Densha de Go! 64 Localization Patch v1.01 Densha de Go! 64 is one of many iterations of a train simulator found in arcades and across various consoles. This patch translates the HUD and menus to English, leaving the Japanese voices intact. It also supports the USA VRU, converting all the voice prompts for the voice recognition unit to locale-specific English. The train controller and Rumble Pak are still supported, but additional Transfer Pak and 64DD bonus features have also been included. Patching information can be found at the (>^o^)> Notes on how the game is played can be found at {,`_`}, Known issues and version notes can be found at the (_x.x)_ Huge thanks to mikeryan for identifying and translating a boatload of images, as well as some excellent content suggestions! One thing that is only mentioned in the manual is that you can reset your save file on the title screen. Hold Z+B and press Start on controller one or press B+Select+Start on the train controller to bring up the save erase message. There are several Easter Eggs. Try to catch them all! I'm certain some will be revealed over time ;*) +_+ Voice Recognition Unit, a.k.a. "Easy Mode" Use a USA VRU. The Japanese VRS is now incompatible. This is not a bug. The VRU must be plugged into port four before you turn on the console. The game only probes what's in the ports at boot, so you cannot plug new controllers in after starting the game and expect them to work. You get bonus points in arcade mode for calling out signals properly. There's no detriment for missed signals or mucking them up. In case you're curious, this is a real-life safety practice. As signals are seen they are repeated out-loud. It helps you remember the most recent signal, and makes it obvious if somebody missed the most recent one. When run in PAL mode (either via a PAL console or bootloader) British pronunciations will be used instead of American ones. So long as you speak somewhat like the samples found on the Cambridge English Dictionary's website you'll be good ;*) Worst case, it is guaranteed to recognize those mp3s when played through your PC's audio out jack. Seemed a nice touch since so many of you are train aficionados. In NTSC/MPAL mode, the VRU will use "proper" American English pronunciations. If you're from Boston or Jersey I'm verry sorry--plus you'll have some trouble using the VRU. Bostonians might have some luck using the Brit ones though since they also seem to abhor the letter "R". Usage In-Game: The "Arcade Mode" label will indicate whether or not the voice recognition system is in use. The first time the VRU is attached you may need to go into the options menu to activate the VRS features. Iron-chan will appear in the left column when you can call out a word, even when using the "Prompts Off" option. "Prompts Off" only inhibits messages that appear in the left column, such as "depart", "passing", and "stopping". You have five seconds to respond to the prompt. For the most part, you repeat the name of the signal that appears on the right. The full list: "Proceed" "Express" "Stop" "Warning" "Stopping" "Passing" "Restricted" "Caution" "Reduced" "Restricted-Depart" "Caution-Depart" "Reduced-Depart" "Depart" When a speed limit is posted, say only the number part. The full list: "One-Twenty-Five" "One-Twenty" "One-Fifteen" "One-Ten" "One-Oh-Five" "One-Hundred" "Ninety-Five" "Ninety" "Eighty-Five" "Eighty" "Seventy-Five" "Seventy" "Sixty-Five" "Sixty" "Fifty-Five" "Fifty" "Forty-Five" "Forty" "Thirty-Five" "Thirty" "Twenty-Five" "Twenty" "Fifteen" "Ten" "No-Limit" +_+ Transfer Pak Support As a bonus feature, arcade mode will try to detect if a Densha de Go! or Densha de Go! 2 Game Boy Color cartridge is in a Transfer Pak inserted in either controller one or controller 2. If either game is found, all routes will be unlocked. Transfer Paks can be finicky, so if it doesn't detect the game immediately you can backtrack to the main menus, adjust the pak and game, then re-enter arcade mode to retest. No indication is given that the game is detected properly except all routes unlocking. (To be fair it was a last-minute addition...) +_+ 64DD Support As a bonus feature, different title screens will appear if you have a 64DD attached. This feature also works with emulators that support the 64DD. +_+ PAL Support The ROM is region-free and will switch to PAL video output when the console, emulator, or bootstrap provides the PAL flag. Video output uses the VI scaling feature to stretch the output vertically, filling the screen. Audio playback and in-game time though still use the PAL 50Hz clock, so both will be slightly slower than NTSC. As mentioned before, British pronunciations are used by the VRU when PAL is detected. {,`_`}, How You Play Firstly: this is not a racing game! The idea here is to operate a train on-schedule as it passes through and stops at stations. You are expected to stop the train no more than a meter past the designated stopping position. Typically you accelerate to a speed that ensures your arrival time, then coast most of the distance there while minding signals. As signals are given you will need to adjust the train's speed to maintain the schedule. Just as in actual trains, it will probably be helpful to have a pocketwatch handy to help calculate speeds and distances. You get bonus time for being on time, varying on difficulty level. You also get time and stars for stopping at stations within centimeters of the target distance--and a gold if you do so at the correct arrival time. You also receive time for using your horn when about to cross a bridge, when entering most tunnels, when engineers are present trackside, and when wildlife is nearby. You won't receive bonus time when the horn signal is given. If the voice recognition system is in use, a prompt will appear on the left side of the screen when a signal is sighted. If you repeat the signal name into the device you will receive an additional point. There is no penalty if a signal is not spoken. See the section below about the voice unit for more details. You lose time for poor operation: overrunning stops, using the emergency brake outside of emergencies, hard braking, exceeding speed limits, failing to obey signals, ramming another train, etc. You also gradually lose time for each second you are late to a station. You receive no bonus for arriving early. If you exceed the speed limit for too long, the automatic braking system kicks in and grinds you to a halt. Most likely you will not be able to finish the route when this happens. Weather will affect the train's deceleration rate and stopping distance. Each train has its own dynamics as well. Several special events may occur during gameplay, usually on higher difficulties. After each route is complete you are graded on your performance. High scores will net you a bronze, silver, or gold medal for the route. Additional routes are unlocked when you obtain 16 bronze, 16 silver, and 16 gold medals. All-clear is obtained when you attain 21 golds. The game is surprisingly easier to play when you maintain the schedule. If you're running too early for too long, they slow your train down by posting a speed reduction. Depending on your speed when this happens you may not be able to slow down in time to avoid a speeding penalty. There is an excellent in-game tutorial for first-time players. It walks through all the gauges, explains most of the signals, and generally shows you how not to lose badly. The tutorial is on-rails; any wrong presses are corrected, and all times are perfectly synchronized. Practice mode is a subset of routes--a mix of local and express--and gives you maximum bonus time. +_+ Some Translation Notes The mascot's name is followed by an honorific (Iron-chan) not because I'm particularly anal about using them (I'm not) but because "Iron" a weird enough name that you probably wouldn't realize it +was+ a name unless it is either followed by an honorific or you happen to read the TL notes. Clarity > style. From the beginning I was never going to touch the audio. Ultimately these are Japanese trains filled with Japanese passengers traveling through Japan. The only audio that isn't directly related to the train or its operation would be Iron-chan's dialog at the end of the game. Those samples are shared with other train-related VO, so the only real option that doesn't involve mutilating existing audio is creating a new soundbank specifically for these 4-5 messages. Can those messages be subtitled? Yes, but would thanking you for playing really necessitate the hassle? Yes, the title screen says "Densha de Go", not "Let's Go By Train". Do a Google-y search and see which one is more recognized in English-exclusive circles. The HUD is pretty busy, and as it is some messages overlap despite all efforts otherwise. In general, most decisions (for better or worse) were made to maximize readability in tight spaces. The standard here was if it was at least mostly legible on an 8" CRT screen. If some glasses-wearing nerd can read the tiny train names on an 80's era 8" CRT you have absolutely nothing to complain about. "Express" was used instead of "High-Speed". I prefer the later of the former, but both the HUD message and VRU entry just weren't working. To be fair, the message only appears with express trains during their high-speed segments. Encoding and detecting signal words did influence the final signal names, in particular the "depart" and "passing" messages. "セクション通過", lit. "Section Passed", refers to the unpowered segments of tracks between different electrical systems. Japan uses a combination of DC and AC power at 50Hz and 60Hz. Ideally you coast through these sections of track, and if you do so in-game you get a small bonus. The message for this now reads "Safe [Electrical] Transition", mostly so you don't have to read some TL note to understand why they just threw some bonus points at you. This raises a point: don't rely entirely on the HUD. The electrical transition signals will only be seen along the trackside; no indication on the HUD is given like in some other DdG titles. You'll also notice there is a round sign indicating where the train should stop at the station. Your environment can also give you clues about those nasty "speed traps". All of the messages present in the game were translated, but that doesn't mean that they were all triggered in-game. Honestly, not sure if the coupling event before the ATC bonus game is present, but all its resources sure are. Some definitely are never used, such as a range of prompt labels. Sadly, the fancy "Voice Bonus" message probably isn't either. Care was taken to attempt to get all the names in the credits right. It's basically impossible to know how to read somebody's name when written in Kanji; government forms require you +not+ write it that way, it's such a problem. The default is to use the most common reading and hope for the best. In this case, other works by the same company or with roughly similar readings were compared, crossreferenced by role to try to discern who is who. Hopefully they're mostly correct, and apologies if they aren't. (>^o^)> Patching Only apply the patch to a Densha de Go! 64 ROM in native (big-endian) format. Xdeltas can be applied using the aptly-named program xdelta. The final ROM will be somewhat smaller than the original-don't be too alarmed. For identification, your presumably self-dumped ROM should have checksums of: Internal 17C54A614A83F2E7 MD5 772FA166E5DB51EFFC77FB8D832AC4D2 SHA512 1B19191C1B9AE83FA707FF966C4B9632D196857BF3FEFE58004E61348A599D667AE9D067CCBEE7F7F6BDF8E205780368FE2107ADFCA96DDB56D260289260D843 The output file should have checksums of: Internal 68D128AE67D60F21 MD5 FDFFA662AE3357BF5970338EE7589F6C SHA512 E6FC45C96D1DA22B25FEA2B708CCF269E80DBA0397E3E7D9BBB5C863E70E4BA61A5E786BCE4D626FBF052FFD76A672EC771BF8C5B12416998F08C30E67E27D2C (_x.x)_ Version History v1.01: *) Circumvented a permanent loop specific to Everdrive64 version 3 devices. *) Fixed typo on Uragawara route "flippy sign thingy". *) Build date now displays properly in the debug menu. *) Screenshots can be taken during gameplay or on the stop evaluation screens when a flashcart is in use by pressing c-up on the in-game debug interface. These are saved to cartrom starting at 0x2000000; each image is a 320x240 c16 binary, 0x25800 bytes long. If you take more than 218 pics, new ones overwrite the oldest. *) Purposefully revealed in the version history two of the hidden nifty things ;*) v1.00: *) Initial release. Known Issues The title screen will probably not appear if you are using a SCART cable, in this mod or in the original game. If your SCART setup cannot handle enhanced-definition signals, it most likely will not display the title screen. The title screen can also cause issues with TV that are picky about input, such as variable-output CRTs that use the signal to determine what mode to display in. This is especially a problem in PAL mode, since VI scaling will probably be generating too many lines. There's also a bug within the N64's VI(?) that causes short segments of erroneous data specifically with large interlaced images. You may notice odd half-fields of reversed image data on the title screen as a result. The video glitch is sporadic and uncorrectable in software. Using a GameShark/Pro Action Replay will not work and, more than likely, will crash the game at boot. This includes the support found in Everdrives. Codes still work in emulators however, since they operate on a different principle. That's entirely intentional, but there are other ways to cheat if you're so inclined ;*) +_+ Running This patch is designed to be run on the 64drive, Everdrive64, and in most modern emulators. Piracy is a criminal act and measures have been taken to troll those who burn this to a cartridge. I suggest if you plan on doing that to have a no-returns policy ;*) To make something clear: It's possible to make a patch within the limits of the law, but reproducing and distributing something you don't own is piracy. The game can be played in its entirety with just a standard controller. 64drive and ED64s should work without any additional complication. Builds of PJ64 v2.x that support 64DD will also support this translation. You will probably need to switch from "recompiler" to "interpreter" in the specific-game settings. HLE video plugins may fail to detect the microcode; if so, use a LLE plugin like angrylion and turn off video HLE emulation. Mupen64 has not been thoroughly tested, but should be the same situation as PJ64 v2.x. Mupen64 requires adding an entry to its ROM database file before an unregistered title can be run. Please refer to their documentation on how to do this and what data is required. MAME should run the game without issue. Builds supporting the disk->cart conversions should be new enough, or use its debugger to change the values 3F3F at BFC007E6 to DDDD at boot before running the game. Cen64 is currently in-development, but the game has run in previous builds. Most older emulators will give an "unknown bootstrap" error. This can be circumvented in Nemu64 by setting a breakpoint at A4000040 before loading the game, starting it, then changing the register S6 to read 00000000000000DD. You should be able to continue normally. The misaligned DMA addresses that make the original Densha de Go unplayable have been corrected. Nemu was used for debug and testing during development. Currently no emulator or emulator plugins support the voice unit or train controller (although the train controller has been previously documented). N-Rage's Transfer Pak support should work well enough for the added Transfer Pak functionality. If you're having problems with a specific emulator, refer to its documentation and whatever support the developers provide. I'm afraid I can't even run a fair number of them, much less give you any advice. Bug reports for console however--missing sound, torn images, crashes & hangs--can be reported to nefariousdogooder@yahoo.com -Zoinkity