Zeroigar on PC-FX translated!

[SamIAm]

Hello everyone.





Today, my partner elmer and I have officially released a free and full translation patch for a wonderful, obscure little vertical shooter called Zeroigar on the PC-FX. To say that this game may have the highest language barrier of any shooter ever made would not be a stretch, but now, that barrier comes down completely for anyone who can read English.

There are about 16 minutes of FMV strewn throughout Zeroigar's seven stages, as well as real-time dialogues within he stages themselves. These tell an exciting and thought-provoking story, and they are all completely translated. In addition, there is an unusual gameplay system at work here. Believe it or not, you earn "experience points" as you would normal points in any other shooter, and when your ship levels up, all kinds of things happen. The original Japanese level-up screens are extremely difficult for anyone who can't read them to grasp, but as you can see above, that's all changed.

I have to add that we are very proud of the subtitling system we came up with for the FMVs. I could be wrong, but I think it's a first in the translation-patch world. It's a long story, but those subs are hard coded without introducing any loss to the image at all. The hand-drawn anime is beautiful, incorporating a 1970s robot anime style and high production values. Even people who don't like shooters but do like anime can enjoy this game.

As for people who do like shooters, well, the gameplay system certainly works well, and the experience is so unique that it's definitely worth a play. I like to think of this as a more "console" style of shooter rather than "arcade". If you liked story-rich shooters on the PCE-CD, you'll love this.

Here's a preview:
https://youtu.be/GnUtZkT7pVM

You can see the news on romhacking.net:
http://www.romhacking.net/

...and here's a link to the project page where you can download the patching program. Don't worry, it's very easy to use. The translation works in Mednafen and on real hardware.
http://www.romhacking.net/translations/2451/

A lot of time and effort went into this. I really hope you all enjoy it. Even if you've tried this game before, I urge you to give it another shot. I'd love to hear feedback when you do!

Thank you!

[BIL]

Very cool, thanks for this! Can never have enough translations.

[EmperorIng]

The subs on the FMVs are very impressive indeed! Kudos to you on that front. Can't wait to try it out.

It makes me wonder if more fan translations will be able to subtitle cutscenes and FMVs and whatnot. It might be a shade easier than doing redubs...

[Synnae]

I saw this over romhacking.net. Thank you so much!

[SamIAm]

Thank you!

To anyone who tries this: make sure that the Mode-1 switch on your controller is set to "B". This turn on autofire, which there is no reason to be without. In mednafen, this is toggled by 8 on the keypad by default.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Thanks for the cool English translations for Zeroigar. Yes, the anime FMV scenes are impressive to watch. Fascinating that the FMV is at a silky-smooth 30fps framerate. I've always wondered how the story goes.

Is an extra incentive to pick up a PC-FX console and try out Zeroigar in English finally.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[BPzeBanshee]

Super cool!

[Captain]

[SamIAm]

Hey, did anyone have trouble getting Mednafen to work with this game?

elmer and I just realized that we should have put some info in the readme about configuring the PC-FX BIOS, which you will have to obtain separately from the emulator.

Ahem...should you go checking the internet for BIOS dumps in order to compare for accuracy your own legally produced backup that you've dumped from your own PC-FX system...then you're going to want the one with [a] in the title. The one without it won't work.

Rename the BIOS to "pcfx.rom" and put it in Mednafen's root directory.

That's all!

By the way, I'll be uploading a 1CC run of this game to youtube within a week or so.

If any of you have thoughts about the game, good or bad, I would love to know!

[trap15]

then you're going to want the one with [a] in the title. The one without it won't work.

That's the one dumped from my PC-FX.

[elmer]

That's the one dumped from my PC-FX.

Hi Alex,

That's excellent! So you actually hacked some 2-way communications with a real PC-FX?

I tried to get in touch with you a few months ago about "liberis" but never seemed to manage to connect.

I'm putting together a new PC-FX toolkit (slowly, because hacking Zeroigar got in the way), and thought that you might be curious to take a look if you're still interested in the platform.

I've got the old Japanese V810 GCC patches updated from the old GCC 2.95 to something a little more modern ... binutils 2.23 and GCC 4.5.4.

I'm using "liberis" as the replacement for the old Hudson libraries.

I've been using the new toolchain for doing the coding in Zeroigar. That's all been done in assembly. The C side of things still needs thorough testing, but the liberis examples all compile and run.

Anyway ... PM me if you want to chat.

[Zeether]

I was surprised to wake up to this news. Really neat stuff. I was messing with PC-FX things in Mednafen at one point so maybe I'll go back and try this...

Edit: and that BIOS thing is probably why half the ones I got never worked. Bloody hell.

[trap15]

That's excellent! So you actually hacked some 2-way communications with a real PC-FX?

Nope. Ryphecha (medanfen author) asked me to check my BIOS version, and when it was different she gave me a program that barfed the BIOS out through the sound output. So then I recorded that and sent it to her and she reconstructed it. A common exfiltration trick that I like.

I'm putting together a new PC-FX toolkit (slowly, because hacking Zeroigar got in the way), and thought that you might be curious to take a look if you're still interested in the platform.

Very nice. I'm not all that interested in PC-FX development anymore though. First I got angry at the GCC being really broken (the wonders of GCC pre-3), then I was angry at the system for being so weak and underperforming. Maybe when you release this I'll take another crack at some dev. Glad to hear eris was of some use to somebody

[elmer]

Ryphecha (medanfen author) asked me to check my BIOS version, and when it was different she gave me a program that barfed the BIOS out through the sound output. So then I recorded that and sent it to her and she reconstructed it. A common exfiltration trick that I like.

Hahaha ... I'm totally unfamiliar with the hacking world, and so I hadn't heard of that trick before ... that's such an excellent work-around! It takes me back to the days of loading games from cassette tapes.

Very nice. I'm not all that interested in PC-FX development anymore though. First I got angry at the GCC being really broken (the wonders of GCC pre-3), then I was angry at the system for being so weak and underperforming. Maybe when you release this I'll take another crack at some dev. Glad to hear eris was of some use to somebody

I'm sorry to hear that you've lost interest, but thanks for all your work on liberis, I believe that it'll be really useful.

GCC 2.95 was a great step forward in it's day, and a lot of games were written with it (like pretty much all of the PS2 library), but that day has long-since passed.

Getting a decent C99-compliant compiler was definitely one of my goals.

I'll have to get a bit further with the system to decide how "weak-and-underperforming" it is.

I've programmed on most 16 and 32 bit consoles, and to me, it seems so far like a significant step up from the SNES, but with much less powerful sprite capabilities than the PlayStation and Saturn.

If NEC had actually had some success with their "FMV-game" strategy, then the sprite capabilities would have been "corrected" by the 3D chip add-on that they shipped a year later inside the PC-FXGA card.

Pretty much how the Sega shipped the Saturn with no video hardware, and then added the MPEG card later on.

Unfortunately for NEC, FMV tanked and 3D was all the rage (even though it was pretty poor 3D at the time), and so the PC-FX quickly died.

No users meant that no developers would spend the money that was required to create really good games for the system, and that would actually stretch it's capabilities ... and so the library mostly consists of low-budget 16-bit-looking games.

I'm curious to see what the machine could actually create, with the King chip's powerful combination of 16-color, 256-color and 65536-color backgrounds (perfect for the large boss in a shmup).

When talking about shmups ... using a King bitmap layer for bullets would likely circumvent most of the limitations with the machine's sprites. After all, that's the kind of trick that worked wonders on machines like the X68000.

I guess that we'll just have to see!

[SamIAm]

I thought I'd give this topic one last little bump with two more youtube videos.

This first one shows the "Anime Mode" all the way through to the end of the fourth stage. Only three stages remain after this. I'd have included them as well, but I don't want to spoil what happens.

http://youtu.be/ATWu0FgTLko

This second one, you might find even more interesting. Zeroigar contains a special unlockable "Sakuraigar Mode" which has the enemies, music, and story totally changed from the main Anime Mode. It's quite a trip.

https://youtu.be/duLT4IukI-w

(I do recommend at least familiarizing yourself with the story in Anime Mode before watching this.

Has anyone played this? Positive or negative, I would love to read your comments!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Finally scored a super mint PC-FX console with absolutely no yellowing -- looks super pristine and brand new looking (even the included PC-FX gamepad was spanking brand new). Upon running an extracted Zeroigar cue/bin through it's paces with the patch, it works 100% flawlessly on a real PC-FX console setup. Makes me wonder if NEC really had any intentions of releasing it's PC-FX in the USA? Surely, TTI would've had to get some help in the localization end of any Japanese PC-FX game titles to be sold in the USA if it had been "greenlit" from the get-go. Of course, TTI would've had to see if any 3rd-party USA game devs/publishers would be interested in making some games for it as well. (And would Working Designs still be interested in localizing some PC-FX games for the USA as well during that time, assuming if the ultimate decision was made to release it stateside? Hmmm...interesting possibilities back in those days of console gaming in the mid-1990s.)

The true untapped potential of the PC-FX was never utilized -- still haven't seen that slick indie killer app made for it, just yet.

Are there any plans to translate other PC-FX game titles? I think the Zenki action platformer/2D brawler (with it's "Final Fight meets the supernatural genre/premise") would make for an awesome 2nd PC-FX translated game project.

Upon looking at the slim game catalogue of only a mere 62 PC-FX game titles to choose from, tis a shame that NEC nor any 3rd-party software developer had released such a dedicated racing game title in either as a pure arcade racing title or a more pure simulation racer -- it would've been cool to see what kind of racing titles (F1, drifting, arcade, etc.) could be done on the PC-FX gaming platform. I'm surprised that Sega didn't do any PC-FX gaming titles for it (and especially given with their AM2 arcade racing dev team's expertise/wisdom, I'm sure they could've made quite an awesome arcade racing title worthy of the PC-FX name despite it's limitations/shortcomings).

One of the unreleased PC-FX shmup titles by the name of "Lords of Thunder FX" would've been interesting to see/play if it wasn't cancelled (with the added bonus of a cool brand new FMV opening + sprites combined with some new twists to spice things up).

I've noticed that NEC (nor even Hori for that matter) never did release such a proper 1st-party PC-FX arcade stick controller (but a pad-hacked PC-FX gamepad to an existing arcade stick would be better than not using one imho).

On another key issue/observation regarding the PC-FX console itself is, I've noticed that if a PC-FX console is plugged into a USA region 120v AC outlet, it does emit a slight smoky smell/odor if powered on for an hour or more (especially if in new to super mint condition to begin with). I think a step-down AC convertor will be needed to not have this issue happen again (just to be on the "safe side").

And would it be possible to have a PC-FX output in pure RGB (via Japanese RGB 21-pin out or Euro Scart format) and bypass the provided NTSC composite video/S-Video output encoder within the console itself? By using the provided S-Video output with a thick shielded S-Video Monster Cable setup, it does look awesome on a dedicated Sony Trinitron 4:3 CRT-based TV monitor with S-Video input (for that slick old-school gaming visual appeal/vibe).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Pasokon Deacon]

Re: PC-FX translations, I'm rooting for Team Innocent and, preferably, Micro Cabin's NIRGENDS (latter even has a Windows 95 port which could be playable soon if the fan-made PowerVR wrapper is finished). Stuff like Zeroigar's yellow subs during FMVs probably won't be feasible for any more PC-FX translations, but there's plenty of work to be done for the platform.

[elmer]

Finally scored a super mint PC-FX console with absolutely no yellowing -- looks super pristine and brand new looking (even the included PC-FX gamepad was spanking brand new).

Congratulations!

The true untapped potential of the PC-FX was never utilized -- still haven't seen that slick indie killer app made for it, just yet.

I'd certainly like to do something about that.

IMHO, it's a more "interesting" hardware design than the PlayStation (which is a great design, but boring), and less "brain-damaged" than the Saturn (but also less powerful, unless you're targeting the PC-FXGA).

Are there any plans to translate other PC-FX game titles? I think the Zenki action platformer/2D brawler (with it's "Final Fight meets the supernatural genre/premise") would make for an awesome 2nd PC-FX translated game project.

Pia Carrot is already translated, and there are a couple of other translations that have been stalled for a while.

The Team Innocent translation has recently been restarted, and I'm hoping that they'll get it finished this time.

Upon looking at the slim game catalogue of only a mere 62 PC-FX game titles to choose from, tis a shame that NEC nor any 3rd-party software developer had released such a dedicated racing game title in either as a pure arcade racing title or a more pure simulation racer -- it would've been cool to see what kind of racing titles (F1, drifting, arcade, etc.) could be done on the PC-FX gaming platform.

There's a tale-to-be-told about NEC's positioning of the PC-FX. It seems like NEC were actually discouraging "traditional" console games for a while.

And would it be possible to have a PC-FX output in pure RGB (via Japanese RGB 21-pin out or Euro Scart format) and bypass the provided NTSC composite video/S-Video output encoder within the console itself?

I don't know ... but if you find out, I'd be tempted to do the mod myself!

Stuff like Zeroigar's yellow subs during FMVs probably won't be feasible for any more PC-FX translations, but there's plenty of work to be done for the platform.

Even though it would lose some of the original video, I'd actually be tempted to recommend the "letterbox" approach for almost any of the PC-FX translations. It avoids any re-compression loss and would make sure that you fit within the CD bandwidth.

The other alternative would be to add soft-subs, but that would require a lot more in-depth hacking of the particular game.

[trap15]

RGB mod is likely impossible, as internally most things are using YCbCr instead of RGB (saves encoder costs?).

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I thought I'd give this topic one last little bump with two more youtube videos.

This first one shows the "Anime Mode" all the way through to the end of the fourth stage. Only three stages remain after this. I'd have included them as well, but I don't want to spoil what happens.

http://youtu.be/ATWu0FgTLko

This second one, you might find even more interesting. Zeroigar contains a special unlockable "Sakuraigar Mode" which has the enemies, music, and story totally changed from the main Anime Mode. It's quite a trip.

https://youtu.be/duLT4IukI-w

(I do recommend at least familiarizing yourself with the story in Anime Mode before watching this.

Has anyone played this? Positive or negative, I would love to read your comments!

------------------------------

Here's an easy way to unlock "Sakuraigar Mode" without completing/beating the game once in Anime mode (was tested on a real PC-FX console setup -- was discovered by trial and error today):

1.) Select Battle Mode and select the Zeroigar Type C character.

2.) Play a single game with the Zeroigar Type C mecha character (from within Battle Mode), save battle to the PC-FX's internal memory bank and exit the Battle Mode game session (which will return to the main Zeroigar opening FMV). Simply press the Run button and you'll see a new mode listed as "Sakuraigar Mode" on-screen from the main title screen.

3.) This new "unlocked" mode will automatically be saved to the PC-FX's internal memory bank for posterity and safe keeping. Upon rebooting the PC-FX console the next time Zeroigar is up & running, the new unlocked mode will still be selectable from within the main title screen. Easy as pie!

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[SamIAm]

Well that's wacky.

I'm not sure if the original game does that. To be honest, we added a hack to allow you to unlock the Sakuraigar mode after clearing Anime Mode on Medium difficulty when the original game only does it if you beat it on High. Hope that's not a weird side effect.

Glad you like the game, anyway!

[elmer]

Here's an easy way to unlock "Sakuraigar Mode" without completing/beating the game once in Anime mode (was tested on a real PC-FX console setup -- was discovered by trial and error today):

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Good find!

I did add a new cheat to unlock Sakuraigar Mode, but it is activated differently.

I'm not sure if the original game does that. To be honest, we added a hack to allow you to unlock the Sakuraigar mode after clearing Anime Mode on Medium difficulty when the original game only does it if you beat it on High. Hope that's not a weird side effect.

I just tried the original again, and the new cheat doesn't seem to work.

I'll have to debug this to find what I broke.

But ... TBH ... it doesn't exactly bother me too much, I'm just glad that someone has enjoyed the game enough to play it to the point where whatever-is-going-on surfaced.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I noticed that if you play the very last PC-FX game to be released at retail in Japan, First Kiss Story, you'll be rewarded with a cool & slick 2D sprite-based fighting game called "Hunex Fighters '98" with three playable characters including Asha and May. I wasn't expecting this and was blown away by this discovery. As it is, the bonus fighter game gem is very well hidden deep within the main FKS game itself (requiring some lengthy game time just to gain access to it from within the main game itself). The PC-FX surely needs a dedicated arcade stick setup just to play HF '98 proprerly the way it was meant to be played -- Wow!

Is this PC-FX "HF '98" fighting game unlockable via a code input or a hack to play by itself and is it a 2 player head-to-head type of fighting game or is it just purely 1P vs. against the CPU opponent instead?

I'm surprised that Hunex developer of the PC-FX based FSK game went the extra mile to include this mini fighting game as a befitting swan song PC-FX title -- what a noble & honorable way to end the PC-FX game collection with a bang indeed! Color me impressed with what the real PC-FX console had to offer as hidden PC-FX based mini games released to be cherished and played.

This HF '98 fighting game begs to be translated into English (at least for the included manual portion {complete with all characters' move list} anyways). How cool is that?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[SamIAm]

Last bump. I promise this time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF0nHRXhTPA

This is a complete playthrough of the translated game that someone else made.

------------------------

For anyone who is interested, let me tell you the "secret" of Zeroigar's gameplay.

You may have noticed that there are unlimited continues, and that your ship gains has a chance to level up every time you continue or beat a level. It may seem like there's a lack of challenge because you can continue indefinitely (sound familiar?)

The truth, however, is that you can beat this game without continuing at all, and the key is to destroy all the parts of every boss. They are worth massive points...experience points. Often enough, the key to destroying the boss parts is to also use your special weapons.

For example, you can kill the chameleon boss VERY quickly if you use your Wind Cannon special weapon to hit his main body. However, if you carefully use your other weapons to destroy his tail and his "face", you will get a couple million(!) extra points, and that will give you an extra level up when you clear the stage.

It's kind of like Radiant Silvergun: you have to exploit the scoring potential in order to level up your ship enough to defeat the final areas of the game.

So the challenge is definitely there, but only if you aim for a proper 1CC. Even the first boss is substantially deeper and more difficult if you try to destroy his arms first.

Give it a shot!