The PSP Version.

[Penance]

I guess only Cless could answer this but someone else may know.
What exactly was preventing you from doing the PSP version?
I remember reading something you wrote quite a long time ago and you listed the problems as to why you couldn't do the PSP version.

I'm just curious, that's all.

Heh, it would seem PSP Tales games all have there issues when it comes to editing them...

[Datschge]

You sure are lazy, you know the feature called "search"?

http://www.tales-cless.org/?page=tod2

What about the PSP version?

The PSP version uses a new standard of compression that isn't compatible with our tools. The only reason a full translation of the PS2 version is possible is because it uses the same exact compression scheme as used in Tales of Phantasia PSX.

Unless the new compression in the PSP version is cracked, don't bet on a translation project happening for it...

Furthermore since some time new PSP units sold are no longer hackable, and PSP emulators are still in their infancy. Thus no point to spend already scarce time on that.

[Penance]

I didn't know he posted it on here.
No real need to insult me though.

I'd thank you for the link but you're rude.

[Datschge]

Well, sorry if that sound rude to you, but you yourself stated that you remembered reading the reasons and just wanted to have those repeated. That didn't sound like you did any search beforehand. And you obviously didn't check the project page itself either, even though that would be the most logical starting point. I don't know what kind of response you were expecting, also considering you were addressing just one particular person anyway (for which you could as well have been sending a PM instead).

[SkyBladeCloud]

hum, I´ve just seen this project and think it´s quite interesting so I gave it a shot hehe.
I managed partially hack the SCPK compression used in the PSP version of the game, however, I don´t know if
you guys already knew about how to do it or if it´s the same compression in the PS2 version... Also, I havent fount text so far, only images, like this one



I´ll continue searching arround...

Regards

Sky

[Cless]

Sounds cool. Whether you want to share the code with us or not is your call, but it'd allow us to support a PSP version of our project.

[SkyBladeCloud]

I have absolutely no problem in sharing my stuff, the only problem is that I discovered that SCPK is the same compression used in the PS2 version for images (so I don´t really think i´ll find text in SCPK files). Anyway, guess it could be interesting to finish the job (I don´t know if your translation will include images and I recall the word partial in my first post xD). Also, it would be nice to know where the text is stored in the PS2 version and its encoding/compression (if any, I just can´t read japanese and it would help me to search in the PSP version).

Regards

Sky

[Cless]

Wait, just to confirm...is the first byte of these compressed files 0x04, followed by four bytes representing compressed size and and another four representing uncompressed size before the actual compressed data (compressed/uncompressed size might be reversed)?

I vaguely recall finding these things when hunting around the PS2 version way back, but I recall them using standard Tales compression 0x03. I don't remember any 0x03 compressed stuff in the PSP version though, just 0x04.

[SkyBladeCloud]

uh, no, actually I´m talking about this kind of file (uploaded a complete sample to my 4shared account xD)

http://www.4shared.com/file/liOG55Kz/SCPK_Sample.html

the SCPK file is the data in it´s "native" form, in the PS2/PSP ISO
The MFH file, is the result of uncompressing that SCPK file, this is actually a package of images (12, in this case), in a custom format that I had to decode
The TIM2 file is all 12 "subimages" of the MFH file merged and loaded into an emulated frambufer (that is the way the PSP loads it in the RAM)
and the PNG file is all the images together xD

Note that quality might be reduced when mergeing the images (I know how to decode a single one, but decoding 12 can cause some color corruption, the resolution of the full image is 1024 x 1024)

Humm... al the SCPK files Ive uncompressed so far are background images, but as I said, I´ll continue searching arround and see if I came up with something useful (Note that I haven´t any completed tool so far...)

Regards

Sky

[Cless]

I haven't looked at ToD2 in a good while, so my memory of things is probably a little hazy. I just seem to vaguely remember files relating to the pre-rendered background art being compressed using the standard 0x03 algorithm (LZSS+RLE), so we could decompress them with the tools we already had.

But ToD2 PSP came around with this strange 0x04 algorithm that, as far as I know, has never been used by anything else in the series. When I examined 0x04-compressed files, I recalled them  seeming very similar to 0x03, but our tools weren't able to touch them. We still can't decompress these things, and it's basically the main thing currently holding us back from extending our project to the PSP version.

[SkyBladeCloud]

Here, I found a file that follows the scheme you are describing (PSP 0x04 compressed file), having a 0x04 byte followed by the compressed size in little endian -1 (0x7e35, being the true size 0x7636 bytes), followed by the uncompressed size (0x1a430 bytes in this case), also in little endian. I managed to decompress it (It is the title image, apparently). So, if this is what you were talking about, guess I can help you... (or maybe your tools work if you add 1 more byte to the file xD, I don´t think so, since the algorithm has nothing to do with LZSS or RLE, but....)
Have a look..

http://www.4shared.com/file/AmvpwS_a/ToD2_PSP_compression_sample_2.html

Regards

Sky

[Cless]

Yes, yes...this is exactly it!

No idea if there's any recompression code written for this format, but it won't be necessary if the game still has support for 0x03 or at the very least 0x00 (uncompressed).

[SkyBladeCloud]

OK here is the decompressor I´ve just finnished coding:

http://www.4shared.com/file/_aW4Ut42/_2__Tales_of_Destiny_2_0x04_de.html

should only work with 0x04 compressed files, also, if there are more than one compressed files one after the other, the software should *hopefully* batch-decompress them all; in order to decompress, drag and drom the file(s) into the .exe, the only requirement is that compressed files must start with the 0x04 byte, followed by the rest of the data, it might be necessary to update .NETFramework before using it.
Attached and example too

Regards

Sky

[Cless]

That's awesome! Any chance you're willing to share the source code?

[SkyBladeCloud]

So it worked... right?

[Cless]

It worked on the samples. I haven't tried it on any game files I've personally ripped, though. I still have to update my unpacker to support the PSP version.