ArcadeTV

ArcadeTV · Sep 18, 2024

Found and fixed another typo:

before:

after:

ArcadeTV · Sep 18, 2024

That's better.

ArcadeTV · Sep 18, 2024

I found more issues on my way that needed my attention;
Can you spot the difference?

broken:

fixed:

Fixing this was not as easy as it looks :-/

There seem to be more names that need to get fixed, like Mr. MIER here:

I'll just continue my monologue until somebody tells me to stop ;-)

ArcadeTV · Sep 16, 2024

Just a quick note on the current status
and what is scheduled for the next release:

last edited 2024-09-18

Intro Selection via Soft Dip [100%]
Special Moves Style via Soft Dip [100%]
Missing Special Move Sequences (Note 1):
- JapStyle Moves on US System:
  Andy 1 [100%]
  Andy 2 [100%]
  Andy 3 [100%]
  Terry 1 [100%]
  Terry 2 [100%]
  Terry 3 [100%]
  Joe 1 [100%]
  Joe 2 [100%]
  Joe 3 [100%]
- USA-Style Moves on JAP System:
  Andy 1 [100%]
  Andy 2 [100%]
  Andy 3 [100%]
  Terry 1 [100%]
  Terry 2 [100%]
  Terry 3 [100%]
  Joe 1 [100%]
  Joe 2 [100%]
  Joe 3 [100%]
Re-translation of all story-related text (Note 2)
- Main Characters Winning Quotes [25%]
- Opponents Winning Quotes [100%]
- Geese Story [20%]
- Main Characters Story [10%]
- Ending [50%]
- System Messages [30%]
Corrections
- Richard Myer -> Richard Meyer in opponents' name [100%]
- Richard Mier -> Richard Meyer in hiscore screen [100%]
- Geese Howerd -> Geese Howard in good ending [100%]
- Geese referring to "your father" when playing with JOE [10%]
- Opponents referring to "your father" when playing with JOE [50%]
- The counting in the japanese Special Move Sequences is wrong, starts with 2, should be 1 [0%]

Note 1: some moves are identical across regions, still they needed to be handled.
Note 2: with friendly permission by Mars

Is there anything else to take care of to polish the game even more?

ArcadeTV · Sep 11, 2024

I'm now able to generate custom text data to be used within the P-rom.
Since the game uses a table for tile-id's that correspond with the id's in the fix/S-rom but text-data needs to be written as offset from this table to the tile-id there was an extra step but it's working well.

The table for fixtiles used by the game is located from $5C7EA to $5D4AA (word sized) in the P rom.

ArcadeTV · Sep 8, 2024

I optimized my custom tools to output this image directly from the data within the rom.
Also I now have a corresponding character table that lets me inject my own text into the game's logic.

ArcadeTV · Sep 8, 2024

I guess I'm done figuring out how text works in the P-rom. The attached image is stitched together with single images, each representing a single tile from the fix/s-rom by reading the corresponding data tables directly from the rom.

The next steps include editing or creating custom data for the translation and making the game use that instead.

I think it would be a good idea to create a textfile with the translation first and discuss it before any heavy lifting is done.
I'll keep you posted.

ArcadeTV · Sep 6, 2024

While digging deep into the typewriter routines today, I think I'm able to translate the special move animation-sequences into the missing pieces.

| Region | Special Move JAP Style | Special Move USA Style |
| ------ | ---------------------- | ---------------------- |
| JAP    | sequence exists        | sequence missing       |
| USA    | sequence missing       | sequence exists        |
|        |                        |                        |

I remembered a webpage that I found years ago where someone showed off the differences between the literal japanese and commercial english translations:
https://web.archive.org/web/20210125211035/https://marsdragon.brontoforum.us/SNK/ff/terry.html

I might be tempted to see if the game would benefit from a better translation, since it's all there I just need to implement it.

What're your thoughts about this? Is it worth it?

ArcadeTV · Sep 5, 2024

Fatal Fury does not only change the language to japanese if your system bios sets this as region code, also the special moves are quite different between the japanese and usa version (it's still the very same software, it just changes its behaviour depending on your system's region setting).
Example found here: https://rq87.flyingomelette.com/RQ/R/NG/FF/1.html
So, what if you'd prefer the japanese special move commands but can't read japanese text? Without romhacking you'd be out of luck. The good news is, I already have a working patch that lets you set the desired special move layout via Soft-Dips. The not so good news is that it feels wrong not to hack the animation sequences, where the moves gets explained - of course these would show the wrong command if the setting has been changed. I'm still working on it.

So, if you play this romhack on your MVS system you can alter the settings in the operator's menu, piece of cake. On the AES home console you don't have that menu (if not using unibios), so I was thinking about adding a detection for held-buttons on power-on.
E.g. something like
(A) held: short intro
(A) not held: long intro
(B) held: Japanese-style special moves
(B) not held: US-style special moves

I'm not asking how to do this, but if this is something you'd find useful.

ArcadeTV · Aug 30, 2024

Your work getting romhackplaza up and running is very much appreciated, a heartfelt THANK YOU for your efforts!
I'd like to leave some feedback:

Feature Requests:

I'd like to suggest adding some badges or labels for "updated" submissions.
A sort-option for "date-lastUpdated" (asc/desc) would be a nice addition.

Minor bugs:

The "relevant link" in the submission form is erased upon editing
The mobile view of an entry would benefit if the columns for screenshot and content would break instead of being displayed side-by-side