Tuesday, February 24, 2009

WIP Status UBBJ 1, 2 and SUBB 2

First off I would like to announce that Ultra Baseball Jitsumeiban 2 is also being currently translated into English. Actually it will be a revised and complete trans that was started by Tuffy da Bubba in 2003. He also started work on UBBJ3 but I can't say at this time when and if we'd ever get to that game.

Ultra Baseball Jitsumeiban: The next patch should be out soon (possibly by the end of this week) with 100% complete Kana translation. The Kanji is still not translated but is certainly planned to be.

Super Ultra Baseball 2: We just started work on this which is up to beta 0.27 and has a ways to go but is progressing fine since most of the code has been found already in UBBJ & UBBJ2 making it much easier.

Ultra Baseball Jitsumeiban 2: Tuffy da Bubba hacked most of this code and I would venture to say that 90% of the Kana is already translated. There is some work left and lots of text corrections, revisions and pointers to fix but most of it is done.

I will try to get some screen shots up, just finding the time to do these things.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Ultra Baseball Jitsumeiban First English Patch Released

Ultra Baseball Jitsumeiban English translation patch v0.50

Author: VX
URL: http://vxtrans.blogspot.com/
E-Mail: tubebar@ymail.com

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Patch Download Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?mgjzxyjonme

The game is about 90% translated, this is the patch ONLY as the ROM is copyrighted and I will NOT distribute it...you're on your own to find it so don't ask me!

Contents
================================================================================
1. Patch History
2. About Ultra Baseball Jitsumeiban
3. Controls
4. Issues
5. Remaining
6. Translation Notes
7. Thanks

1. Patch History
================================================================================

v0.50 - 02/05/2008
-First public patch.
-English Fonts have been replaced.
-Most Menus and Kana have been translated.
-Some Kanji has been translated.

2. Ultra Baseball Jitsumeiban
================================================================================

"This is the ultimate baseball game! Precise pitching, bulls-eye batting, and
Awesome fielding! It's all under your control with simpler yet more
sophisticated operation. With loads of features, you'll be an All Star! It is
the ultimate baseball simulation you've dreamed of."

Ultra Baseball Jitsumeiban (or Real Names Version) is the third game released in
the Ultra Baseball Series. The first two games were released in the US under the
titles of "Baseball Simulator 1,000".

The Baseball games are unique as they allow players to fully edit and automate
entire leagues and seasons. Additionally it's the optional "super power"
Ultra League that gives players the unique ability to well....play some very
wacky baseball!

-Ultra Baseball: released in 1989 for the NES as "Baseball Simulator 1,000".

-Super Ultra Baseball: released in 1991 for the SNES as "Super Baseball Simulator 1,000".

-Ultra Baseball Jitsumeiban: released in 1992 for the SNES in Japan only. This is
basically Super Ultra Baseball w/ real names (Jitsumeiban means Real Names Version).
The graphics and sound are slightly better, and there is a new pennant option but
this obviously uses the same engine.

-Super Ultra Baseball 2: released in 1994 for the SNES in Japan only. Culture Brain
planned to release this title as "Super Baseball Simulator 1,000 2" but canceled shortly
after. This game uses a new engine and sports more features - yes this project is in the
works too!

3. Controls
================================================================================
KEY representation for each button:

Y = Y button (pink)
X = X button (pink)
B = B button (dark purple)
A = A button (dark purple)
L = L button (gray, top left)
R = R button (gray, top right)
Control Pad = directional pad (black)
START = start button (black))
SELECT = select button (black)

______________
/Menu Controls/
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
START - advances through most menus
A - confirms selection
B - rejects selection
Control Pad - navigates through menus

________
/Batting/
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
START - calls time
X - picks power up (if available)
A - swings bat
Y - tells runner (on base) to steal
Control Pad - moves batter in box, affects where bat hits ball


/Pitching/
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
START - calls time
X - picks power up (if available)
A - tosses pitch
Y - pitcher steps off rubber, pick off move
Control Pad - moves pitcher on white rubber (horizontally)
- also affects velocity, stamina used per pitch, and direction


4. Issues
================================================================================

-Some text is cut short or abbreviated due to space restrictions.
-Some menus are not translated due to not being able to find the text (i.e. they
maybe compressed).
-Some Kanji is not translated due to shared uses of the text.

5. Remaining
================================================================================

-Title Screen Translation.
-Season Config Menu.
-Pennant Screen Text.
-Season save menu at the end of the game.
-Some various Kanji.

6. Translation Notes
================================================================================

Jitsumeiban as the title suggests is the "Real Player Version" thus this game used
real players from NPB. It would have been too time consuming to have romanized
players names and anyone who actually cares about the real players would more then
likely speak Japanese and not have a need for this patch.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Baseball Simulator (Ultra Baseball) SNES Translations

My 2 current Japanese to English projects are unique baseball games released for the SNES. Only the first two games were released in the US, under the titles of "Baseball Simulator" and the rest of the games never left Japan.

The Baseball Simulator (Ultra) games are unique as they allow players to fully edit and automate entire leagues, addtionally it's the optional "super power" Ultra League that gives players the unique ability to well....play some very wacky baseball!

Ultra Baseball: released in 1989 for the NES as "Baseball Simulator 1,000".

Super Ultra Baseball: released in 1991 for the SNES as "Super Baseball Simulator 1,000".

Current VX Translation projects:

Ultra Baseball Jitsumeiban: released in 1992 for the SNES in Japan only. This is basically Super Ultra Baseball w/ real names (Jitsumeiban means Real Names Version). The graphics and sound are slightly better, and there is a new pennant option but this obviously uses the same engine.

Translation Notes: I am not localizing the game as the comercial versions did, and I am not translating the "real life" players names as it is to time consuming and it is safely assumed that any person of interest in Japanese Baseball would certainly be able to read Japanese and would not have any interest in my translation patch.

Super Ultra Baseball 2: released in 1994 for the SNES in Japan only. Culture Brain planned to release this title as "Super Baseball Simulator 1,000 2" but canceld shortly after. This game uses a new engine and sports more features.

Translation Notes: I just started this one a few days ago, I will try to get some screen shots for both titles up soon. So far progress is stable for both titles.