Back in action for the most part
Welcome back to the site. If you visit the site regularily you’ll have noticed that it was completely unreachable for about a week. This was caused by a complete data loss on the romhacking.net server were this page is also hosted. You can read a bit about what happened at this news site. To summarize it briefly, the webhosting company hosting that server and thousands of others was attacked by hackers. We’re back in action again now at least after Nightcrawler, RHDN’s site admin took care of the most imporant underlying technical issues. Some things still aren’t working, such as E-mails being sent from the server, so I disabled comments on this site for now to be on the safe side. I’ll let you know when comments are enabled again.
The last backup of RHDN and this site was from early April, so every post and comment since then has been lost and they can’t be recovered. I salvaged the FAQ post at least from google’s cache and turned it into a page, which you can access through the navigation bar.
This incident was only related to the website, rest assured that it didn’t affect any hacking work. We all have our files stored locally. I hope you didn’t thought we were all hit by meteors. Although at our current luck level it might not be so unlikely…
Update: Comments are enabled again for this post and from now on. I decided against opening them up again for all the old posts, they are old news anyway.
Welcome back! Looking forward to new news, as always. Thanks for your efforts, I can’t wait for SRW D, F, & J, and Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei is gonna be great as well!
Great work on everything!
Comment by Bro
June 25th, 2009 @ 02:25
Yay! Glad to see the site back! Was worried you guys had gone under for a while, but held true to the fact that you guys wouldn’t just give up on all your projects like that!!
Anyways, keep up the good work, as always!
Comment by Irrimn
June 26th, 2009 @ 02:36
Thank God everythings back up. i can’t wait for the final results for SRW D and J
but patience is a virtue =p
good luck kaioshin crew and try not to overdo it!
Comment by megawalk
June 26th, 2009 @ 16:15
Dude, you guys rocks!! I can’t wait until SRW D and J comes out.
Comment by Lee
June 27th, 2009 @ 08:15
keep up the good work, guys
can’t wait for SRW J and D
Comment by Walmrathaua
June 28th, 2009 @ 22:06
Really nice that the site is back!
just a few questions (regarding SRW J) since the editing is nearly complete:
1.- on the Gate of Magus site there’s a list of known bugs in SRWJ (like the shield defense glitch among others), do you plan to fix these glitches , or is it beyond the scope of the project?
2.- Kingcom mentioned previously on the project thread on RHDN that there are a few technical issues to fix on the hacking side of the project, have those been resolved? (just trying to get a feel of how much still needs to get done on this game).
these questions aren’t to put pressure on you, just genuine curiosity. keep up the good work!
Comment by Midnight
June 29th, 2009 @ 09:42
I don’t actually know why I’m commenting, except to express great anticipation for SRWJ. Keep up the awesome work, guys.
Comment by TCM
July 2nd, 2009 @ 06:07
I grabbed a copy of the Google cache for the front page back when the site first went down just in case, if you’re interested in restoring the couple of posts you lost I could upload it somewhere/email it to someone.
Comment by Vague Rant
July 4th, 2009 @ 08:47
Thanks for the offer, I already did that though and restored what I wanted to. The only news I didn’t restore was one about Oriental Blue progress which felt kind of wrong to restore right now since the news it was talking about was pretty outdated. Also the malware warning things which are equally uninteresting now. Actually I’m quite glad those are gone. Had I restored then they would have appeared as recent news and people might have thought there was a recent virus thread from the site or something.
Comment by KaioShin
July 4th, 2009 @ 11:03
“the malware warning things which are equally uninteresting now”
The Oriental Blue news was equally as uninteresting as malware warnings?
That’s depressing.
I know most people don’t care about Oriental Blue news at all, but it’s still sad to hear that.
Comment by Tom
July 4th, 2009 @ 14:01
Do not be discouraged, it must have been just a mistake …..
I assure you that there are several that are awaiting the draft (I try to play it in Japanese, but it is not easy) …
Do not feel bad Tom, you just concentrate on completing your translations, mean much to many of us (at least for me), good luck …
Comment by Frank
July 5th, 2009 @ 02:48
Hey, that was taken completely out of context, just a poor choice of words >_> The OB news talked about the story script being almost finished IIRC, which would be strange to post now since the whole script has been completed instead. I figured it would be much better to have real great news for it along with some hacking progress soon. No reason to suspect any project bias on my part.
Comment by KaioShin
July 5th, 2009 @ 23:44
Actually, the script was totally translated back then. I was really excited about that post. In fact, some people from China posted that they wanted me to send them the script for an English to Chinese translation. The script is only incomplete in the sense that the revisions have not been completed.
I have been revising the script to remove the typos and context errors. I’ve played through the game in English a couple times, trying to experience as many of the scenarios as I can to make sure that the beta testing process goes as smoothly as possible.
Comment by Tom
July 6th, 2009 @ 07:22
I for one am actually the MOST excited by the Oriental Blue news… I think SRW theries is great and all, but OB sounds very unique as far as RPGs go. I’m excited to see how the gameplay is different from every other RPG out there.
Hoping it goes beta sooooon. 
Comment by Irrimn
July 7th, 2009 @ 04:12
Me too.
Comment by Tom
July 10th, 2009 @ 00:23
Hi there, guys, nice to see site is working and projects going on, as always I’ve watched all what happened, but because of FAQ I had no reason to post any comment. Now I have reason - as you may see after cutting “how it’s going?” questions people are waiting but not asking and site activity is near 0. I suggestin that for gain more attention you need:
1) put somewhere on site(main page most likely) progress bars for each project for short info how goes projects’ progress and update them once in a week(also update overview page in same way).
2) make report of done work on the main page once in a month.
Well, maybe it’ll not rise comment activity much, but surely bring more interest, maybe even somebody would notice that one of projects goes not very smooth, ask about it and offers help. Anyway everybody wants to stay tuned. Thanks for attention. As always I wish all Aerie best of luck and ofcource I’m waiting for completion of projects, especially OB, SRW:J and ToI.
Comment by Zeru
July 10th, 2009 @ 11:00
Might be nice to have progress bars. Dakkodango have a one and it’s very helpful.
Comment by Koka
July 10th, 2009 @ 20:15
SRW J ! ^^ Thanks For Hard Work ! Hugs From Brazil !
Comment by Fabio Henrique
July 12th, 2009 @ 06:53
Tom, I’m also looking forward to Oriental Blue a lot, probably only second to Tales of Innocence. Not enough original RPGs came out in English on the GBA, most of them were just remakes of older SNES games.
Kaioshin, I wasnt sure where to ask this since I didnt see an email, but if I had a problem with Xdelta UI. I got an error message and I dont know what I need to do to fix it. Is there an email address I can describe the problem to you at?
Comment by ultpaladin
July 17th, 2009 @ 02:48
Thanks for your updates, Kaioshin ^^ I hope all the translations (specially Xenosaga I & II, since we haven’t been updated in ages) are going smooth ^^
Thanks for your efforts
Comment by Glenn
July 18th, 2009 @ 09:55
I’m new here, but just wanted to add my encouragement to you guys (especially those working on Xenosaga). Seems like everyone’s hanging out for the SRW games, but I’m more keen for Xenosaga and ToI (I do love me some JRPG :))
Comment by DrWadsy
July 18th, 2009 @ 23:51
SRWJ, I can smell it.. yummy.
Comment by Lauris
July 19th, 2009 @ 07:41
Isn’t it evil that usually smells and tastes good? Or is this something non-trope-related?
Comment by Koka
July 19th, 2009 @ 19:57
Well, you know, games are evil thing
Lauris, I think, didn’t mean anything trope related, just imagined how cool it would be playing in SRW:J.
-___- as I may see there is no sign of any updates, guys, if you so dislike being asked please do what I said in last post, curiosity killing me and not only me, everybody who visiting site looking for any info on projects quite, excited about them, but all new what you may see on site for month are some random comments about…well, you see what them about if you look above my comment and on beginning of mine comment -__-’
Comment by Zeru
July 20th, 2009 @ 09:03
Yes, yes.. Zeru said the actual thing I was thinking.
I just finished SRWW few days ago, and I’m still in a very exciting mood, eagerly looking forward to the next SRW game.
Comment by Lauris
July 20th, 2009 @ 16:27
Lauris, did you played in SRW Alpha Gaiden?
Comment by Zeru
July 21st, 2009 @ 10:59
Well, it seems my questions offended you in some way, I apologize for that, so thanks for the non-answer, going to wait patiently.
Comment by Midnight
July 21st, 2009 @ 18:14
Zeru: No I haven’t. I was thinking, if it’s Gaiden (which means side story, btw), then I’d go through Alpha first before that.. actually, I can understand a bit of Japanese, but it would take a forever for me to figure out every single word with my dictionary turned on. And for some reason, I enjoy reading English scripts.
Comment by Lauris
July 21st, 2009 @ 19:24
Lauris, it was translated by aeon genesis to english, I played it alot before I stuck in moon cradle mission -_- it’s insanely hard for me, maybe because I developed characters not the best way.
Comment by Zeru
July 21st, 2009 @ 21:43
I’m especially eager to hear some news/ We have the progress page, but since it hasn’t been updated, no on really knows what’s going on. Even if we’re assured people are still at work, it’s nice to be occasionally told how things are going. You guys over thought of just updating all the games’ progress reports all at once? I’m especially looking forward to news about Xenosaga I+II. It’s been so long…
Comment by SyberiaWinx
July 24th, 2009 @ 03:14
I have finished all of the revision work that I can do for Oriental Blue, and revised the script several times over. The script is nearly perfect now. Kingcom has hacked almost all of the battle menus, but it’s not near a release. The mini-games and other menus still need to be hacked after that.
It might not be worth the time to update the website saying, “the letter cap on one particular menu window in Oriental Blue was extended.” I guess that’s why nobody’s updating anything.
I’m also working on another translation with Kingcom which may be announced in the future, I guess. That might be update worthy.
I don’t know about Xenosaga I+II, since I am not the translator for that project.
Comment by Tom
July 26th, 2009 @ 07:32
Tom, great to see you, you always bringin good news ^_^ though I disagree news like “the letter cap on one particular menu window in Oriental Blue was extended†always better then nothing, but that’s not what I meant, I was talking about progress bars witch would show in percent how much is done in translation and hacking(maybe two bars for each game would be perfect and if game is on revision should be placed revision bar instead of hacking and translation bars) and it must be updated every week(if no progress for one project then progress for another one) and once in a month some news wouldn’t hurt it was 25th june and now 26th july great time to start especially you have news on new project!
Comment by Zeru
July 26th, 2009 @ 10:31
Ok Zeru, I’ll try to speak in very simple terms, so it’s easy to understand.
No.
And no, this does not deserve a longer explanation. You may read the FAQ again. And if it doesn’t help, maybe once more.
I guess to make sure everyone understands the FAQ we shouldn’t post another news up to the next finished release. Progress updates only get us more trouble than they’re worth apparently.
Comment by KaioShin
July 26th, 2009 @ 11:00
that’s way too bad.
Comment by Zeru
July 26th, 2009 @ 11:19
Zeru, leave it alone. There’s no reason to make them waste time implementing something minor like that. They’re the kind of guys who like to work in the background. They say that everything is going smoothly, so everything is going smoothly.
They’re not Tomato, who can somehow translate, learn to hack, hack, and do two blog posts a day. Nor do they feel the need to make constant updates. Translators don’t ‘owe’ the fans anything.
Comment by Hiro
July 26th, 2009 @ 18:46
Imagine having to create and update a progress bar each time you accomplished some small task.
It would be rather menial work, and that work is best spent hacking the roms instead of updating progress bars.
Also, hacking isn’t something that you can clearly put a percentage label on. Work on one area of the rom may seem done, but then it might break another area of the game, for example. You never know how far you are until it’s done and it’s been tested several times over.
But I appreciate your excitement about the projects, and I do hope that you’ll continue to follow the updates, when they occur.
Comment by Tom
July 26th, 2009 @ 19:43
Thanks, Tom, even if I disagree I have to patiently wait my arguing wouldn’t change progress flow -_- especially if some people so determined about not showing their progress after months of work… Waiting for news about your new project ^^
Hiro, there is no need for stoping me, I’m not going to spam that again and again if KiaoShin said no, then no it’s oficial decision even if I disagree. I know what is working in background, I used to it when doing something for myself and not promising anyone to complete it, not when completion promised, when it is I must to inform all interested in this work about it’s progress. There was nothing in FAQ about progress bars, just asking about news so I suggested alternative if it’s bad and staff don’t want it then it’s nothing can be done.
Comment by Zeru
July 26th, 2009 @ 23:16
I think it’s okay for people to post their thoughts here. You’re the fans, after all… Why make a fan translation without the fans? Heh heh!
I can understand Kaioshin’s frustration, but I think the clamoring is part of the excitement that people feel. You can look at is a compliment that people are so eager, rather than thinking of it as nagging.
Comment by Tom
July 27th, 2009 @ 08:11
Progress bar..?
…Imagine this situation.
News update.
[99.9% completed.]
People start asking,”hey when the patch will be available?”
…
Soon the site will be flooded by comments and questions like that, even though the project still incomplete.
Hard to think that 0.1% is something very important.. but if it’s a lethal bug that occurs at the very beginning part of the game, then probably it’s a BIG trouble.
I could spend few minutes a day to take a look at this site.. it’s not a hard task, no.
Comment by Lauris
July 27th, 2009 @ 21:32
I’m mostly curious about Xenosaga I&II as well. I read Japanese too slowly to make the game very fun to play. Any updates you can give in regards to progress on Xenosaga would be greatly appreciated.
Myself and a couple friends would be interested in the translation effort. I used to translate manga professionally, and my friend translates technical documents from Japanese and we’re both xenosaga fans.
Comment by Trey
July 27th, 2009 @ 22:24
99.9% complete? Don’t they start asking when it’ll be released when it’s 00.1% complete?
I am all for comments and questions, but I think it’s more fun to answer more specific questions like, “what are the most challenging areas to hack or translate” or “what aspect of the game are you working on now?”
I think that’s more motivating and more interesting for others to read, too… Because “when will it be released?” simply sounds like “hurry up!”
Comment by Tom
July 27th, 2009 @ 23:37
Tom:
Well, see.. that’s the difference of having a progress bar or not. At least, peoples tend to give compliments before asking about the actual completion date, if that particular bar doesn’t exist at all. Instead of spamming the whole comment space with impatient petitions.
Comment by Lauris
July 27th, 2009 @ 23:46
Trey: Are you offering to help out with the translation?
Update situation: I wish certain people would get that asking for such a progress bar is nothing different from asking for updates flat out. Just with less words. In some ways I find it even more offensive, since it takes away all form of communication and solicitousness. As if you expect us to be machines who are doing nothing else but “produce” a translation for consumation. If I decide to give an update, I like to say a few words, throw in a joke or two, make you guys understand where we are and what we are going through. Progress bars would take all that away, it would all boil down to a number. Automated for maximal digestion. People visit the site, note the number and leave. You might think this isn’t a big deal and I’m blowing this way out of proportion, but to me, this really shows the mindset of some people. It disgusts me. We don’t owe you guys anything.
I have already played SRWJ completely in English. For all I care, the project could stop now and there would be no need to invest more time into it. Everything we do now, is for you guys. At least for those of you who appreciate what we’re doing. We want to share it with those who have the same love for these games as we do, and who have respect for the games and for our hobby. People who are so desperate about updates don’t really care about the games either. They just want another quick ROM fix.
Ok, the rant of the day is over.
Comment by KaioShin
July 28th, 2009 @ 00:33
KaioShin:
Yes, I am offering to help with the translation if that’s a limiting factor with the english patch for xenosaga. I have 2, possibly 3 people (if i can convince my gf to help as a gift to me) that are willing to help including myself. I don’t have any contact info of yours, but I’m assuming since i have to enter my email here to post that you have mine. If there is a part of the translation you can throw my way can and pull off the load from your other translator, I would be happy to do it. I would just like to see the project move along, and I’m pretty grateful that its being done at all. It will give me SOME Xenosaga to look forward to, being that the series is pretty much caput for now.
Comment by Trey
July 28th, 2009 @ 06:16
Lauris, nobody will start asking at any percentage ‘coz this question is banned by FAQ.
You may see project overview page, but there is no sense in it without updating.
In simple terms wanted it being updated some way regulary in case of not asking “when?” question and staying in touch at same time.
Even if progress of hacking is hardly calculated in percents it could be current name of phase,
for translating script there is no such problem. Gladly Tom always shares info about his translations.
There was no reason for rudeness and frustration, I just wanted to help site and waited for response,
I don’t want to attack somebody or anything I’m satisfied with answer, but I’m free to have own opinion.
KaioShin, why are you psyched out? You was the one who said “no asking about progress!” and now you hate me
just because I wanted to help you being not asked with this question and don’t lose fans looking for any progress.
My idea was nothing more than visualized project overview page updated regularly so you wouldn’t beign asked,
simple, eh? You talking with me as if I never changed single tile or never translated anything, I’ve that
kind of experience, I was script and graphic translator and of Pokemon Leaf Green in team with YELLOW before we
part our ways with him for personal reasons, project never saw day lite, but script was translated about half
and all graphics was translated, I also changed many tiles of overworld and frames, changed pokemon locations and
so. He was inserter, he wrote program for extracting and inserting text. So excuse me being not that stupid
claimer that you think I am. I’ve never claimed that you MUST make what I say, I wanted normal response, not
that disrespectful words of yours, I’m respect your opinion why not respect mine? I’m not telling you to “hurry up”
with projects, I’m not saying you’re some kind of machine/ I’m wanted to help you to never hear question that
you hate the most and that is all. Am I forcing you to change your mind about my idea? NO.
And as always my respect to Tom, I know he understands me like no one there and tolerant enough to not attacking
anyone.
Comment by Zeru
July 28th, 2009 @ 12:03
There is no need for progress bar, it would be like asking for update everytime after a minor progress.
And enough of stupid questions, I believe KaioShin has to spend time arguing with somebody, when he can work on translation. And if he haven’t given an update that means nothing major happened. So people have more faith and patience in people who try their best in making this translation see the dailyght …
Comment by thunder
July 28th, 2009 @ 15:40
Zeru:
I meant not for teasing, neither trying to start a dispute.. I was just trying to restate the presence of a progress, which is not really necessary.
I myself had an experience working on game script translations (although not Jap-Eng), and I understand how annoying it is if people keep asking why the progress bar isn’t changing at all.
After all, I apologize if my replies sound rude..
Comment by Lauris
July 28th, 2009 @ 18:54
To the people with the Xenosaga translation, not sure if it would be of any use, but you guys do know there’s a rom and patch out there with supposedly all the attacks, items, menus, and the turorial translated?
I have to say that there was no need to yell at Zeru. It can be frusterating, but to an extent, it’s a bit frusterating for us too. We’re not all after a quick ROM fix. I’ve only played one ROM before, and that was a LONG time ago, but I love Xenosaga, and I’ve wanted to play this game for years now, like most fans. A progress bar might be a bit much, but it would be nice if there were more updates. The last thing anyone heard about Xeno specifically was December of last year, so a lot of people jumped to the conclusion the translation had been dropped. You say that even if there are no progress reports, the patch is still being worked on, but knowing just that, it’s hard. Without updates, we have no idea how much, if any progress is being made, or how close it’s getting to completeness.
As a side note, can someone explain this whole flashcart thing to me. ROMs are nice, but if it’s possible to patch the game directly and play it on my DS, I’m curious to know more. Playing with ROM controls can get really irritating.>_>
Comment by SyberiaWinx
July 29th, 2009 @ 13:41
SyberiaWinx, thanks, maybe this link would be helpfull to you http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?t=27062
Comment by Zeru
July 29th, 2009 @ 20:11
How confusing.@_@ So, a flashcart in this case would be something that looks like a GBA cartridge? But how would you connect that to a computer to put anything on it?
Comment by SyberiaWinx
July 30th, 2009 @ 00:51
Hmm, it looks like cartridge, but have sd/mini sd card inside, it’s analog of card reader for PC so when you need to put games on flashcard you should youse card reader. Look at this one http://eng.supercard.sc/manual/dsone/jsh.html you probably understand it better when you see.
Comment by Zeru
July 30th, 2009 @ 10:20
also this one http://eng.supercard.sc/manual/mini_sd.htm
Comment by Zeru
July 30th, 2009 @ 10:22
Huh? Card Reader? I really don’t get any of this.@_@
Comment by SyberiaWinx
July 30th, 2009 @ 11:45
Ok, I’ll try to make you understand, look again there http://eng.supercard.sc/manual/dsone/jsh.html you may see something looking like ds cartridge, but inside of it no real game, there is device that using own OS to access content of sd card(/mini sd card) inside of it, they looks like this http://www.buy.com/cat/secure-digital-sd-card-micro-mini/56943.html and you may freely take it out of flash cartridge. This sd cards are containers and used in mobile phones, flash cartridges for storage and transfering data, as example in my sonyericsson w710i is san disk m2 sd card with 512 mb capacity I can accsess it connecting my phone to PC or using card reader. Examples of card readers you may find here http://www.tootoo.com/buy-SD_Card_And_Card_Reader/ to use them you must put inside of it your sd card and then put it in USB port, then you’ll be able to access data on it just like if it were USB Flash Drive(memory stick), though to put data on your ds sd card you may need special software wich comes with your flash cartridge. Hope it’s all clear to you now. ^^
Comment by Zeru
July 30th, 2009 @ 12:14
Maybe once that patch comes out, I can buy a complete one off someone.@_@ This all sounds confusing, still…
Does this group need the current Xenosaga patch? With the tutorial, items, and moves translated?
Comment by SyberiaWinx
July 31st, 2009 @ 04:03
May I ask what’s going on with the devil children hacking?
Comment by ....
July 31st, 2009 @ 09:04
You may not.
Comment by Zeru
July 31st, 2009 @ 11:08
Devil Children still has some issues to iron out before it’s playable. There are a couple of bigger issues to face:
The password entry screens need to be revised to accept longer word, and in battle, the enemies respawn over and over again, almost endlessly.
Also, there is some graphics hacking that needs to be done, along with some menu work. I think Kaioshin will be able to work on it once he has a break from school.
Comment by Tom
August 1st, 2009 @ 07:17
Tom, why you said this top secret information? KaioShin will kill you with own hands because of leak. -_- that is not right if somebody may ask and others may not.
Comment by Zeru
August 1st, 2009 @ 08:20
It’s not top-secret information, it’s pretty much the same thing I said publically in the last post about the project. I wouldn’t have wasted time replying since the info is already out there, but I think Tom can make his own decisions on how to use his time
Comment by KaioShin
August 1st, 2009 @ 08:56
I’m guessing, then, that you guys don’t need that patch, since I’ve asked twice and have been ignored?
Comment by SyberiaWinx
August 2nd, 2009 @ 07:41
SyberiaWinx, stop being a whiner and then maybe you won’t be ignored. What a wuss…
Comment by black jack
September 23rd, 2009 @ 14:45