Some more progress

16 years ago by Mato

Finally, another real update 😉 Well, it’s not much, but it’s something.


  • Yay!

  • b0rk

There’s not much progress to show since last time. Probably the main thing that’s happened is some more work in the chapter title department. At some point along the line, long before this blog even started up, all the translated title graphics got broken, as you can see. We’re now in the process of redoing them with slightly-tweaked text, a different font (I think these early titles used the Arial font), and such. I think there’s also other non-chapter title text that’ll get the same treatment.

I’ve been really busy with stuff so the script revision side has been slow these past few weeks too. Once I get everything in order again I’ll probably get working hard on Draft #2, hopefully with the same speed and energy as I did with Draft #1. I actually hadn’t played the current translation in a while, so just now when I went to take the screenshots above, I was suddenly hit by how cool stuff is in the translation, when it’s working.

Other than the above, there’s not too much more to say. Like I mentioned before. updates will be kind of sparse and blah for a while. It’s not uncommon for normal ROM translations to hit dry spells like this, just most of the time ROM translations aren’t explained to the public in this much detail as they’re being worked on 😉 I was thinking the other day how other types of fan translations, like fansubs, fan translations of manga, etc. probably give people the idea that fan game translation is just as easy and straightforward of a process. That’s definitely not the case though, sadly 😐

The hacking is the really hard part of this project, so as always, give the hackers your happy thoughts and encouragement 🙂

Oh, some people might’ve noticed, but I very quickly updated parts of this blog, there’s now a download page for example (don’t freak out though, there’s nothing special on it), and I updated the FAQ page a bit. I also updated the menu patch page a little, but for most people that shouldn’t matter. Note that the menu patch itself wasn’t updated. Mac users were also having trouble finding a PPF patching program called Gumby, so I snagged a copy off of archive.org and put it up for download on the menu patch page. And people had lots of questions/issues with getting stuff to work, so I added answers to that, too.

In other slightly unrelated news, this project is now complete. Hopefully we’ll get some sort of response 🙂

Posted on Thursday, October 18th, 2007 at 4:22 pm by Mato, filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Comments and pings are currently closed.

30 Responses to “Some more progress”

  1. Jerry "The King" Lawler said 16 years ago:

    Keep up the good work!

  2. KMeist Hax said 16 years ago:

    EB Siege Japan is done!? Why is this not on the main website?!

  3. The Wrecking Crew said 16 years ago:

    😀 YAY!!! TITLES!!! I started playing the menu patched Mother 3, and so far it’s even better than Mother 2! O_O I’m also close to beating Mother 2, so I’ll finally get caught up. n_n (Although I still need to play Mother 1 >_>)

    Keep up the good work and I hope the project gets finished as quickly as it can with the level of quality you want from it!

  4. More Credible said 16 years ago:

    Right on dude, good lookin’ thus far.

  5. Mato said 16 years ago:

    KMeist Hax: I think it will be at some point. reid was planning an update for it. Consider this a sneak peek I guess 😛

  6. Malokero said 16 years ago:

    you guys are doing just fine!
    keep it up!

  7. 7ucky said 16 years ago:

    Thanks for the news as always, Mato! Is it a coincidence that I just started Chapter 3 yesterday and you posted the translated title screen for it? 😉

    I had a quick question for you – What’s the MOTHER 3 Map Viewer? Do I need a ROM to play it?

  8. Mato said 16 years ago:

    Yeah, you load the ROM file and then you can see every map in the game, save them to image files, turn on/off different layers, and other stuff. There are even a few maps that never got used in the game. It’s neat.

    The cool thing is that while the game’s script is stored in no logical order, it DOES follow the same order these maps are organized. So it’s been useful for me when trying to figure out generally when and where each line is said.

  9. Bat Fax said 16 years ago:

    Good to know that the translation stuff is still going good and the EB Siege Japan finished and looks absolutely great.

    Now on to the encouragement: Hack, Team! For everlasting peace!

  10. The Wrecking Crew said 16 years ago:

    Crud… I only got wind of the EB Siege Japan… >_> I would’ve wanted to give Mr. Itoi some thanks for Mother 2…

  11. TheReaper said 16 years ago:

    Its good to hear that you guys are redoing chapter titles with slightly tweaked text and a different font and great work finishing eb siege.

  12. Pimpshi said 16 years ago:

    I drool every time I see anything about Earthbound Anthology…and the EB Siege Japan project is absolutely amazing!! I’m incredibly jealous of anyone who has any of the things Mr. Itoi will be getting. 😀

    As for the update itself, the chapter titles look amazing! Keep up the phenomenal work all, even if you’re in a dry period! Remember how much we appreciate it and how many people will die of happiness once this is all said and done!!!

  13. Fowlman11 said 16 years ago:

    Looking good… Can’t wait for this and Brawl…

  14. hunter said 16 years ago:

    this mouse loves you

  15. Steve said 16 years ago:

    The chapter headings look great! Good luck with Draft #2. I bet you just need some time and that strong tinge of motivation to fly through the script.

  16. John said 16 years ago:

    I first played Mother 2 when I was ten years old, and have been hoping to find a sequel for the past 8 years. What’s a few more months after all that time, right?

    Everything looks great, so keep up the good work!

  17. James said 16 years ago:

    good work you guys! you are finally making a lot of players dream come true!

  18. O said 16 years ago:

    yo, keep up the good work guys! I hope to see this project Finnish.

  19. Dr. Meat said 16 years ago:

    Good luck with all the hacking, dudes. You can do it! Never give up! Trust your instincts!

  20. nitsud1012 said 16 years ago:

    wow I haven’t been watching the updates lately GOOD job guys its really looking good

  21. GustafH said 16 years ago:

    keep up the good work! 😀

  22. Roam said 16 years ago:

    I can only begin to imagine how frustrating the hacking must be. To those doing it, you have my gratitude…and a cookie! Keep up the awesome work!

  23. Karuvitomsk said 16 years ago:

    The menu patch is already extremely satisfying, seeing the item and enemy names.. and it only feels better when you consider that’s not even the half of it. You guys are doing great! Keep up the awesome work, hey?

  24. Shield915 said 16 years ago:

    Though I have beaten the game already with a GBA gopy of Mother 3 i ordered, I still look forward to this translation. 😀

  25. realriot said 16 years ago:

    I’m so happy this project has come this far and is still being worked on! Keep it up guys! This is definitely worth the wait

  26. Moulinoski said 16 years ago:

    The map viewer is an amazing utility! I just looked at it and, wow! Mother 3 has some really nice maps, albeit compact. Hey, good luck with your translation and hacking! THE WHOLE RESTS ON YOUR SHOULDERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *dun dun dun… Ring! Hey, this is your dad…*

    Wow… I just went crazy there. 😛

  27. omEk said 16 years ago:

    w000t! Closer and closer eh!

    Thanks for your continued feedback! It makes the waiting game a lot more bearable. Again, awesome job!

  28. Lystar said 16 years ago:

    Been following this project for a long time, shortly after it started really. I know one of your main problems are the text block lengths and scrolling text issues.

    I’d like to point you to a website:
    http://www.creationasylum.net

    Its a forum blocked full of RPG creators and some very very talented game Programmers/scripters/artists. Many of them fluent in both English and Japanese.

    If you need a third party point of view on any code thats giving you a headache, Creation Asylum is an excellent resource site that may help you out.

  29. lunarness4 said 16 years ago:

    Hey, I just wanted to say that you guys are doing amazing work. Keep it up.

  30. SoreThumb said 16 years ago:

    Wow, Tomato. I’m proud of the work you, reid, and everybody put into that book. I hope it will bring a tear to Itoi’s eye, and somehow Mother 4 would make sense to his storytelling heart. 8)

    Now make me one. 8)