Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen. Sega Saturn v.1.0 is out.

This project which was supposed to have been a simple port from PS1 turned out to be so much more. New features added, additional scenarios translated. The text is mostly retranslated and brought into conformity with the series' canon. Oh, yeah, religious censorship removed. Another pleasant cooperation with Pennywise and paul_met as usual. See the readme file for details.

The patch has been recently updated to Ver. 1.3.1 you can grab here.








31 comments:

  1. Hello!

    I patched the game and it fires up. However, I ran into two issues.

    1. You can not get past the first screen where it asks you to pick Original or Hard (Translation) if you're using a Sega 3D pad or an officially licensed Retro-Bit Sega wireless controller. I had to plug in a regular Saturn pad to get past this screen. Both the original and the translation works fine AFTER this screen once you get past it.

    2. The Difficulty selection screen is confusing. It says Original and Hard (translated). But choosing Original also seems to be translated. Am I choosing only the difficulty on the screen? Is "translated" a leftover?

    I'll be putting time into the translation and thank you for all the efforts you guys put into these. I love it and I hope you guys are well!

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    1. 1. As for controllers, that's the original game stuff supporting the original controller only. I have a Night into Dreams official 3D controller myself but have to cope with the fact that it's not supported by some games at all :(
      2. The original game Saturn game was easier than other versions, so paul_met added the harder PS1 version for more challenging experience - that's what that screen means. We also wanted to add English voiceover eventually, but looking for actors turned too much of a hussle.

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    2. PS: The saves should work the same for both difficulties, meaning you're supposed to switch difficulty and still use the same save file you did before.

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  2. Hrm, interesting. I fired up the original JP version of the game and both my Saturn 3D controller worked and my Retro-bit controller worked without issue. Your patched version also worked after I got past that screen. It only had an issue with the input on that difficulty select screen. Where the original Saturn pad was required to press A or B and then after that any controller could be used without issue.

    Thanks for the clarification on the difficulty! That is also handy that you can use the same save file if you want to go up or down in difficulty. Fantastic work!

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    1. Mine didn't. We thought about adding other controllers, but for the time being, decided it's not worth the efforts.

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  3. That's interesting. I made a video that, hopefully, better explains what I am seeing. The only screen that has an issue is the Difficulty screen that was added to the translated version. Both in the original game, and after the Difficulty screen, the game works fine with any controller.

    I made a video that shows this issue. Also, I ran into 3 other people who had the same problem with controllers not working. One of them actually couldn't play the translation due to not owning an original Sega Saturn wired pad.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Kwa8wiBMX8

    It seems as though that screen is only accepting inputs from a specific controller ID rather than from the Sega Saturn controller protocol. Other ODE's and interfaces (and even some games...Lemmings and Bug actually), have this same issue.

    I hope this helps!

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    1. As I said before, we are well aware of the issue. Whether paul wants to change or not - no idea for now. *Shrug*

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    2. PS: Owning a Saturn without an original controller is a pure act of blasphemy and heresy :P

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  4. Oh, I missed where you said you were well aware of it. You originally stated that the game itself has these issues when, from my own testing, it did not (either original JP game or the translated version). And that you tested your Saturn 3D controller and it didn't work with the game. Perhaps just a misunderstanding.

    Either way, I just wanted to let you guys know that there is a potential blocker out there for some people who don't own an original Saturn controller or know to change to one. It sounds like this is well in hand! Take care and thanks again!

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    1. I still have this with my 3D controller even on original. It's not an issue per se since not all games officially support something else but original controllers. We'll think of some workaround, probably.

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    2. That is a bit of a misnomer in regards to 3D controller support. All Saturn games from all regions worked with the 3D controller. However, not all of them would work when you had the "3D" mode turned on that enabled the analog stick to function as an analog stick. Some games would present a message saying that the peripheral is not supported (Batman Forever) and other games just would not work. But all of them worked when you put the controller in 2D mode. All of them but 2.

      Bug! (the first game) and 3D Lemmings (JP only I think) both will not work with anything but the original Saturn pads or pads that spit out the controller ID from those pads. Which means the official 3d Pad and any standard licensed controller would not work. The games were coded to only accept the input from that specific controller ID rather than any input. Which I believe is the same issue that the Difficulty Select screen is having.

      Perhaps Ogre Battle has issues with your exact version of the 3d Pad but doesn't with mine (they might have different ID's). That would explain that inconsistency even though I have never heard of that.

      In the Hunt also has a famous controller issue on the Saturn...but it's an unplug it and plug it back in thing.

      I am not trying to sound pushy at all. I am just giving you guys information you might not have that could point you to a fix IF you chose to do so for people who don't have an original controller (they aren't cheap these days) or thinks to swap to one.

      Take care!

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    3. The original controller is currently from 5 to 30 bucks on ebay plus shipping.

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  5. This has been a very interesting thing to poke at... now if I could just figure out the Saturn-exclusive name-to-unlock map (like FIRESEAL for Dragon's Haven), that'd just make it better. Because it isn't Sarjem, Serjem, or Sa-jemu, and... well... サージェム doesn't exist in an English-only text field, XD

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  6. Awesome work, thank you so very much.

    The first time I started the game, one of the soldiers didn't display the name properly. I don't think it was japanese characters, maybe just an error, it almost looked like an orange fire banner sprite. I couldn't replicate it as the start if randomized even if you try to select the same card/answers.

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    1. If that's emulator you play with, there might be issues since I noticed the game is not ideal with Yabause/Yabasanshiro series. SSF played it smoothly, I think Mednafen, too.

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    2. NVM, it was indeed a Japanese leftover - fixed in v.1.1 - thanks!

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    3. Yeah, I only ever play on SSF and Mednafen (or as Beetle in RA). Awesome, haha.

      Any plans for doing this with Tactics Ogre also? I guess that one is massive..!

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    4. No idea for now, as that one had some warm treatment in its psp version.

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  7. This is so cool, thanks for keeping projects like this alive. Stay blessed friends.

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  8. Can you explain the difference between "easy mode" and "hard mode" at the beginning selection?

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    1. It's literally the more challenging version of gameplay and battles comparing to the original Saturn one, which is easier.

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  9. Download link for patch is gone. Can anyone upload it or share working link?
    Thanks

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    1. Seems like the patch has been updated - links updated accordingly.

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  10. I heard that some abilities don't work properly in this version, is that true?

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    1. Not that I am aware of, but do report bugs if you have any.

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    2. Sadly I'm not aware of the specifics, a let's player commented that there are bugged abilities, but I'll be sure to post here again when I find out more, thanks!

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    3. Thank you, but as you might guess, we can't check anything without some proper information on where to look.

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  11. what exactly are "5 new scenarios" for this version?

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    1. I believe, there was a bunch of Saturn-only stages and story bits. Was looong ago, though.

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