Metal Gear 2 Retranslation?

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Charlie Johnson
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Metal Gear 2 Retranslation?

Post by Charlie Johnson »

There are two english translated versions of MG2: SS available.

The fan translation of the MSX2 original and the official translation of the Subsistence port.

I'll prefer the Subsistence translation, mainly because they left some stuff out in the fan translation.

Though I prefer playing the MSX2 original, because I prefer the original character portraits and the so called "original" difficulty of the Subsistence port is actually a lot easier than it is in the MSX2 version.

Now wouldn't it be possible to use the official Subsistence translation as base for a newly translated fan release of the original MSX2 version?

What do you guys think? Am I the only one who'd love to see that happen?
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87th
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Favorite Game: MetalGear 2: Solid Snake
Kojima games owned: METALGEAR SERIES
MetalGear (MSX2) [European]
MetalGear (NES) [European]
MetalGear (Famicom) [Japanese]
MetalGear 2: Solid Snake (MSX2) [Japanese]
Snake's Revenge (NES) [European]
MetalGear Solid (PlayStation) [European]
MetalGear Solid: Premium Pack (PlayStation) [European]
MetalGear Solid: Integral (PlayStation) [Japanese]
MetalGear: Ghost Babel (Gameboy Color) [European]
MetalGear: Ghost Babel (Gameboy Color) [European]
MetalGear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty (PlayStation 2) [European]
MetalGear Solid 2: Substance (PlayStation 2) [Japanese]
MetalGear Solid 2: Substance + The Document of MGS2 (PlayStation 2) [European]
MetalGear Solid 2: Substance (Xbox) [European]
MetalGear Solid 2: Substance (PC) [European]
MetalGear AC!D (PSP) [European]
MetalGear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PlayStation 2) [European]
MetalGear Solid 3: Snake Eater - Premium Pack (PlayStation 2) [Japanese]
MetalGear AC!D2 (PSP) [European]
MetalGear Solid 3: Subsistence - 1st Edition (PlayStation 2) [Japanese]
MetalGear Solid 3: Subsistence - Promo copy (PlayStation 2) [European]
MetalGear Solid 3: Subsistence - 1st Edition (PlayStation 2) [European]
MetalGear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel (PSP) [European]
MetalGear Solid: Portable Ops (PSP) [American]
MetalGear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - Limited Edition (+ Bonus Disc, Soundtrack and 6" Old Snake Action Figure) [European]

SNATCHER SERIES
Snatcher (Mega CD) [European]
Snatcher (Saturn) [Japanese]

POLICENAUTS SERIES
Policenauts Pilot Disk (3DO) [Japanese]
Policenauts (3DO) [Japanese]
Policenauts (PlayStation) [Japanese]
Policenauts (Saturn) [Japanese]
Policenauts (Saturn) [Japanese]

ZONE OF THE ENDERS SERIES
Zone Of the Enders (PlayStation 2) [European]
Zone Of the Enders: The Second Runner - Special Edition (PlayStation 2) [European]

BOKTAI SERIES
boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand! (Gameboy Advance) [European]
boktai 2: Solar Boy Django (Gameboy Advance) [European]

OTHER SERIES
Penguin Adventure (MSX) [European]
Kabushiki Baibai Trainer Kabutore (DS) [Japanese]

KOJIMA-RELATED GAMES
Konami Krazy Racers (Gameboy Advance) [European]
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) [American]
PSN: eighty7th
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Post by 87th »

I love MetalGear 2: Solid Snake more than any other game, so I'm all for a new version. I thought the PS2 version was great, but didn't really replace the experience of playing it in Japanese on my dodgy MSX2. (note- 87th can't read Japanese)

I'd much rather see a re-translation of SD Snatcher, before anyone bothered with a MG2 re-translation, though. It would be nice to play an MSX2 version of the boss battle mode, though (hopefully one that has a few more of the bosses than Konami's attempt, too).
snatcher1988
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Post by snatcher1988 »

I agree with 87th. I'd much rather see a new translation of SD Snatcher, as well.

P.S. Charlie, your signature kicks ass! Love, love, love the graphics in the PC98 version of Policenauts.
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shidoni
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Kojima games owned: Zone of The Enders
Anubis: Zone of The Enders
Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
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Location: Dark Side of the Moon

Post by shidoni »

Guess I should actually sit down and play MG2, huh, seeing as everyone loves it.

Sigh, does anyone know how to get the text sizes to work... I'm code-retarded.
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X_Lupin
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Post by X_Lupin »

I'm stuck at that damn bit where you have to bring the cold key back to the other side of the map.
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87th
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Posts: 2150
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Favorite Game: MetalGear 2: Solid Snake
Kojima games owned: METALGEAR SERIES
MetalGear (MSX2) [European]
MetalGear (NES) [European]
MetalGear (Famicom) [Japanese]
MetalGear 2: Solid Snake (MSX2) [Japanese]
Snake's Revenge (NES) [European]
MetalGear Solid (PlayStation) [European]
MetalGear Solid: Premium Pack (PlayStation) [European]
MetalGear Solid: Integral (PlayStation) [Japanese]
MetalGear: Ghost Babel (Gameboy Color) [European]
MetalGear: Ghost Babel (Gameboy Color) [European]
MetalGear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty (PlayStation 2) [European]
MetalGear Solid 2: Substance (PlayStation 2) [Japanese]
MetalGear Solid 2: Substance + The Document of MGS2 (PlayStation 2) [European]
MetalGear Solid 2: Substance (Xbox) [European]
MetalGear Solid 2: Substance (PC) [European]
MetalGear AC!D (PSP) [European]
MetalGear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PlayStation 2) [European]
MetalGear Solid 3: Snake Eater - Premium Pack (PlayStation 2) [Japanese]
MetalGear AC!D2 (PSP) [European]
MetalGear Solid 3: Subsistence - 1st Edition (PlayStation 2) [Japanese]
MetalGear Solid 3: Subsistence - Promo copy (PlayStation 2) [European]
MetalGear Solid 3: Subsistence - 1st Edition (PlayStation 2) [European]
MetalGear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel (PSP) [European]
MetalGear Solid: Portable Ops (PSP) [American]
MetalGear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - Limited Edition (+ Bonus Disc, Soundtrack and 6" Old Snake Action Figure) [European]

SNATCHER SERIES
Snatcher (Mega CD) [European]
Snatcher (Saturn) [Japanese]

POLICENAUTS SERIES
Policenauts Pilot Disk (3DO) [Japanese]
Policenauts (3DO) [Japanese]
Policenauts (PlayStation) [Japanese]
Policenauts (Saturn) [Japanese]
Policenauts (Saturn) [Japanese]

ZONE OF THE ENDERS SERIES
Zone Of the Enders (PlayStation 2) [European]
Zone Of the Enders: The Second Runner - Special Edition (PlayStation 2) [European]

BOKTAI SERIES
boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand! (Gameboy Advance) [European]
boktai 2: Solar Boy Django (Gameboy Advance) [European]

OTHER SERIES
Penguin Adventure (MSX) [European]
Kabushiki Baibai Trainer Kabutore (DS) [Japanese]

KOJIMA-RELATED GAMES
Konami Krazy Racers (Gameboy Advance) [European]
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) [American]
PSN: eighty7th
Wii Friend Code: 4890580757769739
Location: Zanzibarland
Contact:

Post by 87th »

Use the sewers to travel between buildings quicker.
Marc
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Post by Marc »

87th wrote:Use the sewers to travel between buildings quicker.
That sounded just like something a character would say over the radio. :)
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Re: Metal Gear 2 Retranslation?

Post by Nekura_Hoka »

Charlie Johnson wrote:Now wouldn't it be possible to use the official Subsistence translation as base for a newly translated fan release of the original MSX2 version?

What do you guys think? Am I the only one who'd love to see that happen?
Just to chime in late...

I considered doing this when Subsistence came out. It's not an impossible task, but It would not be easily accomplished (in comparison to how easy any translation project is). The subsistence scripts are very wordy and Konami appears to accomplish this in a way which would not be feasible for a standard rom image emulation situation. Personally, I think the scripts for the subsistence versions sound translated and unnatural. I'd rather do a retanslation from scratch, using the subsistence scripts as a means of maintaining accuracy.
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Post by Marc »

I offer to work on the translation if anyone wants to go ahead with this.
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Post by Nekura_Hoka »

I'll probably spend some time poking around the subsistence versions this weekend for some information. I will, however, be honest and say that while I have interest in doing such a project, I do not have the motivation these days to stick to it. Hell, I was meaning to do a bug check on the disk save/load hack for Metal Gear early last year and never got around to it. In other words, I couldn't really be counted on to produce anything, but thanks for the offer Osiris.
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Check out the Metal Gear MSX Translation:
http://www.geocities.com/nekurahoka/
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Post by Marc »

Sure, I understand. But if you do, you know where to find me. :)
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Post by Nekura_Hoka »

Figured I'd post a bit of a report on my investigation into the Subsistence scripts...

I dumped the scripts and posted them on my MG site (linked below). The scripts are extremely wordy (moreso than I originally thought). In the case of original Metal Gear the script contains very roughly 50% more data than our Remix version script (which in turn contained 30% more data than the UK version).

As I determined originally with the Remix project, a script of this size isn't possible in the existing MSX version. It would have to be reassembled as a larger memory image (256KB more than sufficient) to work. I personally don't have the patience to mess with it. Konami, it seems, didn't either. The PS2 version appears to be an actual port, rather than merely an MSX ROM running in emulation on the PS2. This gave them the nifty abilty to use addresses larger than 16-bit (the most that a MSX Z80 can manage), and also to use some modern day compression on the script itself. I'm betting the compresion is the same as that used on MGS3's codec and Stage.dat files. Hell the codec font used in the games is higher resolution than the game itself, that's kind of a dead giveaway that there's more than just MSX emulation going on.

That's basically why a new script insertion isn't feasible. I kind of liked the idea of inserting an updated script into MG2 because I figured I could squeeze more into it than the current translation based on what I learned doing Metal Gear, but the Subsistence ports make this a moot point. (I probably wouldn't have done it anyway out of respect for MTH and Takamichi.) The best possibility to accomplish a big long script with old fashioned MSX graphics would really be to hack the ps2 version and give it the old graphics and names. Personally, I'm a bit skiddish to mess with a game that is still on shelves in some places if you catch my drift.

All that being said, I might take a look at SD Snatcher this week, lol
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Post by Marc »

No worries, dude. I know it would be a lot of work.
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