Patlabor translation in progress

[Mad Moham]

*Edit* Project cancelled, sorry if anyone got their hopes up but I did warn everyone in the beginning. Maybe someone who is more skilled than myself can translate the game in the future, if so feel free to use the material that I've already released if you find it useful. And don't worry, nothing bad has happened in my life to cause this decision.

I want no further involvement with video games. I actually wrote a lengthy explanation of what's happened in my life recently but I doubt anyone has time to read that shit so I deleted it before posting. I won't be posting on Sega-16 anymore, nor will I be spending my time with video games.

Hopefully everyone has fun with whatever they're doing, there's some awesome people on Sega-16.






As mentioned in another thread, I've been working on a translation of Patlabor so from now on any progress will be posted here.
Its important to mention that you shouldn't expect this project to go anywhere so if you're a fan of the franchise, please don't get your hopes up for a translation patch. However, given how much I've enjoyed the process so far, I would love to complete the translation and share it with everyone.

Here's where its at so far:









The thread will be updated each time I make significant progress, but there are a few times of year when my job gets absolutely insane and I won't have time to work on the translation during those times. Also, please keep in mind that I've never done any romhacking until now, so this may go absolutely nowhere.

[Mad Moham]

Ok, I'll make a patch available to prove that this is moving forward:VERY early English patch

If you want to try it then you'll need a rom titled: "Patlabor (J) [c][!]"
And you'll have to correct the checksum to play on real hardware. Currently, the name entry screen has a few characters that are misaligned (I know how to fix the issue and will be correcting it soon). *Edit: I got it fixed now, you'll see it next time I release a patch.

Hopefully the font readable? It took a long time to make it fit and I'm concerned about consistency and readability. The game doesn't have any crashes yet, but that probably still to come.

I have now worked out how to relocate a lot of the text, so a more accurate translation will fit (current translation is very rough). I've also got most of the character's names displayed in English, but there's a few issues to fix before I show that off. *Edit: I figured that out too.

[Heilong79]

This looks like a good project.

[EPSYLON EAGLE]

This magnicent work will provide the opportunity to experience one of the most overlooked games of japanese library!

Thanks!

[Mad Moham]

Its awesome that people like the idea of being able to play Patlabor in English. I'm now determined to finish the project.

Here's what I've done so far:

• Inserted roman characters into rom.
• Found and translated the title screen.
• Translated 'Name Entry' screen (this wasn't easy).
• Translated character names (names now appear correctly in the menu).
• Found space in the rom to relocate text (will be needed as English text seems to always take up more space).
• Translated most of the menu.
• Translated some of the character dialogue (roughly).

So I've decided that the game should be translated properly (not just with Google translate and the help of a friend who hasn't spoken Japanese in 23 years), and I don't have enough Japanese knowledge to get that done. I'm therefore looking for help with translating the text. If anyone's interested then please let me know. I didn't want to ask for more help, but my original intention of making the game 'somewhat playable' just isn't acceptable to me now.

I'm aware that I'm more likely to get help over on romhacking.net but I figure that asking on here won't hurt, unless people would prefer to play a game like this:




*Edit: Here's a video (not mine) of a complete playthrough in Japanese:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLr2EzlFeUk

[dr apocalipsis]

Watched this show as a kid.

Love the idea of having this translated.

Good luck!

[chilled]

One of my most desired untranslated games. Very glad you are stepping up your game here Mohan. If you were to ask for money, I'd surely put some small amount on it for sure (let's say 5 dollars/euros) and I bet there would be at least a dozen or couple dozens who would also contribute (towards a free romhacking release of course).

Also, as awesome or interesting as they are, I'd gladlyy trade 10 color hacks for one half translated .ips

[Mad Moham]

Watched this show as a kid.

Love the idea of having this translated.

Good luck!

Cool, I'm only familiar with the first two movies, but this game seems to be based on the TV series so I may be asking you for help with some of the plot details.

One of my most desired untranslated games. Very glad you are stepping up your game here Mohan. If you were to ask for money, I'd surely put some small amount on it for sure (let's say 5 dollars/euros) and I bet there would be at least a dozen or couple dozens who would also contribute (towards a free romhacking release of course).

Also, as awesome or interesting as they are, I'd gladlyy trade 10 color hacks for one half translated .ips

No money is changing hands for this. I'll be making the patches available each time there's a significant update. I've been a little stupid with the way I've asked for translation help, but things will still move forward at a steady pace until at least the end of 2020.

[Virtua Hunter]

I'm a fan of Patlabor, you can't imagine how happy I am to finally see this project happening, it's of of my most wanted translation together with Yu Yu Hakusho Gaiden you're amazing!

I hope you can complete it, I'll test soon the patch

[ironnick23]

this game looks really fun

[Mad Moham]

A new version is available here: 2nd patch

I've fixed the issue with the name-entry screen. Most of the characters now have their correct names appear in the interactions menu, and some of the locations are now fully translated (try talking to the chickens). Captain Goto's early text is now much more accurate, and first time players will have a better understanding of the first objective. Some of the text tiles are now more consistent, and my understanding of how the game works is getting pretty detailed.

There's a few more pieces of text that are translated, but haven't been inserted into the rom yet. I plan on releasing another update fairly soon.

To get technical for a moment, certain decisions made by the developers are very strange. Some of the frequently repeated text in the game can be found in literally 100 or more places, whereas some of the rarely used text is in one place and isn't repeated. Its making some of the translation tricky, but its an issue I'm sure I can solve.

[Barone]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Mad Moham again.

[Mad Moham]

Another update, now with actual gameplay. Download here: English patch version 0.03

There's still some text that isn't fully translated, so cave text is still present during the first objective, but you can now play all the way to the main title screen in English.
This makes for about 15 minutes of gameplay if you've never played the game before, and it sets you up for the big reveal of the mess that Section-2 must resolve.


If you aren't sure how to play all the way to the title screen, here's a guide:

First, talk to Goto, he'll tell you to introduce yourself to the others. You have to find all of Section-2 and 'Talk' to each person at least once.

Then, Azumi will be hiding somewhere (there's a few places she can turn up), and you have to find her and 'Talk' to her.

Then, the screen fades and I'm not giving away anything after that, but if you've never played the next part then I think you'll enjoy it.

After that, you encounter this screen and that's as far as I'm able to release right now:




I'm confident in the translation so far, but as always, if anyone finds anything that's incorrectly translated or spelling/grammar mistakes then please let me know. All cave text during the first objective should be gone when I release the next update, so don't worry about those.

The next update will take me a long time, but will probably be a bigger update too. I hope people enjoy what's been done so far.


Spoiler alert. This game is weird:



*Edit: I just noticed something. The original Japanese text definitely said 'pentagram', but that image clearly shows a six pointed star. Maybe a graphics hack is required too.

[Stifu]

*shouldn't

Anyway, nice work on this.

[Mad Moham]

*shouldn't

Anyway, nice work on this.

Thanks dude, that's exactly the type of feedback I'm looking for right now, though I feel embarrassed for making a mistake like that. I've put both of those screens on the list for the next update. I won't be changing the graphic to a pentagram, instead the character will say: "A hexagram!!". I did some research and it turns out that some people used hexagrams to summon monsters instead of pentagrams.

BTW, if anyone has a local police department who are known to get help by summoning monsters with a hexagram/pentagram, then you need to move out of that town immediately.

Also on the list for the next update are the combat menu and inventory screen. Until then, if anyone finds anything else wrong with the translation then I would love to know about it so that I can correct it.