More refining (July 19th 2007)

[Cless]

For some reason I got a burst of motivation to do a little work. I finally inserted the item descriptions I got back (though some need some minor tweaking that I can handle on my own), and I also continued a small refinement hack project I started awhile back. You might remember the cooking menu hack I did on another thread, but I've finally applied the idea to all the other menus.

Here is the completed work on the items menu, with a comparison of the Japanese original:





The only issue left to hammer out is the fact that the "Item" on the upper part of the screen-- it isn't centered. Unfortunately fixing that is a little out of my league.

At any rate, I think it looks a lot nicer than it did in Japanese (text notwithstanding). The extra item name was redundant and useless, and items with larger icons don't transcend through the window borders.

I suppose you guys are just sick and tired menu screens. I really wish I could make some presentable dialogue ones to freshen things up.

[throughhim413]

Looks awesome.  Even if they're just menu screens, I don't think I'd get tired of seeing them.  And I actually agree with you, I think your layout for the screen looks better than the Japanese version.  Keep up the great work, any progress on this project is great news in my book.

[Cless]

Since moving the item icon over I had to change the positions of everything in the item stats window.

Before fixing (original positions):



Fixed/final:



The vertical gaps of the original were just reserved for the dakuten/handakuten.

[throughhim413]

Any reason that you put (Dymlos) next to the S.D.?  I mean, obviously the sword is Dymlos, but I'm just curious why put it there?  I think most people who would play this patched version would have played ToD, and as such, would realize the obvious reference on their own.  And of course the fact that Lilith is the one who gives it to you.  But maybe there's a good reason I just don't know.

I really do like the layout you made.  It gives the item image a lot more focus and overall makes it look much more balanced.  Fine work.

[Cless]

It was like that in the GBA item list (although I'm not sure if its actually obtainable in that...?). I may change it...

[FSLink]

I really do like the layout you made.  It gives the item image a lot more focus and overall makes it look much more balanced.  Fine work.

I agree. Great job Cless...
In the first shots, the font that's being used for item descriptions is leagues better than the Japanese shots, less straining on the eye.

[Cless]

This item description formatting is taking forever. Probably because I'm being absolutely perfectionist about it. It's a shame cause this kind of grunt work is surely taken for granted.

One last screen of this...



Well, the original description says "it doesn't stand for SUPER (English) Deforme (French)". I have no idea if this is supposed to be some kind of funny... but for me, it's 404 funny not found. My placeholder, if you haven't figured it out, is a light jab at Tales of the Abyss US.

And if you have a keen eye, you'd notice that I also shifted the item type text over 16 pixels for more description room. And it makes a bigger difference than you might expect.

[throughhim413]

SD is a common abbreviation in anime and manga for Super Deformed, which is basically when a character gets very small.  It's used for comedy purposes, but to be honest, even I don't know why it was used in the item description.  Your description works just as well.

  VS. 

[Hen78]

Yeah, I reckon "It doesn't stand for Super Deformed" would be okay, I suppose it's actually meant to stand for 'Swordian Dymlos' or something like that

[gyozilla]

-there's nothing real deep here to "get". It's just trying to be amusing because people associate S.D. with "super deformed", but they're saying "it doesn't mean that!" They used a similar joke for N.G., the old namco mag. People are used to seeing N.G. to mean No Good (from filming). No Good is probably also a double entendre to make fun of their own mag's quality. Anyway, you can use Stupid Dreck, but that's not what I think of when I see SD.

-using GBA's name with (Dymlos) there probably makes the pun more confusing. If the pun is lame, you could drop it entirely and use Swordian Dymlos now that you have the space. But N.G. should not be changed.

-if people can't figure out S.D. = Dymlos with all the other hints, then they probably haven't played ToD. In that case, tacking (Dymlos) at the end would still mean nothing to them. If they get it, they get it. If they don't, adding Dymlos probably wouldn't help. The "It doesn't stand for Super Deformed" is supposed to be like a hint to jumpstart their brains.

-minor thing, i noticed Naginata Blade. Seems like it's the Vanguard originally? But anyway, is Blade supposed to english-size it or something? Because to me it's as weird as saying Katana Blade, or with english examples: Halberd Polearm and Colichemarde Blade. It's like repeating the weapon type with itself. That's why it's great to see their original Armet Helm as rightfully just Armet.

great job all-around~

[Cless]

-there's nothing real deep here to "get". It's just trying to be amusing because people associate S.D. with "super deformed", but they're saying "it doesn't mean that!" They used a similar joke for N.G., the old namco mag. People are used to seeing N.G. to mean No Good (from filming). No Good is probably also a double entendre to make fun of their own mag's quality. Anyway, you can use Stupid Dreck, but that's not what I think of when I see SD.

heh. with all the tech talk these days, I tend to associate SD with 'standard definition' ;p

-if people can't figure out S.D. = Dymlos with all the other hints, then they probably haven't played ToD. In that case, tacking (Dymlos) at the end would still mean nothing to them. If they get it, they get it. If they don't, adding Dymlos probably wouldn't help. The "It doesn't stand for Super Deformed" is supposed to be like a hint to jumpstart their brains.

Point taken. At this point I'm gonna get rid of the (Dymlos).

-minor thing, i noticed Naginata Blade. Seems like it's the Vanguard originally? But anyway, is Blade supposed to english-size it or something? Because to me it's as weird as saying Katana Blade, or with english examples: Halberd Polearm and Colichemarde Blade. It's like repeating the weapon type with itself. That's why it's great to see their original Armet Helm as rightfully just Armet.

This was another pull from the GBA translation...

[Kajitani-Eizan]

yeah, i remember the PSX version having the vanguard (which then later showed up in samorine), but the SNES/GBA versions not having it. i guess we need to make sure that we aren't accidentally taking the wrong name from the wrong version of the game.

[Cless]

yeah, i remember the PSX version having the vanguard (which then later showed up in samorine), but the SNES/GBA versions not having it. i guess we need to make sure that we aren't accidentally taking the wrong name from the wrong version of the game.

So how many other items apppear in the gba item list but aren't used at all?

[gyozilla]

...so is Glaive intentional or not? I remember you had something like Sardine Glaive. (Sardinian?) Reads too much like sardines (fish)?

[Cless]

...so is Glaive intentional or not? I remember you had something like Sardine Glaive. (Sardinian?) Reads too much like sardines (fish)?

Yeah, but that was just an unsure placeholder. It has a really generic description though, so it doesn't seem to matter all that much.

edit, here is the description, japanese and translated by Shinhoshi.

サーベルのような刃を取りつけた槍<END>
A spear with a saber-like<LINE>
blade attached.<END>

EDIT: Actually, I'm going to call this thing a Guandao. After doing more research, the item icon and description match that the closest I can find.