Topic: Contemplating a cosmetic hack for Harmony of Dissonance (WARNING: COMPLETE NOOB)

[stiny]

Just to make things clear right away, I have absolutely no romhacking experience or knowledge (besides the fact that it's an EXTREMELY daunting task that is in no way straight-forward). Alright? Okay.

Basically, it involves replacing all instances of 'Harmony of Dissonance' with 'Concerto of Midnight Sun' (or 'Concerto of the/a Midnight Sun', if you prefer). Minor mistranslations like 'Cipher's Charm' and 'Bullet Tip' would be changed to 'Sypha's Crystal' and 'Christopher's Soul', in order to tie them more closely to other games in the series (and to be slightly more correct, of course).

Likewise, area names would be replaced by their English equivalents present in the Japanese version. Eg. 'Shrine of the Apostates' would become 'Heretic's Grave', 'The Wailing Way' would become 'The Approach to Deplore', 'Luminous Cavern' would be called 'Moss-Grown Cave', etc. The font used for each of these short messages would ideally be the same one used in the Japanese version (except properly formatted with upper-case letters).

In the interest of thoroughness, a small handful of mistranslated monster names (from memory, probably less than 6) would most likely be changed to better reflect the intentions of the Japanese developers (or at least conform to established naming conventions in the franchise, if applicable). 'Simon Wraith' would mostly likely remained untouched, as that one's a minefield.

Everything else, including the game script and the majority of items and their descriptions are, at least to my understanding, correct (in essence, at the very least) and are in no need of modification.

You're probably asking why I'd contemplate something so cosmetic. Well, like all other rom hacks, it would be purely optional and may serve as a refreshing change for people who've already played and finished the game a number of times. It's always nice to have an alternative, I always say.

So anyway, the real purpose of my post is this: does anyone on this forum have any experience hacking Harmony of Dissonance/Concerto of Midnight Sun? Can someone recommend any good programs and utilities I could use? Which version of the game should I attempt to modify: the US or Japanese ROM? Seeing as how the script and a vast majority of item/enemy names would remain intact, I assumed the US version would be the logical choice, although it would involve 'transplanting' some images/code from the Japanese version. And I have no idea how difficult it would be to alter the Japanese version to include this slightly modified English translation (I'm guessing EXTREMELY).

So, uh...yeah. Thoughts? Suggestions? Admonishments?

[X]

Someone on this site has already done a HoD rom hack and it is very well done. Juste's useless blue outline was taken away and his almost pink overcoat was made more of a red. The vampirekiller whip has been redesigned so it looks like a real chain whip rather then some stringy...incomplete thing. Some of the colorations for foreground and background tiles were also given a bit of a recoloring or touch-up too. Overall this rom hack completes what I believe to be an incomplete and rushed piece of work. As far as I can tell the names and such that you want to fix has not been done yet. If you want to know where to find rom hacking utilities then go to 'Zophar's Domain' and check out his 'Utilities' section. It'll might have what you're looking for. However if you're not sure then you can PM Jorge and ask him the question you might have on mind.

PS. Welcome to the Forums 

[Esco]

Text edits are easy;get 010 editor, search for the text that you need, figure out the pattern to how stuff is arranged, replace it. You can also use memhack to search for what you need, see what order it is in, then search in 010 editor.

Sadly you will have to learn on your own; I would not have time to instruct you. Sorry.

[Pemburu Vampir]

Someone on this site has already done a HoD rom hack and it is very well done. Juste's useless blue outline was taken away and his almost pink overcoat was made more of a red. The vampirekiller whip has been redesigned so it looks like a real chain whip rather then some stringy...incomplete thing. Some of the colorations for foreground and background tiles were also given a bit of a recoloring or touch-up too. Overall this rom hack completes what I believe to be an incomplete and rushed piece of work. As far as I can tell the names and such that you want to fix has not been done yet.

You mean this?

http://castlevaniadungeon.net/forums/index.php/topic,2572.msg47031.html#msg47031

http://z7.invisionfree.com/CastleOfCastlevania/index.php?s=335c553aadf7efcb2e53df0dfb89df57&showtopic=55&view=getnewpost

[X]

I mean that, yes. Good hack too 

[Chernabogue]

Downloaded it. I'll give it a try to see how good it is.

[Inccubus]

The only other thing I think that game needs is redone music. Even if it ends up sounding more 8-bit, it would be an improvement over those terribly grainy samples they used.

[Pemburu Vampir]

I mean that, yes. Good hack too 

Thanks! Again.

Downloaded it. I'll give it a try to see how good it is.

I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to tell me your opinion.

[Dracul]

Yeah sometimes the translators get things bad, I mean real bad just take a look at what was necessary to fix in Aria of Sorrow:

http://www.demoncastledracula.com/translations.html

-my favorite one to hate is Lubicant, since Rubicant is a demon, i suppose a Lubicant is a demon with lube, dunno might be hellish enough i suppose, but don't like the mental picture .

[Gemini]

Funny fact, the fix patch contains like a ton errors on its own. The only semi-correct choice in the enemy glossary was this: Curly -> Khali (it's supposed to be Kali). The rest are all wrong and based on SOTN's fucked up dictionary. I wouldn't really call this patch a fix.

[Dracul]

FYI There are two versions on the patch if you notice, one fixes errors only "claimed to at least" the other translates to SOTN's polarizing dictionary, you either love it or hate it.  Dunno the differences hadn't played it in a while.

[Gemini]

I did notice there are two patches, still it's barely a translation fix in either case. Btw, Rubicant is not a demon, Rubicante is.

[Dracul]

Tomato Tomoto! 

[Gemini]

Ketchup-puppu.