[v1.2 released] Translation project COMPLETE (Sakura Wars: Columns 2 / Hanagumi Taisen Columns 2)

[ateam]

For those interested, Ghaleon featured me and my team for a deep-dive interview on his "Found in Fanslation" podcast! Here is part 1 of 2:

https://anchor.fm/found-in-fanslation/e ... mi-e10e4uc

[Retro-45]

Man cant wait to try this out.

[fafadou]

I know it's too soon but i can't resist to ask if you have an other project in mind ?

[ateam]

I'm happy to announce the v1.1 release of our team's "Sakura Wars: Columns 2" English translation patch! Find the release notes below.


DOWNLOADS:

Standalone Patch (v1.1)
https://bit.ly/3fciQQZ

Patched GDI (v1.1)
Mirror 1 - https://mega.nz/file/bUk0hSLD#nBOkcEOrg ... mjCSZCj4VI
Mirror 2 - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qOxuuz ... sp=sharing

Patched CDI (v1.1)
Mirror 1 - https://mega.nz/file/LU1RzAyb#i1L0bqakr ... TFR9Wv6yuQ
Mirror 2 - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DdqDL2 ... sp=sharing

.------------::[ v1.1 Release Notes ]::-------------
|
| First of all, let me start off by saying that the positive reaction to the
| release of this patch has been incredible!  I can't begin to explain the
| joy and satisfaction I feel when I see how many people are enjoying the hard
| work that me and my team put into making this English translation of "Sakura
| Wars: Columns 2" a reality.
|
| All of that being said, I knew that even after all of the testing by me and
| others, there was a very high likelihood that some issues would be identified
| once this patch was released in the wild.  Well, I was right.  However, funny
| enough, almost all of the fixes in this v1.1 release address problems that I
| myself identified!  Rest assured that these fixes are mostly typo corrections
| and style improvements, so the v1.0 patch is still stable and solid.
|
| More specifically, the fixes in this release include:
|
|   -> Correcting a misaligned LIPS response entry in Kayama's story.
|   -> Correcting two typos in Kayama's story.
|   -> Correcting a typo in Sumire's story.
|   -> Correcting a typo in Maria's story.
|   -> Correcting a typo with Orihime's last name in the credits.
|   -> Improving the labeling for spirit level and time-limit in puzzle-solving
|      scenarios, where "SPIRIT DEFENSE XX%" has become "SPIRIT POWER XX%" and
|      "T. LIMIT DEFENSE +XXs" has become "TIME ASSIST +XXs", both of which more
|      accurately describe what these stats represent.
|   -> Improving the spacing of the "POWER BOOST!" and "W.D." labels for the
|      stats seen in puzzle-solving scenarios.
|   -> Fixing a bug in my custom patching utility (now at v0.2).
|   -> Adding an English error message that is displayed when attempting to
|      download the included DLC or 100% unlocked save when modem/BBA issues are
|      preventing the successful launch of the built-in web browser.
|
| To add some clarity to the last item on the above list, there exists certain
| conditions under which the game's built-in web browser fails to launch.  Even
| though the game in no way makes an outbound connection to the Internet in order
| to retrieve the bundled DLC or 100% unlocked save, a sanity check of sorts
| will prevent the browser from launching.  On original hardware, this failure
| occurs when no modem or broadband adapter (BBA) is present, or if either of the
| two is damaged.  In an emulator, this failure occurs when the modem or BBA is
| not being emulated in the same way that other peripherals are, like the VMU.
|
| Being that Dreamcast modems are still holding up strongly to this day, I
| currently have no plans to reverse-engineer the routine that performs this
| sanity check.  However, since a few emulator users have reported this issue, I
| will state here that I have successfully tested RetroArch+FlyCast with the HLE
| BIOS option enabled.  So far, I have not been able to achieve this functionality
| with NullDC or ReDream.
|
| That being said, I managed to create VMU files compatible with both NullDC and
| ReDream that are available in the "vmu_files\emulators" folder found within this
| patch.  These files can be placed in the root emulator folder and renamed to use
| whichever VMU port you choose.  Note that these are not individual saves, but
| are instead files that represent the entire contents of an emulated VMU.
| Therefore, be sure not to overwrite your existing VMU files containing valuable
| saves.
|
| For those with other methods of transferring individual files to a VMU, either
| on original hardware or via emulation, I have included the individual VMI/VMS
| files for the DLC and 100% unlocked save in the "vmu_files" folder found within
| this patch.
|
| For the curious, there was also a bug report submitted to GitHub pointing out
| some graphical corruption with one of the DLC puzzles:
|
|   -> https://bit.ly/3f5CEWa
|
| Interestingly enough, this bug actually also affects the original, unpatched
| game.  Since this issue never appears anywhere outside of one or two DLC
| puzzles, and because it also affects the original game, I have opted not to
| spend time trying to reverse-engineer and fix it.
|
| Last thing to note is an edge-case bug that was found with my custom patching
| utility:
|
|   -> https://bit.ly/3nY574f
|
| I managed to solve the issue, and it was the result of the gditools CLI
| utility having some of the strangest behavior of anything I've ever worked
| with.  In all fairness, it may not be the application's fault, but instead a
| quirk of the bundled-up executable with the built-in Python interpreter and its
| affect on Windows file paths as part of command parameters.  Either way, it's
| been solved, and my custom patching utility is now at version 0.2.  This brings
| me one step closer to providing the Dreamcast scene with a universal patcher!
|
| In closing, I'd like to give a special thanks to the following content creators
| for featuring our project in their blogs, videos, and podcasts:
|
|   -> The Dreamcast Junkyard
|        -https://bit.ly/3vR849x (article)
|
|   -> SEGAbits
|        -https://bit.ly/3w5dAWv (article)
|        -https://bit.ly/3nYsNFJ (trailer video)
|
|   -> SHIRO!
|        -https://bit.ly/3h8MrgY (article)
|        -https://bit.ly/3o1rshi (article)
|        -https://bit.ly/3bd3OcH (video)
|        -https://bit.ly/3etmlU4 (video)
|
|   -> Combat Revue Review
|        -https://bit.ly/3evfkSL (article)
|
|   -> SEGA Driven
|        -https://bit.ly/3bd3Dhx (article
|
|   -> Otaku Freaks
|        -https://bit.ly/3ex4viU (article)
|
|   -> Found in Fanslation Podcast
|        -https://bit.ly/2RGBfh2 (podcast)
|
`---------------------------------------------------

[Ro Magnus Larsson]

upload the English GDI patched please !

[blindwatch]

Wow, this is spectacular. <3 Can‘t wait to load and play it.

[ateam]

upload the English GDI patched please !

I did? Haha. See the above post, the pre-patched (i.e. already patched) GDI and CDI are there.

[ateam]

For those interested, the team and I were featured on two different podcasts.

• • Ghaleon featured me and my team for a deep-dive interview on his "Found in Fanslation" podcast! Here is part 1 of 2 (with part 2 coming soon, where I dive more into the technical aspects of the translation patch):
  https://anchor.fm/found-in-fanslation/e ... mi-e10e4uc
  
  • The Dreamcast Junkyard also featured me and Burntends on a full-length DreamPod episode:
  https://www.buzzsprout.com/42610/8725095

[ateam]

Pushed a v1.2 update today. See details below.

Code: Select all

.------------::[ v1.2 Release Notes ]::-------------
|
| Almost a year after the last update to this patch, I decided to deliver this
| little v1.2 release to all the fans out there.  The changes aren't massive,
| but they address a few important things (in my opinion):
|
|   -> Fixed typo in Kohran's victory message for "Shonen Red" mode.
|   -> Fixed character mood erroneously showing "HAPPY" when it should be
|      "GRUMPY".
|   -> Removed ISP-settings-check from built-in web browser used to access DLC
|      and unlocked save.
|   -> Replaced built-in web browser with English version.
|
| Regarding the last two items on the list above, recall that I included all
| DLC, as well as a fully 100% unlocked save, accessible directly from within
| the main menu of the game itself.  However, after initial release, some
| emulator users reported seeing an error when attempting to launch the
| built-in web browser to access that content.  At first, I misdiagnosed this
| as a lack of modem/BBA emulation support, since others emulators (e.g.
| Flycast) had no issue.  However, it turned out to be reproduceable on real
| hardware (thanks again, MattoBii).
|
| Ultimately, I was able to remove this ISP-settings-check with an assembly
| hack, meaning that everyone can now access that bonus content, no matter how
| they're playing the game.  With that, I do believe this patch is complete!
|
| Enjoy, everyone!
|
`---------------------------------------------------

DOWNLOADS:

Standalone Patch (v1.2)
https://github.com/DerekPascarella/Saku ... G.v1.2.dcp
For use with Universal Dreamcast Patcher.

Patched GDI (v1.2)
https://mega.nz/file/uUc2kYbJ#PtAluBwuF ... wPzQZ5pakg

Patched CDI (v1.2)
https://mega.nz/file/HRdwVTbL#RH8gkNaWP ... nsgmiNmczw

[fafadou]

Very good job !