Thousands of hours of work spanning 7
years, all for the Falcom fanboy in you! Ah, but who gives a shit, right? Not YOU,
THAT'S for sure! ONCE a warez free-for-me freeloader, ALWAYS a warez free-for-me
freeloader! "I ain't donating jack shit for this, biotch! Just make another
damn patch already or finish Felghana for Christ's sake! THEN I'll think about
donating... well, maybe, AHAHAHAHAHA!!"
While PSPad is the greatest freeware hex editor that I know of, it still doesn't do the one simple thing that Hexecute does for finding Japanese text :
Hexecute seems to have been abandoned by its creator, Mike Walston, and is about 10 years old since this release. It used to work well enough for doing quick searches of Japanese text (when you wanna find an offset), but I couldn't open anything in S-JIS/932 mode without it crashing, so given that the source was always included, I did the following:
1) I first had to convert the source code to Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition! (Not so easy, many syntax changes going from the ole VC++ 6.0). BTW, DO NOT upgrade it to VC++ 201X! 2005 is the last version that compiles an EXE that'll work on Win98/ME/NT/2K, that's why I didn't use a newer version!
2) Debugged for a day and managed to fix a couple of crash points manifested by the hex view not being loaded when anything other than the Unicode code page was selected. So, I think I fixed most crashes and a buffer overflow condition, lemme know if not.
3) Commandline opening of a file: if you put a shortcut in the 'Send To' folder and whenever you right click a file and select Send To, it will now open the file successfully.
I was updating the ReadMe for the Ys I Complete patch and I tried to update the "Where to buy this game" link, BUT, I was surprised to find that nobody sells new copies anymore! The Falcom Order page linked above says sales for it are closed! I used to link to HimeyaShop, an expensive Japanese retailer (English shopping cart, but still high S/H rates), but that was completely shutdown some time ago and the domain expired (they were alive as of 04/02/2010)! Now there's at least YesAsia located in the USA, which recently began stocking lots of newer Falcom games, but they don't have it...
The first release of the Ys I patch was 9 years ago in 2003, so I guess this means that we did some good in opening up the English speaking world via unlicensed patches (besides making the general, cheapass, warez gaming public happy)! Well, good job to everyone that supported Falcom over the years and helped make this possible! They're 31 years old BTW as of April and still kicking strong, so pretty cool! Anyone wanting an original copy of this will now have to deal with the eBays and whatnot. Oh, you know what else this means? If it really is sold out, it has reached abandonware status, thus morally/ethically, pirating this particular game/sharing among friends comes down more along the lines of "preservation" so it can be totally guilt-free.
I thought this was newsworthy, figure others would be interested. I was a big fan of Working Designs BITD and was sorry to see it go (in sharp contrast to many sideshow freaks and detesticles that ACTUALLY cheered at its demise...)! It's interesting to hear Victor speak for the first time. Kind of a long interview, but I listened to all of it; I'll probably have to listen to it again for parts I wasn't quite paying attention to. 1st interview links:
Vic talks about the Exile 2 localization difficulties at about 98:30 minutes into it and how they accidentally made the last level too hard. Plenty of other interesting things throughout this interview if you've got the time.
April 25, 2012: Another interview from Retronauts with just Vic (only an hour long) that I found far more interesting can be found here:
00:30 Victor Ireland and John Greiner introduction and how Victor got his start with JRPGs
12:00 Working Designs' famous "conversational" translations
17:20 Censorship in the early days of game localization
20:50 John Greiner's days at Hudson Soft and pretty much the entire history of the Turbografx 16 (plus: the real story behind JJ and Jeff!)
45:10 The closing of Hudson Soft and what's up with all those old properties
50:10 The Class of Heroes II kickstarter and why they're trying to raise half a million dollars to localize a game
01:06:30 Victor's take on the current state of JRPGs
01:23:50 Twitter time! Monkeypaw Games and their philosophy on localization, The Playstation anti-2D policy and oh, so much more!
Quicki Highlights from 2nd interview:
Quote
Some more details about how he started off as a programmer with Working Designs.
He guesstimates the TG-16 CD install base being under ~20,000 people and not much more than that after the Turbo Duo arrived, Sega CD was maybe 3 times that.
Winding up publishing the last official US title for the Sega Saturn.
** Part I: The Leaker (Part II below deals with YOU, Ys F.A.N.s) - EDIT IN PROGRESS
[tag: The milestone I'm referring to is essentially this: 5 years of productivity (2002-2007), a SOMETHING-FOR-NOTHING equation, and then after the Felghana leak (2007-2012), it's been 5 years of giving you NOTHING BUT the middle finger (what you were giving me all along), a NOTHING-FOR-NOTHING equation! Things evened out I'd say, eh assholes? Well, half, to be accurate. You assholes have 10 years of flipping me the bird, I only got 5 years on ya... Tsk.]
I edited this post, removing the certainty of the leaker's ID as Jack... I portrayed certainty hoping to garner a response, I got one, but from my original suspect! Unfortunately, I never had 100% certainty in my investigation because I emailed a trap accusatory message to 8 suspects at the SAME TIME a few years ago! That was a mistake; I should've done one per day, but I was frustrated and didn't even think it would lead to any discoveries. Instead, 2 of 'em responded back to me within 2 hours AND the GF_Alt leaker account was reactivated over at GayFAQs, so I knew I had filtered it down to the right 8 emails!! Jack responded first, telling me that he had just returned from the new thread the leaker account created, "I just read you're harrassing ALL of your donors, wow, that's pretty weird!" So after getting my trap email, the GF_Alt account is reactivated, he knows to goto GameFAQs and he emails me back with an accusation that the leaker account was making, then there was other suspicious behavior down the road, hence suspect #1.
PruvMeRong was the other person to respond that day, hence suspect #2. He played up the false accusation bit real good, then started posting in the thread the leaker account had created, trying to set up a narrative that my false accusation sent him over the edge, that he didn't have an opinion about the whole thing prior to that, etc. (Kinda like FrayedHoped, crying that I "falsely" accused him of pirating Felghana and that he didn't own it, hadn't pirated it, that it was just a game that he was interested in, then the NEXT DAY, over at GayFAQs, he posted to everyone that he was playing Felghana JUST FINE in Japanese and was boycotting my patch! Did his copy of Felghana arrive the next day via EMS after spending $100 bucks or via TES (Torrent Express Service) after spending, $0.00 with SAME DAY DELIVERY depending on your ISP? Ys F.A.N.s, God love 'em, ya know?? ) Long story short, I became convinced Mr. Pruv was the perpetrator and treated him as such, some nasty emails were exchanged, but then things went quiet. Since he wouldn't outright confess, I could never be 100% sure. There were signs that it was likely him, like in his first post pointing out, "I'm glad nightwolve showed me this thread" which was designed to provide me with an explanation as to why he knew of the new thread in the first place, to throw me off the scent, but little things like that were simply not enough. That led me back to Jack, suspect #1 which was evident in the previous version of this post. No longer however.
After seeing the original post here, PruvMeRong decided to "confess" and end the lack of certainty. It would appear it was him all along, but apart of me still isn't 100% sure. I'm happy to say though that if he's telling the truth this time, the right bastard was punished: I got his website shutdown since right after that email he starting fighting further with me, using his site also. I contacted the site's administrator and told him what Mr. Pruv had done, criminally leaking my patch to cost me money, anywhere from ~$1000-$1500, and now harassing me with his site, so the admin booted him off! Payback was dealt to the right asshole, though minor as it was compared to what he did. It was one of the rare times I ever get any form of justice... (Kinda tricky though because I wasn't 100% sure he was the leaker, but given the harassment, posting my IP address, etc. it was still morally justifiable!)
** Part II: Ys F.A.N.s (Freeloading. Asshole. Nerds.) - A 10 Year look at the cheapest, most disgusting fanbase that there ever was in sharp/stark contrast to one of the greatest videogame series that there ever was!
First Public Exposure of Donation Stats by Year - The Cheapest, Stingiest, Pirate-Happy Fanbase that there ever was!
After 10 Years of entering into the fan translation fray and making history with 60,000+ patch consumers, WHAT did I get in return? Let's see, shall we ?
OMG! WOW, WHAT A GENEROUS FANBASE. OH! MY! GAWD! I'M RICH I TELL YOU! RICH!
************ Totals ************
10 Years = 414 unique people out of 60,000+ patch consumers! ( ~ 00.7% donation frequency! )
414 Unique Donators/People 481 Acts of donations - 45 people donated 2 or more times 60,000+ people around the world using my patchware DO THE MATH! CHEAP! STINGY! WAREZ MOTHERFUCKS!!!! MOST OF ALL: DISGUSTING!!!!
Release Timeline 10/09/2002 "Xak III: The Eternal Recurrence" is released 2/10/2003 "Ys I Complete" is released 12/25/2004 "Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys" is released 3/19/2005 "Ys I Complete" is re-released in NSIS patch format 8/24/2005 "Ys II Complete" v1.00 full version is released 1/29/2007 "Ys: The Oath in Felghana" leaked by a malicious malcontent
-Some more noteworthy History:
WHO was the first person to ever open their wallet for once and actually support my work??
Wow, that's 2 years later that this post gets updated! Things sure do move REAL slow around here, don't they? Anyway, suffice to say, the Ys IV dubbing project has never gone anywhere each time it's been tried - it's the one thing I wanted SOMEBODY ELSE to do, so naturally it NEVER gets done! Finally, I got to thinking and decided to take a few moments the other day to package/release what I call the "Ys IV Dub Kit" after the subject recently came up in a MagicEngine thread. I promised a fella named Arjak to one day provide him with the tools necessary (which was probably about a year ago - I seemingly tend to deal in years these days with my timelines, not months, etc. Heh.) to do the project himself, and I think the Ys IV Dub Kit, which is attached to this post for anyone to download, should be enough provided you know enough about software related to audio recordings. I've attached two mp3's for fun; they're two actresses that did some takes for Bammi and Lilia. As they were never finished, they're worthless, but nonetheless, I've included them for the hell of it.
Quick info/instructions on the Ys IV Dub Kit: 1) You need an ISO/WAV/CUE image file set of an Ys IV disc. You can use my nifty TurboRip tool to make one. I made a hasty patched version to allow it to work on Vista, so download/use that if it doesn't work. Here's the link: http://www.ysutopia.net/forums/index.php?topic=69.msg3668#msg3668 2) Copy the Ys IV Dub Kit zip file in the same folder as the Ys IV image file set, extract all contents and rename track 2 to "YsIV-02.iso". You'll have to update the CUE file to reflect that change. 3) I have included some English dubbed ADPCM clips with the Dub Kit. They are of Karna and a few others. If you double click "YS4_GET_WAVE_FROM_ADPCM.bat" they will be converted to WAVE and you can listen to them. If you double click "YS4_PUT_ADPCM_INTO_ISO.bat", that will insert these few clips into the ISO and if you mount the CUE, load the game in the MagicEngine emulator, you can get to the point in the game and listen to them. The Karna stuff is your best bet; it's at the point where she beats up those 2 white soldiers and also when you get captured, are in jail and she shows up to break you out, that part will be in English, etc. 4) Double clicking on the "YS4_GET_WAVE_FROM_ADPCM.bat" batch file will extract ALL ADPCM audio clips and auto-convert them to regular WAVE files, so now you can listen to everything! There are 232 total ADPCM clips that are in need of redubbing. Only about ~15 of 'em are actually recorded with background music. Most clips have no background music so the voice actor just needs to do his/her recording in a quiet room with a good microphone and proper recording software.
Recap: Christmas 2004, I gave you the “Ys IV: Dawn of Ys” patch and you happily took it. Christmas 2006, I gave you an incomplete Felghana patch per donation as part of an early-access program, something I first used with the “Ys II Complete” patch the year before. This limited donationware program, designed to be temporary and as a way to avoid a permanent/difficult payware model, lasted for some ~4 weeks; it was cut short on January 29, 2007 when the patch was leaked on GayFAQs, much to the delight of a great many disgusting pieces of excrement out there who then happily took/spread it by the thousands (tens of thousands to-date, ~50,000++). My estimate as to the financial damages/losses was around $1000-$1500 based on, a) the respectable donation frequency prior to the leak, and b) how many more weeks the program had left... Evidently, 4 weeks was too much for you cheap, freeloading, warez fucks to handle, for something that you were “supposed” to get 100% free anyway, cause yeah, that's how things are “supposed” to work (per the leaker's lecture). The very idea simply short-circuited your natural free-for-me entitlement complex in this context. You're supposed to get the completed patch, and I'm supposed to get nothing - That's how things work; that's the most moral and proper outcome, purty simple... You wouldn't wanna spoil me, right? So obviously, the mistake was on my part in daring to ask butt-pirates for money - I see that now... Asking Ys “fanholes” (read: videogame thieves) for money is kinda like going up to beggars/panhandlers on the corner and asking them for some spare change (before they get a chance to ask you)... Pretty dumb and you wouldn't be surprised when 99.99% of 'em tell you to fuck off, which is the same percentage result I ultimately got in this context. I have been naïve at times, I will admit.
Present: So here we are towards the end of the Christmas 2010 season and I thought to myself, hey, I've neglected my lovely Ys “fanholes” for 4 years, I should come up with something to give 'em... BUT WHAT ?? What can I come up with that would be appropriate and on such short notice? Then it dawned on me as to exactly the kind of gift that you deserve, THE ONLY ONE I ever should've been giving you in the first place! I got the idea from...YOU!!! This Christmas, I'm giving you back that which 99% of you have been giving me for some 7-8 years! Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you...the middle finger! *MY* middle finger to be precise! <Mark Levin>THHAAAAAAAT'S RRRRIGHT!</Mark Levin> Today, I finally flip you the bird proper, and I wanted to do it in such a way that I hope you'll ALWAYS remember me by! I am returning the gesture to the source... I'm a memorable figure, I'd like to think (and you freaks do love talking about me – I give meaning to your otherwise worthless lives apparently), and as such I wanna leave you miserable, disgusting bastards with a long-lasting memory... My feelings towards you are now visually official for all time! I want the image of my middle finger imprinted in your stupid birdbrains the next time you're ranting and raving about me behind my back (I'm looking at you, Spinner_8, among many others – you disgusting, two-faced, bald, butt-ugly, bastard – yeah, kinda saw your facebook picture, I did)... If I can achieve that, I'll be a happy man.
(Yes indeed, that's my actual right hand in front of my Felghana Limited Edition box, along with other neighboring Ys originals. That's the hand and the box that gave birth to the Felghana patch that you pirate-happy fucks (meaning 99% of you) got to enjoy... Hey, this picture's a collector's item I'd say; I even signed it for ya too! What do you think?? LOL)
Some of you dumbfucks can be found even today ranting about “viruses in my patches” and my evilness for doing so... For fucks sake, lemme spell it out for you stupid, butt-pirating assclowns: that was nothing more than anti-warez propaganda and you fucks bought it all hook, line, and sinker...! The sad fact is EVERY single one of you fucks got away with your thievery, EVERY ONE, including the leaker... I never got ANY form of justice which would only ever have been directed at the leaker gang anyway... Has someone ever raised their hand to say that their computer got fucked by one of my patches? NO, but yet the belief is still out there... It's either a testament to the effectiveness of my propaganda 4 years later or to the IQ/intelligence level of Ys “fanholes...” Which do you think it is ?? I mean, I don't think I tried very hard when I was playing along with that bitchy ass bitch, FrayedHoped, the little GayFAQs jackass that was so certain my ambiguous phrase of “special surprise” meant “fuck up your PC” if caught using a pirated copy of the game. Stupid fucking sorry thieves, what a complete fucking disgusting disaster you all are and you only seem to grow more miserable... If you pirate without any kind of restraint, without regard, whatever and whenever, you shouldn't be as miserable as say I am, now should you? Go fucking steal something else, enjoy it, and shut the fuck up!
Anyway, Merry Christmas, fanholes, and a Happy New Year too!!! :-) Congratulations are in order as well; you've achieved a sustained 99% freeloading rate as of late (~1% up from 97-98%)! Kick ass! The notion that [nearly] “everybody loves free” has been vindicated...
I'm around as well. I check back about once a week or so. Just got Ys I and II chronicles for PSP and I'm liking it. Wish they used some parts of Atlus' translation from the DS game, but some of the new writing is funny (there's a reference to a Hall and Oates song in the beginning of Ys I that amused me)
Signed by: 
