Shiji Hero Legend English Language Patch V0.90 Introduction: Japanese Developer: Be-on Works Japanese Publisher: Outrigger Koubou Japanese Release: July 07, 1995 English Patch Production: Dynamic-Designs Dynamic-Designs Patch History: V0.90: Initial Dynamic-Designs Release: January 24, 2021 Dynamic-Designs Production Credits: Project Coordination: Wildbill Hacking/Tools/Bug Fixing: Bongo` Assembly: Bongo` Translation: Wildbill Translation Support: Filler Period Coach hausen Story Writing: Wildbill Title Graphic FlashPV Graphics Taskforce NOT FOR SALE INFO This game in English or patch to make it English is NOT for sale under any circumstances! If you paid for this game in any way, including in a cartridge, demand your money back immediately! File a complaint with your credit card company and/or Paypal as well, especially if you obtained this game in cart form! OVERVIEW: Dynamic Designs is letting all of you aficionados of historical fiction out there know that we have finally translated this Super Famicom game and built a partially completed English patch. As far as we know, "Shiji Hero Legend" is the only SNES classic turn-based role playing game ever built around 100% accurate historical accounts of actual events. The fiction component means that many characters - typical of everyday people during those "times" are plugged into the story in order to bring the overall scenery to life. The major players, however, are in just about every case traceable to the "movers and shakers" of that age. Even the hero -YOU- is a person who lived, breathed, and shaped ancient Chinese history. One caveat, though... This is ancient Chinese history viewed through Japanese eyes. A huge challenge we had in creating an English patch reminds me of the name of an amateur translation group that emerged about 20 years ago, called "DeJap" Yes, that's what we did with the script at times too numerous to count - convert Japanese terminology and Katakana to correct Pinyin (English transliteration) matches on mainland China. For example, anything related to the Han Kingdom that existed in 300 B. C. frequently came up as "Korea" in the machine. Go from there and multiply the translation experience with Han subjects seven times, and the labor quickly became daunting! This is the era of the game, 300 B. C., and officially it's called "The Warring States Period" in Chinese history, a time when seven "princes" in seven realms battled to replace the fading Zhou Dynasty. Those kingdoms included Zhou, Han, Chu, Qi, Wei, Yan, and Qin. Bugs that remain in the released translation that may or may not ever be addressed: Due to the lack of anyone on the team currently who possesses the skills of assembly coding and the ability to decompress, redraw, and re-compress graphics, a number of minor features in our English patch will appear incomplete and even flawed. A gambling hall that appears midpoint in the game reportedly has an inoperable menu wherein the player is unable to purchase chips. In other cases, a few graphical menus appear in a mix of Chinese and English. None of these unresolved issues affect game play or story. "Shiji" features the opportunity to hire mercenaries. However, at least one menu used to manage mercenaries has one line of text that overwrites itself. This cosmetic imperfection does not impede the manipulation of mercenary fighters. Intentional Retention of Ancient Chinese Pictographs: Presently-used Kanji in the Chinese and Japanese-speaking world have evolved from archaic forms. In 300 B. C., written Chinese appeared differently, a configuration that scholars call "Greater Seal Script" (Da-zhuan 大篆 [1000 to 200 BC]). This system evolved from an even earlier written language called "Oracle Bone Script". In this game, the Japanese designers wrote village shop signs in Greater Seal Script. For the purpose of retaining esoteric character in our English game patch, team member Hausen suggested and we decided not to convert shop signs to English. A Statement by Kazuo Fukushima ("Shiji" Scenario/Game Design) - Translated by Hausen: What would happen if someone based an RPG on history? For quite some time, I had been considering that possibility absently. While indulging in the imaginary worlds of sword and sorcery - great fun was always there. Yet, having played various games, I began to feel something was lacking. When I came to realize this enveloping feeling was in fact 'emptiness', a vagrant idea in my head started to blossom into a more concrete idea. "Fun" is probably the most important aspect of games. However, is the only fun attainable derived from just playing the game? In this mindset, games would be no different from any idle amusement. No, I'm not belittling the value of any form of entertainment, but what if we could add something else - an important ingredient - rather like "icing on a cake". Comparing athletics, for example, we don't play sports merely for the fun aspect. We also engage in physical competition to stay healthy through exercise, practice teamwork, learn sportsmanship, and so on. All of these factors enhance the value of sports. While deliberating such matters, my head started spinning like chibi characters moseying around some ancient Chinese setting. Many stories and historical figures began filtering through my mind. Yes, why not have the hero start out as an ordinary peasant during the Warring States Period in China and center the main action around the [ancient capital] of Luoyang? Surely, the hero would need friends, so why not start with Lin Xiangru? We would also need a legendary fighter, and Jing Ke should fill that role quite nicely. I didn't particularly want to include magic, but the Chinese concept of "qigong" wove in quite conveniently. For the longest time, I was completely absorbed in planning and preparing my story. So, why did I choose Chinese history as a subject? After all, northern European settings with Norse mythology would have fit well into a "sword-and-sorcery world". Considering the recent boom in 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' games, I reasonable expected a Chinese setting might be a profitable enterprise. However, the ROTK setting had already saturated the gaming market, so I also considered the turbulent Spring and Autumn Era and the Warring States Period. Why not chose the latter time frame, I concluded? The Warring States Period is the most original and interesting time in Chinese history, certain to introduce diverse characters, the fight for supremacy between the seven states, and familiar stories that we recall in the form of common anecdotes every day in our modern times. However, I didn't know how to deal with the Hanzi (Chinese Kanji). Regarding place names, people, etc., I could not disregard Hanzi entirely, but I wasn't well versed that script Hanzi. Additionally, in my research, many Hanzi/Kanji not used normally in Japan came up frequently, so early on, I decided not to vex players with a plethora of esoteric and archaic [scripts and pictographs]. An 8x8 font was impossible, meaning I required a 16x16 format to design a proper display of languages. That limited me to 14 characters per line and only three rows of text on any given screen. With these limitations, we pondered whether we would frustrate players with constant scrolling in order to read the story. We hammered away with various configurations until somehow the dialogue screens appeared to be rather easy-to-read after all. Some of the stories and proverbs weren't familiar to [the mainstream]. In addition to new literature, we delved into second-hand bookstores, chased discontinued titles, and utilized libraries to the maximum. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the authors of the literature we referenced that augmented our inspirations. Due to my paucity of knowledge at the time, I may have made a few mistakes. In addition, we simplified some game features for the convenience of players. Please understand the desirability of not over-complicating the game. I cannot say if the genre of "historical RPGs" will endure. Upon release, I have no clue as how "Shiki Eiyuuden" will be received and critiqued. However, if you [players] take your time and explore every nook and granny (sic), I am confident this game will satisfy [those who enjoy RPGs]. Upon completion, you [players] will have an appreciation of Chinese history and literature from the "Shiji" and "Eighteenth History". You may even enjoy what you learned and be inspired to explore the subject further. - Kazuo Fukushima (Scenario/Game Design) Caveats and Invitations: This game is not for everyone. It is tough, tedious, different, and at times - downright exasperating! The plot mixes history (from the Chinese "Shiji") with legend, mysticism, and fantasy - rolling the whole shebang into a turn-based RPG format. As in the case of several of our recent patch releases, this one remains unfinished also. As we have explained previously, both time factors and downsizing in the diversification of our production team have dictated this reality. The dilemma remains to either share a fully playable patch "as is" or keep it in "cold storage" indefinitely, hoping we will eventually be in a position to build toward a more "perfect" patch. At this time, we active members of D-D cannot guarantee that we'll ever revise this patch in any way. Positive feedback and offers to help us correct any and all patch flaws and shortcomings are invited via our "Shiji Hero Legend" forum. Production, Testing, and Thought Processes (Wildbill): This is the first game I have translated 100%. Hausen was instrumental researching historical events and helping guide my translation toward the greatest possible accuracy. Hausen, Recca, and I are the only people to have played this entire English patch and beaten the game. Recca has informed me that the game and puzzles are very difficult in places and that a guide of some sort would be very useful. Unfortunately, I don't have time to write one. I might mention that foes in the game do not drop money. Selling excess items is the best way to fund your adventure. Let me add that anyone in the world is free to pursue this "not for profit" hobby. This means that any human who inhabits this planet has free rein to start in the same place we did and create stories and patches that suit their own personal interests, motivations, values, and tastes. Patching: Contained within this archive is an IPS (international patching system) file or a patch file in another format for the end user's convenience that when used in conjunction with a ROM file will make the game playable in English. Do note, as I touched on above, that this patch is a result of countless hours of love and labor. Hence, they are not meant to be sold at any price under any circumstance, be it in digital form or burnt into a donor cart's ROM chip. To patch the ROM file, one needs to procure a patcher for their preferred format, a widely available class of programs, many of which can be found at http://www.romhacking.net/ for one source. A few can even be found on our download page for your convenience at http://www.dynamic-designs.us/downloads.shtml. Search at the bottom under utilities. We did not write these utilities. We merely provide them as a convenience. At some point, ROM sites may upload pre-patched ROMs of our Shiji Hero Legend translation. Obviously, Dynamic Designs cannot endorse playing these versions. Neither will we support resolution of any associated problems. Moreover, pre-patched ROMs may float around the web for years. Only by downloading patches containing just our original work from D-D's web site may gamers obtain revisions to these patches - if any - and take advantage of possible bug-fixes and corrections. Information pertaining to the Shiji Hero Legend ROM: Size before patching: 1.50 MB (1,572,864 bytes) Size after patching: 1.50 MB (1,572,864 bytes) File: SE(J).smc Name: ｼｷｴｲﾕｳﾃﾞﾝ Company: ? - Code: CH Header: None Bank: LoROM Interleaved: None SRAM: 64 Kb Type: Normal + Batt ROM: 12 Mb Country: Japan Video: NTSC ROM Speed: 200ns (SlowROM) Revision: 1.0 Checksum: Good 0x4E93 Game Code: AAUJ CRC32: 4C2BEA69 MD5: A983663C02AE8CF51A3E42C3F8E9506C Notes: 1. Not all ROMs will necessarily be patch-able with our file. 2. If the ROM you attempt to patch has a header, you may need to remove it. 3. A number of tools are available to remove headers: SNESTool, Smile, Toolbox, etc. Alternatively, most emulators support a feature called soft patching, which keeps the ROM file intact, merging the patch data only during run time. To make use of it, make sure both the ROM file and the IPS are in the same directory as your emulator of choice and have the same name, but not the same extension. Do note that this is case-sensitive. (Also, do note this soft patching is only available using the IPS patch file, and may NOT work with the other patch file formats.) i. e.: SHIJI(E).smc and SHIJI(E).ips will trigger soft patching at the emulator's run time. Emulator Compatibility: This patched game works in most emulators and on real hardware. We cannot guarantee compatibility with all emulators, however so far it has worked on all emulators we have tried it on. Our recommendation is SNES9X, ZSNES, HIGEN/BSNES or Real Hardware. Special Thanks: As always, lately, I am shocked, SHOCKED, that we have finally released "Shiji Hero Legend" in English! In the order of performing critical tasks, thanks Bongo`, Wildbill, Filler, FlashPV, Hausen, Taskforce, and Recca for the all you do. Dedicated to Wildbill! (Ha-ha! Taskforce wrote this in here! Thanks!) Readme 2021 Dynamic-Designs