Patcher test: PSP sprites

[Cless]

EDIT: This patch is NOT SUPPORTED. Also, we are not using these sprites in the final patch.

However--if this patch does not work on your game disc image, neither will the final patch. The only solution we have to is to take your ORIGINAL, LEGAL, BLACK SURACE disc, and rip it to the bin/cue format if you want an image that will work. We'll NOT point you to a torrent/download site to get an image that it will be compatible with.


EDIT: It is likely that we will NOT be using this patch format in the release. The open-source Xdelta format is much better.

Original post is as follows:

Well, the PSP sprites seem to be a semi-hot topic. And with my patcher seemingly finished, it's in need of testing.

While we're still a ways away from the actual translation release, here's a novelty patch to test the patcher which inserts the PSP sprites into the game. Things to note:

1) This only changes the six playable characters, and as far as I know, all the enemies that had their sprites updated in the PSP version. The main menu's Formation screen still uses the original chibis and the Monster Zukan monster pics are also the same as before. If the monsters had any statistic changes to them in the PSP version for whatever reason, they ARE intact.

2) This requires a clean, unmodified Tales of Phantasia (PlayStation) disc image, preferably in BIN/CUE format. If you need one guaranteed to work, grab your *original* disc and dump it with ImgBurn. This patcher will run an integrity check on the input disc image/file at the beginning, and if it fails, it will NOT patch the game. This means that it WILL NOT work with a disc image pre-patched with Absolute Zero's translation, or any other hacked or corrupted disc images.

3) 32-bit Windows is the only line of OSes that are known to be supported. 64-bit is unknown, but probably isn't. A Linux port for the final patch is almost a certainty.

You will need to download the following:
1) CD-Tool
2) The patch+patcher (Extract with 7-Zip)

Extract both of these into the same folder. Don't forget to put your ToP disc image there, too.

Running the patcher is simple. Just double-click ToPPatch.exe and enter the full filename of the disc image (including the extension!). You'll be given an option to patch the input disc image or preserve it. If you preserve it, the program will create a new copy of the file and patch that instead. From there, just wait until it finishes.

Remember, this is a patching application beta test, not a PSP sprite hack for the masses. It would be nice to know whether or not it is working properly.



EDIT: Updated the patch to include enemies, and patcher is now compiled with GCC, so no need to download/install other dependencies.

EDIT 2: This patch is now known to crash emulators and hardware when encountering certain enemies. This is apparently because of incompatibilities with some of the PSP monster files (not necessarily the sprites themselves). Do not try to have a serious runthrough of the game using this patch! An enemy not even ten minutes from the beginning of the game is known to crash it!

[throughhim413]

Thought I'd try it, but it looks like it won't work for me.  After installing the necessary updates, it kept telling me that my ToP image was no good.  Might very well be true, though it's a backup of the same image I've patched countless times with our patcher.  That's a bizarre sentence, but what I want to say is that the image should be clean, I made it myself.  Oh well.  While you said that this patch can't be applied over ours, I was interested in testing if our patch could be applied over this one.  Most likely the answer to that is also no, but that was what I wanted to try.  Alas, I cannot.

[Cless Aileron]

It works nicely.  So nicely I even attempt to patch it first to a dirty ISO I made from a backup copy of the game I made from my legit copy of the game (hope I didn't lose you there) and it didn't work, just like you intended (Don't ask why I got the idea to try it).  As for attempting with a dump from a legit copy, it also worked as intended and is certainly a different take, that's for sure.

I take it this won't work with the translation patch when it comes out.  Well, I'm not worrying about that.  At least I know how it's going to go down.

[Carnivol]

Works like a charm.



throughhim: Maybe your HDD hasn't been nice to the ISO over time? (Try to re-rip and do a CRC check or something)

[throughhim413]

It's possible.  I've had it stored in a compressed file on an external HD and it hasn't been moved, though that doesn't mean it hasn't been altered.  I'd do a re-rip, but my my current computer doesn't sport a CD/DVD drive.  My main computer died on me, so I'll have to wait a while to test it.  I'm certain the trouble is on my end somewhere, I suppose our patcher is just more forgiving.

[Cless]

For what it's worth, the patcher expects a file with a CRC32 of 407F6AD6. If it's not that, it aborts.

The main reason for the integrity check is so that we don't have to waste time troubleshooting problems that may arise on disc images that weren't originally 1:1 copies of the original disc (in the format specified, that is).

A famous(?) incident of something like this happening is Final Fantasy IV SNES-- A bad ROM was in heavy circulation and at one point an event was supposed to advance the story. Said event didn't happen. People thought it was the translation patch, but it turned out it affected the bad ROM itself pre-patching.

I suppose there might still be a 1.1 version of the game somewhere, but still I remember doing an integrity check on the The Best re-release (around the time it launched) and it itself was a 1:1 data copy of the original...

[me_001]

Oh no!

The patcher rejects my image, but I sold the game when I made it.

Anyone knows where I can get another one ?

[Cless]

Here's one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Tales-of-Phantasia-Playstation-Game-New-and-Sealed_W0QQitemZ120246372028QQihZ002QQcategoryZ62053QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Leiw]

Yeah  my image seems to work fine as a bin/cue, so the final patch will probably have no problem either.

I tested the patched files on psxeven (emu) and my pal ps1 and all is ok

[pedrocasilva]

... hmmmm.... does anyone have screenshots, pretty please?

[Kogahazan]

Where do I put msvcr90.dll?

I have Vista 32-bit. I'll tell you what happens if/when I get it working. CRC is failing hard and lost my real disc. I think I'll use that conveniently posted eBay link. Never looked around for it but I didn't know ToP is relatively cheap.

[Cless]

I'm rather surprised how often validation is failing for people...

Anyway I would assume you could put the DLL in the folder with the patch or in windows/system32.

Never looked around for it but I didn't know ToP is relatively cheap.

The import market's pretty much past its prime. Unless the game's VERY recent or isn't called Radiant Silvergun.

[Demon000]

I was just wondering, what's the difference between buying the game, making an image then selling the game and having an illegal copy? 

[habilain]

I was just wondering, what's the difference between buying the game, making an image then selling the game and having an illegal copy? 

Nothing. Essentially, when you buy the game you purchase the media which the game is on (a CD) and a license to run the game. When you sell the game, you also sell the license to run the game (or commit an illegal act here). So if a copy of the game is made before it was sold, then when the game is sold the copy lacks a license. Hence, the copy becomes illegal.

Of course, it's pretty much impossible to enforce this, because there is no way of tracking the copy down. But on paper at least, it's illegal.

Also as a note, I have a Linux version of an older version of the patcher sitting on my computer, as well as a Windows one which doesn't require .NET/random DLL's and works on pretty much every windows platform since 95. I'm hoping to be able to rewrite the patcher for extra speed, or at least add a GUI to it, but that's pending on me getting other hacks to ToP done first. Major release critical hacks finished; Not so major hacks, still ongoing.

[throughhim413]

Japan really doesn't seem to care much about copying.  Unless you've been here, you can't even imagine how huge the second-hand/rental market is.  Could you imagine a place like Blockbuster Video in the States renting CDs?  In Japan, you rent like 10 CDs at a time, copy them, then take them back and rent more.  Ever wonder why CDs are like $30 here and why DVDs are even more?  It's because NOBODY buys ANYTHING.  Even if they do buy them, often times they end up at used stores for sale before long.

There are two marketplaces here in Japan.  There's the hardcore otaku market that's really into collecting CDs, DVDs, figurines, you name it.  They're ones willing to shell out the big bucks to own something permanently.  The other market is the one that rents CDs, DVDs, and reads manga in internet cafes.  And you'd better believe this is the cheaper way to do it.  Want to guess which one is more common?

Piracy doesn't have the same meaning here as it does elsewhere.  There is no way they can track this kind of thing.  Games are an even smaller subset than music or DVDs.  If they don't enforce those, don't think they going to come looking for people who copied a game.  I'm not saying it's right or that it should be supported, I'm just sharing the Japanese mentality I've seen since coming here.

[Cless]

Heh... I do seem to recall Japan being pretty aggressive when it comes to P2P users at least. I remember when they tracked down and arrested the developer of Winny.