Tales of Destiny Director's Cut translation FAQ - (as of Jan 11, 2009)

[Cless]

What is this? How does it work? Is it only for emulator or what?

This is a hack of the Japanese Tales of Destiny Director's Cut for PlayStation 2. The Japanese text data in the game files is dumped from the game, and translated. After that, the original Japanese text in the game files is replaced with the translated version.

That said, necessities to play this are:

1) The original game disc
2) A mod-chipped PS2, a swap-modified PS2, an HDLoader-equipped PS2, a debug PS2, a debug PS3, or a computer from the future with a near-perfect PS2 emulator.
3) A DVD burner

The translation will be released as a patch. So if you have the above, all you'll need to do is:

1) Dump the game disc to an ISO file (easy to do)
2) Use the patching utility that will be included with patch on the ISO file
3) Burn the patched ISO to a DVD-R or DVD+R (or copy to HDD if using HDLoader)
4) Play in your hacked PS2, or debug PS2/PS3.

A word of warning: The patches we release are not guaranteed to work on a downloaded ISO file. The patch format we use requires the file being patched to be an exact replica of the one it was created from, so we only recommend using one from an original disc. It's impossible to know if ISOs that originate from the Internet have not been tampered with in some way. The patch will not work if even a single bit is different from the original. There is nothing we can do about this aside from recommend people buy and use an original, legal copy. We do not condone game piracy, and will never provide a link to a download site. We will also not create special patches that will work on pirated versions that fail to patch!

When is it being released?

I would say it'd be best to just forget this project even exists, and be surprised when it's finally released. Only on ultra-rare occasions have we been able to fulfill some kind of planned release date. Anyway...

Full menu patch: I'd like to say April-May 2009, but ToP isn't finished and that will always be our number 1 priority until it's released.

Complete game patch: We don't have a clue, but almost certainly not any time soon. Well over at least a year away at least, I'd say. The script is fairly massive (much larger than Tales of Phantasia's and even a fair bit larger than Tales of Destiny 2's), and will require a lot of care. After it is translated, we intend to have a second translator look over it to make sure there aren't any glaring problems with the translation, and then have an editor/writer go over it to make sure it's properly styled and localized, so that it reads as well as you'd expect of a professional localization.

Fortunately, the game doesn't seem to have a lot of need for ASM-level hacking. If it did, it'd probably take a lot longer to finish. Though there are some minor things that could be touched up if we had some real ASM hacking capability, they're all cosmetic and I'm sure most people can live without them.

Director's Cut? What about the original remake?

We're only doing the Director's Cut because juggling both versions is more work than it's worth, and would only slow us down even more. The Director's Cut already contains everything in the original remake, so it only made sense to us to focus on the version with the extra content.

Are you using the original Japanese names of the characters or the official US ones?

A mix of both. Currently, we're using:

Stahn Aileron
Rutee Katrea
Leon Magnus
Philia Philis
Woodrow Kelvin
Chelsea Torne
Johnny Sheeden
Mary Argent
Mighty Kongman
Lilith Aileron

We threw out the changes we thought just seemed pointless. If Namco had the chance to reboot the translation of the game, we'd expect them to do things similarly. Stahn and Leon are left alone for pronunciation reasons (not to mention, the name "Lion" looks incredibly stupid to most native English speakers). If you must have the characters' first names strictly follow one standard, you can rename them.

The names of a couple villains are still being discussed, but it's unlikely we'll be retaining Kronos for the final boss. But so far it's not looking like we want to use the common spelling of Miktran verbatim, either. It might be changed slightly, similarly in the way that Mitos became Mithos in Tales of Symphonia. Lydon in the original's localization is something like Grebam in Japanese, and we might use something more similar to his Japanese name.

Location names will strictly follow the original localization for familiarity, as will most of the storyline terminology.

Are the voices being dubbed?

As with our other projects, the answer is no. I'm not against dubbing, but it's way too expensive to get even decent actors.

Can I help you with this project?

We're not actively seeking any help right now. The main hacking, translation, and support positions are filled. Unless I've known you for awhile, or you have mad J->E translation, script editing, or programming skills, or are gifted in the ways of PS2 ASM hacking, the answer is no.

[ricardol14]

where is the patch? is already october 2009 and nothing...i can't find the patch in any place...put the link for the patch, is already have...i thank you so much....

[curbama]

what does a mod-chipped PS2, a swap-modified PS2, an HDLoader-equipped PS2, a debug PS2 mean exactly,  I only have a regular ps2, does it mean i have to buy one that already has the mod-chip in it or is it something i buy and install myself?

[Carnivol]

Swap mods and HDLoader can usually be done by inexperienced people, as they usually just rely on a boot disc of some sort. (Though in the case for Swap mods, getting a "swap case" replacement shell for the PS2 might be desirable and in the case of HDLoader, an ethernet adapter is required for the PS2... Not sure if ToDrDC runs w/USB Loader)

A mod-chip would have to be installed by someone who's experienced with a soldering iron and stuff.
A debug PS2 is something you can only acquire should you have the right contacts, use them at work, or be at the right place at the right time.

[pedrocasilva]

Swap mods and HDLoader can usually be done by inexperienced people, as they usually just rely on a boot disc of some sort. (Though in the case for Swap mods, getting a "swap case" replacement shell for the PS2 might be desirable and in the case of HDLoader, an ethernet adapter is required for the PS2... Not sure if ToDrDC runs w/USB Loader)

When I imported Tales of Destiny remake Directors Cut and put it on my console I ordered it to back it up for the disc (also for *.iso purposes, should I need the ISO someday) and only played from there... Seemed to work fine, but I haven't gone that far on it.

I use HDDLoader sucessor though, ToxicOS. (it was based on the last official HDDLoader build, but improved further), but it should be largely the same.

[Carnivol]

ToxicOS, in general, has higher compatibility than HDLoader 0.8c (or whatever the latest is), but ToxicOS also relies on the presence of a DMS3 or DMS4 mod-chip, iirc.