Download this patch in DCP format for use with Universal Dreamcast Patcher:
Sakura Wars: Columns 2 (Hanagumi Taisen Columns 2) English Translation v1.2 Sega DreamcastProject Page: https://github.com/DerekPascarella/SakuraWarsColumns2-EnglishPatchDreamcast
.------------------::[ Credits ]::------------------ | | LEAD DEVELOPER / PROJECT LEAD: | Derek Pascarella (ateam) | | TRANSLATION COORDINATOR: | Chanh Nguyen (Burntends) | | LEAD TRANSLATORS: | Chanh Nguyen Natsume38 | Danthrax4 | | MAIN TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE: | HaydenKow esperknight | VincentNL nanashi | | MISCELLANEOUS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE: | SnowyAria NoahSteam | TurnipTheBeet YZB | | MISCELLANEOUS TRANSLATION ASSISTANCE: | cj_iwakura Ozaline | SnowyAria Matatabi Mitsu | ItsumoKnight Samantha Ferreira | LettuceKitteh JoblessFloppy | | GRAPHICS: | Derek Pascarella (ateam) | | MISCELLANEOUS GRAPHICS ASSISTANCE: | GriffithVIII Patrick Traynor | AnimatedAF Small Nerd | Einahpets Danthrax4 | `---------------------------------------------------
.-----------::[ Patching Instructions ]::----------- | | The .DCP patch file shipped with this release is designed for use with | Universal Dreamcast Patcher: | | https://github.com/DerekPascarella/UniversalDreamcastPatcher | | Note that Universal Dreamcast Patcher supports both TOSEC-style GDI and | Redump-style CUE disc images as source input. | | 1) Click "Select GDI or CUE" to open the source disc image. | | 2) Click "Select Patch" to open the .DCP patch file. | | 3) Click "Apply Patch" to generate the patched GDI. | - The patched GDI will be generated in the folder from which the | application is launched. | | 4) Click "Quit" to exit the application. | `---------------------------------------------------
.------------::[ v1.2 Release Notes ]::------------- | | Almost a year after the last update to this patch, I decided to deliver this | little v1.2 release to all the fans out there. The changes aren't massive, | but they address a few important things (in my opinion): | | -> Fixed typo in Kohran's victory message for "Shonen Red" mode. | -> Fixed character mood erroneously showing "HAPPY" when it should be | "GRUMPY". | -> Removed ISP-settings-check from built-in web browser used to access DLC | and unlocked save. | -> Replaced built-in web browser with English version. | | Regarding the last two items on the list above, recall that I included all | DLC, as well as a fully 100% unlocked save, accessible directly from within | the main menu of the game itself. However, after initial release, some | emulator users reported seeing an error when attempting to launch the | built-in web browser to access that content. At first, I misdiagnosed this | as a lack of modem/BBA emulation support, since others emulators (e.g. | Flycast) had no issue. However, it turned out to be reproduceable on real | hardware (thanks again, MattoBii). | | Ultimately, I was able to remove this ISP-settings-check with an assembly | hack, meaning that everyone can now access that bonus content, no matter how | they're playing the game. With that, I do believe this patch is complete! | | Enjoy, everyone! | `---------------------------------------------------
.------------::[ v1.1 Release Notes ]::------------- | | First of all, let me start off by saying that the positive reaction to the | release of this patch has been incredible! I can't begin to explain the | joy and satisfaction I feel when I see how many people are enjoying the hard | work that me and my team put into making this English translation of "Sakura | Wars: Columns 2" a reality. | | All of that being said, I knew that even after all of the testing by me and | others, there was a very high likelihood that some issues would be identified | once this patch was released in the wild. Well, I was right. However, funny | enough, almost all of the fixes in this v1.1 release address problems that I | myself identified! Rest assured that these fixes are mostly typo corrections | and style improvements, so the v1.0 patch is still stable and solid. | | More specifically, the fixes in this release include: | | -> Correcting a misaligned LIPS response entry in Kayama's story. | -> Correcting two typos in Kayama's story. | -> Correcting a typo in Sumire's story. | -> Correcting a typo in Maria's story. | -> Correcting a typo with Orihime's last name in the credits. | -> Improving the labeling for spirit level and time-limit in puzzle-solving | scenarios, where "SPIRIT DEFENSE XX%" has become "SPIRIT POWER XX%" and | "T. LIMIT DEFENSE +XXs" has become "TIME ASSIST +XXs", both of which more | accurately describe what these stats represent. | -> Improving the spacing of the "POWER BOOST!" and "W.D." labels for the | stats seen in puzzle-solving scenarios. | -> Fixing a bug in my custom patching utility (now at v0.2). | -> Adding an English error message that is displayed when attempting to | download the included DLC or 100% unlocked save when modem/BBA issues are | preventing the successful launch of the built-in web browser. | | To add some clarity to the last item on the above list, there exists certain | conditions under which the game's built-in web browser fails to launch. Even | though the game in no way makes an outbound connection to the Internet in order | to retrieve the bundled DLC or 100% unlocked save, a sanity check of sorts | will prevent the browser from launching. On original hardware, this failure | occurs when no modem or broadband adapter (BBA) is present, or if either of the | two is damaged. In an emulator, this failure occurs when the modem or BBA is | not being emulated in the same way that other peripherals are, like the VMU. | | Being that Dreamcast modems are still holding up strongly to this day, I | currently have no plans to reverse-engineer the routine that performs this | sanity check. However, since a few emulator users have reported this issue, I | will state here that I have successfully tested RetroArch+FlyCast with the HLE | BIOS option enabled. So far, I have not been able to achieve this functionality | with NullDC or ReDream. | | That being said, I managed to create VMU files compatible with both NullDC and | ReDream that are available in the "vmu_files\emulators" folder found within this | patch. These files can be placed in the root emulator folder and renamed to use | whichever VMU port you choose. Note that these are not individual saves, but | are instead files that represent the entire contents of an emulated VMU. | Therefore, be sure not to overwrite your existing VMU files containing valuable | saves. | | For those with other methods of transferring individual files to a VMU, either | on original hardware or via emulation, I have included the individual VMI/VMS | files for the DLC and 100% unlocked save in the "vmu_files" folder found within | this patch. | | For the curious, there was also a bug report submitted to GitHub pointing out | some graphical corruption with one of the DLC puzzles: | | -> https://bit.ly/3f5CEWa | | Interestingly enough, this bug actually also affects the original, unpatched | game. Since this issue never appears anywhere outside of one or two DLC | puzzles, and because it also affects the original game, I have opted not to | spend time trying to reverse-engineer and fix it. | | Last thing to note is an edge-case bug that was found with my custom patching | utility: | | -> https://bit.ly/3nY574f | | I managed to solve the issue, and it was the result of the gditools CLI | utility having some of the strangest behavior of anything I've ever worked | with. In all fairness, it may not be the application's fault, but instead a | quirk of the bundled-up executable with the built-in Python interpreter and its | affect on Windows file paths as part of command parameters. Either way, it's | been solved, and my custom patching utility is now at version 0.2. This brings | me one step closer to providing the Dreamcast scene with a universal patcher! | | In closing, I'd like to give a special thanks to the following content creators | for featuring our project in their blogs, videos, and podcasts: | | -> The Dreamcast Junkyard | -https://bit.ly/3vR849x (article) | | -> SEGAbits | -https://bit.ly/3w5dAWv (article) | -https://bit.ly/3nYsNFJ (trailer video) | | -> SHIRO! | -https://bit.ly/3h8MrgY (article) | -https://bit.ly/3o1rshi (article) | -https://bit.ly/3bd3OcH (video) | -https://bit.ly/3etmlU4 (video) | | -> Combat Revue Review | -https://bit.ly/3evfkSL (article) | | -> SEGA Driven | -https://bit.ly/3bd3Dhx (article | | -> Otaku Freaks | -https://bit.ly/3ex4viU (article) | | -> Found in Fanslation Podcast | -https://bit.ly/2RGBfh2 (podcast) | `---------------------------------------------------
.------------::[ v1.0 Release Notes ]::------------- | | It is with extreme pride and excitement that I present to you the v1.0 | release of our English translation patch for "Sakura Wars: Columns 2" (known | in Japanese as "Hanagumi Taisen Columns 2") for the Sega Dreamcast! This | patch comes to you all, the wonderful members of the Dreamcast community, as | 100% complete. Aside from hiring new voice actors to re-record the original | Japanese, and aside from the online battle section (which I'll be happy to | translate if the protocol is ever reverse-engineered), no stone was left | unturned. Everything from start to finish is fully translated and localized. | On top of that, the original website, the original DLC, and even a fully | complete/unlocked save, are all accessible from directly within the game itself | (read on for more details). | | For those unaware, this is an extremely in-depth and full-featured puzzle | game based on the world of "Sakura Wars." Not only does it feature a myriad | of unlockable content and extra bonus material, but also includes a full | "Story" mode for all 12 playable characters. For those like me who love good | puzzle games, "Sakura Wars: Columns 2" not only delivers in the department of | fun gameplay, but also keeps on giving back to the player with a multitude of | different ways to enjoy the game. | | Unlike most Japanese-exclusive titles, "Sakura Wars: Columns 2" is unique in | that, without this patch, each and every piece of text, whether it be rendered | during a dialog scene or as part of an image, is in Japanese. The one and | only English phrase that previously existed was "PRESS START BUTTON" on the | title screen. For what must be the most text heavy puzzle game of all time, | this is saying quite a lot about the level of effort involved in making this | translation patch a reality. My goal from the start was to produce something | that felt as close to an official, fully localized English Dreamcast game as | possible. If you ask me, we achieved that. | | Given that literally everything you see in English is the result of this patch, | it may be a bit tough to thoroughly list each aspect of the game that's been | modified and translated. However, I thought I'd at least try: | | -> All VMU icons have been translated from Japanese to English, including the | main logo. | -> Save games will be stored on the VMU with English labels and descriptions, | which are visible from the Dreamcast's VMU manager. Note that this is | also true of the bundled DLC. | -> The main logo appearing on the title screen has been redone in English. | -> All menus have been translated from Japanese to English, including the VMU | save manager, the main menus, the options menu, and the in-game menus. | -> The built-in web browser has been (partially) translated from Japanese to | English and now points to a custom English landing page that contains links | to the DLC and a fully complete/unlocked save. | -> The "Extras" section content has been fully translated from Japanese to | English. | -> All "Story" mode scripts have been fully translated from Japanese to | English, including LIPS responses and title screens. | -> The introduction text for "Shonen Red" and "Director!" modes has been | translated from Japanese to English. | -> Whenever spoken Japanese dialog occurs, the image displayed will contain | subtitles or manga-style speech bubbles in English. | -> All character profile images have had their English names added. | -> All images containing Japanese text that appear in the ending sequences | for "Shonen Red" and "Director!" modes have been translated into English. | -> All rank-up messages and puzzle description text has been translated from | Japanese to English in both "Puzzle Variety" modes ("Puzzle Challenges" | and "Load Puzzle From VMU" options). | -> All combat-style icons (e.g. Fire, Shadow, Thunder, Wind, etc.) have been | translated from Japanese to English with brand new icons created just for | this patch. | -> All text and images containing Japanese has been translated to English for | everything seen during puzzle matches, such as character status messages, | challenge messages, attack options, HUD labels, and more. | -> The ending credits seen after beating "Story" mode with a character have | been translated from Japanese to English and also now include the names and | roles of the translation patch team. | -> Even though its half-width and not variable-width, the Latin character font | sheet has been cleaned up for better aesthetics, including the addition of | the accented "è" used when Iris calls Ogami "Mon Frère," and the accented | "ó" used when Kayama says "Adiós." | -> The trailer FMV shown in attract mode has been subtitled in English. | -> VGA mode has been enabled, which mainly helps those who will be playing this | patched game via CDI (i.e. burned disc), as all ODE solutions already have | on-the-fly VGA patching. | | As is plain to see, this was quite an extensive undertaking. It's also highly | likely that I accidentally left something off that list, which is why it may | just be better to say "Everything was translated!" | | Speaking of extensive undertakings; compared to the previous two Dreamcast | patches I did ("Neon Genesis Evangelion: Typing Project E" and "Taxi 2"), this | was much more of a group effort, so much so that I have difficulty in even using | the words "my patch" when describing it. Because of the varied contributions of | the core group, as well as many others, this release is as polished, complete, | and awesome as it deserves to be. | | Other than the technical contributors listed later in these notes, the core | group that helped make this translation patch possible are as follows: | | -> Chanh Nguyen (Burntends) served as the project's Translation Coordinator, | as well as one of the Lead Translators. He was eager to start helping | with this project and was the very first person to volunteer. Not only | was he integral in assembling a translation team, but also in his | knowledge of "Sakura Wars" lore so that the patch would have the proper | tone and feeling. He also served as Editor, making certain that grammar | and spelling was accurate, while also giving the final sign-off for the | various drafts that the script went through to ensure a consistent level | of quality. You can find him on Twitter as @burntends2. | | -> Nastume38 had the role of a Lead Translator. She has the strongest | Japanese language skills out of the group and thus was an essential piece | of the puzzle. She worked diligently to translate hundreds upon hundreds | of lines of text, match them up with recorded game footage, map out the | LIPS responses, and offer up many fantastic takes on localizing Japanese | humor and expressions. You can find her on Twitter as @blaster_mania. | | -> Danthrax4 assisted the project in the capacity of a Lead Translator. He | caught my attention after his work with nanashi on the "Cotton 2: Magical | Night Dreams" English translation patch for the Sega Saturn. While he | joined our project in its latter third or so, he came to us with a | fantastic background as an editor in the newspaper industry. His | suggestions and decisions surrounding both style and form of our English | text went a long way to give the game the almost-official feeling that I | was aiming for. He is also responsible for the awesome custom logo you | see on your VMU while playing this game! You can find him on Twitter as | @Danbo_4. | | Others who aided translation in various ways, whether it be by identifying | Kanji characters, or by helping to properly translate/localize various | aspects of "Sakura Wars" lore, and everything in between, are cj_iwakura, | Ozaline, SnowyAria, Matabi Mitsu, ItsumoKnight, Samantha Ferreira, | LettuceKitteh, and JoblessFloppy. | | From a technical perspective, this game presented many challenges. Being the | Project Lead and Lead Developer meant that I was solely responsible for | making sure that all translated text and images successfully made their way | back into the game to replace the original Japanese equivalents. However, | such a large portion of my work would not have been possible without the | fantastic efforts of other programmers and ROM hackers. | | Not only were there esoteric file formats to reverse-engineer (e.g. binary | containers holding important assets), but also a form of file compression | that kept some of the most important game data locked away and inaccessible | without some very hacky workarounds I developed. The format of the Japanese | text used in "Story" mode was even a hurdle to overcome! However, there is | no mountain too high that hard work and perseverance cannot scale it. | | For their technical contributions, I would like to thank the following | individuals: | | -> HaydenKow for the tool he wrote to combine a PVR and PVP combination and | convert them into a properly indexed PNG, which allowed me to modify such | images and then convert them back to a PVR/PVP combo. with the color | palette in-tact. | | -> esperknight for not only helping me determine the formatting of the binary | container files used in this game, but also for taking time to write a | custom tool to extract/rebuild them in a much simpler way than I was | previously doing it. | | -> nanashi for reverse-engineering the compression algorithm used for many | key assets and then also writing a tool to perform the decompression of | said files. He also later identified the compression algorithm, which we | previously thought was something proprietary created by the game | developers. | | -> VinecntNL for his tips on dumping raw PVR textures using FlyCast, which | helped me develop the method I used to obtain original images for my early | "trial and error" method of replacing compressed images with my own | modified and uncompressed ones. | | Additionally, I'd like to thank SnowyAria, TurnipTheBeet, NoahSteam, and | YZB for their miscellaneous tips and tricks along the way. | | Other categories where assistance was so graciously given to our project | include graphics/video and testing. While I personally did the majority of the | graphics myself, I want to thank the following individuals for their | invaluable contributions: | | -> GriffithVIII for his beautiful, stylized text used before and after a | match starts, such as "SHONEN RED SCRAMBLE!", "NEW RECORD!", and | "GAME OVER." | | -> Einahpets and Small Nerd for the custom English logo seen not only on the | game's title screen, but also on the disc art PVR that users of | GDEMU+GDMenu will see. They also created the custom cover art that is | included with this release. | | -> AnimatedAF for doing the awesome, manga-style speech bubbles for the | images seen in the ending sequences for "Shonen Red" and "Director!" | modes, as well as the background image with the repeating logo used for | the "LOADING" screen. | | -> Patrick "TraynoCo" Traynor for subtitling the trailer FMV that plays | during attract mode. | | For game testing, both myself and Chanh Nguyen (Burntends) did the majority of | the playthroughs, but I still want to acknowledge the early assistance from two | well-known "Columns" experts: Trevgauntlet Neu and RoyTheDragon. | | In terms of "known issues" or current limitations with this v1.0 release of | our English translation patch, presently there is only one. Similarly to the | initial release of "Sakura Wars" for the Sega Saturn, the lip movement for | on-screen characters in "Story" mode is currently nonfunctional. While I did | develop a method for restoring lip movements, it ended up only being a partial | solution and fell short in several cases where limited space is available in | memory for storing English text. | | On this topic, I actually spoke several times with NoahSteam, the lead developer | on the "Sakura Wars" Sega Saturn project, regarding the method he used for their | team's upcoming patch update, which, among other things, restores lip movement. | Unfortunately, "Sakura Wars: Columns 2" does not follow the same format as the | earlier Saturn game. Still, his method employs essentially the same concept as | the one I devised. I'm happy to know that he was able to implement this | improvement in his patch. Perhaps one day in the future I will revisit this | topic and develop a method that suites this game, as well. | | The last important tidbit to know about this release is that I included with | it a cached version of the original website, the three original DLC puzzles, | and a fully complete/unlocked save, all of which are accessible from directly | within the game. The original website is actually still archived and hosted | on the official "Sakura Wars" website, so deciding to include it was a | no-brainer for me. Similarly, it makes perfect sense why I would want to | include the original DLC, too (thank you to DreamcastLive.net for continuing | to host Dreamcast DLC). However, some may wonder why I'd want to include a | complete game save, rather than force players to grind away and hone their | skills in order to enjoy the plethora of amazing unlockable content. Well, | firstly, I'm not that sinister, and secondly, I wanted players to be able to | experience and enjoy all of the incredible things that "Sakura Wars: Columns | 2" has to offer. Perhaps my motives are slightly selfish, but it felt wrong | to work so hard on this game only to have players see and experience half of | it. | | To access this VMU content, go to the "ONLINE" entry on the main menu and | then select "WEBSITE AND DLC." From there, the Japanese DreamPassport web | browser will launch, which I partially translated in order to make navigating | this section easier. Once the browser launches, select the "Exit" button at | the top-left of the screen. You'll then be presented with a custom landing | page I created which includes links to all three DLC puzzles, a fully | complete/unlocked save, and a cached version of the original Japanese | website. To copy the DLC or the save to your VMU, simply click on the | respective link with the "A" button and then select the VMU onto which the | file should be written. | | Once you've downloaded all of the desired files to your VMU, you can exit the | browser by pressing the "L" button and then selecting the last option on the | bottom of the menu that appears. If you view these save files in the | Dreamcast's home screen menu, you'll notice that all of their names and labels | appear in English, too! | | In summary, if you've made it this far in the release notes, let me end by | thanking you on behalf of the entire team. The Dreamcast itself has given me | many, many years of joy, and the incredible community that has continued to | live on remains a huge part of my life today. I gave over 200 hours of my | time to complete this translation patch and truthfully, I would do it all | again. Giving back to the community is a pleasure and privilege. I may never | be able to accurately distill down and put into words what Sega's swansong | console means to me, but something tells me that if you've downloaded this | patch, you just might already know how I feel. | | Keep Dreaming, my friends... | | PS: All custom tools developed by me and other technical contributors for this | patch are available with permission in this project's GitHub repository. | `---------------------------------------------------
.-----------------::[ Changelog ]::----------------- | | -> 2022-03-05 (v1.2) | -Fixed typo in Kohran's victory message for "Shonen Red" mode. | -Fixed character mood erroneously showing "HAPPY" when it should be | "GRUMPY". | -Removed ISP-settings-check from built-in web browser used to access DLC | and unlocked save. | -Replaced built-in web browser with English version. | | -> 2021-05-11 (v1.1) | -Fixed misaligned LIPS response in Kayama's story. | -Fixed two typos in Kayama's story. | -Fixed typo in Sumire's story. | -Fixed typo in Maria's story. | -Fixed typo with Orihime's last name in the credits. | -Improved labeling for status in puzzle-solving scenarios. | -Added custom English error message for modem/BBA issues that prevent DLC | and save file downloading. | -Fixed a bug in the custom patcher (now at v0.2). | | -> 2021-05-03 (v1.0) | -Initial release. | `---------------------------------------------------
Find me on... -> SegaXtreme: https://segaxtreme.net/members/ubik.21655/ -> Dreamcast-Talk: https://www.dreamcast-talk.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=5766 -> GitHub: https://github.com/DerekPascarella -> Twitter: https://twitter.com/DerekPascarella -> Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/ate4m/ -> YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLLjIeHSQbBLEooQ83SrdfQ