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Biohazard vs Resident Evil
Jeffrey - Apr 15, 2003
  Jeffrey Apr 15, 2003
I just played the first 5 minutes of Biohazard for the Saturn, and I was amazed at all the censorship in the US version which I have already played through.

The differences in the first 5 minutes are amazing. Not just the FMV scenes, but the actual game is different. The problem is that I probably wouldn't play through the whole game with it not being in English. Japanese kanji can get pretty hard.

So, I was thinking of some games I got from Korea where some programmers just lifted the text and replaced it with korean text in their bootlegs (not authorized translations). I was wondering if anyone ever considered doing this with some Saturn titles. Biohazzrd seems easy in theory because the vocals are in English, just some of the voiceless text would need to be translated.

Anyone on this project or think of reasons why it could or could not be done? Whoever would make an "unauthorized directors of Resident Evil" would be my personal hero!

 CrazyGoon Apr 15, 2003
Not that I know alot about saturn dev, though wouldn't you be able to just use the same script from the english version? That is if, of course, there is the same amount of text in the two games and the text appears at the same locations in both games. If that was the case, you wouldn't really need to translate the japanese script -- you have the english version of it

But yes - Good Idea. I was thinking about learning how to do something similar to what you described about the korean bootleg.

 Jeffrey Apr 15, 2003
The interesting thing about the korean bootlegs is that some of the japanese text is still present. That is, the korean text is shorter than the japanese text, so some japanese letters remain at the end of the sentences. I assume this is to keep the programs equal in length.

I wonder how much programming experience is necessary to do this.

 M3d10n Apr 15, 2003

  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by jeff-20@Apr 15, 2003 @ 07:01 PM



 I wonder how much programming experience is necessary to do this.


Lots.

I'm not sure in which side of the moon you've been living at, but homebrew game translations are not new. They've been doing that with SNES ROMs for a long time. There are lotsa tutorials on how to do it over the net, and they all make it clear that it's not as simple as opening the game ISO image in notepad and rewriting the text. And it's even harder on CD-based consoles, where the data is scattered over a much bigger area.

Since each game usually uses it's own way of storing text (no, it's NOT plain text files you can open with notepad, at least not in 99.99999% of the games), you'll need to struggle to find where it's located, then "decode" it (discovering which HEX values corresponds to which characters), find out where the font graphics are read from, then modify the font graphics to add useable roman characters, and then go back and change the text in the HEX, using the font table you figured out.

Not to mention that some games uses compressed text (no, it's not ZIP) and font graphics (no, not JPEG, nor GIF), and you'll have to figure out the compression algorithm, to both decode AND re-encode the text.

Then there are memory issues. English text usually uses more characters than Japanese characters. Will the new text fit memory? Also, what if the games displays a message in two "pages", but the translated text takes three, and the page count is hard-coded into the game program? You'll need to re-program the game. Without the source files.

If you are up to the task, take it. We're in dire need (but at least pick a game that has no English version - you can find someone to do the japanese for you). I'm just stating that you are not the first to have the idea, and that it's not as easy as it sounds.

 racketboy Apr 15, 2003
yeah there are some good JP Dreamcast games that could use translating too

 Pearl Jammzz Apr 15, 2003
hmmmmm, that's what the Saturn coding contest thing should be....the next one atleast. Who can do a full translation.....I would even pay money for sum games to be translated...

 Jeffrey Apr 15, 2003

  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by M3d10n@Apr 15, 2003 @ 10:40 PM



 Lots.



I'm not sure in which side of the moon you've been living at, but homebrew game translations are not new.


I just love it when people make me feel stoooopid.

Yeah, I even read some of the threads here on translation. I actually have a few translation bootlegs on cart.

I was just wondering why people are focused on heavy RPGs; it seems a game like Resident Evil would not have as much text and therefore, be RELATIVELY more easy to code than games like Robot Wars F (which I have seen translated in chinese and korean).

Not that I'd have the programming skills or terrestrial residency to do it.

 Taelon Apr 16, 2003
Just what exactly is in Biohazard that they censored out of Resident Evil? Real bummer, I'd never heard of RE being censored. I wish they'd just stop doing that altogether, *grumble*

 Jeffrey Apr 16, 2003
Taelon,

You wouldn't believe it. You'd have to play. The movie sequences were cut by 25 to 40%. Also, the zombie limbs fall off in the biohazard. Heads roll... and a whole lot more... all in the first 5 minutes of the game! Its a LOT more morbid and creepy in the japanese version.

 racketboy Apr 16, 2003
Boy, us Americans sure are sheltered people, aren't we?


  M3d10n Apr 16, 2003

  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by jeff-20@Apr 16, 2003 @ 02:09 AM



 I was just wondering why people are focused on heavy RPGs; it seems a game like Resident Evil would not have as much text and therefore, be RELATIVELY more easy to code than games like Robot Wars F (which I have seen translated in chinese and korean).


Maybe that's because the text plays a much bigger part in a RPG than in a game like Resident Evil (but I admit that you'll have some HARD times with RE if you don't have access to a English version - or knows Japanese - namely, the crows' hall puzzle).

And RE, even being slightly censored (graphically-wise, because the dialogue in both versions is the same), was released in USA. It just doesn't pay off the massive effort to translate a game that is already translated (the only different between Bio Hazard and a heavy RPG is the amount of text, but that's not exatly the hardest part of translating a game), just because it's a version with extra gore.

And I think that RE: Directors' Cut for PSX had all cutscenes that were removed in the USA Saturn and the PSX versions. But I might be wrong (it might've been a Japanese version).

 racketboy Apr 16, 2003
I played though the first part of the directors cut and I don't remember pieces of zombies falling off.

In fact, I don't remember any zombies in the beginning.

Is my memory bad?

 Cloud121 Apr 16, 2003
There was a bit of miscommunication between Capcom USA, and Capcom of Japan. The "Director's Cut" for PSX, has all the new things that they were touting for it. However, it is STILL censored. The only American version that is uncensored is the Windows version. Which is fairly tough to find I hear. Unless... someone is willing to do this translation

Now... if only RE2 (Leon is The Man!) had completed the port over. Capcom started working on the Saturn port, right after the PSX version was completed. However... due to lack of Saturn interest over here in the USA (Damn fanboys...), they scrapped it.

 Taelon Apr 17, 2003

  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by jeff-20@Apr 16, 2003 @ 01:44 PM



 Taelon,



You wouldn't believe it. You'd have to play. The movie sequences were cut by 25 to 40%. Also, the zombie limbs fall off in the biohazard. Heads roll... and a whole lot more... all in the first 5 minutes of the game! Its a LOT more morbid and creepy in the japanese version.


I'm going to be sick. I'm pissed now, I know that much - they don't even tell you how much they censor a game, no, you have to find out about it by accident on some online forum. MEH.

*looks at his complete, original copy of Resident Evil for Saturn with sudden disdain and indifference*

 Jeffrey Apr 17, 2003

  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by racketboy@Apr 16, 2003 @ 10:27 PM



 I played though the first part of the directors cut and I don't remember pieces of zombies falling off.



In fact, I don't remember any zombies in the beginning.



Is my memory bad?


The first zombie encountered outside of the dining room is eating a corpse, that scene was cut by almost half. The head is laying beside him in the uncensored version. Also, when you shoot him the first time, just his arm comes off and remains on the floor beside him. You have to play it again.

 racketboy Apr 17, 2003

  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by jeff-20+Apr 17, 2003 @ 06:20 PM-->
QUOTE(jeff-20 @ Apr 17, 2003 @ 06:20 PM)