Dragon Quest I+II Addendum Fix by Rod Merida

[Special]

Recently this was released;

https://www.romhacking.net/translations/6127/

It's really cool that this game/RPGOne's translation finally got the love that it deserves and now's it's all fixed up thanks to Rod Merida, but the intro title screen now placed in this Hack is quite frankly disgusting...

I'm all for credit when and where credit is due, and much love to Rod Merida and co. for doing this addendum, but IMO that intro is bad.

Would and could a fellow ROM hacker here be willing to remove this "intro" from the hack?

[Grandpaf]

Glad I'm not the only one who had quite a reaction when the splash screen booted. Almost though my pc was hijacked... I think Would look way better if that « thing » didnt spin on the screen with such saturated colors.

[Chicken Knife]

I had a DM conversation with RodMerida where I suggested that he do this English port of the bug fixes around the time when he released the Spanish translation. I had offered help with doing some testing for additional bugs that I had encountered in the past. I recently gave some bug related feedback, but I also noted my concerns with the new title screen. I asked if he could help me disable it (along with the original fan title screen) in order to use this as a base for my translation work. Frankly, all he was willing to do is tell me to press select (which reverts to the original fan title screen), and then he went on to criticize my desire to continue work on new English translations, how it divides the fan base, etc. I was thoroughly disappointed with that whole exchange.

[Choppasmith]

I'm a little torn honestly. On one hand, I only saw the screenshot and I can see how people call it jarring. On the other hand fans have been asking for these big fixes for YEARS and I'm quite thankful Rod finally fixed them and if he feels like he wants to leave his mark with his own splash screen, I don't have a problem with that.

[svenge]

...And then he went on to criticize my desire to continue work on new English translations, how it divides the fan base, etc. I was thoroughly disappointed with that whole exchange.

Dude has a point when it comes to your ass-pulled spell translations, though.  It makes the mechanics of the actually playing the game less accessible in a misguided aim to replicate the "magic" of Japanese fans discovering the game for the first time way back when.  Simply using the modern official spell translations would make things simpler for everyone, especially since the only people who would be interested in a modern translation of the old NES games are long-time DQ fans who have ingrained expectations of what existing spell names are used for a given task due to playing later games in the franchise on their native modern platforms.

That's entire point of societal conventions existing, after all.  To use an extreme example, what if you were driving down the road and some rando decided to go down the (conventionally) "wrong" side and collide with you head-on just because it fits his whimsical image of which side of the road cars should drive on?

[Masaru]

I have a patch that desactivates the splash screen, but i don't know if post it here

[Chicken Knife]

@svenge

First, his criticism had nothing to do with our spell names. It had to do him thinking that the original DQI&II translation by RPGOne was nearly perfect as is, extremely important to gaming history, and that my group would commit some kind of great sin by tarnishing it with a new translation. I gave him multiple examples of significant translation problems in the RPGOne script.

Second, did you play through one of our projects? Or did you read a list of spell names and get annoyed? Two very different experiences. I've had a couple people read the list and criticize our work, but I don't think we've had a person play through a game with them and not offer specifically positive feedback on the naming scheme. I'm not saying criticism in that context isn't possible, but it seems rare at best. You make this odd comparison to someone driving on the wrong side of the road and causing a crash, but... I really don't think our spell names are that confusing. The meanings are mostly obvious, especially if you start with DQ1.

I did think long and hard about which direction we wanted to go with this. I get the different points of view out there, and I definitely get not pleasing everyone. If it was like Final Fantasy where the English versions (Fira/Firaga/etc) are pretty close to the Japanese versions, we probably would have just left the existing system in place regardless of where it diverges. But in DQ's case, neither English system works or feels anything like the Japanese system. And a translation is a translation. Our approach was not one of fan service, but of faithfulness to Horii, however that gets received by English speakers. Spells, like equipment, like character names, were all treated as part of the translation in the end. There are definitely people who appreciate this approach, as many have expressed.

[lilpuddy31]

I have a patch that desactivates the splash screen, but i don't know if post it here

The new splash screen? Or the old one? or Both?

[svenge]

I did think long and hard about which direction we wanted to go with this. I get the different points of view out there, and I definitely get not pleasing everyone. If it was like Final Fantasy where the English versions (Fira/Firaga/etc) are pretty close to the Japanese versions, we probably would have just left the existing system in place regardless of where it diverges. But in DQ's case, neither English system works or feels anything like the Japanese system. And a translation is a translation. Our approach was not one of fan service, but of faithfulness to Horii, however that gets received by English speakers. Spells, like equipment, like character names, were all treated as part of the translation in the end. There are definitely people who appreciate this approach, as many have expressed.

While I'm not disputing that you didn't think this through, my belief is that ideals sometimes have to make way for usability and practicality.  Items and equipment don't have nearly as many "touch points" as spells in that the "fight" command is universal for all weapons, and items are used relatively infrequently.  As such, having non-standard names (i.e. ones not conforming to modern convention) for them isn't nearly as problematic as compared to spells, which are much more frequently used.

My opinion is that at the very least it would be nice if there were an intermediate option with more conventional names offered as well, much like how the original RPGONE patch for DQ 1+2 (SFC) was made available with separate "Dragon Warrior" and "Dragon Quest" variants.

[Red Soul]

I have a patch that desactivates the splash screen, but i don't know if post it here

I'd certainly like it. While obviously the addendum authors deserve credit where it's due, the whole cracktro style thing they put there is a bit much, to me.

[Chicken Knife]

While I'm not disputing that you didn't think this through, my belief is that ideals sometimes have to make way for usability and practicality.  Items and equipment don't have nearly as many "touch points" as spells in that the "fight" command is universal for all weapons, and items are used relatively infrequently.  As such, having non-standard names (i.e. ones not conforming to modern convention) for them isn't nearly as problematic as compared to spells, which are much more frequently used.

My opinion is that at the very least it would be nice if there were an intermediate option with more conventional names offered as well, much like how the original RPGONE patch for DQ 1+2 (SFC) was made available with separate "Dragon Warrior" and "Dragon Quest" variants.

I don't want to continue here with a side conversation that has ventured pretty far off the topic of this thread. Will DM you if that's ok.

[TRIFORCE89]

I don't know if this helps anyone or anything at all, but I found this bugfixed and text revised version a while back. I recently played through it (both titles), enjoyed it, and didn't encounter any game-breaking glitches. Archive has a readme list of changes.

[Red Soul]

I don't know if this helps anyone or anything at all, but a while back I found this bugfixed and text revised version a while back. I recently played through it (both titles), enjoyed it, and didn't encounter any game-breaking glitches. Archive has a readme list of changes.

Krisan-Thyme did an amazing job with SMT3 Maniax Chronicles Edition. I had no idea he worked on this too.

[Special]

I don't know if this helps anyone or anything at all, but I found this bugfixed and text revised version a while back. I recently played through it (both titles), enjoyed it, and didn't encounter any game-breaking glitches. Archive has a readme list of changes.

So how do I patch it, it lacks any instructions about so... Do I patch it to a clean JAP ROM? Does the ROM need a header or be headerless? Or do I use an already pre-patched RPGONE ROM as base?

[lilpuddy31]

So how do I patch it, it lacks any instructions about so... Do I patch it to a clean JAP ROM? Does the ROM need a header or be headerless? Or do I use an already pre-patched RPGONE ROM as base?

you'll need a clean headerless rom

[Choppasmith]

I don't know if this helps anyone or anything at all, but I found this bugfixed and text revised version a while back. I recently played through it (both titles), enjoyed it, and didn't encounter any game-breaking glitches. Archive has a readme list of changes.

Oh neat, this guy posted here around the time I started work on DW1 Re-Quest. I wanted to give it a try but the link he offered was a broken link and he just shrugged and seemed he wasn't too sure if he'd continue.

[JKPhage]

I don't know if this helps anyone or anything at all, but I found this bugfixed and text revised version a while back. I recently played through it (both titles), enjoyed it, and didn't encounter any game-breaking glitches. Archive has a readme list of changes.

This version really needs to be on RHDN. If it fixes bugs, which apparently it does, without adding a crazy splash screen for no reason then it's already miles ahead of what we've got. Beyond that, it fixes that god awful choice to call it the "Ball of Light". That's one of the first lines spoken in the game and I knew then and there that I couldn't play through that version without constantly rolling my eyes. Just booted this one up and started working through it and just being able to take the story semi-seriously is amazing. Seems like the ideal version of the game honestly.

[Masaru]

Here's how do you desactivate the splash screen in the RodMerida patch

1.Open HxD
2.Open your pre-patched rom on HxD
3.At the first offset replace 5C 00 84 26 5C 04 80 00 with D8 78 18 FB C2 10 E2 20

This happens because Rod almost didn't changed the values where the RPGONE splash screen were

[lilpuddy31]

Here's how do you desactivate the splash screen in the RodMerida patch

1.Open HxD
2.Open your pre-patched rom on HxD
3.At the first offset replace 5C 00 84 26 5C 04 80 00 with D8 78 18 FB C2 10 E2 20

This happens because Rod almost didn't changed the values where the RPGONE splash screen were

Does it remove the RPGone splash screen also?

[Masaru]

Does it remove the RPGone splash screen also?

For the RPGONE splash screen is almost the same, replace the first 4 bites with D8 78 18 FB