46 OkuMen - PC-98 Translations

[hollowaytape]

So we're the guys who released the recent translation patch for E.V.O.: The Theory of Evolution (46 Okunen Monogatari: THE Shinkaron). Rather than call it a day, we've spent the past few months working on a few more projects that I hope you guys will find interesting. This thread will be where we post screenshots and updates on what we're working on.

Latest Release
CRW: Metal Jacket - July 1, 2017
Project Page | RHDN Page | Trailer

Current Projects

Appareden -Scroll of the Hidden Dragon- (Appareden -Fukuryuu no Shou-)
Project Page

Status
Beta testing, image edits, script edits.

About
Appareden -Fukuryuu no Shou- is an RPG from the late stages of the PC-98's life cycle released in 1995 by TGL, the same developers who released the Farland Story series of games that were among some of the first translated PC-98 games. It features a nicely animated battle system, and a story rich with history and lore from Japan's past. The game takes place on the Japanese islands and stars Gento, a not-too-bright swordsman who will do anything so long as he gets paid, and his talking cat monster companion, Benimaru. They are given a scroll by a dying samurai and told to deliver it to Edo, but find themselves in the middle of plots to take over the world!

Screenshots


Different Realm: The Eternal Sage (Different Realm: Kuon no Kenja)
Project Page

Status
Translation is in early stages, working on menu display hacks.

About
Different Realm: The Eternal Sage (Different Realm: Kuon no Kenja) is something we consider to be a true hidden gem for the PC-98. It is an RPG that was developed by Glodia and released in 1993 by ASCII. The combat is a combination of turn-based and strategic battle systems on a battlefield with no grid, creating a fairly free-form system where you move your characters on their turns, experiment with different formations and line up attacks. The game runs quite smoothly, which is quite unlike many of the choppy grid-based RPGs for the PC-98 system. The art is colorful, and often adorable and funny. Overall, it's a game we really think is worth introducing to Western audiences from a developer who put a whole lot of love into their product.

Screenshots


Completed Projects
E.V.O.: The Theory of Evolution (46 OkuMen Monogatari: The Shinkaron)
Turn-based RPG about evolving from a fish to a dinosaur and beyond. Predecessor to E.V.O.: Search for Eden.
December 29, 2016
Project Page | RHDN Page | Trailer

Rusty
A clone of Castlevania with wide-open nonlinear stages, starring a green-haired lady in leather named Rusty.
May 7, 2017
Project Page | RHDN Page | Trailer

CRW: Metal Jacket
A tactics game where you command a squad of mecha pilots fighting insurgents in future Japan.
July 1, 2017
Project Page | RHDN Page | Trailer

Core Members
hollowaytape - Hacking
kuoushi - Translation
SkyWelse - Graphics

About the Team
46 OkuMen was initially formed as a nameless group with the sole purpose of translating E.V.O.: The Theory of Evolution (46 Okunen Monogatari: THE Shinkaron) on the PC-98. Neither kuoushi nor hollowaytape had ever worked on a romhacking project before, but both ended up picking this game and joining together to translate E.V.O. PC-98 and release that to the public. Along the way they met SkyeWelse who had some experience in romhacking projects (with Heroes of Legend, cool dudes), as well as the ability to edit/create translated graphics and everything fell into place there.

If you guys have any questions about what we're working on, game suggestions, or anything related to the group at all, don't hesitate to ask. We're dedicated to the PC-98 catalog currently, and there's no guarantee we'll work on or finish any suggestions, but we're always open to hearing about games that people like. (We also check the RHDN Translation Request List.)

[Ziko]

Definitely would like to play Rusty & CRW as the former I'm told is really good.

[Starscream]

Thanks for keeping it going. I always thought CRW looked interesting because of the similarity to Front Mission, and I'm generally fond of the perspective.
I hope Appareden is a bit better balanced than the Farland Story games though!

[elmer]

It's great to see the PC-98 getting some attention.

Thanks guys, those translations are looking good! 

[Magma MK-II]

Rusty is a game I always wanted to see translated.

If possible take a look into XZR and XZR II.

[kuoushi]

If possible take a look into XZR and XZR II.

We've already added XZR to our candidates sheet. Doesn't mean we're actually going to do it but we've looked into it and what it'd take to hack/translate it a little bit at least.

[Pennywise]

Well, I might as well throw out some games that might be worthy of a translation.

Have you guys looked into the Rusty devs other PC98 games? They could share the same engine and/or reuse certain formats etc.

I don't know if Elm Knight is any good, but I like the music! It looks kinda cool at least.

I hear Night Slave is supposed to be a pretty good Blaster Master clone. I hear the hentai aspect of it is relatively tame, too.

Having translated Jesus on the Famicom, I've always wanted to translate JESUS I and II on the PC98. I liked the Famicom port of JESUS, but it was pretty clear to me that it was butchered. It'd be nice to see the definitive versions of the game translated.

Anyhow, it's really nice to see you guys tackling more PC98 games. I wish you guys luck.

[kuoushi]

Probably a good idea to show the list of games we've already looked at for possible future projects as well as what we're looking for/at.

In no particular order:
Insiders (Both) (1: refuge.tokyo, 2: refuge.tokyo)
Libros de Chilam Balam (refuge.tokyo)
XZR 1 (refuge.tokyo)
Void Vanity Fleet (pc98.org)
Paracelsus no Maken (refuge.tokyo)
Fifth Element (refuge.tokyo)
Farland Story 7 (refuge.tokyo)
Power Singer (refuge.tokyo)
La Valeur (refuge.tokyo)
Kuro no Ken (refuge.tokyo)
AIZA: New Generation (refuge.tokyo)
Illusion City (refuge.tokyo)
Elmknight (refuge.tokyo)
DAIVA Story 7 (refuge.tokyo)
Armored Flagship Atragon (refuge.tokyo)
Mission (refuge.tokyo)
Free Will: Knight of Argent (refuge.tokyo)
Super Dog World (refuge.tokyo)
Tamashi no Mon (refuge.tokyo)
Totsugeki! Mix (refuge.tokyo)
CRW 2 (refuge.tokyo)
Different Realm - Kuon no Kenja (refuge.tokyo)

And now a couple of notes about this list and what a game being on it means. Basically, we looked at these games and thought that they had some pretty cool things going for them and that they'd be worthwhile to translate. For each of the games here we've looked into their file structures at a very basic level and tried to see what it'd take for us to hack and translate them, things like whether or not they have proprietary image formats (increases the difficulty quite a bit), whether their text is in the executables or separate files, whether said text is compressed/encrypted or plaintext, whether ASCII characters will show up without any modifications, and a bunch of other things. Another thing about this list is that we might actually do the games on it in the future (which I guess should be obvious).

Don't see a game on the list that you think would be worthwhile for us to translate in the future? Go ahead and suggest it! We're not particularly focused on any one kind of game or genre (though our list is pretty RPG heavy at the moment), but there are a few things that we look for before we put games into our candidates sheet and give them a more thorough look.

First, and this will probably annoy a number of people, no eroge (adult games). Things that push the boundaries of that a little are okay, so long as it doesn't go too far (e.g. Rusty).
Second, PC-98 exclusives are preferred. Or at the very least, the PC-98 version of the game is the definitive version out of all the different ports and versions of the game.

Those are really the main two things we're looking at. Other things we tend to steer clear of are Visual Novels or Adventure games, but that's mostly just a personal preference for us. If a game from those genres is phenomenal we will of course consider it, but we probably won't be doing a lot of those.

Have you guys looked into the Rusty devs other PC98 games? They could share the same engine and/or reuse certain formats etc.

Yep, Totsugeki! Mix uses the same engine and might actually be easier than Rusty (might be speaking too soon here) in general, but it is definitely on our list.

I don't know if Elm Knight is any good, but I like the music! It looks kinda cool at least.

Elm Knight is pretty neat. Haven't played a whole lot of it yet, but we've thrown it on the Candidates list.

I hear Night Slave is supposed to be a pretty good Blaster Master clone. I hear the hentai aspect of it is relatively tame, too.

Having translated Jesus on the Famicom, I've always wanted to translate JESUS I and II on the PC98. I liked the Famicom port of JESUS, but it was pretty clear to me that it was butchered. It'd be nice to see the definitive versions of the game translated.

Anyhow, it's really nice to see you guys tackling more PC98 games. I wish you guys luck.

Night Slave will have to be another group, unfortunately. As fun as the gameplay portions look, it has some more adult content in it. Despite the fact that it can apparently be turned off, it would be difficult for us to work on it with families and things around, so it's out.

And as for Jesus, I'll throw it into my personal try list, but it does fall under the whole adventure game thing so it's also not too likely, unfortunately.

[hollowaytape]

Night Slave will have to be another group, unfortunately. As fun as the gameplay portions look, it has some more adult content in it. Despite the fact that it can apparently be turned off, it would be difficult for us to work on it with families and things around, so it's out.

Apparently turning off the eroge scenes in the options also turns off all cut scenes in general, so I can't really work on it even with that option.

[Starscream]

I thought Desert Dragoon was interesting when I tried it some years ago, it combines some 3D with strategy. El Dominion also seemed nice. I've also briefly played some of the Familysoft strategy games based on licenses (Aura Battler, various Gundams etc.) and I thought they could be decent, maybe they're a bit simplistic. I guess doing such a game would give you lots of exposure though 

[cccmar]

I thought Desert Dragoon was interesting when I tried it some years ago, it combines some 3D with strategy. El Dominion also seemed nice. I've also briefly played some of the Familysoft strategy games based on licenses (Aura Battler, various Gundams etc.) and I thought they could be decent, maybe they're a bit simplistic. I guess doing such a game would give you lots of exposure though 

One of the strategy games by Family Soft is practically 100% translated, and will very soon enter the testing phase. I won't spoil which one it is - I'll just say it's licensed. By the way, Gundam games - from what I've seen - were kinda average, they're more like VNs with the strategy mode shoehorned in for some reason. Still, there may be some good ones I have missed.
Also, as to the list - Alvaleak Continent is a very good 3D RPG, perhaps the best one I've played on that system so far. Glodia's games in general are quite fun, like Bible Master or Ragnarokkr... not sure if they're all PC-98 exclusives though.

[goldenband]

I'd love to see Illusion City translated, both in its own right and as a possible basis for subsequent work on the Mega CD version.

[Starscream]

One of the strategy games by Family Soft is practically 100% translated, and will very soon enter the testing phase.

Great 

Also, as to the list - Alvaleak Continent is a very good 3D RPG, perhaps the best one I've played on that system so far. Glodia's games in general are quite fun, like Bible Master or Ragnarokkr... not sure if they're all PC-98 exclusives though.

I think Alvaleak maybe an exclusive, but a lot of these games mentioned here (e.g. Bible Master, CRW) were ported to the FM Towns and / or IBM PC compatibles. The ports for the latter were typically for the Korean and Taiwanese markets though, and it's not like the PC-98 version should be substantively inferior in most cases (at least graphically, I listened a while ago to some Towns CD music you wouldn't get on other systems, always a possibility I guess).

[kuoushi]

Alvaleak, like most Glodia games not named Emerald Dragon, is an exclusive PC-98 game as far as I know. Also, it's on our list. I forgot to mention I quite enjoy Glodia games, to the point that basically all of their RPGs are on our list. Different Realm was just the only one officially on there​ currently.

I've even been in contact with one of their former developers and asked him to send me a file specification for some of their dialog files, which he was nice enough to share with me. Glodia's PC-98 games will be fairly difficult to hack due to the fact that their compressions and encodings are mostly proprietary. Also they used JIS instead of Shift-JIS for better compression.

We know a lot about the system so far but wanted to get more experience in general before we started working on any of their games, because they'll be difficult in general.

[Pennywise]

I hear pretty much every game Falcom has coded are difficult to hack and they were quite prolific on the PC98. I bet they'd rank up there with Glodia in terms of sheer difficulty and work.

What about something like Tokyo Twilight Busters? I hear it's highly regarded and even got an update for the NDS.

[varikares]

I love the Brandish games. I'd love to see 3 translated some day

also CRW Metal Jacket looks awesome

[kuoushi]

We just released an update to our EVO translation patch today.

Link: http://46okumen.com/2017/04/03/our-e-v-o-pc-98-translation-gets-an-update-and-an-easier-patching-process/

Our site has more information, but the basic changelog is we've done a lot of consistency updates and a few bug fixes. The main thing is a new patcher executable that hopefully makes it way easier to patch all of the different dumps of the game that exist. Basically we target the files inside of the images instead of the entire image itself.

This is the same style of patcher we'll be using going forward so feedback is extremely appreciated.

Edit: Now available on RHDN: http://www.romhacking.net/translations/2830/

[ObiKKa]

...

First, and this will probably annoy a number of people, no eroge (adult games). Things that push the boundaries of that a little are okay, so long as it doesn't go too far (e.g. Rusty).
Second, PC-98 exclusives are preferred. Or at the very least, the PC-98 version of the game is the definitive version out of all the different ports and versions of the game.

Ah, well, that takes Dragon Knight 4 (The uncensored PC-98 version) out of the pool, which is bad luck as I'm now pretty keen on this game's series.
Have you considered The Magic Candle, ported 2 years after the original Western computer formats by the company behind King's Bounty (PC-98 & FM Towns ports)? Why? Because I think both the art & interface of it do look a lot better than the PC DOS version. Not really compulsory to work on as it's obviously been released in proper English any other way.

Those are really the main two things we're looking at. Other things we tend to steer clear of are Visual Novels or Adventure games, but that's mostly just a personal preference for us. If a game from those genres is phenomenal we will of course consider it, but we probably won't be doing a lot of those.

Well, have you checked out Makyouden? It's gotten very positive opinions and I like the art style & setting. Also I love the sepia-like look of Ougon no Rashinban heaps, what with its isometric perspective, coming from the uber-famous (in retro gaming fan circles) Riverhill Soft! It's a bit like an Agatha Christie murder mystery story. Up to you if the story's interesting or not. There was another title in the series that came beforehand which also has an enhanced remake on the Nintendo DS.

* Forgot to add this: Whatever the things are that your team is working on I'm sure that all of us are absolutely happy to see these sorts of progress and reaching completion status with any project ever because it is relatively unheard of before for such a team that has strong sustained momentum continuing to tinker away at their list of titles from an old Japanese computer platform, especially the PC-98! And, IMO, those games that you folks do like to translate are cool as and very interesting for us as well!

[kuoushi]

I have actually looked at Makyouden a little bit. Nothing super in depth really, but the art style/setting do indeed seem pretty nice. I'll try giving it a play sometime and see how I feel about it. Look into the files a bit. Ougon no Rashinban is probably a pass for me currently though, as we have our sort of mystery game on our candidates list already with Paracelsus no Maken. It also has some more gameplay to it which is appealing. Also, check out Atragon in the list above if you like that sepia tone visual style.

As for ports to the PC-98 of Western games with enhanced graphics go, I'm not honestly sure it's worth it at this point when there are plenty of games that have no way of playing them in English currently. So those are generally going to be out as well.



Also, in other neat news that I'm happy about. Hollowaytape managed to use the file specifications we got for the scenario text in Different Realm to actually extract some of the dialog and control codes. Pretty cool first step towards doing some Glodia games in the future. I'm hoping we'll be able to get to those one day.

[hollowaytape]

Yeah, definitely hoping to work on Different Realm (or some other Glodia game) in the near-ish future. Probably the hardest to hack of anything I've looked at so far, but it looks like a hidden gem.

In other news, here's a trailer for our upcoming release of the Rusty translation.