Dragon Quest IV (PSX)

[markus-projects]

Hi,

since I could not find a Dragon Quest IV translation for the playstation version, I looked into the Dragon Quest IV (PSX) data for myself.

What I found out is explained in my blog. I will keep this post updated when I find out more.
http://markus-projects.net/dragon-hackst-iv/

I thought this could be interesting for some of you.
Questions, collaborations or hints are welcome.

[MandatoryPixel]

I'd like to see this version translated someday! This is interesting info.

[Chicken Knife]

It's really great to see someone progressing with this. Getting DQ4 PSX English translated would be an extremely exciting event for the Dragon Quest community.

I'm part of a group called Translation Quest that has recently done / is doing several DQ retranslations, including the first 3 NES games and Dragon Warrior Monsters. If you are interested in discussing a potential collaboration, message me.

[LadyCannock]

Thank you for your blog post. I've read it and will compare with my own notes later on tonight. 

[erinnk]

As a personal friend of Chicken Knife, and someone fairly aware of the translations done by Translation Quest, I was directed here. I'm happy to help. I've done one other notable DQ translation project in days gone by.

Might be a day or two before I really dig into this, but I'm thinking if in fact it is an LZ* compression scheme, it shouldn't be hard to extract stuff from each of the blocks.

[pocket]

Good luck with this, I was hoping someone would take a whack at translating this. It's the only 8-bit DQ game that didn't get it's console remake translated.

[markus-projects]

Hi Chicken Knife and erinnk,
I would like to collaborate with you, but currently it is maybe too early to think about translation. I guess the following steps have to be solved first:

• Understanding the Sub-Block Types
• Decompress the used LZS

If this is done, then we can dig deeper into how to replace the texts.
I already looked into that and made a small graphical user interface (GUI) to inspect the data.
Years ago I wrote the LZS decompression code for FF7 (PSX). Maybe DQ4 is similar.

I uploaded my current Java code to Github: https://github.com/mschroeder-github/dragon-hackst-4. You can look into it if you are familiar with Java.

[Chicken Knife]

too early to think about translation

Totally understandable.

I guess the following steps have to be solved first:
Understanding the Sub-Block Types
Decompress the used LZS

My technical abilities are pretty modest, and limited to 8 bit / 16 bit assembly language based hacking, but my friends erinnk & LadyCannock have a much more robust and up to date technical background and therefore have a lot more to offer at this stage in the process. It's a neat coincidence that we have all recently been poking around and doing a bit of groundwork with the PSX DQ4 translation idea.

[erinnk]

I uploaded my current Java code to Github: https://github.com/mschroeder-github/dragon-hackst-4. You can look into it if you are familiar with Java.

Thanks for this, and yes, I can work with Java (I'm personally a c# girl, but I won't start *that* debate here).

The "block" format is eerily reminiscent of DQ X. (Different, but similar approach)

[Mattiac]

Exemplary initiative, thank you, talented Markus-san!
September 10, 2020, 04:16:17 PM - (Auto Merged - Double Posts are not allowed before 7 days.)
Chicken Knife-san, will you please also make a finally 100 % complete English translation of Dragon Quest VI for SNES?!

[Chicken Knife]

Chicken Knife-san, will you please also make a finally 100 % complete English translation of Dragon Quest VI for SNES?!

Yes! We are planning to eventually get there. It might take years, but we hope to see it happen. I adore that version and can't wait to have it playable in a much more refined state.

[LadyCannock]

Chicken Knife, depending how many people get on the team, maybe we could do both in parallel. As for 5, would it also need a new delocalization translation?

[Chicken Knife]

Yeah, we also want a version of 5 that fits with the rest of our work as far as conventions, writing style and level of polish. But working on them all at the same time? I think that's fine for the technical aspects; not so sure about the writing process. I'd really want to prioritize DQ4 PSX over everything else if this works out, just because it's a much bigger priority to the fanbase.

[maximo806]

woahhh! hold on I thought DQIV was never released on older consoles other than the NES, this is news to me!

[Choppasmith]

Wow, I know this a long way off, but best of luck! Thanks Markus for getting the ball rolling.

[Rabite890]

woahhh! hold on I thought DQIV was never released on older consoles other than the NES, this is news to me!

Yeah, it almost got released in the US by Enix before the Squeenix merger. There's even an advertisement on the back of the manual for DWM2 I want to say it was. But the merger messed everything up and we never got it or the remakes of DQM1-2 on PS1.

[erinnk]

Yeah, it almost got released in the US by Enix before the Squeenix merger. There's even an advertisement on the back of the manual for DWM2 I want to say it was. But the merger messed everything up and we never got it or the remakes of DQM1-2 on PS1.

Hey, be patient now, it's coming in 2002!

[CoolCatBomberMan]

Yeah, it almost got released in the US by Enix before the Squeenix merger. There's even an advertisement on the back of the manual for DWM2 I want to say it was. But the merger messed everything up and we never got it or the remakes of DQM1-2 on PS1.

The ad was on DW7's manual, actually. And the merger wasn't what killed the DQ4 translation, it was Heartbeat going under. Regardless, I don't think we ever would've gotten the DQM1-2 remakes, since the originals were panned for being too much like Pokémon.

[Rabite890]

The ad was on DW7's manual, actually. And the merger wasn't what killed the DQ4 translation, it was Heartbeat going under. Regardless, I don't think we ever would've gotten the DQM1-2 remakes, since the originals were panned for being too much like Pokémon.

Is that the one it was? My mistake. I wasn't sure which one it was.

Ah yeah, that's what it was. There was quite a bit of anger from the DQ community when that happened. Quite a few "alternate" theories.

I think the DQM1-2 remake might have had a chance if DQ4 had made it. DWM1 sold well enough for Enix to decide to release the other games, even DWM2. I'm not certain that it being panned by some of the reviewers guaranteed that the games sold badly enough.

But that's neither here nor there. It didn't happen.

[Mattiac]

Thank you, Chicken Knife-san! I wish I had the skills to help you complete the translation faster, but it will be worth the wait.