We are in excellent shape! I finished writing the 8th character's scenario in World-I just minutes ago.
I have now written everything that Ritchie has submitted into the English working ROM. This includes most of the story in World-I (of III) for all eight characters. I was able to write the stories for the four locked characters after Recca played a combination of the English working ROM and the Japanese ROM all the way through the confrontation with the final boss for the first four characters. This unlocked them, and his SRM opened the door for me to play and write the second four.
The only parts of World-I not translated at this time are certain scenes in the Star Relic at the very end of World-I for all eight characters. Following confrontations inside the Star Relic, all eight characters are transported by sailing ship automatically to World-II, and no return to World-I is possible at that time. None of World-II or III has been translated yet.
Menu work is not finished but refined to the point that game play is fully supported in English in World-I. Also, much of Worlds II and III is also playable in English - especially battles, shops, and menus. All we miss in English is the story, but speaking to certain characters in the latter two worlds may lock the English ROM until we insert translated strings for their applicable blocks.
Progress is now to the point that we have what I'm calling a fairly polished V0.25 for this game. Unlike many other projects, we will be able to plug in translated files as soon as they arrive and play, write, and polish those sections in the game immediately - if they are in order or we have a save that reaches them. Usually, a game refined to this point has all of the files already translated and plugged in (in their raw forms), but we spend months of continuous work wading through the whole game and fixing the glitches and freezes. This way, I must wait for more translated files before I can continue writing, but additional menu refinements can continue to be plugged in right along.
I will be sending the V0.25 to Recca and the core group later on tonight or tomorrow morning. At this time, for any of the rest of you besides Recca who want to play the eight characters in World-I, I am open to suggestions for improving the story or fixing anything you see that doesn't quite mesh. As for Recca, I know he will be playing the characters that were not written yet in the last revision I sent him, and he already knows what sort of reports I need. Cheers, gang!
YAY for brownies! 