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[FF8] Translation tools + minitutorial

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Colly:
If you want translate Final Fantasy VIII into your language, you just read the most correct topic ;) Below you find all links to the tools and minitutorial for this.

In Final Fantasy VIII you can translate:
I. Dialogues
II. Menu
III. Kernel (magic names, item names, descriptions, battle system messages)
IV. Battle dialogues
V. Texts from the world map
VI. Card game
VII. Backgrounds & LZS
VIII. Textures from the battle (for example "Timber Maniacs" inside battles in Timber)
IX. Textures from the magic (Scan, The End)
X. Descriptions from the Scan
XI. Draw points
XII. Compiling


I. Dialogues

I.1. Garden

First of all, you must have Garden from Qhimm. This program can decompile (extract) all files from the game. I don't have original file, I have only version with Polish menu. You can find this program (compiled) here: Garden by Qhimm.


--- Quote ---Small translation:
Otwórz Projekt -> Open Project
Dekompiluj pliki -> Decompile files
Kompiluj pliki -> Compile files
Wyjście -> Quit
Widok -> View
Pasek Narzedzi -> Toolbar
Pasek Statusu -> Status bar
Pomoc -> Help
O Garden -> About Garden
--- End quote ---

To extract all files from the game, you must choose Dekompiluj pliki. After this process, you'll get GPR project file, which have 1209 KB... but it must have 1409 KB, if you want reinsert dialogue files back to the game. Correct GPR file you have in archive with Garden.

Dialogue files have MSD extension. You can edit them by Garden, but this program don't have functions such as Copy and Paste and you'll have to a lot of time, if you want translate all files by this program. Besides, Garden will crash if you'll try open empty MSD file (0 KB). So, better do this by my editor...

I.2. Moomba

You can find this program here: Moomba by Colly.
You will have to unpack this program into folder with GPR file. Thanks for this, Moomba finds MSD files. On the left you have list of dialogue files. Choose one of them and click [LOAD]. After editing file, click [SAVE].
Warning! Before clicking [SAVE], better copy all text from the file to clipboard. Sometimes program crashes, I don't know why (I create this program few years ago, so I don't remember how it works exactly).

I.3. Compiling dialogues into the game

You can do this by Garden. Please choose Kompiluj pliki (Compile, F5 key) and choose only field file.

II. Game Menu

II.1. FF8msg.exe.

You can edit menu by a M4v3R program, ff8msg.exe. BUT, if you want translate all in the menu correctly, you have to know "pointers" and how hexeditor works.
Menu has many sections, and you have to open mngrp.bin file by hexeditor and find all sections. The first sections starts at offset 24, the rest start offsets you have to find alone.
Tutorials, SeeD test questions and other texts after half of the mngrp.bin you have to translate alone, by hexeditor, and change pointers manually.

II.2. Hexeditor & tables.

I use Translhextion, you can find it here: Translhextion.
You have to thingy table for this, you can all find here: Thingy tables for FF8.

II.3. Textures from the menu.

Mngrp.bin file has almost all texts from the menu, but NOT ALL. Open the rest files from the menu.fs and look into it by Translhextion. Some of these files are textures, and fonts. You can edit them by...

II.4. Omega.

It's next program wrote by M4v3R (yes, we all should send big thanks to him) :) You can find it here: Omega by M4v3R. Bitmaps extracted by this program, better edit (save) by MS Paint, Photoshop can break these files.

III. Main

III.1. Kernel.bin has 25 sections (for magic names, item names, etc.). Every section has 2 subsections - one for pointers, and one for text.

Inside pointer subsection, very often there is "interval" between correct pointers, which has some other data (I don't know what this data is). So I create this table (click to view it).

Texts inside kernel.bin use DTE, but only in descriptions for items, etc., not in the names.

You can edit this ONLY by hexeditor, there is no other program you can edit this file correctly.

I created an application to do it, Carbuncle: Link to the forum, Carbuncle, version 0.9

III.2. Inside main.fs you have namedic.bin file - look into it, and edit by hexeditor.

IV. Battle dialogues.

Files for enemies (inside these you can find dialogues) are located in battle.fs archive. This is the files with names c0mXXX.dat (from c0m001.dat to c0m143.dat).
When you'll open this file (by hexeditor), look on the 0x1C, go into address from this offset, go down, and you'll see texts (don't forget turn on thingy table). This dialogues has the same structure as MSD files, so you can edit them by Moomba, but you'll have to change arena.cpg file for it and you'll have to, of course, extract this dialogue part to the new file.

Warning! If text lines will be too long, inside FF8 it will be corrupted.

V. Texts from the world map.

When you open Moomba, scroll the list to the end. :) Better create backup of the wmsetus.obj file.

VI. Card game.

VI.1. Text.

All of them is stored inside FF8.exe file. Open by hexeditor and find texts from the card game. You can search it for example by word "Rules". Edit - it has the same structure as MSD files (pointers + text).

VI.2. Texture.

If you want change textures from the game, search TIM file inside FF8.exe. Download TIMViewer or PSicture, and you get it easily.

But editing this file isn't easy. It's multipalette TIM. How I edit them? Here is the answer:

- I open TIM in PSicture, chose proper palette for some part of TIM (for example for "SAME!" in cardmes.tim) and save as BMP.
- I open this BMP in Gimp with TIM plugin, change mode to indexed and save as TIM with proper number of bits (4 in example).
- I open this saved TIM in Photoshop with TIM plugin, select and copy this proper place ("SAME!"). I open new document, paste from clipboard, and edit this normally in RGB mode.
- I open saved one-palette TIM in hexeditor and I change this palette into proper from original.
- I open this TIM with proper palette in GIMP, in Photoshop I select what I edited and use function "Copy Merged". I paste this into TIM in GIMP and after save, this is only one part in this file in proper colors. So...
- I create a copy of this TIM, open in Translhextion, in program preferences change bytes in line into bytes in width of this TIM, change font size into "5". After that, I delete header&palette, and I see only RAW image in Translhextion ;). Then I copy only proper lines of bytes into original, multipalette file, into proper place. The rest of graphic is untouched, so this works good :)

It looks great - you can see that here:


VII. Backgrounds.

Do you want edit background, such as this?


You can do it by programs and bats created by Czech translation group (Kruci), you can find they homepage here: http://www.rk-translations.wz.cz

Programs you can find here: FF8 background editing and here: LZS graphics editing... and we have to send big thanks to Kruci ;)

VIII. Textures from the battle.

Scan unpacked files from battle.fs by TIMViewer or PSicture. Edit them such as card game texture or by GIMP/Photoshop plugins, if TIM is single-palette.

IX. Textures from the magic.

Just do the same as in the VIII point, but change battle.fs into magic.fs ;)

X. Descriptions from the Scan magic.

Open hexeditor and load FF8.exe. Find these texts, edit, and save. ;)

XI. Draw points.

Please look at the previous point.

XII. Compiling.

All modified files (except dialogues) you can insert into the game by FF8 Archive Commander by M4v3R. You can find it here: FF8 Archive Commander by M4v3R.


All that things works for sure. Effects you can see here: Final Fantasy VIII in Polish

gonomodevil:
Excellent topic, Colly.
I'm sure it will be of great help.
Many thanks! :lol:

Alkor:
Ohohoh nice man  :wink:
PS Now i can mod my FF8  :mrgreen:

kurdtkobain:
Does some of this information still hold true for the psx version as well?

Colly:

--- Quote from: kurdtkobain on 2009-05-25 04:30:48 ---Does some of this information still hold true for the psx version as well?

--- End quote ---

According to some formats, yes, but you have to extract files from the CDs and I don't have program for this, yet ;) But I extracted these files manually, and it works:

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