Status and demo patch contemplation (July 12th, 2009)

[ForceCube]

The NxC translation is a mess like that because saito, the project leader, planned to have everyone help him by reporting bugs and spelling/grammar errors. Turned out very few people actually helped - most just disappeared after getting the patch. Just recently, two guys offered to proofread the whole script by themselves, so a higher quality patch is going to be released soon, but most players don't care anymore - they're satisfied with the beta they got. They don't even complain about the terrible state the translation's in... then again, it's partly their own fault, so I'm not sure if they even have the right to complain.

Anyway, that's the point I'm trying to make: most people won't care anymore once they get anything 100% playable, regardless of the state it's in. Releasing a beta of any kind is like asking everyone to lose interest in the final product.

[pedrocasilva]

The stand alone demo disc is a bit of a curiosity, really. The demo was also present on a few magazine demo discs, but without the extra stuff the demo packs. In general, I guess the demo is pretty identical to the retail version, except from the fact that the skit portraits are rough sketches.  Forgot how far the demo goes, but it's a pretty lengthy demo actually.

The other stuff that came on the full sampler is pretty much the same type of bonus content you can find on the more recent Special DVDs and GUMMI DVDs.

Tales of Destiny also had such a sampler (two, actually), while Tales of Eternia had a full introduction book that came with a playable demo.

I didn't know any of that, are those easy to buy online, in auctions and stuff? consider me very interested.

[Carnivol]

I didn't know any of that, are those easy to buy online, in auctions and stuff? consider me very interested.

I recently sold a pair of ToD demos (on regular and one Famitsu version), together, for $125 on ebay. A friend of mine sold his ToP sampler for $70 not too long ago too.

They're pretty hard to come by on this side of the pond, but pop up every now and then for about the same price (or a tiny bit lower) overseas, but when you add up all the additional fees and stuff, you're pretty much back on that price, if not even more, unless you managed to somehow managed to bag yourself a nice deal.

I've still got a few Tales of Eternia "Introduction" books, though (+think I have a loose disc somewhere without a magazine to go with it) Those might be a tad bit easier to come by (cheaply, that is)

[pedrocasilva]

I recently sold a pair of ToD demos (on regular and one Famitsu version), together, for $125 on ebay. A friend of mine sold his ToP sampler for $70 not too long ago too.

They're pretty hard to come by on this side of the pond, but pop up every now and then for about the same price (or a tiny bit lower) overseas, but when you add up all the additional fees and stuff, you're pretty much back on that price, if not even more, unless you managed to somehow managed to bag yourself a nice deal.

I've still got a few Tales of Eternia "Introduction" books, though (+think I have a loose disc somewhere without a magazine to go with it) Those might be a tad bit easier to come by (cheaply, that is)

I see, thank you very much for the information.

I guess I'll start keeping an eye out for those

[Cless]

I understand the reasoning of doing it that way, but... it's purpose is gonna be defeated by the fact a lot of people will be running it on a emulator with save states... won't make a difference for them and will make a difference for the minority playing on actual hardware.

Actually, I have zero qualms with people using emulation savestates. Those will only function properly with the demo. There will be huge issues if not outright complete incompatibilities with imported/exported savestates from/to other versions.

What I'd take issue with is the loading of advanced saved games from other versions, mainly. That, and I'm thinking there's a good chance there will be differences in the parts the demo covers in the final version, and I won't want players to miss them.

Anyway, that's the point I'm trying to make: most people won't care anymore once they get anything 100% playable, regardless of the state it's in. Releasing a beta of any kind is like asking everyone to lose interest in the final product.

That boat's already sailed, actually; there's already a full English version of this version of the game out there. A lot of people got their fix from that, as I'm fairly certain general interest steadily dropped off after its release. My desire to have it done my way is what keeps our project going, though. But I suppose releasing a complete beta of it will further undermine general interest in the full, polished release.

By and large I don't care that much what the size of our player base is, though. I started this project because I wanted to do it. And I'm not quitting until it's done.

[pedrocasilva]

^ you're right.

[Kuresu]

We've all waited like... what? 7 years now?

We can wait some months more :p

[Leiw]

Cless, just one question, is the game now fully compatible with real ps1 hardware ?

[habilain]

It's been compatible with real hardware a while now. I should know; some of the problems took ages to work out...

[Leiw]

Thanks for the answer habilain, that's good to know

[Bartlebycs]

I doubt Cless and co. would get a letter from Namco.  The patch still requires you to buy the game, and that only means more money in their pocket.  Patches are fine, it's only when you try to do something like, oh say, make an unofficial sequel to a popular series that the companies get pissy.



Edit:  And I'm not defending them at all, btw.  I waited 5 freakin years for that Chrono game.  F*** Squeenix.

[Cless]

Should make it known that I have the hacks necessary for the demo (disable save, disable load, and soft reset dialogue code) in my possession. Everything that matters is known to work on a real console.

We basically just need to finish tightening up the text that appears during the present. I mainly need to work on the scripts of the two dungeons that appear during that point, and patch up some of the really crappy description text in the menu for things that appear in that time as well. nusakan's almost finished with the second draft of the skit script.

Currently, most battle subtitles really suck, too...the phrasing is a little funny sounding, at least to me. I don't really want to blank them for the demo, so I hope we can come up with some better placeholders.

[gothic251]

Cless -
I've never posted here, but I felt I should.
I've been watching this project since I was, if I'm remembering correctly, 12. I just turned 20 last week. Over the years I've felt MANY times this would be vaporware, but for 8 years it has sat in my bookmarks, waiting for any news, updates, etc. I'm extremely happy to see this finally so close to fruition. I'll admit I was PISSED when I saw absolute zero's translation come out. It was like a slap in the face to your project.
I'm ecstatic this is so close to completion. When this comes out, this will be only the second translation that I've followed to actually come out (first was Mother 3).

Thanks for all the years of work Cless, can't wait to play the final product!

[Cless]

One more demo update before release...

1) The text is just about ready. Mainly I'm researching description text with and comparing it with official releases and awaiting nusakan's script submissions. I'll also need to send him the menu text I edited to make sure I haven't accidentally inserted awkward phrasings or word choices.
2) The level cap has been lowered to 16. This should be plenty and most will probably finish it at a lower level than that. It's already pretty tough getting to 20+ during these parts of the game, anyway. This is mainly to prevent people from getting artes and titles not intended for the demo (by normal means).

Seems we're going to barely miss the tentative two-week release point, but, hey, it was merely tentative. On the other hand, I'm actually kinda surprised myself at how close my prediction was.

[Cless]

The demo's like 98% ready to go. I can't really figure out how to polish anything further at this time and am just about to finish all the preparations (ToP page update on the main site, front page news post is mostly typed, screenshots have been made, and the readme that's going to be included is done).

Just waiting on a couple things and we'll get this thing quickly tested and out!

[Cheetah]

I am looking forward to the demo. Hopefully there are many more like me who are simply waiting and lurking for the final product. Do not loose hope in your fan base, we are still here.

What type of feedback are you looking for from the demo? Or do you want us to just shut up and enjoy it? I would personally recommend the second option.