Hello Shining Fans!

Knight 0f Dragon has continued to be busy fixing issues and making improvements, so we have a special mid-year release planned. There was an issue with the Patch Wizard that needed to be fixed (due to differing date formats in various regions) and the list of what could be included has grown.

I’ll save the full list of fixes for the actual release, but it is pretty impressive. Lots of boxes resized to fit, the Jumesyn romanization corrected, the HQ bookcase and PD model viewer reordered to alphabetical and the long-time issue of the LCK and MOV text overlapping in the Status dialog fixed. If you would like to get a sneak peek as we continue testing and work to finalize V23 for release, you’re welcome to join us on Discord. https://discord.gg/yWnUVCr

The Patch Wizard now supports ISO out in addition to BIN/CUE, so we will be removing the former third option, the original patching option. Our old friend ISOMAKER2.exe is retiring after many years of service. ISOMAKER was overheard saying “If I make one more ISO, I’m going to throw up!”

More on the V23 release soon!

The Voice Translation effort is on the back burner at the moment. The ability to replace voices in-game is a reality, but that is actually the easy part. : – ) We will return to this effort in due time.

The World Book Translation effort has been a tremendous success so far! All profiles have been sponsored and we appreciate the ability to do the World Book Translation without having to pay out of our own pockets for the translation services. Switch with Phantom River Stone continues to do an excellent job, not only in the translations themselves, but also his willingness to check other references for info and work things out with us. This process is really working well.

A couple of the profiles ended up with large blank spaces and we wanted to do something special. For Leon, which is yet to be released for this very reason, we had some other art laying around. It was different in color and saturation, but we’re making it match and hoping the style doesn’t clash too much. It’s better than a big blank area. Frank was quite a bit more involved and rewarding. Unlike most of the other characters, there is surprisingly no additional art of Frank that we could find, so I worked with a young lady named Yayabeanz on a head sketch design based on his third portrait. It is a bit more detailed and cleaner than the other line sketches included in the world book (or the PD images section), but since it was done specifically for this world book translation effort, we thought it appropriate. We really thank Yayabeanz for volunteering to do this and for her dedication to making a really nice sketch. You may know her as the niece of long-time SF3 fan and supporter ChinagonUK. He posted some Ratchet work she did here:
https://forums.shiningforcecentral.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=45865

As with the in-game translation, we aim for the highest quality, so we appreciate your understanding with how long it takes us to deliver these profiles. Special T is putting forth a lot of effort getting these looking great. We have also been known to make further improvements to profiles that have already been released, so check the dates on the FTP when grabbing updates.

Talk to you soon!

legalize freedom!

The preview of SF3Patch V22 has been posted! Download with the button to the right.

Let me know if you need a zip version. Another instance of it flagging malware detection has been reported. There is no malware. Some software just doesn’t like the auto-unpacking exe.

There are a few specific things I’ll be looking into over the next month. The final release of V22 will be the first week of December as usual.

Please report any issues as comments here or in the forum HERE.
It’s especially important this time since we are releasing a new patch wizard for the first time. Please try it out and let us know how it works on your set up. Instructions have been added to the SF3 Patch Read Me.doc, so be sure to check those out.

We are still working through a few things on the new patch wizard, so it should be considered in the testing phase. Issues are possible and even expected. While all issues won’t be identified until after this preview release, issues patching Sc3 and the PD have been identified in testing and have not been fully resolved. Note the patching process should wrap up shortly (less than a minute) after the disc stops reading, but may fail or hang indefinitely. If you run into any issues or if Sc3 and the PD work fine for you, please reach out to us to report them in the SFC forum thread noted above or direct email link on the Credits and Contact page. Thanks in advance for reporting your experience!

What you can expect from V22 is nothing short of historic! Knight 0f Dragon has been busy this year, not only with the new wizard, but with some really exciting work on bug fixes and enhancements to the game. Once again, things Shining Force III fans didn’t know were possible are becoming reality. There will certainly be more in the future, but here is what will be included in V22:

• Overlapping class and level text on the loading screen fixed (all scenarios)
• The Titan’s barrier can be broken with the Elbesem Orb, so it can be defeated as in the Japanese version (Sc1 US and UK)
• The mixed-up lines after the Catacombs (Sc1 battle 27) fixed. Basanda had an extra line in the UK version that was removed. (Sc1 UK)
• Garosh bug fixed. This caused Garosh to lose stats instead of gaining when reaching levels 20-29 after his final promotion to Bow Master. (Sc3 and PD)
• 60 Character bug fixed for the Premium Disc. Previously if the gameshark was used to add Rogan, another character had to be removed. This fix allows all 60 characters without crashing. (PD)

In honour of the Garosh bug being fixed, the V22 patch features his icon (thanks Special T!). Long shunned because of this bug, Garosh is now perfectly viable in Sc3 and the PD and I’m sure he will get some love in upcoming playthroughs.

There are a few minor updates to area and enemy names, but really who can bother with them in light of the bug fixes? If you’re interested, you can see them all in the Read Me version history. One I will note is Jane’s Thunder Wand, which she is equipped with if she is recruited for the PD, was identified and corrected. Name and Description.

We’ve wrapped up the Sc3 translation review and the voice translation effort is in progress. Thank you to everyone who donated to support this effort! I believe we are fully funded for this. Within just a few short days of opening the link, we had raised $325.00 for the voice translation effort. There are a total of 552 voice clips in the game including bosses and the Elise/Galm ending dialog. Exciting stuff. You’ll be hearing more of this effort in coming updates.

Enjoy!


legalize freedom!

Hello Shining Fans!

We approach the end of another year. That means there is a SF3 patch release coming soon! I will begin preparing the files for an early November test release as usual, followed by an early December release of V22!

The big news this year is that Knight 0f Dragon has been working on some bug fixes, etc. We will include what we can in these releases as we figure out how to implement the fixes into the patching process.
In the works are:

• Garosh bug fix. This bug causes Garosh to lose stats on level up between 21 and 30 after his final promotion to Bow Master. (Sc3 only)
• Ability to defeat the Titan as in the Japanese version.
• A new patcher wizard. Literally a wizard since Master Gabriel will guide you through the process.

And possibly more. Stay tuned…

The Sc3 review is complete! Payments since the last update are as follows:
Aug 159.73
Sep 127.19
Oct 103.52 final
We have run about $70 short of paying for this with the donations so far, so I’m planning to open the link back up for a bit in case anyone wants to help. In addition to the remaining Sc3 review costs, I’m planning to submit the voices for translation review, so please consider that if you decide to donate. Small stuff beyond that. Maybe a few misc lines I ask him to look at. This will be what this link opening will be spent on. As before, I will close it down once I believe we have enough to complete the voices. As always, your help paying for this is greatly appreciated!
paypal.me/sf3translation – Link now closed

The Artbook work is progressing. We are currently done with the first 31 pages, minus the contents page. You will see finished pages sprinkle in throughout until we can get the profiles translated. Things are starting to get interesting as we wade into the Characters chapter!
http://sf3transftp.shiningforcecentral.com/Images/SF3%20World%20Book/

Talk to you soon!


legalize freedom!

The Sc3 translation review is going smoothly and briskly. We are nearing the end of Ch5, so it won’t be long now!

Phase 1 ended up costing a total of $178.84. We have taken to invoicing on a monthly basis for Phase 2. The monthly cost is as follows:
May    87.48
June 158.71
July  132.76
The donation funds we have left should be enough for about two more months of translation and I believe Switch will finish this task up before then.

The next thing I will likely ask him to review are the voice clips (during battle animations) since there has been a renewed interest in replacing the voices in game and because the translation part should be a relatively short (and affordable) exercise. Knight 0f Dragon and friends have worked to enable this. He has created a voice patching tool that gives us the ability to replace the voices (including the ending scene with Elise and Galm). Very cool!

You may note that there are translations for the voice clips on the Jumesyn site. We will use these as a starting point and again utilize a two phased approach where phase 1 isolates the voices that need full translation. Many of the voices are grunts and yells, which will be identified (because they aren’t all obvious if you don’t understand Japanese) and set aside in phase 1 along with any that are accurate. When phase 2 starts, voice translations will cost 60 yen each, the same cost as one image in our dialog review. I’ll make a determination at that time whether to open it up for donations for this particular effort based on remaining balance. For those who may not want the voices replaced, rest assured it will optional when patching.

K0D and friends have been doing some nice research on the SF3 Discord channel which should allow many things. I hear rumours of Rogan being playable and the Garosh bug being fixable… You will be hearing much more of their efforts in the future.

Work on the Artbook translation is progressing nicely. You’re welcome to visit the FTP location to see what has been done so far. All original scans will be available in the Original folder while the current set will live in the main directory. All finished pages will be .png, so that’s an easy way to know what has been done. Currently the first 25 pages are complete, minus the contents page. Big shout out to Special T for putting in the effort to clean up the scan lines, etc. in addition to the obvious image work. As well as mr2dax for continuing to provide translations.
http://sf3transftp.shiningforcecentral.com/Images/SF3%20World%20Book/

On the LP front, a couple of long running Let’s Play’s have finished up.
Maeths
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL5x6AUcyj0039cVpJE_c5WzBy2YEXwvt

ARRPEEGEE
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOWlfpfaMDTUS2K7wucvuplqrr1t5URyG
StHA up next!

Thanks to Maeths and ARRPEEGEE for these LPs I really enjoyed them both!

I will provided further updates as things progress.

Keep Shining!

legalize freedom!

Well, that was fast! After two more large donations (and many others), I believe we will have enough to pay for Phase 2. Yet another generous donation from Urban Reflex puts his total contribution at $260! You are one serious SF3 fan, man. Thanks for everything! And another extremely generous fellow antking83 donated $200. He hasn’t been around SFC for a while, but made a new account to reconnect with the community. Thanks to these guys and everyone who has helped us reach this goal. We currently have $709.39 in the bank. That should be enough to cover Phase 2 as well as any unexpected costs.

My plan was always to close the donation link after we met this goal and I’m doing that now, but I wanted to see what everyone thought of taking donations specifically for the Artbook translation. That work will not be happening for quite some time, so maybe it is prudent to close the link now and start it back up when that time comes. That may also help make it clear further donations will be strictly for the artbook translation effort.
Let’s discuss in the forum:
https://forums.shiningforcecentral.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=45614

Thanks for everyone’s generous support!


legalize freedom!

Hello Shining Fans!

The initial review of the remaining Sc3 images (phase 1) is complete.
The numbers came back very much in our favour.

Accurate              2036
Need Full Review  1106

This means roughly 2/3 of the outstanding lines have now been deemed accurate and no longer need attention. That’s great news and a big relief considering how much full translation services cost. Note as we begin phase 2, these numbers will change slightly as the lines are engaged, but after the first file even this has been in our favour with several more moving to accurate than the other direction.

Phase 2 has already begun and will be ongoing for the foreseeable future. Switch (from Phantom River Stone translating service) is putting all required effort into providing accurate translations and this will take some time for the remaining 1100 images. We should all have a better idea of the pace by the time my next update rolls around.

Speaking of cost… I’ve been a bit giddy at the donations received. I really appreciate everyone’s generosity. I’m not going to get into naming all the donors, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention two of them. Urban Reflex, the fellow that got this ball rolling has contributed $160 and has threatened more! And our own Lord Darkstorm, who has helped with the translation work over the years has donated $180 (enough to cover phase 1). Thank you! Looks like I’m going to get out of this without spending too much thanks to their extreme generosity and in fact the generosity of all the donors. All together I’ve received $510.52 to date!

So where do we stand with payment? Phase 1 has been completed and fully paid at $170.19. Phase 2 is just beginning, but I estimate it will ultimately cost roughly $600. The good news is we currently have $340.33 in the bank!
If you would like to help close that gap, use this donation link:
paypal.me/sf3translation – Link is now closed

Forgive me for using this space to report financials, but I want to be transparent with donations and how they are being spent.

The artbook was the other initiative announced last time and it is moving along as well.
mr2dax has been providing translations. We are doing the quick and easy stuff first. And as always Special T is hard at work looking for the best options to update the images. You will start to see pages get replaced with English updates in the near future. This is looking pretty special.

Until the next update,

legalize freedom!

I hope everyone is enjoying V21! A couple of run-off-the-page lines have been discovered, but nothing serious, so that is good news. Be sure to continue to report any issues in the forum.

There are a couple of exciting developments that I just couldn’t wait for my normal update to share.

I have partnered with the Phantom River Stone translation service after a fellow named Urban Reflex emailed me to recommend them. He is not a SFC member as of yet, but thanks for the recommendation, Urban Reflex! Phantom River Stone has done work on the Shenmue series and the sample they did for me was well-done.

A fellow named Switch gave me a reasonable quote for finishing up the review of Sc3. It will come in two phases. The first phase is to determine how accurate the existing lines are. If they are accurate, they can be considered reviewed. If they are not 100% accurate, they will move on to phase 2 which is full translation service.

I will be taking donations for this remaining translation work. I am planning to pay for the work myself and hope donations help offset my cost. I was actually planning to do Retropalooza this year, but this is a far more important use of funds and effort.

Now for the numbers. We have approximately 3150 images remaining to be reviewed. Pricing was determined per image, so longer lines have 2 images generally. The phase 1 review will be 5 yen/image (one yen is roughly eqivalent to one cent) plus 10% (Japanese consumption) tax. I estimate phase 1 will cost $180. This is where the value is.

Phase 2 will be quite a bit more expensive. If images need full translation service, we are looking at 60 yen/image plus 10% tax. I was not sure how much of this I could afford to do with so many images to review, but…

The brilliant news is that a very healthy number of our images are coming back accurate. That is, the number of images that need phase 2 is smaller than expected so far. Currently around 1200 images have been reviewed and around 720 of them are accurate.

I’m not excited about taking donations, but I’m certainly excited about the prospect of finishing the review for this project. This partnership seems like a good way to wrap up the translation aspect and if it costs me some money, I think it’s worth it.

Another somewhat exciting thing is in the beginning stages as well. After sulfuroxp posted his fantastic scanning of the SF3 Artbook, mr2dax was able (and kind enough) to translate a couple of things that I requested for the translation proper. I don’t know how sulfuroxp did it, but those scans are very clear and aren’t that big file-size wise. The Artbook has been uploaded to the FTP HERE.

Somewhere along the way I decided to document the 248 Artbook pages and organize their translation (refer to the Artbook Page Descriptions.txt file in the same directory as the images). mr2dax has indicated he will help as he can with this translation, having more opportunity to contribute around mid-year. The plan is for the output to be worked back into the images similar to what we did for the World Map, except obviously on a larger scale due to the amount of text involved. I plan to update the pages on the FTP as we get them done.

If anyone wants to volunteer to help translate the Artbook, that would be most welcome. Additionally, since we are taking donations, if anyone wants to sponsor an Artbook page, we could make that a priority. The order will not be front to back, it will likely be least amount of text to most unless sponsored.

I have set up a Paypal.Me account to take donations for both of these causes. Use the note feature or PM/email me with any requests for your donation. If you would like to donate, here is the link:
paypal.me/sf3translation – Link is now closed

On a personal note, I just saw the ending credits of Sc3 for the first time. I’ve obviously worked on and tested the dialog and seen LPs, but this is the first time I’ve finished the game proper. In the process, I’ve made some improvements to the Remotest dialog. So you can look forward to those improvements. I added my Sc3 Complete save in an Internal RAM file on the FTP for those that might want to jump into the PD with a super-charged party.

Thanks in advance for everyone’s support!

Talk to you again soon.


legalize freedom!

V21 is ready to go! Download with the button to the right.

Please report any issues or feedback in the forum HERE.

Here are this year’s most visible changes:

Many small corrections and improvements, primarily in Sc2 and Sc3.

Classes
• Waltz and Justin’s starting classes are now Ranger (Justin’s is never seen in game) to align with series established class for Centaur archers.
• David’s classes are now as follows: Elven Ranger > Striker > Commando
• Hero final class (Synbios, Medion and Julian) is now Champion
• Penn second class is now Dynamo

Penn’s level 3 beak special is now Volcano

Added blue highlight to shop haggle item lines.

Sc1
• In the end of battle 20 dialog, it’s made clearer that Conrad’s ailment can’t be cured/healed
• Ch5 Tower Ruins are now Lookover Ruins

Sc3
• Improvements to the HQ Dragon and Beast lines.
• Ch1 End of Battle 1 – Bresby no longer appears surprised he has been “asked” to battle the Walcuray.
• End of Ch3 – Synbios is more forward/less passive about his desire to stop the fighting/war.
• Ch5 Battle 19 – states more clearly this battle is the first trial.
• Ch6 Battle 27 – fixed lines where Spiriel was killed. Previously, both branches read as if she was spared.

PD
• Small correction in Battles when Unoma is speaking.

Remember we still need a translator to continue our accuracy review of Sc3. Please contact me if you are or know a qualified Japanese to English translator. Thank you!

Keep Shining!


legalize freedom!

SF3Patch V21 Preview has been posted on the FTP. Download with the button to the right.
If you need a zip version, let me know.

Please report any issues as comments here or in the forum HERE.

I will continue to add a few things I’m still looking into over the next month. The final release will be the first week of December as usual.

Thanks to everyone who responded in the polls regarding David’s classes and Spell Names. The results informed the decision for sure. You can see my result comments in the poll threads here:
David’s Classes
Spell Names

I should really mention this more often, but we are still without a dedicated translator and there is much to be reviewed in Sc3 to bring this project to the finish line. If you are someone or know someone who is a qualified Japanese to English translator, please contact me. It’s pretty important that we get someone on board to help out with this.

And a quick LP update:

Maeths is in Sc3 Ch3 currently and is planning to use V21 asap.
Shining Force 3 Scenario 3

ARRPEEGEE is nearing the end of Sc2
Shining Force III

Zannon has completed his LP!
Shining Force 3: Scenario 3

Until next time,

legalize freedom!