Translations: Startling Odyssey 2 (Still Going)

[RHDNBot]

Update By: trumisery

Not sure how many of you remember me from when I was a bit more active in the scene, but those that do remember me, should also remember that about the same time NightWolve started his project on XakIII, I also started one for Startling Odyssey 2. This project has been on going since I think either 2001, or 2002, something like that, and it has been an on and off project for me. Thanks to NightWolve for showing this was possible!

I kind of dropped off the planet for awhile due mainly to issues in the real world... Anyways, I just wanted to let everyone know that the project is still alive and progressing rather well... with all things considered...

First off though, this is not a 100% word for word translation, as throughout the years, my translators have all fell through... so the the translation has gone through 3 machine translators and about 5 web page translators, and with the combined turnout of those translations, we get this fan translation... a rough, not exact to the script... playable version... in English...

Also, some of the translated text had to be summarized because it was longer than the allowed text, and I am not up to trying to figure out how to compress the text or add it to different parts of the disc...

So if you don't mind some changed names/items/spells/text, I hope very soon that you will enjoy this game as well, at least until someone that can translate better than the machine translators can do...

Anyways, the project is about 85-90% completely translated... there are just a few more things I need to get done... after all, there are over 80 different areas/towns/dungeons/caves/etc to go through...

I have played through the game on a real system, and so far, everything looks very good... all things considered...

I have talked with Dave, and we might be able to make the font look better, but it might be more than I can handle...

Once I play a bit more with the emulator, I will post screenies from further in the game...

*update*
EsperKnight has offered to help me with the Font Routine hack to allow more characters per line and a better looking font.

Visit http://forums.magicengine.com/en/viewtopic.php?t=2312 for screenshots and updates to the project.

Staff note from Neil: After some discussion, the staff of this site has decided not to host the patch here due to its machine translation nature. This is likely to be a controversial decision, but what decisions around here aren't these days. If you would like to debate the topic, we would encourage you to do so here in this specific thread. Please leave the front page news thread for discussions about the actual patch rather than a philosophical debate about the nature of translation hacking. Thanks!

Relevant Link: (http://forums.magicengine.com/en/viewtopic.php?t=2312)

[noneother]

Ah...
On one hand, I've always wanted to play that series (the two Startling Odysseys and Miraculum) and I can say I definitely will try the patch once it's out.
On the other hand, Tru's own description doesn't make the project look too good, and it's a damn shame that he couldn't find an actual translator. I sort of expect it to read like the Legend of Heroes PSP ports, and as laid back as I am about bad translations, I can't pretend it didn't hamper my enjoyment of those games in a pretty serious way.
I can totally see why this isn't the image you want people to associate with fan translations either, so I'm not really debating the staff decision here.

[Spinner 8]

Good luck to you, I'm looking forward to playing this! If you don't post any news updates to RHDN in the future, at least be sure to let us all know when you release a patch (and any possible updates to the patch)! :)

[heratio]

Is this for the PC Engine since I think there is a Playstation version too.  What is the best emulator to use to go with this game when it comes out?

[Spinner 8]

Is this for the PC Engine since I think there is a Playstation version too.  What is the best emulator to use to go with this game when it comes out?

I personally prefer Mednafen. Unlike other available PC Engine emulators, it's free and it won't add a bunch of unwanted crap to your Windows registry. It doesn't have a GUI, but it seems that no PC Engine emulator is perfect for the time being.

To answer your other question, both Startling Odyssey games were only on the PCE CD, though the first game also got a PS1 remake. Maybe you were thinking of Albert Odyssey?

[trumisery]

Good luck to you, I'm looking forward to playing this! If you don't post any news updates to RHDN in the future, at least be sure to let us all know when you release a patch (and any possible updates to the patch)!

Don't worry, I have every intention of posting a news update to this site.  I understand why the site will not host the translations... it isn't an accurate translation... and I understand that...

When I am able to release a patch, I will post a news update here... wether or not the patch is posted depends on the site itself... I understand either way... but I hope that at least the news update is posted...

When a news update is posted, it will lead to a link on the forum of magicengine.com...

I understand all the criticism as well as appreciate all the compliments...

Yes, this is for the PC Engine/Turbo Duo....
and I usually use Yame as an emulator.... although I perfer a real system. which is where I did 90% of my tests for so2... I know... what a waste of cdr-s...

[heratio]

Thanks Spinner 8, actually I have never heard of this game so I just did a quick google search and GameFAQs actually has a section devoted to Startling Odyssey 2 for the Playstation (along with SO3 which I guess was never released).

[aishsha]

Thanks Spinner 8, actually I have never heard of this game so I just did a quick google search and GameFAQs actually has a section devoted to Startling Odyssey 2 for the Playstation (along with SO3 which I guess was never released).

Startling Odyssey was planned as a trilogy but only 2 games were actually released (1st one only on PSX).

[noneother]

The same developer, Rayforce, also had a game for the PC-FX called Miraculum which seems very similar to the Startling Odyssey games, though I'm not sure if it's officially related or not.
Also, for PC-Engine emulators, Ootake is great (and free, too). The only one that's shareware is Magic Engine, far as I know.
Oh, and I realise my first post was bit more negative than I wanted it to be. There was actually a few completed translations, which I won't name, that were done in a similar way-the translator had some basic Japanese knowledge, used translation programs and a dictionary, carefully edited the script, etc.-and they turned out okay. It's probably a lot more work, too, so I commend Tru for sticking with it. Hadn't heard anything about it since that post on Snesorama years ago.

[KingMike]

Yes, Nekketsu/Kunio Soccer League for NES was an edited machine translation (as the readme states).
Though it's a sports game so I don't know how much an accurate translation matters (over a playable translation).

[tomaitheous]

I know quite a few people in the PCE community stated on multiple occasions that they rather play a machine translation then nothing at all. Basically for the lack of any translation projects for the PCE CD system. I'm definitely looking forward to play this. It sure as hell beats playing with a walkthrough - which gives you even less-to-none of the lesser story elements and dialogs.

[Validus]

I CANT WAAAAIIIIIT FOR THIS GAME!!!!!!

Im a huge PCengine TUrbografx fanboy so that may have something to do with it.

I am currently trying to do a machine translation myself, so I look up to this project a lot. BTW just because this is a machine translation does not mean the guy left it in Engrish, he re edited the text to make sense and make the game playable till the end.

[Brick]

Why isn't there a site for Startling Odyssey 2 on romhacking.net? Did the hacker(s) forbid it? There is a translation patch out there, but I can't say if it is complete.

[dshadoff]

It says in the "Staff note from Neil" section of the initial post.

However, I have heard from staff of RHDN much more recently (perhaps a year or so ago), stating that if somebody would like to submit the patch, they will create the appropriate entry.

[akualung]

Why isn't there a site for Startling Odyssey 2 on romhacking.net? Did the hacker(s) forbid it? There is a translation patch out there, but I can't say if it is complete.

Wow, it's been long since I heard from this game. I became aware of this translation too late and, when I tried to download the patch, it was impossible to find it anywhere, all links to the patch file had expired.

Do you by any chance know where can it be downloaded, if possible?

I don't mind whether it is complete or not. If I can play it in English even for the first few hours to see if the game is up my alley or not, I'm ok with it. I've been interested in Rayforce rpgs (the Startling Odyssey saga, Miraculum, etc) for quite some time and wanted to give one of them a try, and SO2 seems the only one having a patch.

Thanks in advance!

[bigbob]

This patch can be found in following the link given in the first post :
https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=7972.0

[akualung]

This patch can be found in following the link given in the first post :
https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=7972.0

Thanks! I googled it for some time but never got that thread among the results. Only a thread were all links to the patch were expired megaupload ones.