GoldenEye 007 Nintendo 64 Community, GoldenEye X, Nintendo 64 Games Discussion

[zoinkity]

Densha de Go! 64 Localization Patch

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.
Huge thanks to mikeryan for identifying and translating a boatload of images, as well as some excellent content suggestions!
There are several Easter Eggs. Try to catch them all! I'm certain some will be revealed over time ;*)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/suqvxab9l04ocjn/Densha%20de%20Go%2064.v101.7z?dl=0

Detailed patching instructions and other info can be found in the readme. Only apply the patch to a Densha de Go! 64 ROM in native (big-endian) format.

The most recent copy can also be found at romhacking.net:
https://www.romhacking.net/translations/2947/

Here's a (horrible but) short gameplay preview and some stuff about the features:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezx9DOAnKtY

[edit]
This v1.01 patch above should solve the hardware incompatibility issue with ED64v3. Even on the off-chance it behaves "normally" in the future, it should still pass everything properly.
A typo was also corrected, plus a debug feature was added to the debug menus nobody seems to have found or used ;*)

Black title screens when SCART is used is non-fatal and not corrected. The title (and original title) are enhanced-definition output; this is not necessarily supported by all SCART setups. You're too much of an edge-case to rationalize lowering the resolution significantly to compensate. Sorry.

[original edit, so you have an idea why there's a poll!]

Zoinkity wrote:

Added a poll up above for people experiencing issues with the v1.00 patch. I suspect a hardware incompatability with ED64 v3 devices causing a hang bug and, uhm, not quite sure the cause for the passable title screen issue with other devices yet. That might have more to do with what they're displayed on. Maintenance patches will be released once the offensive code is...dealt with. Is there any actual documentation on the ED64, or hardware differences between versions? The entire krikkz.com domain gives me a "403 Forbidden"; could be an overly-excitable DNS or hey, maybe an IP ban. Basically all I know about it is gleaned from a quick dASM of its menu binary.

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Last edited by zoinkity on Mon May 01, 2017 3:50 pm; edited 4 times in total

[AL64inthedark]

This contain very intense feature. VRU now works in english. How the **** did you do that lol ?

Actually I never realised there was a Densha de Go on N64. I'll give it a try someday.
Thanks again for an amazing job giving the rest of the world some Japanese exlusive.

[Kerr Avon]

I've just tried it, and I'm getting the black screen at the title page, when the voice speaks. Everything else seems to display perfectly, except for the title screen.

[zoinkity]

Title screen just doesn't display or the game hangs there?

Anyone with this problem: I'd like to know what flashcart you're using (its version if there's more than one); video mode (NTSC/PAL/MPAL); and if you're using a analog out, RGB mod, or HDMI mod.
I'm starting to suspect this is specific to ED64 v3, and if so could be the RTC. Heaven forbid I release something that doesn't break Everdrives...

The title screen is a 640x480 interlaced image at 60Hz, so I already know that very specific displays that look at the signal itself will get a bit confused. The interlacing is likely to smooth out that fade in/out it does. Everything else is normally 320x240 progressive. VI scaling in PAL could cause line count errors if you aren't using analog out, but HDMI-modded consoles the worst you'd get is a bit of overscan.
Title format didn't change from the original game, so if the title doesn't appear in the unhacked version either this can be written off. Probably not that lucky though.

Aegh...

[edit]Sorry, missed the question about the VRU.
Yes, I reversed the blasted USA VRU. The Japanese VRS has a front-end on it, allowing you to send a simple string to generate the internal waveforms used for comparison. This obviously won't work for English, so they stripped off the front-end, doubled the buffer sizes, and have you send waveform indicies to generate the test samples. The devices are physically a little different, in fact.
Long story short, I built a table of all the used ones, realized there was a pattern to the types of sounds in each "block", figured out the command structures, experimentally determined the "block size" of each index (including unused ones), and reversed the difference in initialization and expected responses. It also requires a timeout after initialization, probably to build up a little extra charge on that extra capacitor.
To generate the response strings, first cooked up a rough sample based on the table. Recordings were used for each word, based on that "correct USA English" thing the linguists all seem to agree on. Hacked some logging features into Hey You Pikachu to log how many shnoodles of deviance it produced, then made arrays of entries replacing individual sounds and retested deviance across maybe ten or so playbacks. Even being recordings, the results between playbacks will vary a number of shnoodles each time; testing multiple entries at once though allows direct comparison regardless of this though. Once complete, tested it against my own voice with the completed table to determine false positives and interference. Unlike Pikachu, all words are active all the time.
So, basically, hacked it through herculean effort.

USA VRUs are amazing though. They're incredibly generic and can support a wide number of languages. It's all sound based; anything that can be mapped can be used. Be sure to use a decent microphone though. The ones that came with it produce a lot of noise and the thin cables are likely to blame; test it in your PC's mic jack to see if yours is horrible or not.
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[Kerr Avon]

zoinkity wrote:

Title screen just doesn't display or the game hangs there?

No, the game continues running as normal, it's just that the title sceen displays only black (or nothing, whichever is technically true). When the screen is black, then if I press A then the menu appears as nomal, and from the menu on, everything displays as it should. The only thing that doesn't work is the title screen, nothing else is wrong in any way.

Quote:

Anyone with this problem: I'd like to know what flashcart you're using (its version if there's more than one); video mode (NTSC/PAL/MPAL); and if you're using a analog out, RGB mod, or HDMI mod. I'm starting to suspect this is specific to ED64 v3, and if so could be the RTC. Heaven forbid I release something that doesn't break Everdrives...

My ED64 is a version 2 (Not a 2.5), so no RTC or anything. I'm using a PAL N64, connected via SCART to a PAL TV, with a PAL ED64, and with an expansion pak, one joypad plugged in, with a controller pak plugged into the joypad.

It's not a real problem though, as it doesn't spoil anything (it's instinct to press START or A when the screen stays black, so no one will stay stuck on the black screen) and the game seems fine afterwards, but I'd be glad to test any betas if you can identify the cause.

[SubDrag]

This works perfectly fine on my ED64 v2, no black screen. All NTSC.

[zoinkity]

One more question:
At the black title screen, what do you see if you hold B+Z and press Start? Does the screen remain black or do you see the three images? Do the images look like proper text or is it scattered garbage?
Reference image!

This isn't localized to a single display either? -and the original game's title screen looks fine? That might narrow down if an effect is causing the issue.

It's a bit confusing since I never touched the title screen display code. It selects one from several images to display though, so there's a chance there's some particular setup that happens to bugger it up.
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[n64chap]

Hey zoinkity! First of all: thanks so much for all your hard work on this patch; I love playing Densha de Go! 64 but the language barrier has definitely been an issue in the past for me.

Just wanted to give you some feedback as you requested it. I've tried using this with ED64 V3 and I'm getting the blank screen issue (after the intro cinematic). I've tried pressing buttons on the DDG train controller to see if I can get anywhere but haven't been able to get any further. I will try to hold B+Z and press start as you have suggested and come back with later with a response (currently on my lunch break at work).

[AL64inthedark]

Quote:

So, basically, hacked it through herculean effort.

That's what I thought. That's what you prove.
You're at the same time gifted and a hardworking dude.

[zoinkity]

n64chap wrote:

I've tried using this with ED64 V3 and I'm getting the blank screen issue (after the intro cinematic). I've tried pressing buttons on the DDG train controller to see if I can get anywhere but haven't been able to get any further.

You're the second ED64 v3 user to report a hang at title screen, and so far hanging appears to be specific to version 3 devices.

At the title screen, normally what happens is it checks if a 64DD is present. It's the same exact test as the official libs use: it looks at the ASIC Status register and tests if it isn't mapped + if there's a device issue. Basically, the lower half of the value must be zero to proceed. If nonzero--a 64DD isn't present or there's some horrible problem with it--then it just spits out the default title screen. If it is present...that's where a hardware issue could occur.
There are no other tests at that time, and I happen to know that passing really bad image indicies or invalid ones will not crash the game.

What I suspect is that v3 might have partial support for 64DD clocks in addition to the serial RTC. If certain ASIC registers are handled but others aren't bad things could happen.

Aegh...
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[Kerr Avon]

I've voted for "ED64 v2.x - title screen black + eeprom reset black (sound, can advance)".

zoinkity wrote:

One more question: At the black title screen, what do you see if you hold B+Z and press Start? Does the screen remain black or do you see the three images? Do the images look like proper text or is it scattered garbage? Reference image!

No, the screen stays black if I hold B+Z and press Start (even if I press that combination repeatedly, though I do hear a beep when I do so). It only starts displaying normally when I press A to go to the Arcade/Beginner's/Options/Ranking screen, which displays normally.

I've just tried the unpatched file " Densha de Go! 64 (J) [!].z64", and it does the same - the title page is black, the delete data? screen is black, but everything else works (but is in Japanese, of course).

Quote:

This isn't localized to a single display either? -and the original game's title screen looks fine? That might narrow down if an effect is causing the issue.

Do you mean, how does it look on my other TV? On that TV, the one that (so far) displays every NTSC/JAP N64 game I've ever tried, then *everything* is displayed correctly, in both your translation patch, and the original Japanese file. The problem (the title screen and the erase data? screen both showing simply as a black screen) are limited to my large TV, which doesn't show some NTSC or JAP images, such as the opening of Perfect DARK NTSC (I don't see an image in PD NTSC (or Goldeneye X) until I get the 'select Profile' screen in Joanna's office, but fortunately PD and Goldeneye display properly after that.

Quote:

It's a bit confusing since I never touched the title screen display code. It selects one from several images to display though, so there's a chance there's some particular setup that happens to bugger it up.

The Japanese version has the same problem (at least with me) so presumably it's not your fault that your translation patch has the same flaw.

[mistamontiel]

Um .. how do I brake softly ? l0l

Title screen is there , menus is on black background , I saw game over now saving powered off see the .eep file so I believe no problems for me

Oh ya , I did B+Z+Start , it showed screen good and erased save success

64drive , composite
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[zoinkity]

Braking gently? Distance and low settings. Please tell me you aren't just slamming on the emergency brake... This ain't the Amtrak.

Pretty sure black title but playable (in this and original game) will always happen when SCART output is involved.

I'll be adding a note in the next release's readme that using a GameShark/Pro Action Replay will 1) never work and 2) most likely crash the game. (Codes still work in emulators, since they operate on a different principle) That's entirely intentional, but there are other ways to cheat if you're so inclined ;*)
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[zoinkity]

Anyone who has a ED64 v2.5, I'd like you to run a particular test to verify some hardware responses.
Please PM me and I'll get you the details. Actual test will take < 1 minute to run. It must be a v2.5 though.
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[Johnny Thunder]

I had that dream of having a 64drive or a 64 Everdrive, but that dream is gone
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