The more things change, the more they stay the same. I’m sure most of you will quickly notice that the content of the blog is more or less identical to the old blog. Well, that’s because we’re still running on WordPress, so we were able to copy it all over. Sorry if any of your comments were lost, any comments made after we uploaded the file were scattered to the far corners of the internet (and I’m certainly not going there to look for them). So what’s new then? Well, aside from the incredible new theme and layout, there are a few new features.

One of the first things to mention is the new image system we’re working with. We can now group all of the pictures into nice galleries. For example, all of the screens from Tales of Destiny are now available here. We can also post those galleries in posts as you see below. Click one of the pictures to see it at normal size.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

Oh, did I mention that these screenshots aren’t just for show? Kingcom added battle subtitles (as seen in Phantasian Productions’ ToP project). These are an extension of the subtitles already used for the voice-only sections of the event dialogue. Since we realize that not all players want more text on the screen, we have added an option to the menu. There are three settings. On will turn all subtitles on including the lines used for various artes. Important is used only for those audio clips that we believe enhance the story or characters. Off will disable the battle subtitles completely. So no matter what your preference is, we hope that one of these options will suit your needs.

The next thing to mention and one of the biggest additions to Absolute Zero is our new forum! Sign up and join in. I’m hoping that the forum will allow users to interact in new ways. At the very least, it’ll be a good way to kill time between updates.

A section that is very important to me but might not be to most people is the Help Wanted page. We can’t do everything on our own, so sometimes we might ask for help. We’ll post the details up there and you can use the form to send us your information if you’re interested in any of the positions. Right now, the Tales of Phantasia Editor position is the only thing up there, but if anything else is added, I’ll be sure to mention it.

We have new project pages as well, but they’re still a little barren at the moment. It’ll all come with time. Here’s Phantasia as an example.

Well, that’s about all I’ve got in the way of explanations. Do a little exploring, check out the new site. Well, that’s about it. Welcome to the new home of Absolute Zero. Enjoy your stay! ^_^

EDIT: Wilhelm here. An extra feature of the new site is that if you just want to see the latest images added to the site, you can use this link to grab a RSS feed specifically for it. Normal feeds are still available, as always.

First, Tales of Innocence is moving along as always. Kingcom has been taking a little time off from ToI, but he has totally earned it. I’ve been poking at the script and as always, editing the menu text. I will be having someone begin the preliminary edits on ToI’s menu and current script text within the next week, I hope. With any luck, doing these edits early on will save time when we have to do the final editing on the text.

Next, Tales of Phantasia’s version 1.1 has been mentioned here and there since the patch’s initial release almost a year ago. Honestly, I was hoping to have it out by now, but the editor that I had placed my hopes in has vanished. Despite my efforts, I’ve had no word from him in several months now. This is the sad reality of fan projects, people disappear sometimes. I’d still like to make the v1.1, but I don’t know when that will happen now. If I’m going to do the editing myself, I don’t know when I’ll be able to set aside the time to do it. Frankly, ToI is much higher priority for me right now. For the time being, I have little motivation to work on ToP. Ideally I would like to go back and fix all of my mistakes (including rechecking the original Japanese text), but who knows if/when this will happen. I could reopen the search for editors, but I’m uncertain if I want to do that at this time.

Well, that’s about it. I hope this post doesn’t sound as depressing as it does in my head. Things are still moving along with Tales of Innocence, that should be good news for everyone I hope.

Completed translating Demon’s Blazon. Release is forthcoming once the rest of the bugs are worked out. RHDN Demon’s Blazon Project Thread

Editing on Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is nearly complete. Once that’s done, I have to retime the script to the voices and then it’ll be ready. RHDN Database Entry for Italian SotN

Today my copy of Tales of Destiny PS2: Director’s Cut got a scratch on it. An unreadable scratch. So tomorrow I get to go out and buy another copy of the director’s cut, making this the 3rd time I’ve bought ToDr. If the game wasn’t so awesome, I would be really, really angry. Instead I’m just sort of angry. I want to be angry, but I can’t seem to get there. I need to quit breaking games, it makes life too expensive.

I’m getting sick. Midterms are coming up. I have about 3 months left in Japan. The larger of my two laptops is legally dead. I’m tired of small fights with my host family in Japanese. Arguing in another language is not fun. That’s life for the time being.

http://www.crosser.altervista.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=127

If you really don’t want to register there, you can of course post comments here.  However, I ask that you use this post ONLY for bug reports.  I haven’t decided how to deal with this yet, but I very well might be deleting comments as they are corrected or if they are off-topic.  This post is intended for script/hack corrections, so we’re not really looking to hear overall feedback or reactions here, there are other places for that.  So feel free to comment here, but please, be as specific as possible (and screenshots are always a huge help).

Thank you all for your ongoing support, you’ve all made this release a lot of fun.

All you need to supply is your .bin or .img rip of Tales of Phantasia and the attached custom patcher will take care of the rest. Since it would seem this cannot be overstated, the patched game is fully compatible with real hardware. Please be sure to check the readme, which, among a complete patching procedure and other useful notes, also contains important information regarding emulator and PSP-emulation specific glitches (these are emulator glitches, not patch bugs).

The patch features:
- A complete translation;
- Additional subtitles for skits and the spoken prologue;

Please consult the readme before asking specific questions about patching or related topics.

We thank you for your support and hope that you enjoy Tales of Phantasia PSX!

DOWNLOAD TALES OF PHANTASIA PSX PATCH V1.0 DOWNLOAD HERE!

Well, I think the image about says it all.  But in case it doesn’t, we are proud to announce that on Christmas Day, December 25th, 2007, we will be releasing our 1.0 patch for Tales of Phantasia PSX.  Get those emulators started, dust off your official systems, get your game out of the closet, because before long, you’ll be enjoying the remake of the first title in the Tales series, Tales of Phantasia.  I don’t know what else to say, but having this project nearing completion is a matter of great pride for me.  I hope that you all will enjoy this game as much as I’ve enjoyed working on it. ^_^

Can I help beta test?

We’re glad you’re willing to help, but no. Our beta is already well under way and the testers have been selected for a long time. Please don’t ask us if you can beta test.

Are we going to use the PSP sprites?

The short answer is no, we’re not. They are not part of the patch. IF the PSP sprites are released as any part of a patch, it will be seperate and unrelated to the translation patch. Please keep that in mind.

What platforms will the patcher work on?

The patcher is Windows-based. However, it will also work Linux via Wine.

Will the game work on my PSX/PS2/PSP?

Yes. The game has been tested on all platforms and preforms perfectly. Anything that can play a PSX game should be able to handle our patch.

Are you going to release the patch soon?

Well we aren’t not going to release it soon. Or aren’t we? Think about that.

• Script Translation and Editing – 100%
• Skit Translation and Editing – 100%
• New Features!
  • Selectable ability names (English vs. Romanized Japanese)
  • Splash screen and anti-eBay/P2P screen
  • Complete Patcher (made by Gemini specifically for this project)
    • Patches the game in 2-5 minutes depending on your system

So, there you have it. Most of this stuff has been done for several weeks. But there were internal alphas and some fixes to do, so nothing much that we could update people on. Why am I only posting two pictures? The truth is that I have TONS of them. But frankly, why would I want to tempt you with the game? I mean, before long, I’m just going to give it to you. ^_^

The two pictures here demonstrate the Ability Name Selector in action.

So let me just say, if you don’t yet own a copy of Tales of Phantasia PSX, now is a great time to look into buying one.

Mint’s abilities are now referred to as ‘Methodism’ and she is referred to as a ‘Methodist’.   No, not as in the Christian sect, after doing some research trying to nail down exactly what was intended with Mint’s houjutsu, I came across this:  Methodism – Wikipedia  I got there in a very roundabout way, since thinking about it afterwards, Cyllya had mentioned the phrase several times in the past.  In any case, my own searches on the interwebs led me to the same conclusion, so I’m very pleased with this translation. It certainly does more justice to the concept than my previous method of referring to Methodism and Methodists was able to do.

The term ‘Magic’ has been tightened down a bit.  This is also related to Arche’s type of magic which I often refer to in the game as Sorcery.  I still use magic at times, particularly when the term is used to refer to both mana-driven Elven Sorcery and Klarth’s Spirit-focused Summoning.  In any case, Mint’s abilities should no longer be referred to as magic.  That was the goal in tightening the term down.  Methodism doesn’t rely on the power of mana, but rather draws energy from natural sources (which means the earth and the wind according to my Tales Encyclopedia).

Did I ever mention that we’re using Moria Mine and not Morlia Mine?  That’s important I guess.

The boat scene is done.  As per the Japanese, we have strongly implied sexual dreams and alcohol.  But you know what?  Nobody is fucking like a tiger.  Because that shit is made up.  You understand?  Yeah, okay.  No, but seriously, I don’t know why people care about this scene so much.  It’s not all that interesting unless you just make things up…

And of course, more generic edits to this and that.  It’s going to keep happening up until the end. Well, buckle in and hold on tight.  The translation is moving along strong and fast again.  Oh yeah, and last time I made a post, I probably over estimated my progress a bit.  I believe that right now I’m at about 46%.  So there you have it.  The good times keep on rolling. ^_^

At last estimation, I believe my script progress was at about 45% complete. Hopefully I can keep up this pace, though it’s still hard to set an end date. Overall, I’d say it’s taking me a little longer than I initially expected. Even working with my old translation, there are so many things that need to be fixed that it still takes me a while. Also, I think I underestimated how much time would be consumed by the general study abroad experience. Oh well. Hope you enjoy these images at least. ^_^