not.
4. Better item/enemy name abbreviations.
5. Modern lore terms. (Dein, Myria, etc.)
6. General improvements & bug fixes.
7. Fixed programming errors. For example, due to space limitation, the SNES version has the last character in "Total Deposit" and "Total in Bank" cut off and highlighting unnecessarily on at the last character of the deposit number. Also, some lines of text has incorrect control codes. See the Legends of Localization page for more info on that.
Correction: Maybe that second thing was just a SNES thing, because the GBA version highlight things a different way.

[FlamePurge]

oh no i was going to work off the gba version. it was going to be mostly original. it's just tedious when i'm whacking away only in hex

[lan-vuhoang]

oh no i was going to work off the gba version. it was going to be mostly original. it's just tedious when i'm whacking away only in hex

Well, then you're going to have the benefits of having an updated battle UI and item icons, but the cons of having to apply 2 more patches to restore the colors and music.