tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82334450619651395702024-02-07T06:00:28.942-05:00Schwer and Schwer Alike - English Rosenkreuzstilette HeadquartersThe official development blog and English fan community headquarters for the indie cult classic Rosenkreuzstilette.Letty Whiterockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12625348076005441105noreply@blogger.comBlogger285125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-1587926029458394222022-01-01T18:19:00.004-05:002022-01-01T21:35:01.769-05:00Festive Farewells<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiocBHH8xjCIVj2wcENOxZDoAmv0PhErqKdAGv9dap9Ykq3JQQ2l8MMZpoQZez_z0f0O9MYaFadNNlU1Rp1pE5ou6X6oLNvftIchFi4LSmk8Steav4dwfm906lDWI9v9gHsP-sxg02eZ5fiG7oY58C4twcNj1i7aYiuOnP5bFeX-GCQWmeRfGwYR7dL=s2474" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="2474" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiocBHH8xjCIVj2wcENOxZDoAmv0PhErqKdAGv9dap9Ykq3JQQ2l8MMZpoQZez_z0f0O9MYaFadNNlU1Rp1pE5ou6X6oLNvftIchFi4LSmk8Steav4dwfm906lDWI9v9gHsP-sxg02eZ5fiG7oY58C4twcNj1i7aYiuOnP5bFeX-GCQWmeRfGwYR7dL=w320-h155" width="320" /></a></div>Hello everyone.<p>I'd like to offer all of the kinds souls who have given us their wholehearted support a belated Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. It's because of you that I have enjoyed lifting the curtain and sharing with you my thought processes and the rationale that goes into my many localization decisions with <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i>. You are the reason why I was able to endure, even when life pummelled me with insufferably melodramatic plot twists. Honestly, I was extremely tempting to just end it all and be done with it many, many times.<br /></p><p>No, I don't mean suicide (though the thought has crossed my mind). I mean giving up on what I thought was my calling. What, until recently, had been my passion and motivation in life.<br /></p><p>I'm disheartened to say that this will be one of my last posts on this blog. It's a long story that will be difficult (in many senses of the word) to summarize, but I feel it's necessary to share with you some of the traumatic events that have played out these past few years (and the subsequent events that forced me to postpone writing about them). It's within this context that I was attacked by one of our own, and why I have decided that the struggle just isn't worth it anymore.<br /><br />Thank you again for all of your support over these years. My crew and I couldn't have come this far without you. I'll be back to lay things out as soon as I've found the right words to communicate how I'm feeling right now.<br /></p>TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-23461107783681660782020-12-25T15:07:00.002-05:002020-12-25T15:08:41.324-05:00Closing Out a Looooong Year...<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA0qg246QbB7lNshb4VdqCFMmzM62-Csz7UVXL6nxKj9JY1y46qKz1uicnDh36FFtwtJOnJaAyXpy6DqOJ0dRnGLwQdKP7k1vD1JH_UcRpW2-pIkMH_-tt0TJbkQC0Z0BmdxTXk9fDap8/s699/Rider+Christmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="628" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA0qg246QbB7lNshb4VdqCFMmzM62-Csz7UVXL6nxKj9JY1y46qKz1uicnDh36FFtwtJOnJaAyXpy6DqOJ0dRnGLwQdKP7k1vD1JH_UcRpW2-pIkMH_-tt0TJbkQC0Z0BmdxTXk9fDap8/w287-h320/Rider+Christmas.jpg" width="287" />"</a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> "I'd like to get off now. Please!<br />I WANT TO GET OFF!"<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Hi, everyone. It's been a long time -- much, much longer than I'd anticipated when last we spoke.</p><p>The year 2020 has been -- let's not mince words -- a raging dumpster fire for every sensible human being on the planet. I hope you all are hanging in there as best you can despite everything the world is throwing at you.</p><p>I'd like to think that the hell I endured in the previous two years (more on that in my next post) left me better-prepared to deal with the disastrous fallout of two self-obsessed presidents and their vain attempts to hide their own incompetence. Though I've never lived in China or the United States, many of my friends do. I can only offer my sympathies for those caught completely off-guard by the CoViD-19 pandemic -- and offer my sincerest gratitude to those who saw it coming and did their best to control the damage despite their warnings falling on deaf ears. <br /></p><p>That said, I wish you all Happy Holidays and hope you all pull through stronger and wiser than before. I've heard that those who have endured true pain understand the real value of kindness. I'd like to think that this hellish experience will make the majority of us come out better people in the end -- kinder, more thoughtful, and far more sympathetic. That may be naive thinking, but I'd rather hope for better days than let despair consume me any longer.</p><p>I look forward to catching up with you all very soon.<br /></p>TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-61577917820859608332020-01-01T19:37:00.000-05:002020-01-01T19:37:14.627-05:00A New Year, A New Start<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Happy New Year, everyone!<br />
<br />
As some of you have already guessed, 2019 has been an incredibly eventful year in my neck of the woods. I've been dealing with the aftermath of many personal and professional issues that have popped up since 2018 (and a few spilling over from 2017). Some of these issues have thankfully been resolved, while others are still being worked out. It's a long story -- one better suited to a bad soap opera than an indie game's localization blog.<br />
<br />
Frankly, it's a long line of dominoes that, for a while, made me despise thinking about anything related to <i>RKS</i> (hence the year of silence).<br />
<br />
There's a lot to say that I'd like to go over with you in due time. Given some of the reactions I received the last time I publicly opened up about my problems, I'm not particularly looking forward to giving shitposters ammunition to use against me or my team. So, please be patient with me as I try and figure out what to share and when.<br />
<br />
That said, I wish everyone belated Season's Greetings and a Happy New Year on behalf of Darkside Translations and Schwer and Schwer Alike. There's a lot to look forward to, and a lot to look back on, in the coming year.<br />
<br />
Until next time!TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-70735721743486377302018-12-25T17:43:00.002-05:002018-12-25T17:46:09.649-05:00'Tis the Season to be Jolly...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello, everyone. It's been far too long since my last post.<br />
<br />
I'm sorry to have left you all on such a depressing note back in April. Since then, I'm afraid that things haven't gotten much better in my neck of the woods. I have plenty I feel I need to share with you in the near future. For the time being, though, I think it's for the best that we enjoy the festive mood of the holidays while we have the opportunity. Today is the first day I've had to myself in what feels like forever, and I'd rather spend it resting up and preparing for the new year than cursing Lady Luck for her terrible sense of humor. <br />
<br />
On behalf of everyone at Darkside Translations, the <i>real</i> Darksquid Media (more on that next time), and Schwer and Schwer Alike, I wish you all Happy Holidays, a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.<br />
<br />
See you soon!TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-43116619918235103792018-04-01T21:03:00.001-04:002018-12-25T18:04:31.843-05:00Provisional RKSF Developer Diary - Breaking Silence<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhRazMUp8r25BvNcs7c60ohCElnwccTZoplIlwXp9LUHVbiaGBW73hDBgMjtirPxaKRAvRcdcODQyZBFyoc9688v89SfsEi89-HYg_Rd_glNNTJsjCCtkWcGrwKU_FKQbZ6UySyZWKYxA/s1600/alice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="800" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhRazMUp8r25BvNcs7c60ohCElnwccTZoplIlwXp9LUHVbiaGBW73hDBgMjtirPxaKRAvRcdcODQyZBFyoc9688v89SfsEi89-HYg_Rd_glNNTJsjCCtkWcGrwKU_FKQbZ6UySyZWKYxA/s320/alice.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Every thought is a battle... Every breath is a war...<br />
...and I don’t think I’m winning anymore."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hi, everyone! It's been a while!<br />
<br />
I'm sorry for the lengthy silence these past few months. There's a long story behind it - one that would fit better as the plot to a bad soap opera than the story of my life. Lately, it feels like every minor internet celebrity has been opening up about their own battles with depression. Seeing people I respect speak so candidly about their experiences has reassured me that the time is right for me to do the same.<br />
<br />
Before we begin: I'm well aware of the tradition behind today's date. Unfortunately for all of us, this post is not an April Fool's joke.<br />
<br />
Now, you might not know it from how I usually present myself, but I've been struggling with the notion of what it means to "be a man" for decades. I grew up in a hyper-masculine household alongside my three physically-gifted younger brothers, raised by an abusive father and a well-meaning but deeply-superstitious mother. My childhood memories were not happy ones, often involving me being beaten and ridiculed by my father, my brothers, and the people I naively thought were my friends (really, they were more like bullies who enjoyed having a naive airhead around). I was trusting and sensitive - two significant liabilities in a culture that glorifies "manly men" who take what they want and get shit done. I've lost track of how many times I've been called a "wuss", a "pansy", a "faggot", a "fucking crybaby", and countless variations of the idea that I'm "not man enough". To top it off, I was often punished for things that I had nothing to do with because no one wanted to hear me out and no one tried to back me up. Have you ever been crank-called by a "friend" pretending to be a collections agent for a video store, accusing you of racking up an inordinate amount in late fees for failing to return overdue porn... and have your father immediately start screaming at you, refusing to even consider that the caller <i>might be making shit up</i>?<br />
<br />
As you can imagine, I hold a deep-seated hatred for scapegoating to this day. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkzN3CYdQyJstp0RVwlH_fCWgiRvTCpr3t2RS046WFbfwuKsk7gGyew6dPCJMZyrP7gNfB57zP3XKWbIKbdroBOp1KNBIt7bFH-EgagmVo5iJ8nVkkaTXjO46XnVql1RFryFdXgzNT9Ok/s1600/Proclamation.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1022" data-original-width="1280" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkzN3CYdQyJstp0RVwlH_fCWgiRvTCpr3t2RS046WFbfwuKsk7gGyew6dPCJMZyrP7gNfB57zP3XKWbIKbdroBOp1KNBIt7bFH-EgagmVo5iJ8nVkkaTXjO46XnVql1RFryFdXgzNT9Ok/s320/Proclamation.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Written by a sociopath who thought I was deluded<br />
for wanting to start my own translation company.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I'm not looking to write a memoir at the moment, so I'll skip ahead to the recent past instead of walking you through my childhood. Despite the many traumatic events I've been through (or, perhaps, because of them), I've made a point of living my life honestly, being kind and thoughtful to everyone I meet. That philosophy has backfired on me in spectacular fashion on many occasions. Once, I unwittingly became the only friend to a lazy, entitled, misanthropic shut-in with a persecution complex and a massive chip on his shoulder - a spoiled brat who was convinced that the only way this "rotten" world could get any better was with him ruling it as its "benevolent dictator". Suffice to say, I stopped associating with him the moment I realized he was a bonafide monster. His response? He spent the next six months stalking me and harassing my coworkers like a psychotic ex-girlfriend. He only stopped when I threatened to press charges against him and have him arrested. The last I'd heard of him, he'd been committed...<br />
<br />
In the past year or so, I've been taking stock of the relationships that have had the most influence in my life. I've come to realize that my father may have ended the physical abuse ages ago, but he never stopped the emotional manipulation and mental abuse. He would often ring me up, complain about my (very well-off) brother's promises to take care of him in his old age (which he never made good on), and bemoan having to live on a "fixed income" from his pension (make that <i>pensions</i> - he receives money every month from <i>three different governments</i>), guilt-tripping me into offering him money to fund his daily trips to the restaurant and casino. This past August, it dawned on me that I was taking care of a deadbeat who actively antagonized me whenever I needed help, yet kept trying to wring money out of me like a stereotypical mobster (his latest voicemail actually included the "where's my money?!" cliché). The next time he came to collect, I gave him a piece of my mind, called him on his bullshit, and, going forward, refused to give him another penny.<br />
<br />
I haven't spoken to him since.<br />
<br />
It kind of goes without saying that I haven't had much success with women over the years. I spent my teens and all but the final month of my twenties single. My female friends (many of whom I was attracted to) were shocked to find out that, in their own words, a sweet, selfless guy like me couldn't get a date, far less a girlfriend. That sentiment frustrated me to no end. After all, I'd asked some of them out before, and the "best" response I'd often received was some variation of "I don't know", "I've never thought about it", or "I've never looked at you that way before". They knew the answer to their own question far better than I ever could; it was far more likely that they just didn't have the heart to come out and tell me why they didn't find me attractive.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU6yjT2O4NvmJTUoWsc18tmdAH-XAdX4MwbvxzRRXKWgdVCllLaFEzCP-QE8kO39KtXi25OZXxYftKVXlKa1PdzSqTu7SXYchI2IXW3fivVr1L8Jm1xR35AjXJDss-oLOwIy2hFBgffCI/s1600/hug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="850" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU6yjT2O4NvmJTUoWsc18tmdAH-XAdX4MwbvxzRRXKWgdVCllLaFEzCP-QE8kO39KtXi25OZXxYftKVXlKa1PdzSqTu7SXYchI2IXW3fivVr1L8Jm1xR35AjXJDss-oLOwIy2hFBgffCI/s320/hug.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Never underestimate the<br />
healing power of a warm hug.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My luck began to turn around a little before my 30th birthday, when an attendee to a panel I had hosted the previous year emailed me out of the blue, asking to pick my brain for an essay she was writing. We got to know each other and eventually met up in person, and hit it off far better than either of us expected. Thus began the best year of my life, with me finally getting a girlfriend, moving out of my parents' basement, getting my own place with a couple of good friends as my roommates, and <i>RKS</i> finally being licensed for English release (with our motley crew handling the translation). My new girlfriend's mother often invited me out to lunch - even asking me to join them for family outings - always making sure that our relationship was free of problems. I was a bit jealous; my father never showed this degree of interest or involvement in my life... His motto, which he repeated quite often, was, "me, myself, and fuck you" (though, being the asshole he is, he always accused <i>others</i> of never considering <i>his</i> needs - classic projection there, folks).<br />
<br />
The problem with romantic relationships is that, early on, you tend to turn a blind eye to your partner's faults, and those faults can often lead to a lot of heartache. I don't think it's entirely appropriate to criticize my now-ex-girlfriend's flaws in public. But, to give you an idea of her personality: when a friend of mine insisted I play through <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/339800/" target="_blank">HuniePop</a>, I could swear that the character of Nikki was based on my ex (right down to the specifics of her texting me in the middle of the night about being unable to sleep because of a creepypasta she'd chanced upon - the similarities were uncanny). I reluctantly broke things off when I realized our values were completely incompatible. Still, we remained very close for a solid year before trying to see other people. Even then, we remained good friends, with her frequently asking me for advice regarding her new relationships and me lending a hand whenever she needed it.<br />
<br />
Now, when a couple is no longer a couple, there are many things you used to do before that are no longer acceptable after you've stopped being intimate. In the past two years or so, my ex has crossed the boundaries of acceptable behavior quite often. One such transgression (which I won't describe in detail - sorry) led to me breaking off contact with her for nearly a year. This past summer (before I gave my father a piece of my mind), she reached out to me, in similar fashion to how we first met, to pick my brain for a panel she was hosting at Otakuthon. I decided to help her out after I'd made sure that she understood why I'd stopped talking to her. And, seeing that she'd genuinely learned from her mistake, I formally forgave her on her birthday the following month, giving her the present I had planned on giving her the year prior (with a few other things I knew she would enjoy).<br />
<br />
Let's skip ahead a few months.<br />
<br />
In December, my ex-girlfriend texted me at three in the morning, getting worked into a frenzy about someone badmouthing a game she was looking forward to, and spiraled into a tirade about her needing to distance herself from every fanbase she was a part of that wasn't "manly". Long story short, she has always been insecure about liking things that others frequently lambasted (even when their comments were without merit), and often ranted about praiseworthy characters needing to be badasses and not whiny emos with daddy issues. She was a tomboy to the extreme and actively despised anything feminine (her obsession with "manliness" was just one of the reasons that I knew we weren't a good match for each other). Despite my protests, she persisted in trash-talking her favorites, even those as acclaimed as <i>Cowboy Bebop</i>. Even when I underscored how late at night it was and that I had work the next morning, she kept going. When she refused to stop, I was justifiably angry. So, I ended the conversation in no uncertain terms and stopped talking to her for several weeks.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In mid-January, a good friend of mine - one I hadn't seen in a long time - suddenly passed away. His young death took me (and everyone else) by surprise. He was the fourth person close to me to pass away in the last twelve months, but the first who was significantly younger than me. I realized that there was no sense in continuing to give my ex the cold shoulder. After all, she was still one of my best friends, and neither of us could know how much time we had left in this world. So, I broke the news to her, and forgave her for her earlier tirade.<br />
<br />
This was on a Monday. Skip ahead to the Thursday of that same week...<br />
<br />
I had the day off and was relaxing at home, idly chatting with my ex-girlfriend about her love life since she started talking about her latest ex. After one of her typical tangents comparing the people she knows to anime and game characters, I asked if I could be totally honest with her for a moment. Seemingly sensing what I was going to say, my ex asked me if I thought she had Asperger's Syndrome. I already knew the truth of the matter: her mother had previously confessed to me that she was "special" during our regular lunch meetups, and that her invitations were her way of checking in with me to see if her daughter's condition was under control. I figured, since we had been so close for five years now, it was about time for me to be fully honest with the most important girl in my life regarding herself. So, I told her the truth...<br />
<br />
Big mistake.<br />
<br />
My ex-girlfriend freaked out, thinking I had just called her a monster. I tried to calm her down, reassuring her that I'd always be there for her. I tried to show her that many notable autistics, including Dan Aykroyd, Tim Burton, and Dan Harmon, were not looked down upon for their condition - in fact, it actually worked in their favor (Aykroyd has confessed, on the record, that his autism helped lead to the creation of <i>Ghostbusters</i>, and Harmon's condition inspired both the characters of Abed in <i>Community</i> and Rick in <i>Rick & Morty</i>). But she wouldn't hear it. She was a devoted member of the Fighting Game Community, where the term "aspie" was thrown around as a casual insult. Then, she made bewildering a statement about needing to quit the FGC and kill herself.<br />
<br />
I should note that my ex often made suicidal comments before, seemingly for dramatic effect. My former roommate hated this about her, and called her on how ignorant, irresponsible, and disrespectful speaking so lightly about suicide is to the genuinely suicidal. Still, this time seemed a bit different. When she ended the conversation so she could head to class, I quickly Googled nearby suicide-prevention centers... and realized that I didn't know where she was at the time. Hoping this was just my imagination running wild, I pushed the matter to the back of my mind and joined my roommates in the living room...<br />
<br />
Again, big mistake.<br />
<br />
The next time my ex-girlfriend texted me a couple of hours later was from the hospital. On her way home from class, she had tried to jump into the subway tracks. Thankfully, an onlooker saw her, stopped her, and called for help. I didn't ask if she was alright since the answer was pretty damned obvious (of course she wasn't okay - she'd just tried to kill herself!). My priority was on making sure that she was in good hands. I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that that she had tried to do something so transparently stupid. Once I was sure that she was getting the care she needed (which, as luck would have it, was about the time a nurse came by to confiscate her phone for the night), I said goodnight and immediately called her home to inform her family of the situation. When I got the answering machine, I left a message, then reached out to her father on Facebook, hoping I could reach the family that way.<br />
<br />
Three big mistakes in one day. Not a record I'm proud of setting.<br />
<br />
The moment I hit "Send", her mother returned my call. To say she was furious would be the understatement of a lifetime. She demanded that I listen to her every word, and asserted that my ex and I had broken up ages ago. She then proceeded to throw all of her hate at me, begging to know why I wouldn't let her baby go - why I was trying to reel her in again (?) - and why I hated her so much (?!?). Her voice went from seething rage to uncontrollable sobbing. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get a word in. After who-knows-how-long, her husband took the phone. Once he had confirmed that it wasn't his daughter on the line, he hung up on me.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSfw1WogBNa1y-eor8ZWjJn3mr5Enzy2-40MVB-igQNYNczmeB4R2Pfqdy5QE0je92bDeEqtZa_plNq8mF2gJ1SPLMsV9BE458K5H6SUVTtp-L3zESEcG0qJfhM3P40OQt0_dIkxVxlOQ/s1600/heart-repair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="550" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSfw1WogBNa1y-eor8ZWjJn3mr5Enzy2-40MVB-igQNYNczmeB4R2Pfqdy5QE0je92bDeEqtZa_plNq8mF2gJ1SPLMsV9BE458K5H6SUVTtp-L3zESEcG0qJfhM3P40OQt0_dIkxVxlOQ/s320/heart-repair.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'd like to know that myself.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I was dumbstruck. The last time I'd seen the woman, I was proud of the fact that my breakup with her daughter had transitioned our relationship from a romantic one to a deeply-meaningful friendship. My exact words at the time were, "if all breakups went this way, the world would be a much better place" (for comparison, my youngest brother and the mother of his now-teenage daughter are legally prohibited from being anywhere near each other). She was happy for us that day; now, she utterly despised me.<br />
<br />
For a long while, I didn't know who or what I was, or if anything I did ultimately had any redeeming value. <br />
<br />
Something to keep in mind: I'd recently come to terms with the fact that my father saw me as little more than a walking ATM. My career in game localization didn't seem like it was going anywhere (more on that later) - it felt like my sociopath of a stalker might have been right about me deluding myself into thinking I could succeed. My ex-girlfriend had been through two relationships since our breakup (one with an entitled Nice Guy™ who turned into a needy stalker himself), whereas I couldn't get a single date in the four years since our breakup. A good friend of mine had just died a few days ago. My father often insisted that I never appreciated anything - was that the truth? Was I really a wimpy, unwanted, immature failure, wasting nine years of my life chasing an unreachable dream, stubbornly refusing to let go of the only intimate relationship I'd ever had? And, by not letting it go, I'd pushed my ex-girlfriend to suicide?<br />
<br />
It took a long while to realize that I'd been scapegoated yet again. Mental gymnastics can really pull one over on you, especially when you're already emotionally vulnerable. Cultists and televangelists exploit this all the time. It took a long time, and the support and reassurance of the people who know me better than I know myself, to get my head on straight again.<br />
<br />
I haven't heard a word from my ex-girlfriend or her family. If any of them try to reach out to me, we'll see how things go.<br />
<br />
I'm slowly rebuilding my confidence, and my real friends are doing what they can to help me out. I'd like you to lend me a hand with the part of my life that you play the biggest part in:<br />
<br />
It's been over a year since <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i> was released on Steam, and half a year since <i>Freudenstachel</i> saw its English debut. Despite reaching out to numerous gaming news sites and offering them review copies free-of-charge, the better-known outlets have given the games next to no coverage. Neither game has a Metacritic score (a title needs four reviews from noteworthy sites to obtain one; <i>RKS</i> only has <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/rosenkreuzstilette" target="_blank">one</a>, while <i>RKSF</i> has <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/rosenkreuzstilette-freudenstachel" target="_blank">none</a>), and articles specifically about <a href="https://kotaku.com/the-fans-who-wont-let-mega-man-die-1818733489" target="_blank"><i>Megaman</i> fans creating their own spiritual successors</a> written after <i>Mighty No. 9</i> failed to live up to expectations didn't seem interested in acknowledging that the series even exists. To think, we delayed our first release specifically to avoid undermining <i>Mighty No. 9</i> success...<br />
<br />
In any event, I've already collected the material for my next <i>RKSF Developer Diary</i>. I'll roll that out once I have a bit more time to spare. In the meantime, I'd like to ask you to contact your favorite gaming websites, your favorite YouTube personalities, and your favorite streamers, especially outspoken <i>Megaman</i> fans. Jim Sterling recently noted in his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo-3eSYGKy0" target="_blank">"Steam Isn't Fine"</a> video that indie developers have a truly hard time being noticed on Steam, and I can confirm firsthand that this is true. Do what you can to spread the word about the game. Share Hadriex's smarmy <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P37FRi2Ojps" target="_blank">trailer</a>. Suggest a topic like "Top Ten Megaman Clones" to ScrewAttack, MojoPlays and other YouTube gaming channels. Let the world know that <i>Megaman</i> has had a pair of worthy spiritual successors for years, but very few people are interested in giving them a fair shake.<br />
<br />
Let them know what those who played it think:<br />
- <a href="http://steamcommunity.com/app/564150/discussions/0/135513901705341997/" target="_blank">"This game is what <i>Mighty No. 9</i> wishes it had been."</a><br />
- <a href="http://steamcommunity.com/app/564150/discussions/0/135508031950233187/" target="_blank">"Keiji Inafune - Take Notes!"</a><br />
- <a href="http://steamcommunity.com/app/564150/discussions/0/135508031954669794/" target="_blank">"This is where all the anime fans on prom night went after being rejected by <i>M#9</i>."</a><br />
<br />
A number of people decided to check out <i>RKS</i> after Alpharad's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLvTNKFVDCA" target="_blank">"Not Mega Man: The Anime Adventure"</a> video hit YouTube. That means that our target audience is there. But, I'm afraid that, once <i>Megaman 11</i> is released, <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i> will fade into obscurity.<br />
<br />
I've done what I can to try and promote <i>RKS</i>. I need you, the true fans, to do your part and help the games reach their audience. Emails, videos, artwork, cosplay... Do what you can to spread the word on these underrated gems. Show me that the last nine years of my life were well-spent, investing in a community that is far more than it appears to be.<br />
<br />
Thank you for lending this April Fool your ear. My thirty-fifth birthday is only four days away, and I'm ready to finally put an end to this third-life crisis...TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-14818820135945551112017-12-25T17:59:00.000-05:002018-12-25T17:45:37.676-05:00Happy Holidays!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCd6quha5h82FjjyWptmUeohqrDYvF6LZ6jAjgCYvWjh6aK46FPREMrG4w0A5pZv6TOLRH7M7xkQQAol4uziYgShkeweL_mbYUHY121WoQlQjz20Rl04oWSjuXn8BHYpK0Lt0M5lYhiKo/s1600/Fate.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1166" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCd6quha5h82FjjyWptmUeohqrDYvF6LZ6jAjgCYvWjh6aK46FPREMrG4w0A5pZv6TOLRH7M7xkQQAol4uziYgShkeweL_mbYUHY121WoQlQjz20Rl04oWSjuXn8BHYpK0Lt0M5lYhiKo/s320/Fate.png" width="233" /></a></div>
Hello, everyone!<br />
<br />
It's been one hell of a year on our side of the pond, with two game releases, two lost loved ones, and a whole lot of pushing ourselves, heartbreak, and faits accomplis all around. A year ago today, I promised that 2017 would be a big year for <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i>. I'd like to think that we've made good on that promise, but I'll leave the final verdict on that one up to you.<br />
<br />
With things wrapping up on <i>RKS</i>, it's reassuring to know that there's plenty to look forward to in the year to come. In addition to the <i>RKSF Developer Diary</i> (you'd have to kill me to stop me from finishing these -- I must admit that my day job is doing an admirable job trying), I have a few pet projects that I hope to see through to completion before a certain someone's 30th anniversary celebration has concluded. It's a bit too early to announce exactly what just in case it doesn't end up being feasible, but it's something I've wanted to do for a long time now.<br />
<br />
That said:<br />
<br />
On behalf of Darksquid Media, Darkside Translations, Schwer and Schwer Alike, and Active Gaming Media, I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Fantastic New Year. See you in 2018!TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-75108083264312429362017-10-16T20:24:00.000-04:002017-10-17T12:14:33.496-04:00RKSF Developer Diary #3 - The New Challengers<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBHjNk8HZCj4X9_0BzTk-XLO5dEFuHeK2xhONuIoSJnlFfpIcZBhV3gqjqt_5zGmmZmO8UTuKYUdgUrPXobyTQmWkrDsx9Od2w0OK_mCcJlOw9i-w73DgqbTvx4WYlQlpK3PrCa2XeUg/s1600/Protogirl.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBHjNk8HZCj4X9_0BzTk-XLO5dEFuHeK2xhONuIoSJnlFfpIcZBhV3gqjqt_5zGmmZmO8UTuKYUdgUrPXobyTQmWkrDsx9Od2w0OK_mCcJlOw9i-w73DgqbTvx4WYlQlpK3PrCa2XeUg/s320/Protogirl.png" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You're not fooling anyone, Luste.<br />
Also, your English needs work...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hello, everyone!<br />
<br />
My apologies for the long silence. As predicted in my last post, things have been pretty overwhelming in the other areas of my life these past few months. Thankfully, things have returned to some semblance of normalcy (for the time being, anyway). So, you know what that means: it's time for another entry in the <i>RKSF Developer Diary</i>!<br />
<br />
This time around, we'll be having a look at the newcomers to <i>Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel</i>. Without further ado:<br />
<br />
<u>The Metal Hero (?)</u><br />
<br />
...I said "the <i><u>newcomers</u></i> to <i>Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel</i>"...<br />
<br />
Well, since our favorite airhead is donning such a flimsy disguise (does she really think a visor can conceal her identity?), I may as well take the opportunity to shine a spotlight on the many aliases she uses.<br />
<br />
Throughout the game, Luste adopts a handful of names for her superhero persona. "The Metal Hero" (「メタルヒーロー」), "Bluste" (「ブルーステ」), "The Hero of Justice (?)" (「正義のヒーロー(?)」)... She even gives her signature Lustatem a heroic upgrade: "The Breath of Justice, Blustatem" (「正義の息吹ブルーステアーテム」). Amusingly, each of these names is a nod to the original <i>Megaman</i> in some capacity.<br />
<br />
Typically localized as "the Blue Bomber", the "Blue Metal Hero" (「青きメタルヒーロー」) is Megaman's ring name in the Japanese and American versions of <i>Super Smash Bros. For 3DS / Wii U</i> (quick tangent: I realize that Nintendo thought this was a clever play on words, but <i>Super Smash Bros. For</i> is not grammatically identical to <i>Super Smash Bros. 4</i>). "Metal Heroes" is also the subtitle of the Japanese version of <i>Megaman 8</i> (「ロックマン8 メタル ヒーローズ」). "Bluste", in Japanese, is an obvious play on "Blues" (「ブルース」), the whistling older brother of Megaman whom we know as "Protoman". To preserve the reference in English, we rendered the name as "Protogirl Bluste". "The Hero of Justice (?)" (misspelled "Heroe?" in the original Japanese) is a rather generic superhero moniker. If memory serves, Duo refers to Megaman by this name in the Japanese version of <i>Megaman 8</i> (don't quote me on that one, though). To eliminate the redundancy of the near-identical names, we decided to combine the monikers; Luste introduces herself as "the Metal Hero of Justice, Protogirl Bluste", and she's referred to as "The Metal Hero" wherever her real name wasn't used in the original Japanese. If the original used a question mark, the punctuation was preserved in our localization.<br />
<br />
Okay, that's enough about Luste. Onto the real newcomers:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9IsOjj4AIq0ak0hs4IAFHQ7pKSH8Qgh2D-N0vE4ckOx90Pfbfhvak5R3xwj0H1RpUaJQjYv3tTqpxUv2wGZZffLpUwqw27ntO0Z64DL_zqkisD1onDHiaPU-sGFprRQxdKKcrx5zPUMM/s1600/Strudel.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9IsOjj4AIq0ak0hs4IAFHQ7pKSH8Qgh2D-N0vE4ckOx90Pfbfhvak5R3xwj0H1RpUaJQjYv3tTqpxUv2wGZZffLpUwqw27ntO0Z64DL_zqkisD1onDHiaPU-sGFprRQxdKKcrx5zPUMM/s320/Strudel.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<u>Strudel</u><br />
<br />
This caring, easygoing little fairy doesn't have a malicious bone in her body. Perpetually optimistic, she chases after her goals with unstoppable zeal (<i>when</i> she has a goal to chase; when she doesn't, she doesn't really try to do anything...). She has a curious attraction to all things round and smooth. She often speaks in the third person and prefers to go by her nickname, "Ru".<br />
<br />
Strudel was designed by Shizuku (also known as Tanuki Mask), a talented artist with <a href="https://www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=23555" target="_blank">an adorable art style</a>. When Strudel's design was submitted to WOMI, Shizuku gave her the name "Strudel Totenkopf". "Strudel" means "swirl" or "vortex" in German; you're likely more familiar with the flaky pastry bearing the same name. "Totenkopf" is the German name for the skull and crossbones design that we more commonly know as the Jolly Roger; it's plain to see why WOMI dropped the surname for the official release.<br />
<br />
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<u>Doris Warmind</u><br />
<br />
The hard-working new leader of the Special Forces division of Rosenkreuzstilette, Doris Warmind (pronounced "varmint") is quite skilled at keeping her cool and coming up with effective attack strategies during battle. Unfortunately, her occasional carelessness and lack of real-world experience often cause her to slip up at the most inopportune times in spite of her considerable intelligence. Although she is well-read and scholarly, her language is quite crude. Doris hates to lose as much as she hates being teased for her size. She idolizes Schirach (who created her boomerang, Fesselspirale) and has a one-sided rivalry with Luste.<br />
<br />
Doris was designed by Hissatsukun (Tsubasa Mizuno), a professional manga artist that, like WOMI, specializes in adult comics. A handful of Hissatsukun's comics have been released in English by <a href="https://www.fakku.net/artists/hissatsukun" target="_blank">FAKKU</a> (naturally, this link is decidedly not work-safe).<br />
<br />
Doris is a nod to Gyroman from <i>Megaman 5</i> as well as to Web Spider (<i>Megaman X4</i>). We changed her name from "Dolis" for obvious reasons: "Doris" is an actual German name, whereas "Dolis" is not.<br />
<br />
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<u>Pamela Arwig</u><br />
<br />
A child of nobility trained in secret as a magic knight, Pamela Arwig (pronounced "arvick") is the commander of Schwarzkreuz and reports directly to the Pope. Having been raised away from the public eye, not much is known about her abilities. Pamela is straightforward and sensible, though she tends to come across as haughty and sanctimonious as a side-effect of her high-class upbringing. She has no doubts whatsoever regarding her concept of justice and will stop at nothing to punish sinners and heretics alike. Pamela insists that she is not a Magus; she is convinced that her magical talents are the blessings of God Himself.<br />
<br />
Pamela was designed by Alphes, the resident artist and illustrator of <a href="http://www.tasofro.net/" target="_blank">Twilight Frontier</a>. Alphes' artwork graces the covers of many titles, including <i>Immaterial and Missing Power</i>, <i>Scarlet Weather Rhapsody</i>, <i>Hopeless Masquerade</i>, <i>Super Marisa Land</i>, <i>MegaMari</i>, and <i>Grief Syndrome</i> (to name just a few).<br />
<br />
The <i>Ys</i> fanboy in me is overjoyed to see that Pamela is a walking nod to series' protagonist Adol Christin (with a bit of <i>Megaman X4's</i> Colonel thrown in for good measure), Her home, Burkhardt Castle, is a full-blown homage to Valestein Castle from <i>Ys III: Wanderers From Ys</i>.<br />
<br />
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<u>Eifer Skute</u><br />
<br />
Always bundled in thick clothes to counteract an extreme case of hypothermia, Eifer (pronounced "EYE-fer SKOO-teh)" gives the impression of being cool and in control despite her youth. However, she is prone to violent mood swings; under the wrong circumstances, she can become a rage-obsessed monster. She has a sharp tongue and seems to harbor a deep-seated resentment towards Freudia.<br />
<br />
Eifer was designed by Zaku6 (Zakuro Aburidashi), a professional manga artist specializing in adult comics. Zaku6 is the artist behind <i>The Sunflower Like An Owl</i>, an adults-only <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i> artbook (with commentary by Zaku6 and Hissatsukun).<br />
<br />
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<u>Schirach Fühler</u><br />
<br />
A former member of Rosenkreuzstilette, Schirach (pronounced "Shirock Fueller") has the personality of an annoying older sister. Her dignified manner forms a stark contrast with her crude and candid speech. She enjoys the thrill of battle even more so than Trauare. It doesn't matter to her if she's on the winning side or not; Schirach absolutely loves a good fight and will do whatever she deems necessary to get what she wants. She has been absent without leave for years...<br />
<br />
Schirach was designed by Daddy, a <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i> fan taking part in WOMI's boss design contest.<br />
<br />
Since I have a feeling someone will try to invoke Godwin's Law: "Fühler" is an actual German surname, so there's no need to change her name to "Führer". "Führer"is German for "leader", whereas "Fühler" is German for "sensor" or "feeler". Given Schirach's role in the story, the latter is more appropriate in-context.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjilnTBZWNAUxDuzldyXkT-nc5ZvffLeLuy3AhjaLqdRR1gtfHyEUppvjJGMCk7loF3GRqAx7UCOMfIMjf_AJPx-9HdJeMVqcjy0PtbLyOebaoioJ-9IlIjQJlKJ6gFcInNQQQaKjG4570/s1600/Refraktia.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjilnTBZWNAUxDuzldyXkT-nc5ZvffLeLuy3AhjaLqdRR1gtfHyEUppvjJGMCk7loF3GRqAx7UCOMfIMjf_AJPx-9HdJeMVqcjy0PtbLyOebaoioJ-9IlIjQJlKJ6gFcInNQQQaKjG4570/s320/Refraktia.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<u>Recht & Link Refraktia</u><br />
<br />
Recht and Link have been inseparable since the day they were born. Recht is polite and mild-mannered, but extremely shy when it comes to interacting with others. She is blind in one eye and always wears an eyepatch to keep her bad eye hidden. Recht loves reading and prefers spending her time in the library. Link, on the other hand, is bright and cheerful. She openly speaks her mind and will not hesitate to antagonize those who get on her nerves. She is fiercely protective of Recht and shows no mercy to those who would harm her.<br />
<br />
Both Recht and Link were designed by Redmoon, a diehard <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i> fan who submitted nine different character designs to WOMI's boss design contest. After much thought on the matter, we decided to swap the L's and R's in their names. First off, the Refraktia twins' given names are plays on the German words for "left" and "right". "Lecht" and "Rink" have different meanings than "Recht" and "Link" (try it in English: "reft" and "light" don't mean the same thing as "left" and "right"). Second, 「リンク」 is quite well-known in Japan as the hero of <i>The Legend of Zelda</i>; it just wouldn't feel right to break this referential link.<br />
<br />
The Refraktia twins are a clear nod to Geminiman from <i>Megaman 3</i>, with a touch of Split Mushroom (<i>Megaman X4</i>) and Armored Armadillo (<i>Megaman X</i>).<br />
<br />
There's one more new face in <i>Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel</i>, but that's a surprise I'd rather not spoil before the game is even released.<br />
<br />
Oh, while we're on the subject of <i>RKSF's</i> release:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggaiEufOt1kL_GTYK8fnSUbODiqwjm4R_v_OKF1_nsFTust2-0FsYUE9dVzjqakbZukp_UAjtt8empD8DK9U2vVXmsAWoZV2cz8blzonUUGsSJvxqOc4klf3WL-6AjCUM3gYgY9NQ3jg4/s1600/Soon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggaiEufOt1kL_GTYK8fnSUbODiqwjm4R_v_OKF1_nsFTust2-0FsYUE9dVzjqakbZukp_UAjtt8empD8DK9U2vVXmsAWoZV2cz8blzonUUGsSJvxqOc4klf3WL-6AjCUM3gYgY9NQ3jg4/s400/Soon.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
That's much sooner than you were expecting, huh? Well, have fun! We'll continue with the Development Diary after you've had a chance to play around with the game.<br />
<br />
See you next time!TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-81269581449769550992017-08-18T00:10:00.005-04:002017-08-18T00:38:39.475-04:00RKSF Developer Diary #2 - Hey, That's New!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib5QdQlHcbl6dpcDtTVgIVKN-mejOicJcpVuJ0Zir8AdSVnP7XS61B8xSSFPkvX66lny2W7wVCJLdaCei2ghKH4S71cFymhe2M5Uh_MqGJo4wxSxIKdZ_43emd_185SXngNiirIIn4ac0/s1600/Warp+Zone.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib5QdQlHcbl6dpcDtTVgIVKN-mejOicJcpVuJ0Zir8AdSVnP7XS61B8xSSFPkvX66lny2W7wVCJLdaCei2ghKH4S71cFymhe2M5Uh_MqGJo4wxSxIKdZ_43emd_185SXngNiirIIn4ac0/s400/Warp+Zone.png" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just one pipe, huh?<br />
Well, at least we have infinite time.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
...And we're back!<br />
<br />
In our last Developer Diary entry, we had a look at some of the changes made during the localization of the original <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i> that we carried over to the English version of <i>Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel</i>. This time around, we'll be looking at some of the little tweaks in the English version of <i>Freudenstachel</i> that you'd be forgiven for not noticing.<br />
<br />
To start things off, let's pay a visit to everyone's favorite pajama-clad shut-in, Schwer-Muta Casasola Merkle. While her Metalman-inspired "The Black Playground" stage featured a brief homage to <i>Super Mario Bros.</i>, <i>Freudenstachel's</i> "The Zeppy Ruins" goes even further with its tribute to the Mushroom Kingdom, featuring blue skies, sentient clouds oddly resembling a certain cephalopod, marching mushrooms, blocks, pipes, and even a flagpole and fort at the "end" of the stage. With the presentation practically screaming <i>Super Mario All-Stars</i>, it goes without saying that we just had to match the presentation of the 16-bit version of the retro classic, reusing the <i>Super Mario 64</i> font from the original <i>RKS</i> as appropriate.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdC-TfM34qA2YzTcExv1aj0TLYenbcITv4BXOMt13R4QbMFismIdNGhU-GITdTliniGAGoCNpOnchON48IXtb2EpnAYWMfY5nXg6MtbUuEttqILDs44FUxsL02CXompwvl1m3GoZNCidU/s1600/Stage+Clear.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdC-TfM34qA2YzTcExv1aj0TLYenbcITv4BXOMt13R4QbMFismIdNGhU-GITdTliniGAGoCNpOnchON48IXtb2EpnAYWMfY5nXg6MtbUuEttqILDs44FUxsL02CXompwvl1m3GoZNCidU/s400/Stage+Clear.png" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It looks like someone forgot the ball<br />
finial on the top of the flagpole...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Amusingly enough, there are a few minor oversights in this segment that made their way into the final version of the game. First off, the flag and flagpole are white and green, respectively, in the original version of <i>Super Mario Bros.</i>, whereas their colors are reversed in the <i>Super Mario All-Stars</i> remake. Curiously, the <i>Freudenstachel</i> rendition uses the NES color scheme. Since the background is modeled after the <i>All-Stars</i> version, the flag unintentionally appears to fade into the clouds.<br />
<br />
For the English version of <i>Freudenstachel</i>, we added a subtle gray edge to the flag itself to help it stand out against the background. If you have a decent monitor, you don't even need to expand the image to the left to notice the difference. Should we have reversed the colors instead and made the stage consistently follow suit with <i>All-Stars</i>, or do you think this understated tweak a better solution? Let us know in the comments below. <br />
<br />
For obvious reasons, we also updated the "World 1-8" to reflect that this is effectively <i>Rosenkreuzstilette 2</i>. Was it necessary? Not it all. Was it worth it? For anyone who notices the little touches in their games: absolutely.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi49YasApYu5z5x2_fnWax9gi6x0okNmVJSebNufzUsfYM1FVDa9cNPVb7WO5K7pauvxdRQoDaUqVabhCHG5jiyrDA-TKDY7VHZRUzjnh4TNRMlKFU0lSLe0oJRX6hHmPo7mf0OfQoXdhE/s1600/Weapon+Select.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi49YasApYu5z5x2_fnWax9gi6x0okNmVJSebNufzUsfYM1FVDa9cNPVb7WO5K7pauvxdRQoDaUqVabhCHG5jiyrDA-TKDY7VHZRUzjnh4TNRMlKFU0lSLe0oJRX6hHmPo7mf0OfQoXdhE/s400/Weapon+Select.png" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Message From Mr. Zeppy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Once we begin exploring the depths of the Zeppy Ruins, a familiar face can be found carved in the walls alongside a message written in archaic script.<br />
<br />
Wait, did I just say "archaic"? I take that back. It's retro, not archaic...<br />
<br />
Anyway, well-seasoned gamers may recognize the images of a top, a shuriken, and a needle at the bottom of the mural as the icons of particular armaments in the Blue Bomber's arsenal: namely, the Top Spin, the Shadow Blade, and the Needle Cannon from <i>Megaman 3</i>. The inscription itself is modeled after the transmissions sent by Dr. Light whenever the good doctor completes one of his new inventions in <i>Megaman 2</i>.<br />
<br />
It was a bit of a challenge to get the wording of the English rendition <i>just right</i>, accurately conveying the meaning of the riddle on the wall while preserving the nods to both games. The screenshot to the right depicts the "question" that the player needs to solve in order to proceed. An "answer" engraving can be found two screens away from this one (of course, if you find it, that likely means that you chose poorly and cost Freudia her life...).<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqQ6ZVGQpgzTIlh5Gn-myIbHLlfJP0nnyzxgDUQWdmA9KlpX78XF39-vl3cK4wkYYsBPItbOJZUY18itJtiNfEdoXbr86zxVvorkDTtaa69YhKaa_7Th9o8mJHQklP0kSqHd4Z6z25TL8/s1600/Count+Bomb.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqQ6ZVGQpgzTIlh5Gn-myIbHLlfJP0nnyzxgDUQWdmA9KlpX78XF39-vl3cK4wkYYsBPItbOJZUY18itJtiNfEdoXbr86zxVvorkDTtaa69YhKaa_7Th9o8mJHQklP0kSqHd4Z6z25TL8/s400/Count+Bomb.png" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For a second, these two screenshots looked<br />
like they had naturally merged together...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Let's skip ahead a considerable bit and check out Schirach's Sandstorm Stage. Naturally, the Count Bombs in this stage are modeled after their explosive counterparts from <i>Megaman 6</i>. Curiously, WOMI decided to take the seven incarnations of the upright bomb, rotate all seven sprites, one at a time, to create the other three detonator variants, and apply shading and highlights to all thirty-five sprites individually.<br />
<br />
For the English version of <i>RKSF</i>, we decided to remake the Count Bomb graphics, keeping the timer facing the same direction no matter where its detonator was located. The reason for this change was two-fold. First, the source material always had the timers facing the same direction; it's only appropriate that the <i>RKSF</i> renditions follow suit. Second, graphic designers in video games have a responsibility to ensure that all graphical elements are user-friendly and easily-legible. For example, when you look at an HP gauge, you should be able to figure out how much HP you have in an instant. In this case, the fraction of a second needed to tilt your head and read the timers properly could mean the difference between the bombs exploding in your face or not.<br />
<br />
Whoa, it's past midnight already? It looks like I spent too much time gathering screenshots for this post. Well, I'll just have to wrap things up here for now.<br />
<br />
In the next Developer Diary, we'll be meeting the new members of the <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i> universe. See you then!TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-56325352690026194202017-08-17T20:07:00.003-04:002017-08-18T00:38:12.623-04:00Provisional RKSF Developer Diary - O Captain, My Captain!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmTO5DXi_KacmraBmZTuTXNfxcVXsaZygixKB5ggAWKKfl5qAYgntFuPQ9rSnU3EihTKbxkAycDCx-ffl8mMlDwUL5596_e1ohVtkej7EqcCxo9lN2b7xFVCct79ZBTlHu-f0Pyoa9dic/s1600/Salute.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="858" data-original-width="1500" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmTO5DXi_KacmraBmZTuTXNfxcVXsaZygixKB5ggAWKKfl5qAYgntFuPQ9rSnU3EihTKbxkAycDCx-ffl8mMlDwUL5596_e1ohVtkej7EqcCxo9lN2b7xFVCct79ZBTlHu-f0Pyoa9dic/s320/Salute.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's been an honor serving under you...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hello, everyone. It's time for the next installment of the <i>RKSF Developer Diary</i>.<br />
<br />
Before we get started on today's entry, there's a proverbial elephant in the room that I need to address. Many among you may be aware of the fact that I work as the de facto assistant manager of a Thai restaurant to pay the bills, keep a roof over my head, and replace any equipment I need for my localization work (whether it be my <a href="http://schwer-muta.blogspot.ca/2016/01/provisional-rks-developer-diary-as.html" target="_blank">glasses</a>, my <a href="http://schwer-muta.blogspot.ca/2015/11/provisional-rks-developer-diary-oh-you.html" target="_blank">hard drive</a>, or my <a href="http://schwer-muta.blogspot.ca/2016/07/passing-torch.html" target="_blank">entire computer system</a>). To borrow a phrase from Spiritia: "But people... people aren't the same. People can't be replaced."...<br />
<br />
Two days after my last blog post, Betty Toye, the owner of our restaurant, suddenly passed away. The story of her passing is a tragic one, and one that should give fans of <i>Angel Beats</i> a serious case of <i>déj</i><i>à vu</i>. In all honesty, this story isn't mine to tell. If I mention that Betty's death felt too close to Masami Iwasawa's for comfort, I'm sure the vast majority of you will be able to piece together what happened and how.<br />
<br />
Let me be completely serious for a moment:<br />
<br />
If you ever take a blow to the head, for any reason, <i>go see a doctor immediately</i>. It doesn't matter if you feel alright or not, if you're part of a sports team and that head injuries "just come with the territory". It only takes a moment of misplaced bravado to give yourself a death sentence. Even if you do try to get help, the doctors might not be able to get to you in time...<br />
<br />
It goes without saying that things have been rough at my day job without Betty around. Unlike most bosses, she was pretty hands-on with everything. Friendly, outgoing, and in terrific shape for someone her age (she was 67, but had the energy of someone in their thirties). As you can imagine, as the de facto assistant manager, it's been my duty to step up and take charge of things at the restaurant while my manager (Betty's son-in-law) tends to his family. It's been a rough couple of weeks, and there's nothing we can do but move forward on our own.<br />
<br />
I'm sorry for starting things off on a depressing note, but this is something I really needed to get off of my chest. Betty wasn't the first person close to me to have died this year (my friend Richard passed away in March), but this is the first time someone so integral to my day-to-day life has died. It's no exaggeration to say that there's a dark void at the restaurant that we're doing our best to fill. It's only a matter of time before we're back to business as usual (pun not intended). If you don't hear from me for a while, you'll know exactly where I am and what I'm doing.<br />
<br />
I suppose it's perfect timing that I was able to hand off the revised source code to our publisher before this recent slew of developments.<br />
<br />
Now that I've said what I needed to say, let's get back into the swing of things. Join me in a few hours for our regularly-scheduled programming...<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>(Oh, who am I kidding? We've never had a "regular" schedule...)</i></span>TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-15164944248845847042017-07-23T18:31:00.002-04:002017-07-25T15:10:27.276-04:00RKSF Developer Diary #1 - Recycle Cycle<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1i63HC_dIRcvF5lNf6SAt783Ly4KPGuTlNo7HARpOg076VSzoATzF1xqfUVIUKjhhowKyt-rBLNgmSV3794DV2QG9_IsxMAZM4y5Y_CQgLdifn3U8Y6TORhiTRWJi8gpL8xENfrbf1qU/s1600/Title.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1i63HC_dIRcvF5lNf6SAt783Ly4KPGuTlNo7HARpOg076VSzoATzF1xqfUVIUKjhhowKyt-rBLNgmSV3794DV2QG9_IsxMAZM4y5Y_CQgLdifn3U8Y6TORhiTRWJi8gpL8xENfrbf1qU/s400/Title.png" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's no point in denying it:<br />
the <i>RKSF</i> Title Screen is <i>much</i> cooler.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hello, everyone!<br />
<br />
It's been a long haul, and I know that many among you have been waiting for years to catch a glimpse of the English version of <i>Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel</i>. Well, wait no more: it's time for the first installment of the <i>RKSF Developer Diary</i>!<br />
<br />
Before we dive into what's changed between the original <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i> and its sequel, I figured it'd be appropriate to have a look at what's stayed the same between the two games. By that, I mean what changes we made for the English version of <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i> that we were able to carry over to <i>Freudenstachel</i>.<br />
<br />
As many of you are no doubt aware, eight of the ten first-generation <i>Megaman</i> titles use the same assets and sprites with nearly imperceptible differences in the game's mechanics and physics. It should come as no surprise that <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i> follows suit, preserving what worked in the original while subtly changing what didn't. As we'll see in future entries, some elements that <i>Freudenstachel</i> borrows from the classic Blue Bomber have been used to create something completely different.<br />
<br />
I'm getting ahead of myself, though. Let's start at the beginning.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpN0bGrkjuY4X8IrFZLTWWA73GkSRwvdc6uMIiBMxWyXfpcbnAQRhYNsX9i9uXQaqddNVF0x8CzlY6OPQ68A3Gzk1cXGRS5tWaQmk5Y18eICDy9wYQMoj1eO7BD29O5pfccqyzk0cfV88/s1600/%255Berkaes%255D+Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpN0bGrkjuY4X8IrFZLTWWA73GkSRwvdc6uMIiBMxWyXfpcbnAQRhYNsX9i9uXQaqddNVF0x8CzlY6OPQ68A3Gzk1cXGRS5tWaQmk5Y18eICDy9wYQMoj1eO7BD29O5pfccqyzk0cfV88/s320/%255Berkaes%255D+Logo.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I couldn't tell you if this was a screenshot<br />
from <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i> or <i>Freudenstachel</i>...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Surprising absolutely no one, the [erka:es] logo and bonus scenario overlay haven't changed a bit from the original game. <i>Exciting stuff, I'm sure.</i> <i>RKSF's</i> file structure contains an entire directory of files lifted straight from the original <i>RKS</i>. Rather than straight-up copy the files from the original English release of <i>RKS</i>, I decided to take the opportunity to make some stealthy touch-ups to these graphics and export them to both the launch build of <i>Freudenstachel</i> and Version 2.10a of <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i>. When the update goes live for <i>RKS</i>, don't be surprised if some things feel <i>just a little bit</i> different that you remember them. For the most part, it's nothing worth spotlighting here. I doubt anyone would really notice that a handful of elements on the Status Subscreen were nudged over by a few pixels, for example.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTnEKoBlnAuhDdBuXlIvJQexpayXpkao0PuDLXR8PrgjQohPVbkvbyx3_49gLiVp0OptCO13uZMBtW6YWhUMww6EzlLgvSrh368qPWX0jVcDYBkEcx7A6Qm584ErZdJnFa4v4rwcG4OW0/s1600/Opening.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTnEKoBlnAuhDdBuXlIvJQexpayXpkao0PuDLXR8PrgjQohPVbkvbyx3_49gLiVp0OptCO13uZMBtW6YWhUMww6EzlLgvSrh368qPWX0jVcDYBkEcx7A6Qm584ErZdJnFa4v4rwcG4OW0/s400/Opening.png" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The more things change,<br />
the more they stay the same.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Once the opening text crawl fades in, I'm sure many among you may be experiencing a bit of déjà-vu. Don't worry: it's not just your imagination. The text may be a different color and set over a moonlit castle instead of a twilit cathedral, but first couple of lines of text in <i>Freudenstachel</i> are word-for-word identical to their counterparts in the prequel. This repetition was done specifically to allow people who hadn't played the original <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i> to bring themselves up to speed without wasting any time on lengthy exposition dumps. The rest of the text crawl recaps what has happened since the events of the first game in the same vein as <i>Megaman X2</i>. One of the most common complaints about the opening cutscene in the first <i>RKS</i> was that the expository banter between Spiritia and Lilli was <i>sooo looong</i>. While <i>Freudenstachel</i> begins on a similar note, there's a sense of urgency to its plot that forces the characters to get a move on and not waste time mincing words.<br />
<br />
Of course, there have always been a few characters in the <i>RKS</i> universe that don't particularly pay attention to the grand scheme of things. Their interactions with the rest of the cast remain as amusing as ever.<br />
<br />
As you can see in the screenshots at the top of this post, the changes I made to <i>Rosenkreuzstilette's</i> Title Screen have been carried over to <i>Freudenstachel's</i>. In other words, choosing the default "Game Start" options begin a new game at the very beginning of Story Mode instead of at the Stage Select Screen in Arcade Mode. This time around, if you're playing through Story Mode and wish to skip text that you've already read through, you can press the Status button to skip the remainder of that scene instead of hammering the Confirm button or holding the Cancel button.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnwbhb_28zV4Y43UTJmPlx_eP0oV31v-mB1JUVKgwg31rOEnMUtHquzC1A_Zax98zBi5jc-5YfpBlWoXDpx3jxVFZOUnV5CwI_M35fsFW2xQZm4cp35FWXt3tWfXqquj8khyphenhyphentx3JtJWpo/s1600/Settings.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1281" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnwbhb_28zV4Y43UTJmPlx_eP0oV31v-mB1JUVKgwg31rOEnMUtHquzC1A_Zax98zBi5jc-5YfpBlWoXDpx3jxVFZOUnV5CwI_M35fsFW2xQZm4cp35FWXt3tWfXqquj8khyphenhyphentx3JtJWpo/s320/Settings.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No silhouettes or frames this time around;<br />
other than that, they're pretty much the same.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The Options and Controls Menus are pretty much what you'd expect them to be; I covered our tweaks to them in detail in <a href="http://schwer-muta.blogspot.ca/2015/09/rks-developer-diary-2-options-options.html" target="_blank"><i>RKS Developer Diary #2</i></a>. <i>Freudenstachel's</i> Options Menus follow its predecessor's in every respect save for one:<br />
<br />
When I was working on <i>Freudenstachel's</i> Options Menus, I did so without really consulting their counterparts in the original <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i>. It didn't occur to me at the time to carry the frames and silhouettes that I'd added to the Grollschwert incarnation of these graphics over to the sequel. The Options Menus for both the Freudenstachel and Weißsilber scenarios are almost identical to their respective Title Screens, so I never noticed that something might be missing until I started compiling screenshots for this blog post.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1a64a_q_zUHAnFzUiunFxAt3SBVHLo9-qeRPSiv1GCJ0oA_vq7ySB7B20lZ2eyAgmR5YkLLXntJVCpAhOjVlaRDA2r39u33lPFV7ET4ubI6SibuPJjHMLQNu_obM7DXaEwp17zAmFKvU/s1600/Status.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1a64a_q_zUHAnFzUiunFxAt3SBVHLo9-qeRPSiv1GCJ0oA_vq7ySB7B20lZ2eyAgmR5YkLLXntJVCpAhOjVlaRDA2r39u33lPFV7ET4ubI6SibuPJjHMLQNu_obM7DXaEwp17zAmFKvU/s400/Status.png" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's a lot of blue...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Still, even without these touches, the menus look great. If <i>Freudenstachel</i> ends up requiring an update later down the line, I might take the opportunity to add the shadows and borders back in. As it stands, though, I'm perfectly fine with the game shipping with the menus in their current state.<br />
<br />
There isn't really much to say about the presentation of the Status Subscreen that I haven't already said in <a href="http://schwer-muta.blogspot.ca/2015/12/and-were-back.html" target="_blank">RKS Developer Diary #6</a>. In the Japanese version of <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i>, the rollover graphic for each ability featured the name of each ability in German as well as its meaning in Japanese. For the English versions of the game, we replaced the Japanese translations with their English equivalents. In <i>Freudenstachel</i>, the rollover graphics <i>don't</i> feature Japanese translations of each ability's name; instead, they spell out the name of each ability in katakana to help Japanese natives pronounce them all properly. This information isn't all that useful to English-speaking players; after all, the majority of us can't read katakana, and we have Freudia's sound clips to clarify how each name is supposed to be pronounced. So, for the sake of consistency with the original <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i>, we decided to replace the katakana renderings with the English renditions of each name. Before you ask: yes, we will be exploring these in detail in a future developer diary entry.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKx8zEGoZZ3UdH12mQpgoTGAKDf03xgGLSZqYfVriY_mfCjBghdO7qaQSb4ijteXkdRrKY8owAusuneO0Yy_PKQIRGuNzVpJwhG9xF-yd80J_ZqPVsgRHt7Wyf-UpxwseMgDy2dds3y-c/s1600/Fama+Fraternitatis.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1281" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKx8zEGoZZ3UdH12mQpgoTGAKDf03xgGLSZqYfVriY_mfCjBghdO7qaQSb4ijteXkdRrKY8owAusuneO0Yy_PKQIRGuNzVpJwhG9xF-yd80J_ZqPVsgRHt7Wyf-UpxwseMgDy2dds3y-c/s320/Fama+Fraternitatis.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Decisions, decisions...<br />
If only there were a book that<br />
claimed to hold all the answers...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
You may recall from <a href="http://schwer-muta.blogspot.ca/2015/09/rks-developer-diary-4-choose-your.html" target="_blank">RKS Developer Diary #4</a> that <i>RKS's</i> Stage Select screen features a handful of verses from Christianity's Holy Bible. These verses return in the sequel, both on the original Rosenkreuzstilette version of the Stage Select Screen as well as the Schwarzkreuz incarnation that is unlocked after all eight main stages have been completed. The very same Bible verses appear yet again during the battle with the Homunculi, adorning the background of every single room during the boss rush. It's like the Bible is following you around every time you need to make a decision...<br />
<br />
Naturally, we made a point of touching-up the German and integrating our English localization as seamlessly as possible.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJrfsICCOJEuJafZAA1nLqkB1gitM5fTHzTYyBVtT51DOlLRoCmu-Gi5NAgRIND5oKhLJFEWPK_kMuO6phQlHSjxGfUnGtCAtKYtWIXqtYIkNZKkhsnyH3Kl_lTf5p5Utd_w6qwCxPMsI/s1600/Game+Over.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJrfsICCOJEuJafZAA1nLqkB1gitM5fTHzTYyBVtT51DOlLRoCmu-Gi5NAgRIND5oKhLJFEWPK_kMuO6phQlHSjxGfUnGtCAtKYtWIXqtYIkNZKkhsnyH3Kl_lTf5p5Utd_w6qwCxPMsI/s320/Game+Over.png" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yep, empty passwords work<br />
the way they're supposed to.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
To wrap things up for this inaugural entry, let's have a quick look at the game's system strings. You may recall that, whenever you get a Game Over, complete a stage, or hit the Pause button to save a replay, some rather tidy English text appears in both the English and Japanese versions of the game prompting you to make a decision. In the original <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i>, this text was written in Bookman Old Style in black text with a white outline; in <i>Freudenstachel</i>, the same text appears in Times New Roman in white with a pale blue outline. In the spirit of <i>Megaman</i>, we felt it would be more appropriate to maintain the same style of presentation between entries while giving each entry just a bit of its own identity. So, we decided to use Bookman Old Style throughout (it's the same font as the Stage Select Screen, after all) while retaining the original colors from the Japanese versions. We applied this same philosophy to the boss introductions and the ending credits.<br />
<br />
Well, that's all for now. I have a vague idea of what I'll shine a spotlight on next time, but, if there's anything in particular that you'd like to see, be sure to ask for it in the comments below!<br />
<br />
See you next time!TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-68222293318102407032017-05-21T19:49:00.001-04:002018-04-01T14:30:56.982-04:00State of the Schwesternschaft<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdPzNtiFtvOXgwOn5sEsMKSYg6W9HMqTOat6EeW1Q9cGmbNlK-VrRBqkd0vGWiG-U6Q2aElRD4cwZVZjgmi9fHIA5kSC7rnTUUW0qOjkH-Gybwt6VGLzMQHH9_gKO4goACeeuVQ3XGSis/s1600/president.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdPzNtiFtvOXgwOn5sEsMKSYg6W9HMqTOat6EeW1Q9cGmbNlK-VrRBqkd0vGWiG-U6Q2aElRD4cwZVZjgmi9fHIA5kSC7rnTUUW0qOjkH-Gybwt6VGLzMQHH9_gKO4goACeeuVQ3XGSis/s320/president.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"My fellow Rosicrucians..."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hello, everyone! It's been a while!<br />
<br />
I have to apologize for the extended silence on this blog since the official English release of <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i>. Without going into too much detail, our free time has become somewhat of an endangered species these past few months. Juggling getting <i>Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel</i> ready for its English debut along with lots of overtime at my day job, some personal drama, and the death of a good friend has left me with little time to write up any meaningful posts. As you probably already know, I'd rather wait until I have the time to do something right than attempt to half-assedly wing it, so I've resisted the urge to write any insubstantial "still alive" posts here on Schwer and Schwer Alike. I'm sorry if that decision has caused any of you to worry about the fate of <i>Freudenstachel</i>.<br />
<br />
It's been three and a half months since <i>Rosenkreuzstilette's</i> official release, and I have to admit that I'm a bit conflicted about the game's reception. On one hand, professional translators and longtime doujin games enthusiasts have been ecstatic about the game's official release. Clyde Mandelin (whom many of you may know as the man behind <a href="http://mother3.fobby.net/" target="_blank">the <i>Mother 3</i> fan translation</a>) invited me to tell our story on his <a href="http://legendsoflocalization.com/how-one-fan-translation-team-turned-official/" target="_blank">Legends of Localization</a> website. Censored Gaming, much to my surprise, adapted that article into a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQmqRmj7M5s" target="_blank">short video</a> congratulating our professional debut. A small handful of YouTube Let's Players have shone a spotlight on the game, and I couldn't be more flattered by their starstruck reactions when identifying myself in the comments section of their videos. The positive vibes have seriously helped me with some of the pain I've had to work through in my personal life as of late. I never imagined anyone would be that excited to meet me; it's the perfect remedy for treating a broken heart.<br />
<br />
On the flip side, there's been a whole lot of indifference and even some outright hostility towards <i>RKS's</i> English release. In the span of over three months, not one major gaming news outlet has reviewed <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i>, not even the ones we passed free review copies to. According to <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/rosenkreuzstilette" target="_blank">Metacritic</a>, a single enthusiast website has reviewed the game, giving it a satisfied <a href="http://www.hardcoregamer.com/2017/02/11/review-rosenkreuzstilette/245657/" target="_blank">4 out of 5</a>. Metacritic doesn't assign its own score to a game until at least four high-profile outlets have given it a shot, so <i>RKS</i> currently has a Metascore of "tbd". Given how stoked the <i>Megaman</i> fanbase was for a spiritual successor to the Blue Bomber, you'd think classic gaming sites would be all over this release...<br />
<br />
To be totally honest, I wanted my first post-release blog entry to showcase the coverage the game has received; I can't really do that when there's barely any coverage worth showcasing...<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyh79wGrE9PHqO2LVv0LGoe_FHaEGSVjr70j_HgM7mgkO6rt1GLLiiUJjVwue964m1oTCGPly1MTyCVcRQ1D6cShWhyxs1DrJnY5OO7cFtfFec-06a2LbP88PVa__p9p0XqVTkmbEo8CI/s1600/es-jay-dubya.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyh79wGrE9PHqO2LVv0LGoe_FHaEGSVjr70j_HgM7mgkO6rt1GLLiiUJjVwue964m1oTCGPly1MTyCVcRQ1D6cShWhyxs1DrJnY5OO7cFtfFec-06a2LbP88PVa__p9p0XqVTkmbEo8CI/s320/es-jay-dubya.png" width="208" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This would-be activist doesn't seem to<br />
realize that <i>The Emperor's New Clothes</i><br />
isn't pornography. If s/he does, we<br />
have a clear double-standard here.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
To top it all off, although Steam reviews of the game are overall "Very Positive", there are what I can only describe as Social Justice Wankers harassing players on the Steam forums, openly calling them basement-dwelling pedophiles and questioning why Steam allows the "sexual exploitation of young girls" on its service. I won't dignify this accusation beyond what you see to the left; I'll let the screencaps speak for themselves.<br />
<br />
Anyway, onto more relevant news:<br />
<br />
We submitted our release candidate of <i>Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel</i> to Playism in mid-April. I'll be submitting a revised release candidate later this week to correct a minor bug that slipped by us (in the previous build, random large Vitality Orb drops were automatically being replaced by small ones...). We also submitted Version 2.10a of the original <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i> a few weeks ago. This version integrates a certain well-known official mod into the game, fixes up a few minor bugs, and touches up the graphics here and there (including a good chunk of the Game Over references). Per our publisher's request, I've left any remaining tasks (bugfixes, achievements, subtitles for <i>Freudenstachel</i>) in their hands for the sake of expediency.<br />
<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, I have some bad news to share. Playism has officially pulled its support for hard copies and English language voicework for the game. That isn't to say that these two key elements of <i>Schwesternschaft</i> have been scrapped; Playism just isn't able to cover our costs. However, they've gracefully stepped aside on the subject of the <i>R05</i> artbook and will allow us to work with another publisher to get the artbook financed, localized, and printed. We already have a party interested in partnering with us for <i>R05</i> as well as the production of merch like keychains and postcards. We'll keep you posted on that topic whenever we have anything to announce. If things go well and these physical goods sell as well as we hope, we may well be able to salvage everything we've already invested into <i>Schwesternschaft</i>...<br />
<br />
Well, that's enough out of me for now! Next time will be the inaugural entry of the <i>Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel Developer Diary</i>. I'm curious to know what you'd like me to shine a spotlight on first. Feel free to look back on our original RKS Developer Diary and suggest a debut topic in the comments below. There's a lot to cover before the game's English debut, and I'll try and add new posts whenever I'm able to make the time.<br />
<br />
Until then! TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-23921251388265695622017-02-03T02:00:00.000-05:002017-02-03T02:13:21.943-05:00It's Official: Rosenkreuzstilette Now Available!Hello, everyone!<br />
<br />
I've been wanting to write this post for ages. Well, the wait is finally over, and the years of hard work have finally paid off. <i>Rosenkreuzstilette -Blades of the Rose Cross-</i> has now made its <i>official</i> English language debut!<br />
<br />
It's been a little over eight years since Alex / TrickMasterMint and I first met on this very blog. That first encounter has had an enormous impact on my life these past few years. Sure, we butted heads often, but we remained fast friends. I'd like to think that our work is all the better for it. Seriously, man, I couldn't have done this without you. If you're ever in the Montreal area, I need to buy you a drink. It's, like, a law or something...<br />
<br />
Anyway! You can buy a copy of <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i> from either <a href="http://playism-games.com/game/308/rosenkreuzstilette" target="_blank">Playism</a> or <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/564150/" target="_blank">Steam</a> for $9.99 USD (with a 10% discount if you grab your copy within the next week). Like I said in my previous post, I highly recommend going through Playism since that route nets you a free Steam key.<br />
<br />
On a related note, I'm sure many of you have chanced upon a YouTuber by the name of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3Q13RAmFVfDkYOWnnqFM2A" target="_blank">Hadriex</a> and his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOJz0NJKDVg" target="_blank">cheeky-but-fair review</a> of <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i>. Well, he reached out to us and offered to make us a special trailer to commemorate the game's official release.<br />
<br />
What do you think?<br />
<br />
<iframe width="640" height="480" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/P37FRi2Ojps/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P37FRi2Ojps?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<br />
<br />
Be sure to leave your comments on Hadriex's trailer and our revised localization below. And, of course, have fun!TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-9636737562417488282017-01-26T01:13:00.000-05:002017-02-02T23:32:15.639-05:00Let the Countdown Begin!The time has finally come.<br />
<br />
After years of hard work, I'm proud to announce the official English release date of <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i>! Guess what? It's next week!<br />
<br />
Don't take my word for it, though. Here's the official trailer:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/j436-Xoz2uo" width="640"></iframe>
<br />
You can preorder the game from <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/564150" target="_blank">Steam</a> or <a href="http://playism-games.com/game/308/rosenkreuzstilette" target="_blank">Playism</a>. I recommend going through Playism; it comes with a free Steam key.<br />
<br />
<i>The curtain has risen; who can say what has yet to unfold?</i>TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-16834677765635664852017-01-24T22:16:00.000-05:002018-04-01T17:32:37.563-04:00RKS Developer Diary #14 - Background Info<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgracWQ1-07cR2EfiDnJn4oJzSpasdi6x1yqiopiBuH3fzbY6CwLCebozVn-Sq3CZYorjGYaA5QqtVUrJl_odleepW2oWWZeMi46maDlw-8GpgDr_2C5ub8hqtOouW0kC6WP4dQU498uAY/s1600/mario.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgracWQ1-07cR2EfiDnJn4oJzSpasdi6x1yqiopiBuH3fzbY6CwLCebozVn-Sq3CZYorjGYaA5QqtVUrJl_odleepW2oWWZeMi46maDlw-8GpgDr_2C5ub8hqtOouW0kC6WP4dQU498uAY/s320/mario.bmp" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
Hello, everyone!<br />
<br />
As promised in my last Dev Diary, this will be the final Developer Diary entry devoted to the original <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i>. A few aspects of the game's localization have changed since I last shone a spotlight on them in earlier entries, whether because of developer / publisher requests or because we were hit with a sudden burst of inspiration (for instance, "Escargot Kame" / "Snail Tortoise" has been officially renamed "Tortoisnail"). I've gone back and updated the text of earlier Developer Diary entries for the sake of consistency, but I've left the original screenshots intact so that you can compare development screenshots with the final release.<br />
<br />
Naturally, some of you may want to update the wiki to make sure the information it contains isn't out-of-date.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcs0pom905QrTfy4LSGK0Lpqqwu3JrX9xMkmMhi7zufBOjisC5HJpfzbyjNSEQo_MwlboRSr4G2MJZ19Cs_fS93twehOZGmiCx859u5n8scqfbovO9V5s_YAO5TYYio-ESMs2yivYEepU/s1600/sleipnir.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcs0pom905QrTfy4LSGK0Lpqqwu3JrX9xMkmMhi7zufBOjisC5HJpfzbyjNSEQo_MwlboRSr4G2MJZ19Cs_fS93twehOZGmiCx859u5n8scqfbovO9V5s_YAO5TYYio-ESMs2yivYEepU/s320/sleipnir.bmp" width="212" /></a></div>
As you can see from the screenshot above, we've revised the heads-up display for the <i>Super Mario Bros.</i> segment in Schwer-Muta's Stage. Because of the extended homage in Schwer's <i>Freudenstachel</i> level, we needed to be sure that the display worked with the "Welcome to Warp Zone" area. The mixed-case look we modeled after <i>New Super Mario Bros.</i> didn't quite look right, whereas the all-caps rendition was a much better match. In the end, we backported the changes to the original <i>RKS</i> for the sake of consistency.<br />
<br />
Since I'm sure many of these tweaks will go unnoticed, I figure I may as well draw attention to some of the changes we made to the stage backgrounds. If you have an old, low-contrast cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor, the color corrections we made to the tilesets of Luste's and Sichte's levels are practically invisible. On the other hand, if you have a more modern display with an adequate level of contrast (an LCD, OLED, TFT, or plasma screen display), the difference is obvious. As usual, click on the images to get a closer look.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw37Dz3AYcfjt9siWKF_-MS8BJXPKinCdsxMZgPUqiu0khQH7K5w8HdHJBEQTViiFhdZ8k4Y99BP440kgWF_lwpCQ0BzjblEz77xrQKoZPWCabak61bsSi0FXaspt2xbIJErPKvLe7tSs/s1600/zwerberg.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw37Dz3AYcfjt9siWKF_-MS8BJXPKinCdsxMZgPUqiu0khQH7K5w8HdHJBEQTViiFhdZ8k4Y99BP440kgWF_lwpCQ0BzjblEz77xrQKoZPWCabak61bsSi0FXaspt2xbIJErPKvLe7tSs/s320/zwerberg.bmp" width="212" /></a></div>
For the walls of Sleipnir, Luste's flying fortress, something about the gray-and-blue coloring of the pillars and statues just seemed a bit off and clashed with the look of the rest of the stage. It's a bit difficult to put into words, but I guess you could say the elements felt like they didn't really belong on the same screen. To correct the issue, we applied a collection of adjustment layers to the level's tileset so that the foreground and background elements properly complemented one another. It may be a subtle difference, sure, but it's something we felt was worth doing.<br />
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As for the masonry of Zwerberg's clock tower, take a good look at the screenshot to the right. For some reason, the bricks on the left side of the antechamber as well as the rear wall and ceiling are a different color than the rest of the stage. In fact, the entire tileset has a reddish tinge to it that isn't present in any of the background graphics -- something that really stands out when the tiles are placed side-by-side (like the area just below Tia's feet). We addressed the issue in the same manner as we did with Luste's stage, using a color dodge layer to remove the excess red and ensure that the color scheme was consistent.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkd22lixj3D98KoFRaJQCdYKJ5iSW4dpwKijJfzvPaxFlC1mnGm3NYfGazjkWi0YXpGCBy5WWQSXHyrU5XKZR9KtqKjz2IYF3r-PedvkncEV2bzr_Nt7lz82OypN9X3KtviUuqyLWXa00/s1600/warnung.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkd22lixj3D98KoFRaJQCdYKJ5iSW4dpwKijJfzvPaxFlC1mnGm3NYfGazjkWi0YXpGCBy5WWQSXHyrU5XKZR9KtqKjz2IYF3r-PedvkncEV2bzr_Nt7lz82OypN9X3KtviUuqyLWXa00/s320/warnung.bmp" width="212" /></a></div>
Onto more substantial changes. I'd bet that many of you took a Crossbone Tank to the face the first time you reached the midpoint of Schwer-Muta's stage before noticing the large sign in the background. Naturally, "warnung" means "warning" in German. We felt that adding such an obvious translation to the sign was unnecessarily redundant (just like the phrase "unnecessarily redundant"). In our fan translation, we added the line "beware of hazards" to try and hint to the player that they needed to think fast. In retrospect, that line of thinking was self-defeating; if they stop to read the sign, <i>of course</i> they were going to get hit in the face.<br />
<br />
For our official release, we decided to instead warn players about the contents of the canisters and update the sign to match something you'd find in an actual factory. So, with that kind of setting in mind, the choice was obvious. "Warnung: Hazardous Materials". We doubt that the new sign will prevent newcomers from getting smacked in the face by an overzealous portable suitcase, but at least they'll be able to laugh at themselves when they read the sign and realize what might have been in the tank.<br />
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Last, but not least, we have the background of the teleporter room in Iris Stage III. The rear wall sports the mirror image of a sinister message (with some random gibberish thrown in for some reason). In the official English version, we cleaned up the Engrish and formatted the text to give astute players a subtle hint regarding what lay ahead:<br />
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<i>Eins, Zwei, Drei...<br />Rosenkreuzstilette...<br />God knows<br />her death<br />is drawing near...<br />Hide your fear...<br /><br />Death<br />sleeps in<br />Heaven Hell<br />Delight Love<br />Joy Spite<br />Despair Sorrow<br />Foresight Anger<br /><br />Dry her tears<br />with blood...<br />You can stop<br />screaming now...</i></div>
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As you can tell from the screenshots, the text was formatted a bit differently in the original Japanese version. In both versions, the final lines are hidden by the teleporters leading to the Zorne and Sichte homunculi.<br />
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Look closely at the positions of each of the emotions in the second paragraph. Where have we seen these words before...? Are they alluding to something...? Hmmm...<br />
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Well, that's enough out of me for now. Thank you for following along with the <i>Rosenkreuzstilette Development Diary</i>. The next time we meet, it should be for the debut of the <i>Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel Development Diary</i>. Since the actual game is complete (my only remaining tasks involve the manual and the installer), feel free to request in the comments what you'd like me to explore with you first. Unless it's something I'd consider a spoiler, I'll be happy to oblige.<br />
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Oh, one more thing. I'm not sure how accurate this thing is, but if it's spot-on, I'd be very much looking forward to next week if I were you:<br />
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TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-63844744425269044632016-12-25T17:46:00.002-05:002018-12-25T17:46:55.506-05:00Updates and Happy Holidays!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hi, everyone! Merry Christmas!<br />
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Good god, the past while has been brutal. One of my coworkers at my day job (a foreign exchange student) wrapped up his employment to return home to Poland, necessitating a change in the entire crew's schedule. The day that schedule went into effect, another coworker got sick, forcing me to change my schedule again to cover for her sudden absence. As luck would have it, I got sick myself, but had to press on since we have no replacements at the moment (our next hiring call is in January). I'm managing as best as I can despite the health issues; the show must go on regardless. To top it off, my old Compaq (currently the only fully-set-up internet-capable machine at my place) is effectively dead. To give you an idea of how fickle the machine is in its current state: roll a 20-sided die. If you rolled a 1, the power to the laptop won't suddenly die during boot-up. Keep rolling the die every few minutes as the computer stays on; if you roll anything above a 10, the power suddenly dies. If you were saving a file at that moment, that file is now corrupt, so I hope you have a backup available!<br />
<br />
...I'd be tearing my hair out if I hadn't recently shaved my head bald...<br />
<br />
Anyway, our publisher has asked us to have<i> Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel</i> at release candidate status for the end of January. Rather than struggle with compatibility issues and figuring out which elements of my programming & graphics environment work on Windows 10 (and constantly test my patience with the Compaq), I dusted off my old-but-reliable Proteva tower so I could dive into my work right away. Unfortunately, this tower is quite old (from 2004), so it doesn't have wi-fi capabilities (and my apartment is completely wireless). In other words, I haven't been able to access the internet on a reliable basis for the past few months. So, as a consequence, I haven't had a means of updating this blog in any semblance of a regular fashion (I've replied to comments here and there via my work's wi-fi connection and my phone; unfortunately, the tiny screen and fickle connection don't lend themselves well to properly preparing a new Developer Diary entry...).<br />
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On the positive side, that means I've been devoting the bulk of my time to working on <i>Freudenstachel</i>. I'm happy to say that everything in that department is proceeding quite smoothly, if a little slower than I'd like. Once the game is ready for submission, I'll be preparing a slew of Dev Diary entries to show off the stuff we've accomplished these past few months. Suffice to say, I'm damned proud of our work. I'm also pleased to have fixed some of the issues present in the original game. Naturally, I'll share the full story on that front when my workload allows me to do so.<br />
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On behalf of everyone at Darkside Translations, Darksquid Media, Schwer and Schwer Alike, and Active Gaming Media, I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Wonderful Winter Solstice, and a joyous New Year. The year 2017 is going to be big for <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i>; quite fitting for the 10th anniversary of the original game's release.<br />
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See you soon!TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-34509365898658733912016-09-13T23:32:00.000-04:002017-01-24T16:57:30.023-05:00RKS Developer Diary #13 - Game Over, man!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXoR5emQpJJySDM8btLFUbu34SDek4YpljhuxCxyUkEW290WYw-9ahvHQTbkOjJiMTrhYkUbuvbuCss3XoQyShIVs7OvF6RdLrSQEpY-SbUDADZvIT8cgap7D_KKoHInfJjw2ykXWdsJY/s1600/gameover001.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXoR5emQpJJySDM8btLFUbu34SDek4YpljhuxCxyUkEW290WYw-9ahvHQTbkOjJiMTrhYkUbuvbuCss3XoQyShIVs7OvF6RdLrSQEpY-SbUDADZvIT8cgap7D_KKoHInfJjw2ykXWdsJY/s320/gameover001.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Murder on the Mississippi</i><br />
(Commodore 64)</td></tr>
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Hi, everyone! It's been too long since my last entry.<br />
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By now, it's no big surprise that my personal life gets pretty hectic at times. Sometimes, it's for the worse (my godmother / great aunt recently passed away, one of my roommates needed to move out because of financial problems, and my schedule at my day job has me working more hours than before). Sometimes, though, it's for the better (part of my schedule change is because I'm responsible for training a new hire, who -- lucky me! -- is an absolute beauty and a joy to work with). Still, I continue my work on <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i> during my off-hours, and my days off allow me to focus and make much quicker progress than the days where I'm forced to juggle my duties. Playism, WOMI, and Valve are doing their part in preparing <i>RKS</i> for its Steam debut, so my current circumstances thankfully don't have any impact on the original game's official release.<br />
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Onto today's developer diary!<br />
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I've just completed the Game Over screens for <i>Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel</i>, making this the perfect time to post about the Game Over screens for both games. I don't want to spoil the surprises in the sequel just yet, so I'll be concentrating on the Game Over references in the original game for the time being.<br />
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Without further ado:<br />
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<u><span id="goog_946856005"></span><span id="goog_946856006"></span>Prologue: <i>Murder on the Mississippi</i></u><br />
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A chronicle of the adventures of Sir Charles Foxworth, <i>Murder on the Mississippi</i> was only released on the MSX2 and the original Famicom in Japan. In the English-speaking world, the game was only released on the Commodore 64, the Commodore 128, and the Apple II. In this reference, Lilli plays the part of Sir Foxworth's faithful assistant Regis, mourning Spiritia's untimely death with Regis's signature "if only we could start over, we might be able to catch that villain...". I made a point of using the iconic font from the original Commodore 64 version to further reinforce the reference for truly old-school players.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvcR7n1vyEKKewbHSUw9BFlcRtYLY5kNg3Psfnh0yioWKT1LDqlt1GQyUhqhLJPVqm0LI1Zc4bGmnmwAYuzBagNPcpjFkghVgeMrDBOPgomnKnqDQAeOSoK4EAbtUc7DI7FrGEUfry4jw/s1600/gameover002.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvcR7n1vyEKKewbHSUw9BFlcRtYLY5kNg3Psfnh0yioWKT1LDqlt1GQyUhqhLJPVqm0LI1Zc4bGmnmwAYuzBagNPcpjFkghVgeMrDBOPgomnKnqDQAeOSoK4EAbtUc7DI7FrGEUfry4jw/s320/gameover002.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Racing Lagoon</i><br />
(PlayStation)</td></tr>
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<u>Freudia Stage: <i>Racing Lagoon</i></u><br />
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It feels like only yesterday that Squaresoft was experimenting with every game genre under the sun. Dubbed a "High Speed Driving RPG" by Square, <i>Racing Lagoon</i> was a racing game for the original PlayStation that never saw a release outside of Japan. The brushwork capital "R" in this reference is an undeniable nod to the game's cover art and title screen.<br />
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As I'm pleased to see many of you notice, I pay very close attention to detail in my work; I make a point of using the original fonts in each of the <i>RKS</i> references where I can. This practice applies not just to the Game Over homages, but to all of the graphics in the series.<br />
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<u>Zorne Stage: <i>Super Bomberman</i> Series</u><br />
<br />
In the early '90s, if you had a Super Nintendo, a Super Multitap, a few extra controllers and a copy of <i>Super Bomberman</i> or <i>Super Bomberman 2</i>, you could easily turn a get-together into a gaming party that lasted all night. It's a shame that only the first two Super Famicom titles were ever released in North America; the games were extremely fun, to say the very least. <br />
<br />
Since this Game Over reference didn't contain any English text, no changes needed to be made for the game's official English release.<br />
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<u>Trauare Stage: <i>Demon's Crest</i> / <i>Gargoyle's Quest</i></u><br />
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The winged demon in this Game Over reference is clear nod to the title screen of <i>Demon's Crest</i> for the Super Nintendo (released as <i>Demon's Blazon</i> in Japan). The incantation, on the other hand, is a nod to <i>Gargoyle's Quest</i> for the original Game Boy. Both games are entries in the <i>Firebrand</i> trilogy, a series of spinoffs set in Capcom's <i>Ghosts 'n Goblins</i> / <i>Ghouls 'n Ghosts</i> universe.<br />
<br />
Although I was quite proud of the cleanup work I did for the fan-translated version of this reference, nothing quite beats having the original Photoshop files to work with. I experimented with using the original <i>Ghosts 'n Goblins</i> series font for the English version, but the font was too big and weighty to look presentable. Instead, I opted to use a thinner, lighter font that preserved the feel of the original Japanese version and didn't make the composition heavier than it needed to be. <br />
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<u>Luste Stage: <i>The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil</i> / <i>S.T.U.N. Runner</i></u><br />
<br />
Ah, <i>Touhou Project</i>: the sleeper hit that launched the Japanese indie game craze in addition to creating its own genre of shoot 'em ups. The sight gag here is pretty self-explanatory to <i>Touhou</i> fans, recreating the cover art for <i>The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil</i> with Luste taking the place of Flandre Scarlet. Although WOMI claims that the "Insert Coin" text is intended as a reference to <i>S.T.U.N. Runner</i>, I think the text is just a bit too generic to credit to any particular arcade game. Oh, well...<br />
<br />
Unlike the rest of the graphics in the game, this particular reference was drawn by Isemiya instead of WOMI. Although I don't know the circumstances of their breakup (nor do I intend to ask), I can safely say that WOMI no longer possesses the original source files for this reference. That being the case, I fine-tuned the version from our fan translation for use in the official release instead of rebuilding the graphic with officially reconstructed materials. I'm particularly proud of how this one turned out; all of the German and Japanese text is translated and typeset specifically to match the appearance of the <i>Scarlet Devil</i> cover art. I can safely say that this graphic would look very different if <i>Touhou</i> was given an official physical English release.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGI9cGMb1Jq6Q9fuY-lNjjsOUA64zUPaYXGQIgV8C5_nfcB7xYKLPogTk2JJ2DBus7nka1qUNrrorS_RkuFQnDAkfPvhfb12bZw16ne0PN2MquIwsaBDKb4mjEX7atffToWBKTkcPrizs/s1600/gameover006.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGI9cGMb1Jq6Q9fuY-lNjjsOUA64zUPaYXGQIgV8C5_nfcB7xYKLPogTk2JJ2DBus7nka1qUNrrorS_RkuFQnDAkfPvhfb12bZw16ne0PN2MquIwsaBDKb4mjEX7atffToWBKTkcPrizs/s320/gameover006.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Final Fantasy Legend II</i><br />
(Game Boy)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>Grolla Stage: <i>Final Fantasy Legend II</i></u><br />
<br />
Known as <i>SaGa 2</i> in Japan, I remember borrowing this Game Boy title from a friend of mine back when I was in high school (I don't think I ever finished it, though...). This was one of the few Game Over references that I decided to completely rebuild from scratch instead of cleaning up the original Japanese graphics and inserting the English translations. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. For the official release, I decided to expand the reference a bit to further underscore the shout-out and make it more faithful to the source material.<br />
<br />
If you're interested, the Nintendo DS remakes of <i>Final Fantasy Legend II</i> and <i>III</i> have been fan-translated into English under the names <i>SaGa 2: Legend of the Relics -Goddesses of Destiny-</i> and <i>SaGa 3: Champions of Time and Space -Shadow or Light-</i> (what a mouthful). To the looks of it, they're of the same caliber as the 3D <i>Final Fantasy IV</i> remake. Good stuff.<br />
<br />
<u>Sichte Stage: <i>Jojo's Bizarre Adventure</i></u><br />
<br />
Although I'm not a fan of the <i>Jojo</i> series myself , I have to admit that I enjoyed searching through digital copies of Viz's manga release to pinpoint the exact panel being referenced by this sight gag. I'm already quite proud of the English rendition I created for our fan translation (rebuilt from scratch, no less). Even so, the revised version just feels <i>right</i> on so many levels. I'm kind of amused that Spiritia takes the place of Terrence T. d'Arby, a.k.a. "d'Arby the Player". In both cases, the player loses the game.<br />
<br />
<u>Liebea Stage: <i>The Tower of Druaga</i></u><br />
<br />
Amusingly enough, my introduction to <i>The Tower of Druaga</i> was its 2008 anime adaptation, <i>The Aegis of Uruk</i>, which lampooned the original arcade game for its obtuse design and frustrating level of difficulty. I can easily understand why the title is so infamous among old-school gamers. Like the <i>Super Bomberman</i> reference, this reference contains no text, so no changes were needed to prepare its official English version.<br />
<br />
<u>Schwer-Muta Stage: <i>Space Invaders</i></u><br />
<br />
This arcade classic has since become the face of Tommy Tallarico's <i>Video Games Live</i> tour. Though the game never really appealed to me, I can't deny its impact on the medium. For the fan-translated version of this reference, I decided to rebuild the graphic from scratch to correct a minor oversight: the 30-point alien sprite contained two blocks that weren't supposed to be there. When WOMI passed me his source files of the official release, I made a point of deleting those same blocks to ensure that the alien sprite was perfectly faithful to the arcade original. If that makes me a hairsplitter, so be it.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIt6sNraIYxRe_ahqTsKgySAcFHTR4Ay-oj0bXCxk03E3tvVEJbP4gy5g6uxAkbqYho-K3LczxtalZpEGWnItTFlBk78l5RQVoNxE6A5AeV06kg2tWTbMEBh_RvRlKBkHNRa0bOdQ-dBg/s1600/gameover007.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIt6sNraIYxRe_ahqTsKgySAcFHTR4Ay-oj0bXCxk03E3tvVEJbP4gy5g6uxAkbqYho-K3LczxtalZpEGWnItTFlBk78l5RQVoNxE6A5AeV06kg2tWTbMEBh_RvRlKBkHNRa0bOdQ-dBg/s320/gameover007.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Jojo's Bizarre Adventure</i><br />
(Manga - Viz Media)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>Zeppelin Stage I: <i>ActRaiser</i></u><br />
<br />
Known as <i>Actraiser</i> in Japan (no, I have no clue why they felt they needed to change the capitalization), this Super Nintendo platformer / God-game hybrid was one of the many games I would have passed over if not for the likes of amateur YouTube reviews like Joey DeSena's <a href="http://clanofthegraywolf.com/8/" target="_blank"><i>16-Bit Gems</i></a>. Since the game had an official English release, localizing the Japanese text with an appropriate font was a piece of cake.<br />
<br />
In ActRaiser, the player is referred to as "The Master" or "Sir <insert here="" name="" your="">" in the manual and game respectively. In our fan translation, I had Eins's dialogue match the manual ("Mistress Tia"); for the official release, I decided to follow the game's lead instead ("Lady Tia"). In both cases, I tweaked the frame of the text window a bit to further reinforce the reference.</insert><br />
<br />
<u>Zeppelin Stage II: <i>Dragon's Lair</i></u><br />
<br />
A nod to the NES adaptation of the game rather than the original arcade game. The Engrish typo in "Closs" in the original reference always bugged me, and I made a point of correcting the typo in our fan translation. When WOMI provided us with the original layers for this graphic, a sudden burst of inspiration prompted me to rebuild the interface portion of the graphic. Looking back, I think the Extra Life and Cross Tank icons are just a bit too big, but other than that, I'm satisfied with the results. I'll probably correct the issue in a post-release update, so there's nothing to worry about.<br />
<br />
<u>Zeppelin Stage III: <i>Shadowgate</i></u><br />
<br />
Like <i>Murder on the Mississippi</i>, <i>Shadowgate</i> is a point-and-click adventure game originally made for Western computers that was later ported to Japanese consoles. The game was considered quite a success, spawning several sequels and even a Kickstarter-funded remake. If you've played the visual novel parody <i>Hatoful Boyfriend</i>, you may recognize the title's Bad Ending screen as a bird-themed take on <i>Shadowgate's</i> Game Over screen.<br />
<br />
<i>Rosenkreuzstilette's</i> nod to <i>Shadowgate</i> is very true to the original, casting Thanatos Seyfarth in the role of the Grim Reaper. Observant players may notice how the reference subtly lends you a hand in defeating Thanatos, featuring which weapons are most effective against the wraith in the player's inventory. For the English versions, I rebuild the graphics from scratch yet again (as you've likely figured out by now, I enjoy doing this for 8-bit and 16-bit titles). For the official version, I've expanded that list of "Goods" to include all of the weapons effective against Seyfarth (in the off-chance that your Mana supply for his two primary weaknesses is exhausted).<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWDx38exxwrzn06VEZ53EVfDXTBZXynRIdvi0E05d3EOmi7Un7njp6L1C1a8YNYa9QLJQUmvUsxfB5jl4NIbisNif522MXOlsy1npBPEFcxvBJ8mvs-HuMjv_4T0bPo8lkMBDXIJEjg38/s1600/gameover014.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWDx38exxwrzn06VEZ53EVfDXTBZXynRIdvi0E05d3EOmi7Un7njp6L1C1a8YNYa9QLJQUmvUsxfB5jl4NIbisNif522MXOlsy1npBPEFcxvBJ8mvs-HuMjv_4T0bPo8lkMBDXIJEjg38/s320/gameover014.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Zoo Ball</i><br />
(Super Famicom)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>Zeppelin Stage IV: <i>Ninja Gaiden</i></u><br />
<br />
Here, <i>RKS</i> pays tribute to one of the hardest video game series of all time, <i>Ninja Gaiden</i>, with Nightwalker Zeppelin assuming the role of protaognist Ryu Hayabusa before his climactic battle with Jaquio. It's interesting to note that, from Zeppelin's point of view, his actions are entirely justified (not unlike the General in <i>Megaman X4</i>). But I digress...<br />
<br />
I was on the fence about whether I should localize this reference in the style of the NES original or the Super Nintendo remake; in the end, I decided to stick with the original. WOMI is smacking himself upside the head over the fact that, if a player is going through the game for the first time and loses all of their lives before reaching the Zeppelin, this reference technically spoils what should be a mid-battle twist. Oh, well -- those of us familiar with <i>Castlevania</i> saw that twist coming anyway...<br />
<br />
<u>Iris Stage I: <i>Zoo Ball</i></u><br />
<br />
Known as <i>Dolucky no Kusayakiu</i> (<i>Dolucky's Baseball Turf</i>) in Japan, this Coca-Cola-sponsored anthropomorphic baseball title was going to be released in English under the name <i>Zoo Ball</i>. Unfortunately, this never came to pass; the game was unceremoniously cancelled for reasons unknown. That's a shame; though I'm not a fan of sports games, I did enjoy my time with the Japanese version of <i>Zoo Ball</i>.<br />
<br />
This particular Game Over reference is a nod to the game's training mode. If your training goes badly and you fail that session's objectives, Dolucky's coach will make a lighthearted jab at you before encouraging you to give it your best shot next time. For the official English version, I retooled his dialogue to sound more like what a good coach would actually say in real life.<br />
<br />
<u>Iris Stage II: <i>The Legend of Zelda - Link's Awakening (DX)</i></u><br />
<br />
Sitting majestically atop Mount Tamaranch, the Wind Fish's Egg is the reason behind the English name of the level's boss, the Deviled Egg. Interestingly, this reference is a nod to both incarnations of the Game Boy's first <i>The Legend of Zelda</i> title. The monochrome palette is a definite callback to the original Game Boy release, while the clouds around the mountain's peak are only found in the Game Boy Color re-release, <i>Link's Awakening DX</i>.<br />
<br />
Naturally, nothing special needs to be done to this reference for the English release.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIDZM4xwSZeSUIniNX5FxFL4bAmGKOypCz27dHEHHK_wjucJvyGAGy_knW5mkg_hnrAQYQKzO84Dne_CG-PsNDwXCxhS-QidVAt2wGK1Y_I8ACNLL8EjdeYkH5Sg-6iiWutnKjMPqsjAo/s1600/gameover016.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIDZM4xwSZeSUIniNX5FxFL4bAmGKOypCz27dHEHHK_wjucJvyGAGy_knW5mkg_hnrAQYQKzO84Dne_CG-PsNDwXCxhS-QidVAt2wGK1Y_I8ACNLL8EjdeYkH5Sg-6iiWutnKjMPqsjAo/s320/gameover016.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Time Stranger</i><br />
(Famicom)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>Iris Stage III: <i>Time Stranger</i></u><br />
<br />
The video game adaptation of Studio Madhouse's 1986 animated feature, <i>Time Stranger</i> was only released on the Japanese Famicom by Kecmo (the same developer behind the NES version of <i>Shadowgate</i>). Though no English versions of the film or game were released prior to our original fan translation, I'm pleased to report that several fansub groups have released English translations of the film since that time.<br />
<br />
Of all of the localized graphics in our fan translation, the English version of the <i>Time Stranger</i> reference was the one that I was least satisfied with. I'm very happy to say that, for the official release, this one deserves to be recognized as the Biggest Improvement. If there's anything I'm not satisfied about with the final version, it's that the variable-width retro-look font I used doesn't lend itself well to maintaining a tidy right margin. This is a rare instance in which I would have preferred a fixed-width font.<br />
<u><br /></u>
<u>Final Stage: <i>Megaman Zero 2</i></u><br />
<br />
It just wouldn't be right if a <i>Megaman</i>-style game didn't make at least one of its shout-outs a nod to the Blue Bomber or one of his many spinoffs. Like the <i>Shadowgate</i> reference, this Game Over homage offers a subtle hint regarding how to take care of Iris (provided you chanced upon the secret treasure of the Black Forest earlier in the game, of course). Again, I opted to rebuild the graphic from scratch for the English version, and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.<br />
<br />
Aside from these seventeen references, I may or may not have hidden additional references in the game's code. I cannot elaborate on what I did or where to find them -- it'd spoil the surprise to talk about it before the game's even out.<br />
<br />
The next entry will be the last entry focused on the original <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i>. After that, the blog will move onto covering <i>Freudenstachel</i> material. Is there anything you'd like to know about the original game before it finally hits Steam and Playism? If so, leave a comment below and I'll try to include the answers you're looking for in the final installment of the <u>RKS</u> Developer Diary.<br />
<br />
See you then!TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-76404603134078838892016-08-01T04:30:00.000-04:002017-01-24T16:37:02.839-05:00RKS Developer Diary #12 - Your new name is "Mid-Boss".Hi, everybody!<br />
<br />
Things have been pretty hectic on our side of the pond lately. Our work on the original <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i> is more or less done. Now that we finally have our hands on the sequel's source code, we've finally begun working on <i>Freudenstachel</i> in earnest.<br />
<br />
As you may have noticed, a good chunk of the responsibilities for <i>RKS</i> fell squarely on my shoulders. I penned the final version of the English script, localized the graphics, reprogrammed the game engine to properly support English text and optional subtitles, you get the idea. It wasn't a one-man show by any means, but I did assume a disproportionate amount of the work. And the result of that thoughtless decision? Whenever anything happened that prevented me from working on the game for any reason (illness, hardware failure, problems at my day job, family emergency, and so on), our forward progress was halted until the matter was taken care of and I was able to work on the game again. I became what we refer to within the industry as a "bottleneck". As you can imagine, a few members of the project staff were less than satisfied with this state of affairs, and with damned good reason.<br />
<br />
Moving forward with <i>Freudenstachel</i>, I'll be reprising my role as the resident graphics editor and programmer, but I'll be leaving the polishing of the script in the hands of my good friend Xander (who also handled the casting and directing for the English voiceovers until we were asked to put the English voice project on hold). TrickMasterMint and DekuKirby are reprising their roles as well; we've simply reorganized ourselves to remove any bottlenecks and optimize our manpower. You can rest assured that it's still the same team working on the English version of <i>Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel, </i>so please continue looking forward to our finished release.<br />
<br />
Onto today's developer diary!<br />
<br />
This time around, we'll be having a look at the major enemies in the game that block your forward progress, but aren't quite on the same level as the bosses we shone a spotlight on last time. Like pretty much every other enemy in the game, Isemiya named each mid-boss in his commented code. Some of the names he chose are appropriate, while others have understandably been retconned by the sequel:<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwl9eGq92-8_WmauOcdIzYPm0-X9s-EVl7YMhqZ1WhJmTJt9un91kVxNOpznrHYBPI8TTk6vCfbSaGcI4UaNxn4Lbc4A7H51LvZziY99CGWjHIBd5dDcgVevycnnhrZJhuHRYHkWahogk/s1600/Hydra.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwl9eGq92-8_WmauOcdIzYPm0-X9s-EVl7YMhqZ1WhJmTJt9un91kVxNOpznrHYBPI8TTk6vCfbSaGcI4UaNxn4Lbc4A7H51LvZziY99CGWjHIBd5dDcgVevycnnhrZJhuHRYHkWahogk/s320/Hydra.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Great Hydra</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>Trauare Stage</u><br />
<br />
Japanese: 「大王イカ」<br />
English: "Great Hydra"<br />
<br />
The "Great Squid" in Japanese, we have two objections to preserving this name as the official English moniker. You probably didn't expect a company named "Darksquid Media" to veto a squid reference, huh? Well, for starters, this boss doesn't look like a squid at all; it's more of a many-headed sea serpent. Second, I'm sure you can agree that there's only one character worthy of the title of the "Great Squid" in the <i>RKS</i> series - and his name is Zeppy.<br />
<br />
On that note, if you'll excuse a quick tangent: a few fans have speculated that Zeppy may be a reference to "sepia", the German word for cuttlefish (an aquatic mollusk loosely resembling the squid, one bearing distinctly-shaped eyes). The English language adopted the word to refer to the characteristic reddish-brown color of its ink. We looked into the etymology of the word to see if it justified changing 「ゼッピー」's name to "Seppy", and the verdict was a unanimous "no". Word of God aside, the voicing mark on the 「ゼ」 makes it abundantly clear that the name is pronounced with a 'z' sound and not the 's' sound of "sepia". Second, our favorite squid's ink is black, not sepia-toned. Third, Zeppy does not possess the cuttlefish's signature W-shaped eyes, so he's definitely not a cuttlefish himself. In the end, the evidence presented wasn't compelling enough to warrant changing a name we've grown to love.<br />
<br />
On the flip side, reclassifying this mid-boss as a hydra reinforces <i>RKS's</i> link to the <i>Castlevania</i> series (namely, through <i>Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles'</i> remake of <i>Rondo of Blood</i>). <br />
<br />
Back on topic: the hydra is a well-known sea serpent from Greek and Roman mythology. In some versions of the story of Hercules, the Hydra of Lerna grew two new heads whenever one was cut off, leading many to believe that the creature was immortal. It is for this reason that a certain clandestine organization in the Marvel universe named itself after the mythical beast. Curiously, only more recent versions of the hydra myth claimed that the monster was capable of regenerating its heads...<br />
<br />
Leviathan, the namesake of Trauare's spear as well as the <i>Megaman Zero</i> character she pays homage to is a great sea serpent in Norse mythology. However, the Leviathan has a single head. As fitting as it would be for Trau's signature polearm to be named after the beasts in her domain, the reference just doesn't quite match up. Oh well...<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmSBX-42L9I9w4noxCR4ZsYZKuwjI71yfPLMzhUEEBxvKcu-U7WTDoI7BfJYMJP_ADn6izNDrZc7rGfA30QfTnuQMIRjjByHDnBLUEemhSBadILsJocLOxg3inkWfx_cgKx0qwmZ0D54s/s1600/Vishnu.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmSBX-42L9I9w4noxCR4ZsYZKuwjI71yfPLMzhUEEBxvKcu-U7WTDoI7BfJYMJP_ADn6izNDrZc7rGfA30QfTnuQMIRjjByHDnBLUEemhSBadILsJocLOxg3inkWfx_cgKx0qwmZ0D54s/s320/Vishnu.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vishnu</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>Grolla Stage</u><br />
<br />
Japanese: 「ビシュヌ」<br />
English: "Vishnu"<br />
<br />
Though it looks nothing like Him, this skeletal totem is named after the All-Pervading One from Hindu mythology. Vishnu has many incarnations, including Rama and Krishna. He is part of Hinduism's Holy Trinity alongside Brahma and Shiva.<br />
<br />
You may be surprised to learn that 1) my mother is Hindu, and 2) my younger brother's middle name is Vishnu. Since the first time we watched another of my brothers play through <i>Final Fantasy IV</i> and <i>VI</i>, we've always been amused that Squaresoft decided to put a spin on Shiva's gender despite their titles featuring a long line of handsome, effeminate men (amusingly enough, said brother's middle name is Shiva). Yes, Shiva has blue skin, but He is the father (not mother) of Ganesh, another Hindu deity you may recognize (Ganesh is featured prominently in Dhalsim's stage in <i>Street Fighter II</i>).<br />
<br />
In any event, I like many of the incarnations of Shiva within <i>Final Fantasy</i> as well as the look of <i>RKS's</i> Vishnu, even if they aren't mythologically accurate.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5hiqHORtqVlMwPIngKPIABgZT5qdII6cEPUNsoxPZORpKwEEfxb1Ou3NWMedXbLCL7oscg51mN24iemq-Ap_gm_uMraaSsxQjsk3xpflpVHDfGiO02yY8FjZfLtHeHcrWUrCnKw2MMvM/s1600/Snail+Tortoise.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5hiqHORtqVlMwPIngKPIABgZT5qdII6cEPUNsoxPZORpKwEEfxb1Ou3NWMedXbLCL7oscg51mN24iemq-Ap_gm_uMraaSsxQjsk3xpflpVHDfGiO02yY8FjZfLtHeHcrWUrCnKw2MMvM/s320/Snail+Tortoise.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tortoisnail</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>Sichte Stage</u><br />
<br />
Japanese: 「エスカルゴ カメ」<br />
English: "Tortoisnail"<br />
<br />
A clear nod to Escaroo from <i>Megaman 4</i>. Going solely by its environment, Tortoisnail ("Escargot Kame" in Japanese) could very well be mistaken for a terrapin. For those of you who aren't aware of the difference: turtles are aquatic animals and tortoises are land-lovers, while terrapins prefer to live in swampy areas like sewers and marshes. All three species have evolved different physical features appropriate for their preferred habitat. However, the mid-boss's domed shell and lack of webbed feet show that the creature is a tortoise that decided to seek shelter from the rain.<br />
<br />
As for why its eyes are able to detach from its face... Well, that's most likely a nod to the source material, with a bit of artistic license thrown in for good measure.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigopcrprZlaM671GEv-c4ndOBm9Un5HDJAnin2XdalDDoueNGBmuQY9t3akRjeIkTRqQXWlCZyvIzoZPkqfQxtAs-OHydkyvRj4mN37P05B1hUfPrecLPMohKW-JyWGG-kOLlor308xzE/s1600/Homonculus.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigopcrprZlaM671GEv-c4ndOBm9Un5HDJAnin2XdalDDoueNGBmuQY9t3akRjeIkTRqQXWlCZyvIzoZPkqfQxtAs-OHydkyvRj4mN37P05B1hUfPrecLPMohKW-JyWGG-kOLlor308xzE/s320/Homonculus.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Lone Homunculus</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>Iris Stage III</u><br />
<br />
Japanese: 「ホムンクルス」<br />
English: "Homunculi"<br />
<br />
The <i>Fullmetal Alchemist</i> fans among you should instantly recognize the term "homunculus" (plural: homunculi) as the name for synthetic human beings created by alchemy (a hybrid of science and magic). Fittingly enough, homunculi are described in the third manifesto of the real-life Order of the Rose Cross, <span lang="de"><i>Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosencreutz</i> ("The Chemical Marriage of Christian Rosenkreuz"). The Swiss-German philosopher and occultist Paracelsus described at length the steps necessary to create a homunculus, which include (among other things) nourishing a man's sperm with human blood for 40 days and nights before implanting it into a horse's womb. Ewww...</span><br />
<br />
Referred to as 「ボスラッシュ ドクロボット」 ("Boss Rush Skullbot") in the game's code, <i>RKS's</i> homunculi are undeniable references to Skullbot K-176 (frequently mistranslated as "Doc Robot") from <i>Megaman 3</i>. Like their skull-faced counterparts, the homunculi adopt the abilities of prior bosses. Unlike K-176, however, these synthetic humanoids also take on the likenesses of the characters whose abilities they possess. This detail is an important point in the plot of <i>Freudenstachel</i>, which may explain why WOMI decided to retcon the creatures' name.<br />
<br />
Well, that's all for now. Xander and I will be attending Otakuthon in Montreal this weekend (August 5-7). If any of you are in the area and wish to say hi, leave a comment and we'll see if we can work something out.<br />
<br />
See you later!TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-44108650959589161732016-07-14T23:01:00.000-04:002017-01-24T16:24:38.121-05:00Provisional RKS Developer Diary: Passing the Torch...<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh72wTgkAGTAMzTbDtVXNuXW0JIklBSDn60Eghpz91zR8QrjGTVh5dTIi_JINPH-XhXEmJqJbOoMVndzHkZX1qrbTQm2HH1MIEz-RtfJOEMpWEj5KWXn7idw3U7MqeWuceQrM_O3We-rSI/s1600/Succession.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh72wTgkAGTAMzTbDtVXNuXW0JIklBSDn60Eghpz91zR8QrjGTVh5dTIi_JINPH-XhXEmJqJbOoMVndzHkZX1qrbTQm2HH1MIEz-RtfJOEMpWEj5KWXn7idw3U7MqeWuceQrM_O3We-rSI/s400/Succession.png" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My old Compaq Presario CQ50 and<br />
my new Asus Rogue GL752VW.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hello, everyone!<br />
<br />
It's been pretty eventful on our end since the last RKS Developer Diary. Our release candidate for <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i> has been submitted, and the DRM-free version of the game is ready to go. Our publisher, Active Gaming Media, wishes to release the game simultaneously on Steam and on their Playism portal. I can appreciate why they'd want to launch both versions of the game at the same time and fully support their decision; I ask that you be patient while they get everything sorted out with WOMI and Valve on their end.<br />
<br />
Shortly after the release candidate was finalized, the time had finally come for the Compaq Presario I've been using for the past seven years to retire. As you may recall, I've been having problems with this machine since last November, when its hard drive failed and delayed the project. I've since replaced the hard drive, but a new problem arose that I hadn't anticipated. Whether due to the new hard drive's specs or the laptop's age, its cooling system couldn't keep up with my typical workload. It's a good thing I've developed a habit over the years of hitting Ctrl+S every time I make a significant change to my work; the emergency shutdown would kick in every time the machine's internal temperature hit 145° Fahrenheit, forcibly terminating everything until the machine had sufficiently cooled down. I could pop the laptop in the freezer for ten minutes to quickly cool it down and resume my work after a short break (and did so on many an occasion), but the condensation and the effect the rapid temperature change had on the laptop's power supply port placed a hard cap on just how many times I could do that without causing permanent damage to the motherboard. So, sensing that the end was nigh, I gathered up all of the change in my tip drawer and used that as the budget for my new laptop. Good thing I'd been saving my spare change for the past 2 years!<br />
<br />
With some help from my ex-girlfriend's father (I'm on very good terms with my ex and her family) and a lot of extra legwork, I tracked down a worthy investment. The time between my order being finalized at NCIX and Purolator showing up at my door was less than 48 hours (yowza!). Too bad I was at work at the time and had to trek to the middle of nowhere to pick up my parcel on my next day off. To that end, I am immensely grateful that my weekends are Monday and Tuesday -- I wouldn't have been able to pass by during their opening hours if I had the standard Saturday / Sunday weekend.<br />
<br />
Having finally had a chance to play around with my new toy (or, as my ex's dad put it, "feel her up"), I'm very pleased with my new Asus ROG ("Rogue") GL752VW. It came preloaded with Windows 10 Home, and I'm quite happy to see that our release candidate of <i>RKS</i> worked straight out of the box without the need for any additional tweaks.<br />
<br />
Speaking of <i>RKS</i>: today marks the seventh anniversary of <i>Rosenkreuzstilette's</i> English language debut. Yes, our English fan translation was released today seven years ago. It would have been nice to have the official English release coincide with this milestone; it's a bit of a shame that things didn't quite work out that way. Oh well...<br />
<br />
It'll take a little while for me to migrate my stuff over from the Presario to the new Rogue. In the meantime, feel free to ask any questions you wish about the upcoming English release. There's still a bit more material for new Developer Diary entries, so let me know what you'd like us to shine a spotlight on next. For the sake of keeping a few things a surprise, I won't be showcasing all of the Game Over references (though I wouldn't mind doing a text-only version with just a handful of screenshots to illustrate the differences between our fan-translated versions and our official ones) and I won't be going over references in the English script itself. However, I can go over the German in the spoken dialogue, the subtle changes we've made to some of the stage backgrounds, look at the names of the midbosses and minor enemies, as well as a few other things that aren't coming to mind at the moment. If there's anything you're curious about, leave a comment and let me know what you're interested in hearing about.<br />
<br />
Until next time!TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-6500615093606408952016-06-06T18:50:00.000-04:002018-04-01T14:32:00.158-04:00Meet Luste's NamesakeHello, everyone!<br />
<br />
Sorry for not chiming in on your questions in the comments as quickly as I should. It's crunch time at Darksquid Media, and that unfortunately means our free time is practically nonexistent. That, coupled with my browser's inability to stay logged in whenever I try to reply to a comment, forced me to let lingering questions fall by the wayside.<br />
<br />
In any event, our first release candidate for <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i> should be ready before the week is out. Whether there are any issues left that necessitate a second revision will depend on how big a list of requested fixes we receive from the playtesting crew. Big publishers believe in waiving "known shippable" bugs, but I don't. At least, not as far as localization programming bugs are concerned -- if that part of the list isn't zero, that means I haven't been doing my job well enough. Issues present in the original Japanese version will be considered on a case-by-case basis (i.e.: if we can fix 'em in a timely manner, we will, but if it'd delay the release by a month or two, we'd rather try and address 'em after the fact).<br />
<br />
In the meantime, here's a video that Luste fans should be able to appreciate. Enjoy!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/niTSTcZkriA/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="532" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/niTSTcZkriA?feature=player_embedded" width="640"></iframe></div>
<br />TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-36149437260540634882016-05-23T04:00:00.000-04:002017-01-24T16:17:30.730-05:00RKS Developer Diary #11 - Who's the Boss?...And we're back!<br />
<br />
Today, we'll be having a look at the names of the <i>RKS</i> stage bosses. Not the lovely ladies of <i>RKS</i>, mind you. I'm referring to the bosses that never get a character overlay on the Stage Select screen. Wouldn't you know it: Isemiya provided official names for each of the bosses in the game's source code! Where appropriate, we'll be canonizing these names as the official English names of the game's bosses. In a few rare instances, we'll be promoting some fan-made nicknames to the level of canon, with our rationale for choosing these names over the original Japanese ones available for all to see.<br />
<br />
Are you ready? Let's get started!<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMMPBTD-9bFhNGFO4Uf6xURV_e1yn3_GOdDyZ659thgBUyJf9Opaf-JIKbpb5UKxBMM4N8w4Riolz8WwGYr0Oq1OWV0PvZIeqPfcIXy3H-NWUB9LsUEiqZfPPsFfEZ1yjIOCMkJ_pCZFE/s1600/Demon%2527s+Wall.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMMPBTD-9bFhNGFO4Uf6xURV_e1yn3_GOdDyZ659thgBUyJf9Opaf-JIKbpb5UKxBMM4N8w4Riolz8WwGYr0Oq1OWV0PvZIeqPfcIXy3H-NWUB9LsUEiqZfPPsFfEZ1yjIOCMkJ_pCZFE/s320/Demon%2527s+Wall.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Demon's Wall</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>Zeppelin Stage I</u><br />
<br />
Japanese: 「デモンズウォール」<br />
English: "Demon's Wall"<br />
<br />
While the circumstances in which this boss is fought are a clear homage to Mecha Dragon from <i>Megaman 2</i>, the boss itself is a Japanese role-playing game staple. You can find Demon's Wall several times throughout the <i>Final Fantasy</i> series (though not always with the same name), as well as in <i>Secret of Mana</i>, <i>Breath of Fire II</i>, and many, many other titles. The little crosses it releases that move like Telly from <i>Megaman 2</i> are officially known as "Demon's Cross" (「デモンズ十字架」).<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw7mtWGrYhdNX55yLIY4liw2kyijiknSrJ6xSepsQfIyi1Vk0bJfRn6yRExqcGXALE33qyo2Nb6Mp1lT8x76VETbivwHOBNy_7MhROZ6fhKTRRb3umfaa73zpDFvcRE798w2hafnEKnps/s1600/Poltergeist.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw7mtWGrYhdNX55yLIY4liw2kyijiknSrJ6xSepsQfIyi1Vk0bJfRn6yRExqcGXALE33qyo2Nb6Mp1lT8x76VETbivwHOBNy_7MhROZ6fhKTRRb3umfaa73zpDFvcRE798w2hafnEKnps/s320/Poltergeist.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poltergeist</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>Zeppelin Stage II</u><br />
<br />
Japanese: 「ピコピコグラス」<br />
English: "Poltergeist"<br />
<br />
"Picopico Glass" is intended as a reference to "Picopico-kun" (literally, "Bleep Bleep Boy"), the boss of Wily Stage II in <i>Megaman 2</i>. "Picopico" (or "pikopiko") is a Japanese onomatopoeia for the bleeps and bloops made by a computer or robot, though its meaning has been expanded to include other cutesy sounds.<span class="st"></span> You might recognize the "Pikopiko Hammer" as a recurring gag weapon in Japanese games: a rubber mallet that makes an amusing squeak upon impact.<br />
<br />
While the <i>RKS</i> boss attacks in the same way as its <i>Megaman 2</i> counterpart, the sound it makes is decidedly more harsh. We briefly considered localizing the name as "Smashy Smashy Glass", but ultimately couldn't get over the fact that the name sounded ridiculous. Moreover, <i>RKS</i> is as much an homage to <i>Castlevania</i> as it is to <i>Megaman</i>, and poltergeist phenomena are a frequent occurrence in the former. Since "Poltergeist" has already been accepted as the English name of the boss, we figured we may as well make the name official.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7A5GeZ063IudVHa8LcPbTEIwlpFdhS832-ua3EGDmHsLkXMMDaOn9gGWujb7A7hk0ECc2wAiHF8kR9nrah4558R4KsirJKV0N6AdfvTByBkb-u4tvYzoErtWxNf-lb1Sb2Md-7VtQUk8/s1600/Thanatos.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7A5GeZ063IudVHa8LcPbTEIwlpFdhS832-ua3EGDmHsLkXMMDaOn9gGWujb7A7hk0ECc2wAiHF8kR9nrah4558R4KsirJKV0N6AdfvTByBkb-u4tvYzoErtWxNf-lb1Sb2Md-7VtQUk8/s320/Thanatos.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanatos</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>Zeppelin Stage III</u><br />
<br />
Japanese: 「タナトス」<br />
English: "Thanatos"<br />
<br />
Ah, death incarnate: Sir Raimund Seyfarth. Thanatos is the god of death in Greek mythology, commonly depicted as a cloaked skeleton wielding a large scythe. Seyfarth earned this nickname with his merciless demeanor on the battlefield. It's only fitting that, after he is brought back from the grave by Zeppelin's necromancy, he appears in the form of the Grim Reaper himself. As I've mentioned before, "Thanatos" is also the name of the stage he appears in (for Tia, at least), and the German subtitle for the stage, "Der Sensenmann", is one of the many German names for the Reaper.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIqXcUlDocW2PjdY6BN784kYUBo2b5vLCbkgmwMcvsQBK5t0f3a5LcPOLlTIV9YDpGIGLmknwNO0o8So1WHft4F8q2fg7dlkMXJgjn_Yxm8ls88jnzC0zoAIYgPgYUGtMwlCFmAfolukA/s1600/Zeppelin.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIqXcUlDocW2PjdY6BN784kYUBo2b5vLCbkgmwMcvsQBK5t0f3a5LcPOLlTIV9YDpGIGLmknwNO0o8So1WHft4F8q2fg7dlkMXJgjn_Yxm8ls88jnzC0zoAIYgPgYUGtMwlCFmAfolukA/s320/Zeppelin.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Count Michael Zeppelin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>Zeppelin Stage IV</u><br />
<br />
Japanese: 「ミヒャエル・ゼッペリン伯爵」<br />
English: "Count Michael Zeppelin"<br />
<br />
There's no real need to include this boss in the list, but I figured I may as well throw him in for the sake of completeness. Since the Japanese script uses the honorific 「伯爵」 ("hakushaku") instead of 「グラフ」 ("graf"), we decided to translate the count's title into English instead of rendering it in German. Count Zeppelin is an obvious nod to Count Vlad Tepes Dracula, so we figured it was only appropriate that their titles match as well.<br />
<br />
Amusingly enough, Zeppelin's primary attack (which fans have dubbed "Höllenfeuer", German for "Hellfire"), is identified as 「ウェーブ炎」 ("Fire Wave") in the source code. Come to think of it, the attack does look like a charged Fire Wave from <i>Megaman X</i>... <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIrfi9PBJy3iVnFUzJagb97JFam-GppPA_WYM_Sf92v6fx3yt9Hto-79owtyDy6N42B05u3TVLVCdjVTOJr7Enmzu5PPlbxGwroND8liH7rkx5HgWezSMkp0UMGoMEA2wcSzkrWmj0qXw/s1600/The+Nightwalker.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIrfi9PBJy3iVnFUzJagb97JFam-GppPA_WYM_Sf92v6fx3yt9Hto-79owtyDy6N42B05u3TVLVCdjVTOJr7Enmzu5PPlbxGwroND8liH7rkx5HgWezSMkp0UMGoMEA2wcSzkrWmj0qXw/s320/The+Nightwalker.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Nightwalker</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Japanese: 「夜を往くもの」<br />
English: "The Nightwalker"<br />
<br />
A nod to "True Dracula" (a mistranslation of "True Ancestor Dracula", or "Pureblood Dracula") from <i>Rondo of Blood</i>, <i>Symphony of the Night</i>, <i>Dawn of Sorrow</i>, <i>The Dracula X Chronicles</i>, and <i>Harmony of Despair</i> -- though the similarities are purely on the superficial level. The name may well be a reference to the nighttime form of the God of the Forest from the Studio Ghibli animated film <i>Princess Mononoke</i>. The <i>RKS</i> demon's posture is similar to that of the forest deity's, at the very least. Coincidence? Who knows. It's a pretty fitting name either way.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2jeSdp2mRzyDnhA9d-8NlOfWMYoZzSL3jt13DF5JlSh9_Wgoh76b4H1iDtIw9qIvVtt_IQ1PMxnGa7N0AAfPA1Z5IEh05i2QVj1AMuhWZ3lWicBEbutczqc6RvWgNd1ct_gF9DHfWaRk/s1600/Webmaster+Spider.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2jeSdp2mRzyDnhA9d-8NlOfWMYoZzSL3jt13DF5JlSh9_Wgoh76b4H1iDtIw9qIvVtt_IQ1PMxnGa7N0AAfPA1Z5IEh05i2QVj1AMuhWZ3lWicBEbutczqc6RvWgNd1ct_gF9DHfWaRk/s320/Webmaster+Spider.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Webmaster Spider</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u><span id="goog_1718064104"></span><span id="goog_1718064105"></span><span id="goog_1718064106"></span><span id="goog_1718064107"></span>I<span id="goog_1718064108"></span><span id="goog_1718064109"></span>ris Stage I</u><br />
<br />
Japanese: 「アミダクモ」<br />
English: "Webmaster Spider"<br />
<br />
A pun and a two-for-one reference! Naturally, this battle is intended as a nod to Bosspider, the boss of Sigma Palace I in the original <i>Megaman X</i>, as well as the Repliforce jungle commando, Web Spider, from <i>Megaman X4</i> The 「アミ」 in the <i>RKS</i> boss's name means both a spider web and a computer network (i.e.: the World Wide Web). When a pun in the original Japanese <i>just works</i> in English, I'm honor-bound to preserve it. As a nice touch, Bosspider and Webmaster Spider are both susceptible to ice-based weapons. And, those who know the popular children's song may notice that rain will wash the spider out...<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAGn2AosrlsNl3OpP_xJs1GC8svabf-IzNwaQ9c-ZoBb5Zla00xpK3Guz28IbqzCGhKHojZ5-50jIYa_3ntht1WYwgqt8Omm6Fx6ahB90jELp83_p8e15RoTU_sZseVfhJ-maYUXRRoco/s1600/Deviled+Egg.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAGn2AosrlsNl3OpP_xJs1GC8svabf-IzNwaQ9c-ZoBb5Zla00xpK3Guz28IbqzCGhKHojZ5-50jIYa_3ntht1WYwgqt8Omm6Fx6ahB90jELp83_p8e15RoTU_sZseVfhJ-maYUXRRoco/s320/Deviled+Egg.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deviled Egg</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>Iris Stage II</u><br />
<br />
Japanese: 「イエローデビル」<br />
English: "Deviled Egg"<br />
<br />
Naturally, this guy is an obvious reference to Yellow Devil from the original <i>Megaman</i>. As tempting as it is to use that name in English, the name "Yellow Devil" is pretty much the property of Capcom. Rather than step on their toes and name one of our bosses after theirs, we decided to go with the visual pun lampshaded by the stage's Game Over reference: the Wind Fish's Egg from <i>The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening</i>. When a pun that delicious presents itself, we just can't resist.<br />
<br />
Speaking of deliciousness: deviled eggs are quite tasty. If you haven't tried them before, give them a shot. They make for a great snack.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE-lNuSZ96SoD-zVafBhgeLHvNMbIuXZR952ABVEpTOOQcAoDXNut_RIGLxuNh7PUtNv883afLL71gXmbN9YmuNaGgCCA2sj5Uc1P2nUcCxYnPfc250qhxZ34euP6BUalqwFWSzbq25jI/s1600/Iris+Machine.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE-lNuSZ96SoD-zVafBhgeLHvNMbIuXZR952ABVEpTOOQcAoDXNut_RIGLxuNh7PUtNv883afLL71gXmbN9YmuNaGgCCA2sj5Uc1P2nUcCxYnPfc250qhxZ34euP6BUalqwFWSzbq25jI/s320/Iris+Machine.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iris Machine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>Iris Stage III</u><br />
<br />
Japanese: 「イーリスマシン」<br />
English: "Iris Machine"<br />
<br />
This one's a no-brainer; it's a reference to Wily Machine 2 from <i>Megaman 2</i>. At first, Iris Machine is reinforced with raw mana crystals, both as shielding and as a power supply. Once the shielding is destroyed, the real battle with Iris Zeppelin begins. The two forms are identified as such in the source code: 「イーリスマシン 岩足場」 ("Iris Machine - Mana Crystal Reinforced") and 「イーリスマシン イーリス」 ("Iris Machine - Iris"), respectively.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQXUGrREPMWj4FVji_Y8BMXXmVxbm6ciCVm8aDTw9pNGwwBLTB8xeBp6NhYgRygeUKCJRUEPRhnKeJTLbPxl3eAdLVNAOCRy9BPYH5iPlVCzdRyxRtJhCcF8SIx2rB_VOuDBd5p7R068M/s1600/Iris+Capsule.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQXUGrREPMWj4FVji_Y8BMXXmVxbm6ciCVm8aDTw9pNGwwBLTB8xeBp6NhYgRygeUKCJRUEPRhnKeJTLbPxl3eAdLVNAOCRy9BPYH5iPlVCzdRyxRtJhCcF8SIx2rB_VOuDBd5p7R068M/s320/Iris+Capsule.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iris Capsule</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>Final Stage</u><br />
<br />
Japanese: 「イーリスカプセル」<br />
English: "Iris Capsule"<br />
<br />
Ever since <i>Megaman 4</i>, you could always expect the battle with a Wily Machine to be followed by a nerve-wracking showdown with a Wily Capsule. The series of battles with Iris Zeppelin is no different. Iris's disappearing capsule is modeled after the Wily Capsule as it appears in <i>Megaman 4</i> and <i>Megaman 5</i>. Curiously, despite her narcissism, Iris doesn't have a personal crest prominently displayed on the Iris Capsule like good ol' Albert...<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ8SZQMguUjfWDnEX0B_FjNoQzjlusEYjdAsiVflH747SYSyyUuvsreKdnT9-wDW1D9siz0QDleaApM-_YtiVMZx0B9IvBAC-w4VoU5Wt8Rr5m74QE3E-TmTKRS9iLdf-mupBt5T5XA-I/s1600/Final+Iris.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ8SZQMguUjfWDnEX0B_FjNoQzjlusEYjdAsiVflH747SYSyyUuvsreKdnT9-wDW1D9siz0QDleaApM-_YtiVMZx0B9IvBAC-w4VoU5Wt8Rr5m74QE3E-TmTKRS9iLdf-mupBt5T5XA-I/s320/Final+Iris.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Wings of Madness - Iris Zeppelin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Japanese: 「ラストイーリス イーリス発狂羽」<br />
English: "The Wings of Madness: Iris Zeppelin"<br />
<br />
Here it is: the final battle. With an <i>Ocarina of Time</i>-styled subtitle, no less. I'm quite happy to see that, for the final battle, [erka:es] decided to do its own thing instead of channeling the final boss battle of another game for <i>RKS's</i> grand finale (mechanically-speaking; visually, it's a clear nod to the final battle with Lumine from <i>Megaman X8</i>). They could have easily had Final Iris channel the Alien from <i>Megaman 2</i> or something along those lines.<br />
<br />
The only real difference between the English and Japanese renditions of this boss's name is the styling. The Japanese reads, "Last Iris - Demented Wings Iris". As you can see, the final name we decided on isn't much of a stretch from the original. Had we retained the "last" bit, we would have definitely reworded it to use "final" instead. Y'know, for the sake of consistency...<br />
<br />
...Whoa, it's this late already? Looks like I need to get some shut-eye; even if we're in the final stretch, we're not done yet!<br />
<br />
See you next time!TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-11556139390981529042016-05-22T21:40:00.000-04:002017-01-24T16:02:07.999-05:00Provisional RKS Developer Diary: You have got to be kidding me... Part Deux<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwkMeFtki1K20dhL58cEnGwLc6bnkTBw3LgeWj5QmMgqg18wwPiskXuoj-G6l8lQ-9JqnBUS41BJOPn_VJZvbP2k_mKcJfdhjfvt1uRA3f9AS-nKYfXrNYWphIufrS_GMiMGHLwLPJUy4/s1600/Sleep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwkMeFtki1K20dhL58cEnGwLc6bnkTBw3LgeWj5QmMgqg18wwPiskXuoj-G6l8lQ-9JqnBUS41BJOPn_VJZvbP2k_mKcJfdhjfvt1uRA3f9AS-nKYfXrNYWphIufrS_GMiMGHLwLPJUy4/s320/Sleep.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artist's Rendition</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hello, everyone! Good God, it's been too long since my last entry.<span id="goog_1718064065"></span><span id="goog_1718064066"></span><br />
<br />
We've had another series of unfortunate events since my last post, one not unlike what happened in November. Another inaccessible hard drive, another series of departures at work resulting in me being drafted for overtime (this time, my boss refused to hire a replacement -_-;), another multi-week bout of insomnia, and another period of health problems and burn-out (...comes with the territory when you have to juggle too many responsibilities at once). Thankfully, the local college (my alma mater) has wrapped up for the summer, meaning my workload during the day is now back to some semblance of normalcy.<br />
<br />
Before anyone asks: no, we didn't have another hard drive failure. It's something far, <i>far</i> dumber. The USB connection on my external Western Digital My Book Essential came loose, meaning I had to way of hooking up the drive to my computer. This drive is my personal storage drive, not my project drive, so don't worry, all of the <i>RKS</i> project files are safe. Anyway, I decided to remove the enclosure and hook up the drive to my roommate's tower directly so I could migrate my stuff over to my other hard drive. What should have been a simple procedure that I've done thousands of times before instead resulted in me discovering a ridiculous design flaw and experiencing an unhealthy amount of buyer's remorse.<br />
<br />
As you may or may not be aware, Western Digital's external drives are self-encrypting. More specifically, the SATA-to-USB bridge automatically encrypts the contents of the drive as it's being written to the drive, and automatically decrypts data as it's being read from the drive. The encryption key is stored on a chip on the bridge's circuit board. If you remove the hard drive enclosure and try to hook up the hard drive to a PC motherboard via SATA, said PC thinks the drive hasn't been initialized yet because its Master Boot Record is unreadable without the encryption key. Already, this is a pretty stupid design flaw; you effectively have a safe that can no longer be used because you have no way of inserting the key into its keyhole (remember, the SATA-to-USB bridge is broken).<br />
<br />
The story gets worse. As it turns out, the USB connection on Western Digital drives are quite flimsy; I came across tons of people who had their USB jacks simply fall off the way mine had from normal everyday use. When this issue was brought to Western Digital's attention, rather than take responsibility for releasing a faulty product, their support staff instead chose to insult its customers, insisting that any damage that might have occurred was their own fault and their responsibility.<br />
<br />
...Please excuse me while I facepalm.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9hY0CRtAQ3O6LIUNhE5dZUrlMha0TR1Gf7Id9hoMTtTTHrTYpfncBSPWWfsvHM9lHiJ-EqdIunmvS595XdFdoG2iFVhJaG1MPpsNiJIllAhRPy4VbLtcwbzamm-HXdooDloEt6CF2_do/s1600/Facepalm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9hY0CRtAQ3O6LIUNhE5dZUrlMha0TR1Gf7Id9hoMTtTTHrTYpfncBSPWWfsvHM9lHiJ-EqdIunmvS595XdFdoG2iFVhJaG1MPpsNiJIllAhRPy4VbLtcwbzamm-HXdooDloEt6CF2_do/s320/Facepalm.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artist's Rendition</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I'll level with you here. A design oversight can be forgiven. If someone accepts responsibility for their mistake, honestly apologizes, and makes some semblance of trying to make amends, I don't think I'd have any problem putting the issue behind me.<br />
<br />
This is the exact opposite. This is scapegoating. An adamant refusal to accept responsibility. To the people who invested hundreds of dollars apiece, no less.<br />
<br />
I'm tempted to go on a rant here seeing as scapegoating is my #1 berserk button. But I'm sure nobody would enjoy that, least of all me.<br />
<br />
(To anyone who honestly wants to see me pissed off: dude, you need a better hobby.) <br />
<br />
On the positive side, I've been in touch with a data recovery specialist who has successfully defeated Western Digital's self-encryption and salvaged the contents of many WD drives (he's filmed the process, and I'm quite impressed). His estimate for a successful recovery is $400 USD plus shipping (which, in all fairness, is dirt-cheap as far as data recovery rates go -- most charge by the megabyte). So, in the end, my $200 investment in Western Digital will ultimately cost me over $600.<br />
<br />
I don't think anyone will hold it against me if I choose to never give Western Digital any of my business again.<i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>Anyway!</i><br />
<br />
Please excuse the lack of professionalism in this post. I really needed to get that off of my chest.<br />
<br />
Back to business: I'm pleased to report that <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i> has officially entered its testing phase. Version 2.0 of the English script has been fully inserted, and the crew at Active Gaming Media is hard at work bug-testing the game while we're working on the rest of the release. There's still a bit of fine-tuning to be done, but thankfully not a whole lot of work overall. I've also implemented more than a handful of secrets into the game that I'm sure everyone will appreciate. Instructions on how to access these secrets are scattered throughout the release; I'll say no more on that subject since I don't want to spoil the surprise.<br />
<br />
...Okay, I'll give you <i>one</i> factoid to tide you over. The original game had just one secret code. The English release has at least quadruple that amount. What do they do? You'll have to play the game when it's ready to find out.<br />
<br />
Now that that's out of the way, onto the next <i>RKS Developer Diary</i>! I've got a few screenshots I need to grab for this entry, but I'll be back in a few hours! This time, we'll be going over some details that'll have a few of you rushing over to the wikis...<br />
<br />
See you soon!TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-91828510500499218332016-03-22T21:00:00.002-04:002016-03-22T21:00:42.730-04:00PSA: RKS at Anime Boston 2016!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh08l6KU61Gqom5JtfCcWzFOzInqXLXpUNwjC5-y1mi-iDkLbxbxTRuUM9QYxTrjwJcCD4hP-VPTm8GY8cX_PerZvi9hvUTyqwQ7qO0Qk1sZQ0IzI1MAirzVKpFsmGYRKtlELsSMO8C2s8/s1600/animeboston.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh08l6KU61Gqom5JtfCcWzFOzInqXLXpUNwjC5-y1mi-iDkLbxbxTRuUM9QYxTrjwJcCD4hP-VPTm8GY8cX_PerZvi9hvUTyqwQ7qO0Qk1sZQ0IzI1MAirzVKpFsmGYRKtlELsSMO8C2s8/s200/animeboston.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Hello, everyone!<br />
<br />
Our good friend Kilgamayan, who you may remember as the first Let's Player on YouTube to cover <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0HncoOfF6c&list=PL0D823A090AE97ABD&index=1" target="_blank">our English fan translation of </a><i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0HncoOfF6c&list=PL0D823A090AE97ABD&index=1" target="_blank">Rosenkreuzstilette</a></i>, will be hosting a special panel on the <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i> series this weekend at Anime Boston 2016. It'll be an entry-level, spoiler-free panel that will give new players an idea of what to expect from the series as well as what newcomers and veterans alike can look forward to in our official English release, as well as some amusing bits of trivia that you'd never have guessed!<br />
<br />
To make things more interesting, we've passed Kilga a little something that's bound to make the panel much, much livelier. Consider Kilga as our official proxy; we've already briefed him on what details he can safely let out of the bag and what needs to stay under wraps until we're ready to roll. <br />
<br />
"Mahou Shoujo Megaman: the Rosenkreuzstilette Panel" will take place Saturday, March 26th at 7:00 pm in Hynes panel room 310. If you can make it, by all means go ahead and check it out!TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-29710114555739826452016-02-29T20:54:00.000-05:002017-01-24T17:14:48.872-05:00RKS Developer Diary #10 - I Understood That Reference<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUcHYt9-34AWZpfkNtQ-FrbLFlFNyGJ-1mPUB_p9hgWgPSI2yGlNeGIQ2xH7k7qJ6wDhPXPG2Z2sNja4gDsaSIEnEVomhbyolsv7w0Z8Wi_zd-Ao7-yDvoy-PhNkcZt1ZyM4Amubzt1o/s1600/Subtitles+Enabled.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUcHYt9-34AWZpfkNtQ-FrbLFlFNyGJ-1mPUB_p9hgWgPSI2yGlNeGIQ2xH7k7qJ6wDhPXPG2Z2sNja4gDsaSIEnEVomhbyolsv7w0Z8Wi_zd-Ao7-yDvoy-PhNkcZt1ZyM4Amubzt1o/s320/Subtitles+Enabled.bmp" width="320" /></a></div>
Hello, everyone!<br />
<br />
I've been wanting to make this post for quite some time. Thanks to my day job, changes around the homestead, a series of untimely developments, and a bad case of insomnia, I had little choice but to prioritize the urgent over the important for much longer than I'd like. Now that the interruptions have been taken care of (and my sleep patterns seems to have returned to normal), I'm proud to showcase what may be the most significant improvement to the <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i> localization since our original fan translation: our real-time subtitle feature.<br />
<br />
The first time you boot up the new version of <i>Rosenkreuzstilette</i>, English subtitles will be enabled by default. If you would like to disable subtitles at any time for any reason, just tap the F2 key to toggle them on or off. The game will immediately save your choice to config.dat, so if you're a purist who'd rather not clutter up the screen, you don't need to worry about disabling subtitles every single time you launch the game. Originally, F2 toggled whether Vertical Synchronization (V-Synch) was enabled or not. In version 1.06a, [erka:es] decided to disable the hotkey since activating V-Synch required a restart, rendering a real-time V-Synch toggle effectively useless. We decided to put the disabled hotkey code to good use.<br />
<br />
As tempting as it would be to go over every character's dialogue and point out all of the references present in their voice clips, I have to save something for the full release, don't I? So, rather than doing that, I figured I'd go over some of our localization choices with a bit of trivia thrown in. As usual, feel free to leave any feedback in the comments:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUT23E4tL3AxfYctLEIxnJHcwhExZsnL62IGNaKIs6SvAHGQ0-q8JO2vcJQJvIQcrwey_KVd-B3b8FTbzhi__sXDDjhIplFoP5BEphLP5nROX72tvjtJYEVNGB-vkdP_dGpY6NQ3UtMJE/s1600/Take+This.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUT23E4tL3AxfYctLEIxnJHcwhExZsnL62IGNaKIs6SvAHGQ0-q8JO2vcJQJvIQcrwey_KVd-B3b8FTbzhi__sXDDjhIplFoP5BEphLP5nROX72tvjtJYEVNGB-vkdP_dGpY6NQ3UtMJE/s320/Take+This.bmp" width="320" /></a></div>
<u>Spiritia Rosenberg</u><br />
<a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Spiritia%20-%20Low%20Vitality.wav" target="_blank">"I'm not done yet!"<br />「まだいけるっ!」</a>
<br />
(<a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Rockman%20X4%20-%20Zero.wav" target="_blank">Zero, <i>Megaman X4</i></a> / <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Megaman%20X8%20-%20X.wav" target="_blank">X, <i>Megaman X8</i></a> / <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Maverick%20Hunter%20X%20-%20Vile.wav" target="_blank">Vile, <i>Maverick Hunter X</i></a>)<br />
<br />
Tia cries this out the moment her vitality falls below 50%. Those of you who have played through <i>Megaman X4</i> in the original Japanese might recognize this cry as <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Rockman%20X4%20-%20Zero.wav" target="_blank">the same one</a> Zero uses in the same circumstances. Interestingly enough, variants of this line are used throughout the series - by Zero, X, and even <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Maverick%20Hunter%20X%20-%20Vile.wav" target="_blank">Vile</a>. We decided to use <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Megaman%20X8%20-%20X.wav" target="_blank">X's rendition</a> from <i>X8</i> for Tia, and save Zero's more iconic X4 rendition (<a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Megaman%20X4%20-%20Zero.wav" target="_blank">"It's not over yet!"</a>) for <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Freudia%20-%20Low%20Vitality.wav" target="_blank">Freudia</a> in <i>Freudenstachel</i>.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN6w4eiewEVoTLoigBs7CjGhm25XvdkuBA9RBEj3NPc1EsLcYrLhdQOxX4g7PFZ9g-NK6M422uSzriUWxS4SdStmIitRrcgb9C_TT7Z4OaAxUqHZa5CnVOkyf9TIhAUPl0f6pS0iCMZ6Q/s1600/You%2527ve+Gone+Soft.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN6w4eiewEVoTLoigBs7CjGhm25XvdkuBA9RBEj3NPc1EsLcYrLhdQOxX4g7PFZ9g-NK6M422uSzriUWxS4SdStmIitRrcgb9C_TT7Z4OaAxUqHZa5CnVOkyf9TIhAUPl0f6pS0iCMZ6Q/s320/You%2527ve+Gone+Soft.bmp" width="320" /></a></div>
<u>Freudia Neuwahl</u><br />
<a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Freudia%20-%20Smack-Talk.wav" target="_blank">"You could use a nice, cold nap."<br />「氷のベッドで眠らせてあげるわ」</a><br />
(<a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Rockman%20X4%20-%20Frost%20Kibatodos.wav" target="_blank">Frost Walrus, <i>Megaman X4</i></a>)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Freudia%20-%20Smack-Talk.wav" target="_blank">One of Freu's one-liners</a> is a nod to the boast <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Rockman%20X4%20-%20Frost%20Kibatodos.wav" target="_blank">Frost Walrus</a> uses in the Japanese version of <i>Megaman X4</i>. Unfortunately, Capcom USA decided to cut the voices for the eight boss Mavericks instead of dubbing them into English, meaning there is no official English rendition of this line we can reference. Literally, the two say variants of, "I'll lay you to rest on a bed of ice"; we revised the line to sound more like the subtle threat it's supposed to be (and downplay the cheese in the "ice" pun).<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4dBoZN-akqsbrGA6VfvN_1ZbwCTiGiYdnsKEsmsFS3P5T5B77-W_Wkh96QP4zzWVctxNaTRvhiViZt6ODZlB87rj-MiBQsqX9AlSe7GlBGWrcQscn2Z7JRkHoHa1xU1MWLCWQOfMRG2k/s1600/Are+You+Ready.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4dBoZN-akqsbrGA6VfvN_1ZbwCTiGiYdnsKEsmsFS3P5T5B77-W_Wkh96QP4zzWVctxNaTRvhiViZt6ODZlB87rj-MiBQsqX9AlSe7GlBGWrcQscn2Z7JRkHoHa1xU1MWLCWQOfMRG2k/s320/Are+You+Ready.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bist du bereit?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>Zorne Zeppelin</u><br />
<a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Zorne%20-%20Smack-Talk.wav" target="_blank">"I'm not gonna hold back!"<br />「容赦はしないわよ!」</a><br />
(<a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Rockman%20X4%20-%20Colonel.wav" target="_blank">Colonel, <i>Megaman X4</i></a>)<br />
<br />
If you can believe it, <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Zorne%20-%20Smack-Talk.wav" target="_blank">this Zorne line</a> is actually a reference to the <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Rockman%20X4%20-%20Colonel.wav" target="_blank">Japanese version</a> of Colonel's <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Megaman%20X4%20-%20Colonel.wav" target="_blank">"I'll show you no mercy! Now, get ready!"</a>. Unfortunately, the British mannerisms Capcom decided to give his character don't flow well from the fiery redhead, so, unfortunately, the reference just had to go. We rephrased the line to sound like something Zorne would actually say.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3m1f-VHXLzNP9b6-nyu4dW8flnv6WgkDf9pzKWgk59CCT8LprEkfJ1nVAZrdLPt6gVzdh06nx53N6PjvyKBWTLPOZx5WsOvd9fnD7Qfa787TyZgmPtRwd8MhgoQ1QaU9vIM4N7qVy3Is/s1600/Nothing+Personal.bmp" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3m1f-VHXLzNP9b6-nyu4dW8flnv6WgkDf9pzKWgk59CCT8LprEkfJ1nVAZrdLPt6gVzdh06nx53N6PjvyKBWTLPOZx5WsOvd9fnD7Qfa787TyZgmPtRwd8MhgoQ1QaU9vIM4N7qVy3Is/s320/Nothing+Personal.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nothing personal, but she's got orders.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>Trauare Wrede</u><br />
<a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Trauare%20-%20Smack-Talk.wav" target="_blank">"Maybe a jellyfish would put up a better fight?"<br />「クラゲのほうがまだ手ごたえがありそうね」</a><br />
(<a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Rockman%20X4%20-%20Jet%20Stingren.wav" target="_blank">Jet Stingray, <i>Megaman X4</i></a>)<br />
<br />
If you choose to fight Trau before defeating Zorne, Trau uses the <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Trauare%20-%20Smack-Talk.wav" target="_blank">exact same boast</a> as <i>Megaman X4's</i> <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Rockman%20X4%20-%20Jet%20Stingren.wav" target="_blank">Jet Stingray</a>, which was also left on the cutting room floor by Capcom USA's decision to remove the boss Maverick voices. Jellyfish are quite lethal because of the poisonous barbs that cover their bodies; even a dead jellyfish can kill you if you touch their corpse. There are two possible interpretations to the Japanese in this line: Trau and Stingray may be implying that even the dead stand a better chance against them than you do. They might also be insinuating something to the effect of, "it looks like this jellyfish still has some life in her". Which of these interpretation do you prefer?<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYu095z_wzlQMiE76uDmYHdT6mY4qUKLkKI5361YyxWz8VtiCB6_dU_wD9BjGaM28XXuIN0rPCem0xQYK8hGT6BRlvnp8ihOffyWqSqrr_zMvmLvWdZuHRFlzHwgcGwCcsa00dROypfyI/s1600/Let%2527s+Play.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYu095z_wzlQMiE76uDmYHdT6mY4qUKLkKI5361YyxWz8VtiCB6_dU_wD9BjGaM28XXuIN0rPCem0xQYK8hGT6BRlvnp8ihOffyWqSqrr_zMvmLvWdZuHRFlzHwgcGwCcsa00dROypfyI/s320/Let%2527s+Play.bmp" width="320" /></a></div>
<u>Luste Teuber</u><br />
<a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Luste%20-%20Smack-Talk.wav" target="_blank">"Let's play Tag! Tia, you're it!"<br />「ヒーローごっこしよ! ティアが悪者ね!」</a><br />
(<a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Rockman%20X4%20-%20Split%20Mushroom.wav" target="_blank">Split Mushroom, <i>Megaman X4</i></a>)<br />
<br />
Yep, another deleted <i>X4</i> reference. "Hero-gokko" is actually a play on "Oni-gokko", the Japanese name for the game of Tag. Japanese children love giving traditional games new names when they've implemented rules of their own (see: "Old Man" in <i>Higurashi no Naku Koro ni</i>, a variant of Old Maid that ultimately plays a strong narrative role in the story). <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Luste%20-%20Smack-Talk.wav" target="_blank">Luste</a> refers to Tia by name, whereas <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Rockman%20X4%20-%20Split%20Mushroom.wav" target="_blank">Split Mushroom</a> uses "kimi" ("you") to refer to both X and Zero with the same line. Unlike Mushroom, Luste's AI actively seems to be playing Tag with Tia, rushing to the other side of the room whenever Tia gets close. This line is a perfect example of why a literal translation isn't necessarily an accurate one.<br />
<br />
<u>
</u><u>
</u><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQGMcjF2JiiNmdjflB0yGmkLtLpdtr1RK8PkmmMe_PbV81Rd9Oj_Im6_Q9CAVEPrW0tyVLX3G5dHFT0wn0RGycNo56B4fV0nlPdy7P4G5gonQhGU4-R14cgHzQtAgUvYl3Yc43jbWCsaU/s1600/Your+Future+Has+Already+Been+Written.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQGMcjF2JiiNmdjflB0yGmkLtLpdtr1RK8PkmmMe_PbV81Rd9Oj_Im6_Q9CAVEPrW0tyVLX3G5dHFT0wn0RGycNo56B4fV0nlPdy7P4G5gonQhGU4-R14cgHzQtAgUvYl3Yc43jbWCsaU/s320/Your+Future+Has+Already+Been+Written.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The typesetting has not yet been finalized;<br />
we're aware that Sichte's lines are difficult to read.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>Sichte Meister</u><br />
<a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Sichte%20-%20Smack-Talk.wav" target="_blank">"For the honor of RKS, I shall strike you down!"<br />「エルカーエスの誇りにかけて君を倒す!」</a><br />
(<a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Rockman%20X4%20-%20Jet%20Stingren%20%282%29.wav" target="_blank">Jet Stingray, <i>Megaman X4</i></a>)<br />
<br />
More <i>X4</i> references? It looks like Isemiya and WOMI love the game just as much as I do. <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Sichte%20-%20Smack-Talk.wav" target="_blank">Sichte's line</a> is a variation of <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Rockman%20X4%20-%20Jet%20Stingren%20%282%29.wav" target="_blank">Stingray's</a>, replacing his reference to the Repliforce army with RKS. We're still on the fence as to whether we should preserve the (officially-untranslated) reference as-is or if we should go for a slightly more fluid, "In the name of RKS, I shall carry out your sentence" (remember, Tia has been charged with treason -- a crime punishable by death -- and Sichte is her commanding officer). Your thoughts?<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBa2KeaaBMjS6zgGgDAcAWxVQgYu1LdAzf3mUxGsQxg6-J3NqJh0l68fNoDOvMdqkRp0uK-VaTCIKUWsWThNy5uUR7jasHiKt7ABnalPJUibNByX3Ri_gR_PHAbId5__jHjQ-igXB4lwc/s1600/Einfrieren.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBa2KeaaBMjS6zgGgDAcAWxVQgYu1LdAzf3mUxGsQxg6-J3NqJh0l68fNoDOvMdqkRp0uK-VaTCIKUWsWThNy5uUR7jasHiKt7ABnalPJUibNByX3Ri_gR_PHAbId5__jHjQ-igXB4lwc/s320/Einfrieren.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's "Freeze!" in German.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Sichte%20-%20Die%20Welt.wav" target="_blank">"Time, be still!"<br />「時よ止まれ!」</a><br />
(<a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Jojo's%20Bizarre%20Adventure%20-%20Dio.wav" target="_blank">Dio Brando, <i>Jojo's Bizarre Adventure</i></a> / <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Castlevania%20-%20Zephyr.wav" target="_blank">Zephyr, <i>Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin</i></a>)<br />
<br />
Dio is a fairly popular character among Japanese game developers, and many of their original characters are inspired at least in part by the deranged vampire. His iconic Stand, "The World", allows him to manipulate time itself, and
the words he shouts when he does so are instantly recognizable, even to
those who aren't <i>Jojo</i> fans. <i>Project Touhou's</i> Sakuya Izayoi, <i>Castlevania's</i> Zephyr, and <i>RKS's</i> Sichte Meister are just a few examples of the characters he has inspired. Given how many different official renditions of <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Jojo's%20Bizarre%20Adventure%20-%20Dio.wav" target="_blank">"toki yo tomare!"</a> there are to choose between, we decided to go with the one that would resonate best with <i>RKS's</i> target audience. Given no less than five different characters in the <i>Castlevania</i> mythos use Dio's line (<a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Castlevania%20-%20Richter.wav" target="_blank">Richter Belmont</a>, <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Castlevania%20-%20Soma.wav" target="_blank">Soma Cruz</a>, <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Castlevania%20-%20Julius.wav" target="_blank">Julius Belmont</a>, <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Castlevania%20-%20Jonathan.wav" target="_blank">Jonathan Morris</a>, and <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Castlevania%20-%20Zephyr.wav" target="_blank">Zephyr</a>), it only made sense to follow their lead and render the line as, "Time, be still!".<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIMR7z2_Pl-91cBw9hcVqcDh0zbEByLz8pPyekacTh_syHvgD6_P0h8dWlgHDrt0kXe_EzDrR-qsGCUhmUkay4CG6EWEFjWykQY-b1Sa1RrDD3ITvTKbBhv8wjkoYjteEmKKsnY2Y6OLw/s1600/It%2527s+Over.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIMR7z2_Pl-91cBw9hcVqcDh0zbEByLz8pPyekacTh_syHvgD6_P0h8dWlgHDrt0kXe_EzDrR-qsGCUhmUkay4CG6EWEFjWykQY-b1Sa1RrDD3ITvTKbBhv8wjkoYjteEmKKsnY2Y6OLw/s320/It%2527s+Over.bmp" width="320" /></a></div>
<u>Liebea Palesch</u><br />
<a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Liebea%20-%20Praying.wav" target="_blank">"Stay with me, Brother...!"<br />「お兄様、私を守って!」</a><br />
(<a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Rockman%20X4%20-%20Iris.wav" target="_blank">Iris, <i>Megaman X4</i></a>)<br />
<br />
Yet another <i>Megaman X4</i> reference. On one hand, the major characters of <i>X4</i> all have their dialogue dubbed in English. On the other hand, their lines are somewhat over-localized: <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Megaman%20X4%20-%20Iris.wav" target="_blank">"Stay with me, Brother...!"</a> doesn't mean the same thing as <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Rockman%20X4%20-%20Iris.wav" target="_blank">"Brother, protect me...!"</a>... Given Liebea is thoroughly an embodiment of Iris's character -- a pacifist caught in the crossfire who just wants the ones she loves to stay safe -- we decided to go with the official localization, even if it's not 100% accurate.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinl2b2TDGye7mRqNjGqF7x-WMXf6XU2ucq0Syz8mt5qLzZ4zj3IgEm8F-07Ab1T4MiJCu8vOqx4FfGYgIXH86qAtsikxit3GcMUeHFdWj8xV0JvQLnQz9aurfDTLblZ31FRH5VdmI_6kw/s1600/Test+Your+Strength.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinl2b2TDGye7mRqNjGqF7x-WMXf6XU2ucq0Syz8mt5qLzZ4zj3IgEm8F-07Ab1T4MiJCu8vOqx4FfGYgIXH86qAtsikxit3GcMUeHFdWj8xV0JvQLnQz9aurfDTLblZ31FRH5VdmI_6kw/s320/Test+Your+Strength.bmp" width="320" /></a></div>
<u>Raimund Seyfarth</u><br />
<a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Seyfarth%20-%20Victory.wav" target="_blank">"That was a magnificent battle...!"<br />「良い戦いだったぞ」</a><br />
(<a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Irregular%20Hunter%20X%20-%20Armor%20Armage.wav" target="_blank">Armored Armadillo, <i>Maverick Hunter X</i></a>)<br />
<br />
Believe it or not, <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Seyfarth%20-%20Victory.wav" target="_blank">one of Seyfarth's victory cries</a> is a reference to the <i>Maverick Hunter X</i> incarnation of Armored Armadillo. In Japanese, Seyfarth and Armadillo both follow the creed of the samurai. Unfortunately, this element of Armadillo's personality was lost in translation; in English, he comes across as stoic and stubborn instead of honor-bound and dutiful. In <i>Maverick Hunter X</i>, <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Irregular%20Hunter%20X%20-%20Armor%20Armage.wav" target="_blank">"Tatakai datta..."</a> was rendered as, <a href="http://darksidetranslations.com/html/Maverick%20Hunter%20X%20-%20Armored%20Armadillo.wav" target="_blank">"It was a good fight..."</a>; we revised the line to fit better with Seyfarth's battle-hungry personality.<br />
<br />
I'm tempted to keep going and shine a spotlight on the remaining characters, but this post is already long enough as-is, and I need to make sure that at least a few of the references can still surprise you in the final release. We're regularly submitting debug builds to the publisher, so it's only a matter of time before the game is ready for release.<br />
<br />
Well, that's all for now. See you next time!TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-51199944179032524002016-02-18T04:00:00.002-05:002017-01-24T17:04:33.282-05:00Help Wanted: The Hyper Dragon Chip Challenge<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI8yfIpWI6rD-xzf-5aBq3J2O7MynFYc8JnNLAUv3XkHP_t-eCKD38lYI8r1wmr1aLtXS9sJmSsavjMwlSFsp9yxdhMc_0rNibTONMQ-S-OB6W0IUlYQ3B8LViKSLIyRD189vi4t_8jo4/s1600/Megaman+VII+-+Versus+Mode.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI8yfIpWI6rD-xzf-5aBq3J2O7MynFYc8JnNLAUv3XkHP_t-eCKD38lYI8r1wmr1aLtXS9sJmSsavjMwlSFsp9yxdhMc_0rNibTONMQ-S-OB6W0IUlYQ3B8LViKSLIyRD189vi4t_8jo4/s1600/Megaman+VII+-+Versus+Mode.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Megaman 7</i> - Versus Mode<br />
Hold L & R and press Start</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hello, everyone. Sorry to keep you waiting!<br />
<br />
There are still a few things on the ol' To-Do List that need taking care of before I can roll out the next <i>RKS Developer Diary</i>. Assuming everything goes according to plan in the next few days, the next entry should be ready sometime this weekend. As I've hinted to before, we'll be taking a closer look at one of the new features that we had to code from scratch, as well as a handful of related homages that no one had the means to appreciate in our original fan translation. You'll understand what I mean by that once the next post is ready.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, I'd like to ask a few of you to lend me a hand with something I've been tinkering with on the side:<br />
<br />
As I mentioned in my last post, I enjoy cracking the password schemes of my favorite games both as a mental exercise and as a way of figuring out the intricacies of how the games work. Sundays at my day job have been rather slow as of late, so I've often found myself whipping out my notes and trying to figure out exactly how the password schemes for all four <i>Megaman</i> titles on the Super Nintendo function -- with fascinating results. Well, after a few weeks of waiting around for customers to serve, I'm proud to say that I've completely cracked the code schemes for all four games. I've also written password generators for all four games in Microsoft Excel, so I'm now able to generate passwords for any scenario I could possibly want (provided the relevant variables I want to manipulate are actually stored in the password).<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQJ8SH6OdSk5zZil-aiLNt22h111BDMOZ0Odd0pIKqycSUverWQqyf4HqWI8rwSZnK_fvMFcMcj0VMR-uyiQwvboqd9RMpXZ2Ph6uUg6ZE9jLbdV3ki57lKrhcGLkOwEhhNp17nOFFNgM/s1600/Megaman+X+-+Hadouken.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQJ8SH6OdSk5zZil-aiLNt22h111BDMOZ0Odd0pIKqycSUverWQqyf4HqWI8rwSZnK_fvMFcMcj0VMR-uyiQwvboqd9RMpXZ2Ph6uUg6ZE9jLbdV3ki57lKrhcGLkOwEhhNp17nOFFNgM/s1600/Megaman+X+-+Hadouken.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Megaman X</i> - Hadouken<br />
Hold L, R, X & Down and press Start</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Interestingly enough, I'm pleased to report that the long-held belief that the "100% completion" bonuses of <i>Megaman X</i> through <i>X3</i> (the Hadouken, the Shoryuken, and the Hyper Chip - a.k.a the Gold Armor) weren't being saved in your passwords is <u><i>decidely not true</i></u>. Don't believe me? Boot up <i>Megaman X</i>, enter the password 3673-2177-2487, hold the L, R, X and Down buttons, then press Start to confirm the code. Enter any stage, then immediately press Down, Down-Forward, Forward, Y to fire a Hadouken without needing to return to the cliff in Armored Armadillo's Stage. Ah, the convenience!<br />
<br />
Suffice to say, I've isolated the exact variables that determine whether or not you resume your game with the completion bonus equipped. I've also determined that these variables are automatically reset if a specific combination of buttons is not held down when the Start button is pressed to confirm the password entry. <i>Megaman 7</i> confirms this theory since its completion bonus, Versus Mode, is unlocked in the exact same manner -- holding down the L and R buttons before confirming the password entry with Start.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivG9a-Xr4lo0RC96LpHoQV3u5QmMIk0WRFLpyaupH1ISA1y_YQISmZTjjcBDJWTvRxatVIXraOhrfp_4EXjhyqoN9n7ZBuFzUExtFnfhhUAx7whM8SNi_bHCWZJWnqpeInqrMlvhwT-1E/s1600/Megaman+X2+-+Shoryuken.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivG9a-Xr4lo0RC96LpHoQV3u5QmMIk0WRFLpyaupH1ISA1y_YQISmZTjjcBDJWTvRxatVIXraOhrfp_4EXjhyqoN9n7ZBuFzUExtFnfhhUAx7whM8SNi_bHCWZJWnqpeInqrMlvhwT-1E/s1600/Megaman+X2+-+Shoryuken.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Megaman X2</i> - Shoryuken<br />
Starts at X-Hunter Stage 2<br />
Hold Down, Left, R & B and press Y</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As tempting as would be to spend my free time uncovering some brand-new secrets in two of my favorite games, I have more important matters to attend to at the moment that must take priority (namely, finishing the remaining work on <i>RKS</i>). So, while I'm busy working on <i>RKS</i>, I'd like to release a pair of passwords and ask the <i>RKS</i> community to help figure out the secret in my stead.<br />
<br />
For the emulation enthusiasts among you, what I'm asking should be relatively simple (if time-consuming). Launch your favorite Super Nintendo emulator (preferably SNES9x, Higan, RetroArch, or ZSNES), boot up either <i>Megaman X2</i> or <i>X3</i>, and enter the corresponding password pictured in this post. Before pressing Start to confirm the password and start your game, record a save-state. Then, hold down a button or two (or three, or four... could be as many as six buttons - I don't know...) and press Start. The <i>X2</i> password will start you at Serges' Stage (X-Hunter Stage 2), while the <i>X3</i> code will start you at Doppler Town Stage 1 with Bit, Byte, and Vile alive and Zero's Z-Saber equipped (remember: to get the Z-Saber, you need fight Mosquitus as Zero, which is impossible to do when while Vile is still alive ^_^). In either case, check to see if the completion bonus is equipped (in <i>X2's</i> case, press Forward, Down, Down-Forward, Y <i>or</i> Back, Down, Forward, Y to execute a Shoryuken; in <i>X3's</i>, whether X's armor is gold instead of blue should be obvious). If it didn't work, reload your save-state and try again with a different button combination, recording which ones worked and which ones didn't.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVOgRdvIIaTrXGXb8V5igLpxD4x-ovICMuE5c_Z5kWmEuZrBWjZrLtYx0DkHdB9gCVD1aYTTvF7r1JhhoT2-77JoQmYj1zz0ZFNscRe0W7yNAPaE6i-GpLyBFAD0v7npxd4dGLbOgZjP8/s1600/Megaman+X3+-+Hyper+Chip.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVOgRdvIIaTrXGXb8V5igLpxD4x-ovICMuE5c_Z5kWmEuZrBWjZrLtYx0DkHdB9gCVD1aYTTvF7r1JhhoT2-77JoQmYj1zz0ZFNscRe0W7yNAPaE6i-GpLyBFAD0v7npxd4dGLbOgZjP8/s1600/Megaman+X3+-+Hyper+Chip.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Megaman X3</i> - Hyper Chip<br />
Vile rematch with the Z-Saber<br />
No code available...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I have no way of knowing how little or how much time the process of pinpointing the secret button combination might take since I have no idea how complex the combinations might be. However, we can safely exclude the B and Y buttons from among the possibilities since they have other functions on the password scheme (Y increases any given digit's value in both games, and B decreases the digit's value in <i>X2</i> and returns to the Title Screen in <i>X3</i>). So, that leaves any combination among the four directional buttons (Up, Down, Left, and Right), L, R, X, A, and Select. If you don't have a gamepad, check if your emulator allows you to map custom commands to a single button (I know for sure that ZSNES supports this feature; I used to map the Hadouken / Shoryuken to my Dual Shock 2's R2 button when playing <i>X</i> / <i>X2</i>).<br />
<br />
By my calculations, the odds of any particular button combination being the correct one is 255 to one, so only take part in this task if you have plenty of free time to kill. That said, thank you to everyone who is interested in helping out. Here's hoping we're able to find the final piece in this pair of 20+ year old mysteries.<br />
<br />
That said, I wish you luck! See you later!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><i>Update: Justin3009 from <a href="http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,21312.0.html" target="_blank">Romhacking.net</a> has figured out the codes! Good work, Justin!</i></span>TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8233445061965139570.post-91314917116316791272016-01-25T20:22:00.002-05:002017-01-24T17:03:47.746-05:00Just For Fun: The Rockbreaker Code<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0UMlAt5BH9desq6x0unB_dW-Bgo40xIDmAIEabCxG9bKxTmIm7NRwW2nLi_YmMp39IliLrh1_Hs-Auy09d2EMvB3g3YR3LQ4kasqhT8g5cZ_dLIio4-W45egRHihIv6TfGTFijEa7p-Y/s1600/Password.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0UMlAt5BH9desq6x0unB_dW-Bgo40xIDmAIEabCxG9bKxTmIm7NRwW2nLi_YmMp39IliLrh1_Hs-Auy09d2EMvB3g3YR3LQ4kasqhT8g5cZ_dLIio4-W45egRHihIv6TfGTFijEa7p-Y/s1600/Password.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This password works with the original<br />
cartridge and the Virtual Console re-release.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hello, everyone! It's been pretty busy at my day job for the past little while, so I figured I'd take a breather today and properly recharge my batteries before I plunge back into my <i>RKS</i> workload tomorrow morning (remember, my weekends are Monday and Tuesday, not the standard Saturday and Sunday). Since nothing prepares me for working on <i>RKS</i> better than <i>Megaman</i>, I figured I'd dust off my old console and give the black sheep of the original series a go after I-don't-know-how-many years.<br />
<br />
Following last week's discussion on password cracking, I noticed that nobody has ever fully deciphered the password scheme for <i>Megaman 7</i>. Not one to let an interesting challenge slip by, I decided to take a crack at it and see if there was a reason behind the lack of details. Skip ahead a few hours, and I can confidently say that I've found my answers. I have to admit, the guys working for Capcom in the mid-90's were brilliant programmers; how the game validates each password would definitely frighten wannabe crackers away.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQBjJRpZ-SnDUuGSTlCyhSXFQw6mjHvab3JvEDBLhOFpJjnxWWwimW0AeCB5E7_Xeb5lZmsz4kmaY43pilah20exEMsnqzvr0xaZSietg50H6h8S_fFfMLm1MAKhVp67SH1wK4yn5d5Po/s1600/Mad+Grinder.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQBjJRpZ-SnDUuGSTlCyhSXFQw6mjHvab3JvEDBLhOFpJjnxWWwimW0AeCB5E7_Xeb5lZmsz4kmaY43pilah20exEMsnqzvr0xaZSietg50H6h8S_fFfMLm1MAKhVp67SH1wK4yn5d5Po/s1600/Mad+Grinder.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mad Grinder, meet the Hyper Rocket Buster.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Of course, it goes without saying that I've completely cracked the code. After isolating what each individual value does, I've generated some very interesting passwords that significantly change how the game can be played. I'll be publishing my findings after I've had the chance to properly organize the data, but that won't be for a little while since <i>RKS</i> naturally takes priority.<br />
<br />
Still, I've decided to release a single custom password that will allow you to have fun with the game in a way you might not have expected. I'm tempted to post a bunch of screenshots elaborating on what I mean, but I think it'd be a better idea to preserve the surprise and let you discover the intricacies for yourself.<br />
<br />
The above password will start you at the very beginning of the game. The moment you pause your game, you'll notice that something is a bit different (...well, a lot different, especially on the second page of the Status Subcreen). Once you finish the first battle with Bass, the game opens up completely. For better or worse, this password only works with authentic versions of the game (the original cartridge, the Virtual Console re-release, or up-to-speed Super Nintendo emulators); the code will not work on the incomplete port of the game found in the <i>Megaman Anniversary Collection</i>. Given some of the cuts that were made to that version of the game, it's not really a big loss.<br />
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That said, enjoy!TDOMMXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14699910152220873795noreply@blogger.com3