Darbury

I've patched old Kirikiri games that had no data.xp3 before, so it is possible. (Technically, there is a data.xp3, but it's part of the executable, as you saw. If you hex edit the exe, you can see it sitting there at the end of the file with all the proper xp3 headers and everything.)
Not enough to go on from your description so far, so here are some possible troubleshooting steps:
Try altering just one of the PNGs instead to narrow down if the issue is with the whole xp3 or just your ks script. Check the text encoding of your ks script. With a game of that era, it likely needs to be saved out as Shift-JIS. What program are you using to generate your patch.xp3? Sometimes, a different tool just seems to work better on certain games. In addition to GARbro, you might want to explore KrkrExtract and kiririki. Is the game expecting an encrypted patch.xp3? If so, you may want to see if GARbro has that game's encryption as an option or use KrkrExtract to create a Universal Patch.

Seems to be Shoukansha:
https://vndb.org/v7976

🤣 Make like a tree and get outta here!

Welcome to Fuwa, from one dad to another. Don't worry, we've got all kinds here... 
Ronald Reagan? The actor?! Then who was vice-president, Jerry Lewis?

What tool are you using for your extract? I'm assuming GARbro. Try using KrkrExtract instead.
Just ran KrkrExtract on the trial version of your game and was able to get all the scripts, images, etc. out cleanly:
;マクロ//////////////////////////////////////// ; その夏最後の嵐の夜　ぼくは死んだ ;I died in the last stormy night in that summer. ; The TARHS Entertainment Presents ; 図書室のネバジスタ ; 統括・脚本　都志見文太 ; 河原に置かれた荷物、デジカメ。 ;原画・彩色　かずまこを ;流された靴と雨 ;音楽　鷹石忍　FROST ;背景　藍田望 ;制服・ロゴデザイン　もろずみすみとも ;河川敷 ; ;=========================================================** *op|&act0[0] ;オープニング @title name=&title_act0[0] ; ;クリック待ちを表示しない @iscript sf.showpagebreak = 0; @endscript ; ;フラグリセット @call storage=flgreset.ks ; ;履歴出力 @history output=true enabled=true etc etc etc

Aaand.......... the first proofreading phase is over Now off to the editing with it. I hope that @Plk_Lesiak makes something readable out of it
And in the meantime I will continue coding Japanese version and editing images for "256 color mode"

So, after quite a long break, today I finally had another proofreading/TLC session, and so I reached 60% mark, going over most of the 8th chapter.

Darbury presents Darbury’s Old Visual Novels for Old People Named Darbury
Will anybody care about this TL other than me? Probably not. So let’s just agree to call it a micro-niche release, okay?
Anyway, there’s this doujin VN called Hitokata. It’s old. Came out 20 years ago, in fact. A one-person labor of love released at the turn of the century. It’s also well-regarded in the Japanese freeware VN community. Start poking around people’s top 10 lists of free VNs and you’ll be surprised how often it turns up. I mean, not Narcissu often… but enough.
Why? Nostalgia maybe. Back in the day, a 100% free VN that clocked in at 10+ hours was something of a rarity. And one that was sorta good? Doubly so. The game was also surprisingly influential, picking up the time-loop ball from YU-NO and running with it before that trope became a total cliche. Even now, you’ll often see Hitokata referenced in reviews and discussions of doujin VNs with timey-wimey narratives.
Great. So what the hell is it about, Darbury?
Glad you asked. Here’s a little write-up:
Ancient demons, teenage angst, fresh fish… What more could you want, right?
Hitokata never made it to the West for a variety of reasons: a graphically bare-bones first release; an over-reliance on repetition; and an odd mix of cornball humor and existential dread. (Plus, if I’m being honest, the narrative can be slightly clunky at times.) It was popular enough in Japan, however, to merit a commercial remake for mobile — first for feature phones, then Android/iOS. And with that came a whole new generation of fans.

A very stupid localization
Everyone had a COVID hobby to keep them sane over the past year, and working on Hitokata was one of mine. It started as a simple translation of the NScripter original, but when I was done, I was visited by a series of increasingly stupid thoughts:
Stupid Thought #1: Hey, this VN isn’t very pretty. Maybe I can just add the backgrounds from the mobile release. Stupid Thought #2: Heyy, now that I’ve added the backgrounds, it probably won’t be much more work to add the sprites. Stupid Thought #3: Heyyy, now that I’ve added the sprites, it probably won’t be much more work to add the sounds and music. Stupid Thought #4: Heyyyy, now that I’ve added the sounds and music, it probably won’t be much more work to add the UI. Stupid Thought #5: Heyyyyy, now that I’ve added the UI, why don’t I just port this whole thing to Ponscripter. By the time the stupidity stopped, I’d more or less done a ground-up rebuild of the game. Whoops! On the bright side, it means there are now two distinct versions of the TL patch: Hitokata Classic, a straight TL of the original game; and Hitokata Enhanced, with all the added bells and whistles. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of an early screen to show how those two versions stack up.
Screenshots:
CLASSIC | ENHANCED
So, if your name is Darbury and you like old doujin VNs, you can find more info on the patch here. (You're also incredibly handsome. Good on ya.) If you’re anyone else, just go play Musicus! already.

Darbury presents Darbury’s Old Visual Novels for Old People Named Darbury
Will anybody care about this TL other than me? Probably not. So let’s just agree to call it a micro-niche release, okay?
Anyway, there’s this doujin VN called Hitokata. It’s old. Came out 20 years ago, in fact. A one-person labor of love released at the turn of the century. It’s also well-regarded in the Japanese freeware VN community. Start poking around people’s top 10 lists of free VNs and you’ll be surprised how often it turns up. I mean, not Narcissu often… but enough.
Why? Nostalgia maybe. Back in the day, a 100% free VN that clocked in at 10+ hours was something of a rarity. And one that was sorta good? Doubly so. The game was also surprisingly influential, picking up the time-loop ball from YU-NO and running with it before that trope became a total cliche. Even now, you’ll often see Hitokata referenced in reviews and discussions of doujin VNs with timey-wimey narratives.
Great. So what the hell is it about, Darbury?
Glad you asked. Here’s a little write-up:
Ancient demons, teenage angst, fresh fish… What more could you want, right?
Hitokata never made it to the West for a variety of reasons: a graphically bare-bones first release; an over-reliance on repetition; and an odd mix of cornball humor and existential dread. (Plus, if I’m being honest, the narrative can be slightly clunky at times.) It was popular enough in Japan, however, to merit a commercial remake for mobile — first for feature phones, then Android/iOS. And with that came a whole new generation of fans.

A very stupid localization
Everyone had a COVID hobby to keep them sane over the past year, and working on Hitokata was one of mine. It started as a simple translation of the NScripter original, but when I was done, I was visited by a series of increasingly stupid thoughts:
Stupid Thought #1: Hey, this VN isn’t very pretty. Maybe I can just add the backgrounds from the mobile release. Stupid Thought #2: Heyy, now that I’ve added the backgrounds, it probably won’t be much more work to add the sprites. Stupid Thought #3: Heyyy, now that I’ve added the sprites, it probably won’t be much more work to add the sounds and music. Stupid Thought #4: Heyyyy, now that I’ve added the sounds and music, it probably won’t be much more work to add the UI. Stupid Thought #5: Heyyyyy, now that I’ve added the UI, why don’t I just port this whole thing to Ponscripter. By the time the stupidity stopped, I’d more or less done a ground-up rebuild of the game. Whoops! On the bright side, it means there are now two distinct versions of the TL patch: Hitokata Classic, a straight TL of the original game; and Hitokata Enhanced, with all the added bells and whistles. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of an early screen to show how those two versions stack up.
Screenshots:
CLASSIC | ENHANCED
So, if your name is Darbury and you like old doujin VNs, you can find more info on the patch here. (You're also incredibly handsome. Good on ya.) If you’re anyone else, just go play Musicus! already.

Darbury presents Darbury’s Old Visual Novels for Old People Named Darbury
Will anybody care about this TL other than me? Probably not. So let’s just agree to call it a micro-niche release, okay?
Anyway, there’s this doujin VN called Hitokata. It’s old. Came out 20 years ago, in fact. A one-person labor of love released at the turn of the century. It’s also well-regarded in the Japanese freeware VN community. Start poking around people’s top 10 lists of free VNs and you’ll be surprised how often it turns up. I mean, not Narcissu often… but enough.
Why? Nostalgia maybe. Back in the day, a 100% free VN that clocked in at 10+ hours was something of a rarity. And one that was sorta good? Doubly so. The game was also surprisingly influential, picking up the time-loop ball from YU-NO and running with it before that trope became a total cliche. Even now, you’ll often see Hitokata referenced in reviews and discussions of doujin VNs with timey-wimey narratives.
Great. So what the hell is it about, Darbury?
Glad you asked. Here’s a little write-up:
Ancient demons, teenage angst, fresh fish… What more could you want, right?
Hitokata never made it to the West for a variety of reasons: a graphically bare-bones first release; an over-reliance on repetition; and an odd mix of cornball humor and existential dread. (Plus, if I’m being honest, the narrative can be slightly clunky at times.) It was popular enough in Japan, however, to merit a commercial remake for mobile — first for feature phones, then Android/iOS. And with that came a whole new generation of fans.

A very stupid localization
Everyone had a COVID hobby to keep them sane over the past year, and working on Hitokata was one of mine. It started as a simple translation of the NScripter original, but when I was done, I was visited by a series of increasingly stupid thoughts:
Stupid Thought #1: Hey, this VN isn’t very pretty. Maybe I can just add the backgrounds from the mobile release. Stupid Thought #2: Heyy, now that I’ve added the backgrounds, it probably won’t be much more work to add the sprites. Stupid Thought #3: Heyyy, now that I’ve added the sprites, it probably won’t be much more work to add the sounds and music. Stupid Thought #4: Heyyyy, now that I’ve added the sounds and music, it probably won’t be much more work to add the UI. Stupid Thought #5: Heyyyyy, now that I’ve added the UI, why don’t I just port this whole thing to Ponscripter. By the time the stupidity stopped, I’d more or less done a ground-up rebuild of the game. Whoops! On the bright side, it means there are now two distinct versions of the TL patch: Hitokata Classic, a straight TL of the original game; and Hitokata Enhanced, with all the added bells and whistles. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of an early screen to show how those two versions stack up.
Screenshots:
CLASSIC | ENHANCED
So, if your name is Darbury and you like old doujin VNs, you can find more info on the patch here. (You're also incredibly handsome. Good on ya.) If you’re anyone else, just go play Musicus! already.

Darbury presents Darbury’s Old Visual Novels for Old People Named Darbury
Will anybody care about this TL other than me? Probably not. So let’s just agree to call it a micro-niche release, okay?
Anyway, there’s this doujin VN called Hitokata. It’s old. Came out 20 years ago, in fact. A one-person labor of love released at the turn of the century. It’s also well-regarded in the Japanese freeware VN community. Start poking around people’s top 10 lists of free VNs and you’ll be surprised how often it turns up. I mean, not Narcissu often… but enough.
Why? Nostalgia maybe. Back in the day, a 100% free VN that clocked in at 10+ hours was something of a rarity. And one that was sorta good? Doubly so. The game was also surprisingly influential, picking up the time-loop ball from YU-NO and running with it before that trope became a total cliche. Even now, you’ll often see Hitokata referenced in reviews and discussions of doujin VNs with timey-wimey narratives.
Great. So what the hell is it about, Darbury?
Glad you asked. Here’s a little write-up:
Ancient demons, teenage angst, fresh fish… What more could you want, right?
Hitokata never made it to the West for a variety of reasons: a graphically bare-bones first release; an over-reliance on repetition; and an odd mix of cornball humor and existential dread. (Plus, if I’m being honest, the narrative can be slightly clunky at times.) It was popular enough in Japan, however, to merit a commercial remake for mobile — first for feature phones, then Android/iOS. And with that came a whole new generation of fans.

A very stupid localization
Everyone had a COVID hobby to keep them sane over the past year, and working on Hitokata was one of mine. It started as a simple translation of the NScripter original, but when I was done, I was visited by a series of increasingly stupid thoughts:
Stupid Thought #1: Hey, this VN isn’t very pretty. Maybe I can just add the backgrounds from the mobile release. Stupid Thought #2: Heyy, now that I’ve added the backgrounds, it probably won’t be much more work to add the sprites. Stupid Thought #3: Heyyy, now that I’ve added the sprites, it probably won’t be much more work to add the sounds and music. Stupid Thought #4: Heyyyy, now that I’ve added the sounds and music, it probably won’t be much more work to add the UI. Stupid Thought #5: Heyyyyy, now that I’ve added the UI, why don’t I just port this whole thing to Ponscripter. By the time the stupidity stopped, I’d more or less done a ground-up rebuild of the game. Whoops! On the bright side, it means there are now two distinct versions of the TL patch: Hitokata Classic, a straight TL of the original game; and Hitokata Enhanced, with all the added bells and whistles. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of an early screen to show how those two versions stack up.
Screenshots:
CLASSIC | ENHANCED
So, if your name is Darbury and you like old doujin VNs, you can find more info on the patch here. (You're also incredibly handsome. Good on ya.) If you’re anyone else, just go play Musicus! already.

Darbury presents Darbury’s Old Visual Novels for Old People Named Darbury
Will anybody care about this TL other than me? Probably not. So let’s just agree to call it a micro-niche release, okay?
Anyway, there’s this doujin VN called Hitokata. It’s old. Came out 20 years ago, in fact. A one-person labor of love released at the turn of the century. It’s also well-regarded in the Japanese freeware VN community. Start poking around people’s top 10 lists of free VNs and you’ll be surprised how often it turns up. I mean, not Narcissu often… but enough.
Why? Nostalgia maybe. Back in the day, a 100% free VN that clocked in at 10+ hours was something of a rarity. And one that was sorta good? Doubly so. The game was also surprisingly influential, picking up the time-loop ball from YU-NO and running with it before that trope became a total cliche. Even now, you’ll often see Hitokata referenced in reviews and discussions of doujin VNs with timey-wimey narratives.
Great. So what the hell is it about, Darbury?
Glad you asked. Here’s a little write-up:
Ancient demons, teenage angst, fresh fish… What more could you want, right?
Hitokata never made it to the West for a variety of reasons: a graphically bare-bones first release; an over-reliance on repetition; and an odd mix of cornball humor and existential dread. (Plus, if I’m being honest, the narrative can be slightly clunky at times.) It was popular enough in Japan, however, to merit a commercial remake for mobile — first for feature phones, then Android/iOS. And with that came a whole new generation of fans.

A very stupid localization
Everyone had a COVID hobby to keep them sane over the past year, and working on Hitokata was one of mine. It started as a simple translation of the NScripter original, but when I was done, I was visited by a series of increasingly stupid thoughts:
Stupid Thought #1: Hey, this VN isn’t very pretty. Maybe I can just add the backgrounds from the mobile release. Stupid Thought #2: Heyy, now that I’ve added the backgrounds, it probably won’t be much more work to add the sprites. Stupid Thought #3: Heyyy, now that I’ve added the sprites, it probably won’t be much more work to add the sounds and music. Stupid Thought #4: Heyyyy, now that I’ve added the sounds and music, it probably won’t be much more work to add the UI. Stupid Thought #5: Heyyyyy, now that I’ve added the UI, why don’t I just port this whole thing to Ponscripter. By the time the stupidity stopped, I’d more or less done a ground-up rebuild of the game. Whoops! On the bright side, it means there are now two distinct versions of the TL patch: Hitokata Classic, a straight TL of the original game; and Hitokata Enhanced, with all the added bells and whistles. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of an early screen to show how those two versions stack up.
Screenshots:
CLASSIC | ENHANCED
So, if your name is Darbury and you like old doujin VNs, you can find more info on the patch here. (You're also incredibly handsome. Good on ya.) If you’re anyone else, just go play Musicus! already.

Darbury presents Darbury’s Old Visual Novels for Old People Named Darbury
Will anybody care about this TL other than me? Probably not. So let’s just agree to call it a micro-niche release, okay?
Anyway, there’s this doujin VN called Hitokata. It’s old. Came out 20 years ago, in fact. A one-person labor of love released at the turn of the century. It’s also well-regarded in the Japanese freeware VN community. Start poking around people’s top 10 lists of free VNs and you’ll be surprised how often it turns up. I mean, not Narcissu often… but enough.
Why? Nostalgia maybe. Back in the day, a 100% free VN that clocked in at 10+ hours was something of a rarity. And one that was sorta good? Doubly so. The game was also surprisingly influential, picking up the time-loop ball from YU-NO and running with it before that trope became a total cliche. Even now, you’ll often see Hitokata referenced in reviews and discussions of doujin VNs with timey-wimey narratives.
Great. So what the hell is it about, Darbury?
Glad you asked. Here’s a little write-up:
Ancient demons, teenage angst, fresh fish… What more could you want, right?
Hitokata never made it to the West for a variety of reasons: a graphically bare-bones first release; an over-reliance on repetition; and an odd mix of cornball humor and existential dread. (Plus, if I’m being honest, the narrative can be slightly clunky at times.) It was popular enough in Japan, however, to merit a commercial remake for mobile — first for feature phones, then Android/iOS. And with that came a whole new generation of fans.

A very stupid localization
Everyone had a COVID hobby to keep them sane over the past year, and working on Hitokata was one of mine. It started as a simple translation of the NScripter original, but when I was done, I was visited by a series of increasingly stupid thoughts:
Stupid Thought #1: Hey, this VN isn’t very pretty. Maybe I can just add the backgrounds from the mobile release. Stupid Thought #2: Heyy, now that I’ve added the backgrounds, it probably won’t be much more work to add the sprites. Stupid Thought #3: Heyyy, now that I’ve added the sprites, it probably won’t be much more work to add the sounds and music. Stupid Thought #4: Heyyyy, now that I’ve added the sounds and music, it probably won’t be much more work to add the UI. Stupid Thought #5: Heyyyyy, now that I’ve added the UI, why don’t I just port this whole thing to Ponscripter. By the time the stupidity stopped, I’d more or less done a ground-up rebuild of the game. Whoops! On the bright side, it means there are now two distinct versions of the TL patch: Hitokata Classic, a straight TL of the original game; and Hitokata Enhanced, with all the added bells and whistles. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of an early screen to show how those two versions stack up.
Screenshots:
CLASSIC | ENHANCED
So, if your name is Darbury and you like old doujin VNs, you can find more info on the patch here. (You're also incredibly handsome. Good on ya.) If you’re anyone else, just go play Musicus! already.

Darbury presents Darbury’s Old Visual Novels for Old People Named Darbury
Will anybody care about this TL other than me? Probably not. So let’s just agree to call it a micro-niche release, okay?
Anyway, there’s this doujin VN called Hitokata. It’s old. Came out 20 years ago, in fact. A one-person labor of love released at the turn of the century. It’s also well-regarded in the Japanese freeware VN community. Start poking around people’s top 10 lists of free VNs and you’ll be surprised how often it turns up. I mean, not Narcissu often… but enough.
Why? Nostalgia maybe. Back in the day, a 100% free VN that clocked in at 10+ hours was something of a rarity. And one that was sorta good? Doubly so. The game was also surprisingly influential, picking up the time-loop ball from YU-NO and running with it before that trope became a total cliche. Even now, you’ll often see Hitokata referenced in reviews and discussions of doujin VNs with timey-wimey narratives.
Great. So what the hell is it about, Darbury?
Glad you asked. Here’s a little write-up:
Ancient demons, teenage angst, fresh fish… What more could you want, right?
Hitokata never made it to the West for a variety of reasons: a graphically bare-bones first release; an over-reliance on repetition; and an odd mix of cornball humor and existential dread. (Plus, if I’m being honest, the narrative can be slightly clunky at times.) It was popular enough in Japan, however, to merit a commercial remake for mobile — first for feature phones, then Android/iOS. And with that came a whole new generation of fans.

A very stupid localization
Everyone had a COVID hobby to keep them sane over the past year, and working on Hitokata was one of mine. It started as a simple translation of the NScripter original, but when I was done, I was visited by a series of increasingly stupid thoughts:
Stupid Thought #1: Hey, this VN isn’t very pretty. Maybe I can just add the backgrounds from the mobile release. Stupid Thought #2: Heyy, now that I’ve added the backgrounds, it probably won’t be much more work to add the sprites. Stupid Thought #3: Heyyy, now that I’ve added the sprites, it probably won’t be much more work to add the sounds and music. Stupid Thought #4: Heyyyy, now that I’ve added the sounds and music, it probably won’t be much more work to add the UI. Stupid Thought #5: Heyyyyy, now that I’ve added the UI, why don’t I just port this whole thing to Ponscripter. By the time the stupidity stopped, I’d more or less done a ground-up rebuild of the game. Whoops! On the bright side, it means there are now two distinct versions of the TL patch: Hitokata Classic, a straight TL of the original game; and Hitokata Enhanced, with all the added bells and whistles. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of an early screen to show how those two versions stack up.
Screenshots:
CLASSIC | ENHANCED
So, if your name is Darbury and you like old doujin VNs, you can find more info on the patch here. (You're also incredibly handsome. Good on ya.) If you’re anyone else, just go play Musicus! already.

Darbury presents Darbury’s Old Visual Novels for Old People Named Darbury
Will anybody care about this TL other than me? Probably not. So let’s just agree to call it a micro-niche release, okay?
Anyway, there’s this doujin VN called Hitokata. It’s old. Came out 20 years ago, in fact. A one-person labor of love released at the turn of the century. It’s also well-regarded in the Japanese freeware VN community. Start poking around people’s top 10 lists of free VNs and you’ll be surprised how often it turns up. I mean, not Narcissu often… but enough.
Why? Nostalgia maybe. Back in the day, a 100% free VN that clocked in at 10+ hours was something of a rarity. And one that was sorta good? Doubly so. The game was also surprisingly influential, picking up the time-loop ball from YU-NO and running with it before that trope became a total cliche. Even now, you’ll often see Hitokata referenced in reviews and discussions of doujin VNs with timey-wimey narratives.
Great. So what the hell is it about, Darbury?
Glad you asked. Here’s a little write-up:
Ancient demons, teenage angst, fresh fish… What more could you want, right?
Hitokata never made it to the West for a variety of reasons: a graphically bare-bones first release; an over-reliance on repetition; and an odd mix of cornball humor and existential dread. (Plus, if I’m being honest, the narrative can be slightly clunky at times.) It was popular enough in Japan, however, to merit a commercial remake for mobile — first for feature phones, then Android/iOS. And with that came a whole new generation of fans.

A very stupid localization
Everyone had a COVID hobby to keep them sane over the past year, and working on Hitokata was one of mine. It started as a simple translation of the NScripter original, but when I was done, I was visited by a series of increasingly stupid thoughts:
Stupid Thought #1: Hey, this VN isn’t very pretty. Maybe I can just add the backgrounds from the mobile release. Stupid Thought #2: Heyy, now that I’ve added the backgrounds, it probably won’t be much more work to add the sprites. Stupid Thought #3: Heyyy, now that I’ve added the sprites, it probably won’t be much more work to add the sounds and music. Stupid Thought #4: Heyyyy, now that I’ve added the sounds and music, it probably won’t be much more work to add the UI. Stupid Thought #5: Heyyyyy, now that I’ve added the UI, why don’t I just port this whole thing to Ponscripter. By the time the stupidity stopped, I’d more or less done a ground-up rebuild of the game. Whoops! On the bright side, it means there are now two distinct versions of the TL patch: Hitokata Classic, a straight TL of the original game; and Hitokata Enhanced, with all the added bells and whistles. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of an early screen to show how those two versions stack up.
Screenshots:
CLASSIC | ENHANCED
So, if your name is Darbury and you like old doujin VNs, you can find more info on the patch here. (You're also incredibly handsome. Good on ya.) If you’re anyone else, just go play Musicus! already.

1) Handle (the one you use or plan to use): Anonym271
2) Positions you can fill: Resource extraction, repacking, coding and reverse engineering 
3) Types of projects (VNs) preferred: Anything
4) Availability: Primarily weekend
5) VNs most interested in producing an ftl for: Tropical Kiss (this is what I recently created tools for. But I really do anything)
6) Motivation for joining in on ftl: Having a lot of fun investigating resource and scripting systems of VN engines and wanting to share my results
7) Conditions: None. 
I am not a translator, I don't even speak Japanese. But if someone of you needs one who has fun writing some extraction and repacking tools for unknown resource archives etc., just contact me.
If this doesn't fit in here (because you just want translators or something like that), I'm sorry. Just delete it then.

Yup, something in that direction could definitely work.  And since you won't have to worry about contrast against arbitrary backgrounds, you can remove the outline and just go with a dark color for the nav text. (Unstroked text will almost always be more legible at small point sizes.)

Like this?

This version, 100% — plus, like, 3% percent I had sitting around in my jacket pocket.
It solves so many problems for you. It minimizes the impact of the dithered backgrounds while also giving them visual context. It keeps character sprites from sliding to the far, far edges of the canvas (or behind their own dialogue portraits). And it just looks rad.
Restyle that Ren'py bottom nav with an 8-bit pixel font and you got yourself a winner.

Hi! Best of luck with your translation patch! Some thoughts below:
Issue #1
The special characters aren't just bold, they're a different font entirely. (Your base font is serif; the special characters are sans-serif.) Most likely answer is that the English version of the game is using a custom font, which in Kirikiri is usually stored as .TFT files, and that font doesn't include accented characters. So whenever one of those shows up, the engine reverts to its default font.
Possible solutions include:
creating your own custom font containing the characters you need. (There's a font tool in the Kirikiri SDK.) tuning off the custom font in the config files and sticking with the game's default (which won't be nearly as pretty). asking the Académie Française to only use unaccented characters from now on. (YMMV) Issue #2
Haven't run into that exact situation before, but I'd start by doing a search of all your .ks scripts to see if those choice text strings are duplicated anywhere. I've worked with other Kirikiri scripts where that ended up being the case...

Hi! Best of luck with your translation patch! Some thoughts below:
Issue #1
The special characters aren't just bold, they're a different font entirely. (Your base font is serif; the special characters are sans-serif.) Most likely answer is that the English version of the game is using a custom font, which in Kirikiri is usually stored as .TFT files, and that font doesn't include accented characters. So whenever one of those shows up, the engine reverts to its default font.
Possible solutions include:
creating your own custom font containing the characters you need. (There's a font tool in the Kirikiri SDK.) tuning off the custom font in the config files and sticking with the game's default (which won't be nearly as pretty). asking the Académie Française to only use unaccented characters from now on. (YMMV) Issue #2
Haven't run into that exact situation before, but I'd start by doing a search of all your .ks scripts to see if those choice text strings are duplicated anywhere. I've worked with other Kirikiri scripts where that ended up being the case...

Free to Play for win10, MacOS, Linux:
https://coffeedripstudios.itch.io/soul-union


This journey is about overcoming cynicism and loneliness. Explore the soul labyrinth, develop a friendship or romance, and collect clues in this stat raising fantasy adventure visual novel. Choose your path and decisions carefully as the journey to enlightenment is filled with mystery and danger.  One play through is about 6-10 hours. There are currently two completed companion choices available, 4 different chapters/maps to explore, 13 endings, 200,000+ words, 200+images and 600+ choices.

I am a 41 year old full time working mom who started making this as my first game at the beginning of 2020.  I'm really proud of what I've been able to accomplish and I hope you will be willing to try it without bias.
Thanks so much for looking at this post and having a place in these forums for OELVNs.  Forgive me if I did anything wrong. 
<3 Jen
 

Hey, bumping my thread to say I've posted another update to Scrimshaw on my itch.io page.

I hope to have the next update out by March, but work might set that back.

For the past few months, I've been tinkering with the idea of translating one of my favourite games, Axanael. While you may have heard of it if you were looking
to learn Japanese through Visual Novels, it's considered a relatively more obscure title from Nitroplus' catalogue. It's not a particularly highly praised game, and
it didn't even sell well as far as I know. Nitroplus themselves seem to prefer forgetting it, not bothering to give it any sort of digital release. It's a niche game for a
niche crowd, one that I suspect doesn't totally overlap with a fair bit of people expecting a certain type of narrative from Visual Novels. It's not particularly likely to
get a localization from JAST over any other, more popular, more highly received Nitroplus game, especially when it contains numerous references to Sumaga, a
title that's been in localization hell for the past decade. 

So about a month ago, I said "Fuck it, if no one else will do it, I will", and began translating the demo by myself. I love Axanael, it's a game that inspired me greatly
ever since I first played it and the kind of thing that made me fall in love with Otaku media in the first place. Its issues don't matter to me whatsoever in comparison
of things in it that make me love it, so I wanna do the best I can to bring it to more people I think could genuinely enjoy it. The problem is that I'm only one girl. One
girl who's still a relative amateur in comparison to professionals who could do a much better job than me. Also, doing everything yourself on a game like this is uh, really
hard, and includes skills I can't even pretend I know much about. I'm sure this will be visible in this demo release. But that's exactly why I made it.

This release is rough, I've had to do all the translation work myself, so there's definitely stuff to be improved on. I know basically nothing about coding, so the typesetting
and menus totally suck. I don't really like image editing, so I pushed a lot of that onto my friends (Thanks guys), who themselves can't do any of the more complicated
stuff that's in this demo and the final game. I want to do this game justice, and I know I can't do that alone. So I made this demo release to hopefully get some people
talking, get the word doing, and show them how devoted I am to seeing this through. If you see potential in this, enjoy any part of it or think you can improve on it, then
I hope you reach out to me and help make the full release a reality.

DOWNLOAD:

Google Drive

 Credits:
Contact Info:
If you don't think you can apply into any of these roles, but still want to help, please spread word of this demo around! I want anyone who
could possibly help with it to know. I'll be maintaining the patch for the next week for any big issues with it that I can fix (Mostly typos
or big mistranslations that slipped under my nose), but after that I'll be done in order to scout people for the full project.

Thank you for reading all of this. I hope you have a good day and enjoy the demo. Oh, and early happy new year, I guess!

Yeah, I got a bad batch of gas station sushi and ended up in a medically induced coma for the past four years. Just woke up this morning. Anything interesting happen while I was out? Can’t wait to finally see how Game of Thrones ends...
@NSAID: I totally get the low/no budget dilemma. Been there, done that, got the off-brand t-shirt. Maybe just tack it on your v2.0 to-do list? 😀