Hoping to make your life's design a bit more dynamic!

Hopefully, TF can find the missing code that causes transitions between text blocks (and chapters, mostly) that prevent the game from running normally (multiple crashes!). Some of the crashes are so severe, the SRM saves get corrupted, either in part or completely. Placing SRM backup files in separate folders near chapter endings is imperative right now.

A few random crashes occur in mid-chapters. These are mostly associated with the introduction of major characters, those that join the party, for example. One crash occurs at a "healing fountain" in Chapter 1.

Otherwise the game is virtually 100% translated. Only a few simple menu logos that are undumped remain.

Wish us luck, World!

Good luck, you dynamic designers!

You said good luck!

And I am beyond excited tonight.

A few weeks ago, my son moved back closer to us, in Richmond, Virginia - all the way from Houston, Texas. We were in Houston pre-pandemic during December 2019. I had my Surface Pro with me in Houston and a 16 GB USB flash memory drive I usually wear around my neck every time my wife and I travel. On that drive, I maintained many important files, among them, the latest work on unreleased English patches. It was my primary backup device for patches-in-work.

In January '20, I flew 1500 miles back east, thinking that flash drive was in my travel bag that I always carry on planes and place under the seat forward. When I arrived back home and opened the bag - the 16 GB flash memory drive was not inside! I texted my son immediately and asked him to find that drive and mail it to me, but he said it wasn't in Texas. This morning, he drove to our place with a load of boxes to store. One of them contained clothing items of mine I had left in Texas intentionally. I opened the box, and there was my missing flash memory, buried underneath my tee shirts and such.

Late this afternoon, I plugged that drive into a PC and noticed I had an Odysselya file dated May 2018. Inside that folder, I found several insertion system updates. One particular update caught my attention immediately: "SO_Insert_MassiveBugPart1.zip". I opened the zip and noted the date on the lone file inside. Then, I opened the folder on the insertion system I've been using and observed that the file with that same name was dated two days earlier!

Heart racing, I updated my insertion system with the slightly fresher file from the "massive bug" zip and played through the end of Odysselya's Chapter 1. Lo and behold, the final string displayed in Chapter 1 and the game transitioned flawlessly into Chapter 2! Earlier, Chapter 2 experienced a midpoint crash when I recruited a new fighting companion in Canaan. I played to that scene, and this time the game did not crash. If this fix is consistent throughout similar additional crashes in the game, it means Odysselya-I just became "fully playable" as people say.

Flaws that can hopefully be fixed remain, but one still broken "healing fountain" can be avoided, and a few untranslated menus are easy to interpret. Bongo`'s a wizard at reverse engineering, and I'm ecstatic he got that long lost catastrophic bugfix to me before departing our group. If only I had hung that flash drive around my neck before departing Houston well over a year ago, getting to this point with Odysselya-I would have been a heckuva lot easier! Now, I need to load up all of the pre-crash point saves and check them one-by-one.

At this point, I'm fairly optimistic. Now, if only we can fix the crashes in Oni-II.

Whoa! What a story! :O So glad that worked out!

I'm glad that you've got everything worked out then. So, is the plan to release both Shinseiki Odysselya games at the same time or will the first one be released before the second (or vice versa)? In any case, good luck with the finishing touches on both games! I'll be more than glad to help out with beta testing this game when it's ready, along with any of the other remaining projects if needed.

Both together works for me if everyone agrees. I’ve confirmed that four previous crash sites are fine now. I’ve gone from the Ice age through Northern Europe, to Canaan, Egypt, and finally Babylon in 1200 BC with no text crashes. I have 11 others to check. In some cases, I had to play Japanese through huge cutscenes. #4 was one of those. It took me all day to retranslate, rewrite, and polish, but many of the remaining ones are one-string trouble spots.

I still have some areas I hope Taskforce will have time to look over and missing strings in the Kali Cave in India that don’t seem to be dumped. Keep your fingers crossed that the bug fix I discovered on my lost flash drive will solve those last 11 crash sites!

Update: I LOVE THIS GAME! The two Odysselyas are masterpieces!

The "lost" bugfix solved about 14 crashes, all at the end of most of the 20 blocks. I have crashes remaining in the "Naga labyrinth" on the Island of Crete in Greece, built around legends of the Minoan civilization and the mythical minotaur. Those can be worked around, if necessary, using short "jumps" through one string in the Japanese ROM. One crash remains in the ending credits. We can all live with that one.

I will do a second play soon, then get on with the testing phase.

I don't mind the bugs. I have translated and beaten both games - in English. These projects were more challenging than my careers as an intelligence officer in the U. S. military and Department of Defense. The story was more difficult to unravel than determining if the Soviet Union believed a nuclear holocaust was unthinkable or survivable. The thrust of the tale is along this line, metaphorically.

Yes, I found this saga captivating, just like real world crises and built around the rise and fall of historical empires with all of their Machiavellian machinations and corrupting influences. Throughout, the heroes and villains changed their names, appearances, and sides more often than I'm betting Wuhan's viral researchers change their underwear. Bongo`'s basic tools were developed sufficiently to help me reach this point. What I managed with those tools may be my best work in 20 years - ever. I will share these patches no matter how incompletely they come together. Good people exist in the world who will enjoy both games in their present forms.

Happy gaming, kindred souls!

Great to hear! If they're anything like Shiji, your audience is sure to count them as experiences to remember as well. Sounds like a release date is close. Till then, I'll continue fumbling around in Aretha during breaks from Bellum Iugurthinum.

It's nice to see that this project is coming along nicely. I definitely enjoyed playing through Odysselya-II and am looking forward to seeing what the first one will be like as well. Based on what you've said so far, it certainly sounds as if the storyline of this title will also be quite a blast to play through. Good luck with this game, I'm sure that many people will be eagerly awaiting the release of both Odysselya games!

Ya, they are pretty bad and heavy-handed. The one in bold being particularly bad.