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Tokimeki Memorial Translation Project


ShockBro

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Hello, everyone. 
 
Tokimeki_Memorial_-_Densetsu_no_Ki_no_Sh
 
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I'm a big fan of romantic, heartwarming stories. So, when I was introduced to this lighthearted, romantic game known as Tokimeki Memorial, I really wanted to play it.
 
Unfortunately, I don't know Japanese, and even if I did, I wouldn't be able to truly take in the emotional depth of this game unless I could read what was going on in my native language. Even more unfortunate, the translation of this game is a cursed project, and there's been no sufficient process in 18 years since this game was released on the SNES.
 
The two primary attempts to translate this game have already died, and I'll link them both here.
 
http://www.freewebs.com/kiminosobani/
https://sites.google.com/site/tokihacki/Home
 
Tokimeki Memorial is available on many different consoles, but the easiest one to translate is probably the SNES one. After all, the two translation projects worked on the SNES version too. Also, the Playstation version of the game has voices so that might make translation easier.
 
I'd love to be involved in a translation project for this game, as it is the game that spawned the popularity of dating sims, and it is very popular in Japan. As such, I feel like it deserves to be translated, so that all English-speaking gamers can enjoy the heartwarming dialogue and atmosphere that this game has to offer.
 
I can be a proofreader and turn the Engrish text into legible English, but I'm afraid I need a team to help me if this game is to be translated. SNES games use Hexes to put text into the game, and I believe the sites I linked have a few 'tutorials' as to how they imported text into their patches. Also, this project definitely needs a few translators and hackers for it to see the light of day.
 
Honestly, at this point, I feel like the only thing that's preventing this awesome game from being translated is interest. It's been 18 years since this game has been released. Let us banish this 'cursed' project once and for all!
 
If anyone is interested in helping me, my Skype name is darkshockbro. This is the easiest way to contact me, and you can send me dialogue from the game for me to proofread using the Instant Messenger.
 
I'll to best I can to contribute!

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The person known as JJewel lead the Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side (DS) translation. It started in early 2010 and wrapped up around December of the same year. Also, during 2011, Phoenix Goddess was the leader of the TMGS2 translation, which was also finished in about a year.

 

I would like to enjoy one of the boy x girl Tokimeki Memoirial games in English. Regrettably, I don't know if a fan translator would find it easier to work on the original PC Engine game, the Super Famicom version, or the voiced PS1 edition. I have heard that the Sega Saturn was a nightmare for game programmers. And it's probably okay to skip working on the 2004 mobile phone version.

 

Tokimemo 2 was a Playstation exclusive. The little-loved Tokimemo 3 was an early PS2 game with cel-shaded 3D graphics. Finally, Tokimemo 4 was a PSP exclusive.

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The person known as JJewel lead the Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side (DS) translation. It started in early 2010 and wrapped up around December of the same year. Also, during 2011, Phoenix Goddess was the leader of the TMGS2 translation, which was also finished in about a year.

 

I would like to enjoy one of the boy x girl Tokimeki Memoirial games in English. Regrettably, I don't know if a fan translator would find it easier to work on the original PC Engine game, the Super Famicom version, or the voiced PS1 edition. I have heard that the Sega Saturn was a nightmare for game programmers. And it's probably okay to skip working on the 2004 mobile phone version.

 

Tokimemo 2 was a Playstation exclusive. The little-loved Tokimemo 3 was an early PS2 game with cel-shaded 3D graphics. Finally, Tokimemo 4 was a PSP exclusive.

I actually found JJewel's Youtube page. Unfortunately, she seems very busy, so I'd rather not trouble her. Besides, she's working on a lot of otome games anyway. As for Phoenix Goddess, her team doesn't accept translations, so I don't think that's a good idea either.

 

From what I can tell, the Super Famicom is the easiest version to translate, although it doesn't have the quality of the PC Engine or the Playstation version. Yes, the PS1 version is voiced, but SNES hacking seems to be way easier. Both of the patches I linked are for the SNES version anyway.

 

Thank you for the information. Still, I think if one of the games were to be translated, it should be the first one. It's the original, the most popular, and the one that helped spawn the genre of dating sims. Again, I'd love to help with and inspire interest for this project, because it really is a gem that is sadly beginning to be buried. Believe me, I've tried everything I could to get this project started, but nothing has worked, so I'm afraid I need to ask for help here.

 

Well, I am all for translating console versions of games when they provide extra scenes, etc.  But in this case, do the console versions have anything significant that the Windows version doesn't?  If not, why not the Windows version of Tokimeki Memorial

I don't think that the Playstation version and the Windows version are different. However, I can't find the Windows version anywhere. If it was that simple, I would have just purchased it and used the Windows translation programs instead of asking for help here. If anyone could provide me with a link to the Windows version, however, I'd be extremely grateful. It would make this process much easier, and I could release a stream of edited dialogue for Tokimemo online.

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I'll update this thread as to what I've been doing for the past few days.

 

Unfortunately, as much as I tried, I cannot get the PC version of Tokimeki Memorial. The PC version was for Windows 95, and since I have Windows 7, it will not run, even after I tried for a few days. I'll keep on trying, but I highly doubt it will work.

 

As I said, I feel like the best version of the game to translate would be the SNES version, but in order to do that, I need a hacker/translator or two, considering that I can proofread. And no, the SNES version does not have any extra scenes, but it's the easiest non-PC version to translate. If someone can manage to get the PC version of Tokimeki Memorial, that would be ideal due to ITH and stuff, but they'd probably need an old computer for that to happen.

 

As I said, this project is very important to me, and I'm sure many others would be very grateful if this awesome game had an English patch after 18 years of nothing happening. So please, if anyone has even the slightest bit of interest in joining this project, please let me know in this thread or on Skype with my user name: darkshockbro.

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Have you tried using a Virtual Machine to run Win 95?

 

http://www.cybertechhelp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=208008

 

This tutorial is for installing it on Win XP but I can safely assume it should work on Win 7 though.

Thank you, but I'm afraid that the link for the boot Windows 95 CD image doesn't work anymore, so I don't think I can run Windows 95. Besides, I already changed the properties of the game to make it run on Windows 95. Thank you for the link though.

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Thank you, but I'm afraid that the link for the boot Windows 95 CD image doesn't work anymore, so I don't think I can run Windows 95. Besides, I already changed the properties of the game to make it run on Windows 95. Thank you for the link though.

 

Man, what is the internet and torrents? If you are eager to do this I think you can put some effort on finding another windows 95 CD image...

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Man, what is the internet and torrents? If you are eager to do this I think you can put some effort on finding another windows 95 CD image...

You're right, I'm sorry. When I actually get a Windows 95 CD (which unfortunately, will be in about a week or so), I'll see if I can run the game. I'm not sure if the ITH will work in Windows 95, but I'll give it a shot. If it doesn't, the SNES version would be the best one to translate, since I already have that version downloaded on my computer.

 

Thank you for all of your help.  :)

 

EDIT: According to the tutorial, I need a physical copy of a Windows 95 CD, which I just ordered. That's why I said it would take about a week to arrive, just to clarify.

 

Also, the reason why I feel like a PC version of Tokimemo would be the best method is because of the ITH programs, since they don't work on emulators. So, thank you everyone for the help. If there's anything else I can do in the interim, please let me know. I'll try anything.

 

In addition, the posts in this forum are meant to be progress updates. I apologize if my tone makes it seem like I've given up too quickly, because I know these things take time. I just want to keep everyone else in the loop, and I'll do my best to choose my words carefully so it doesn't seem like I've given up. 

 

Finally, I'm just kind of inexperienced with computers, so I really appreciate the introduction to torrents and Virtual Machines. Maybe I need to get involved in other projects before I continue this one, so I'll see if I can become more active here. Believe me, I want visual novels to get popular in the west too, and I truly feel like a translated patch of this old but popular Japanese game would help with that goal.  :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey, everyone. Just thought I'd give an update on what I've been doing.

 

I've been trying to run the Windows Virtual Machine, but it hasn't gone so well, primarily because my Windows 95 CD doesn't seem to want to work on Windows 7. I think this is due to the fact that I have a 64-bit system. I'll see if I can find another Windows 95 CD that does work for this version of Windows, but I'm unfortunately not too hopeful about it.

 

The thing is, the SNES version of Tokimeki Memorial is actually extremely easy to get, and it works on an zSNES emulator flawlessly. In addition, I've heard that the ITH program requires H-codes for the program to be attachable, and I doubt that a game as old as this one has an H-code. So, maybe continuing down the SNES path, especially with two additional, partial patches, would be the best way to get this game translated.

 

I have started working with Hex systems, but unfortunately, I can't find any Japanese characters in the Sprite Editor, so I haven't made a lot of progress. By the way, I've been using this guide: http://www.emulationzone.org/sections/wakdhacks/docs/snes.html

 

I've already installed most of the required programs, or ones similar to the ones mentioned, and have tinkered around with the editor a little, but unfortunately, I haven't made any progress yet. I'll keep on trying, but if anyone knows more about Hex editors or where I could find people that know about Hex editors, I'd be very grateful. I'm not giving up this easily, believe me.  :)

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Keep up the Good work! I'd like to help, but instead I'll just leave this here

 

http://proger.i-forge.net/Stage_Once_-_a_Visual_Novel_hacking_tutorial/IPD

This might or might not help you, but I think it's worth reading

フアイト!

Sorry it's been so long, but I've been busy. Still, I finally got around to reading this, and it looks very interesting. I downloaded 010 editor, but it doesn't seem to read Japanese very well. My computer has been in Japanese mode for a long time though.

 

In Hex Editor (the program that was recommended by the source I provided), the script of the SNES version of the game looks much better, but there are mostly just dots and random numbers everywhere. It's also not too long, surprisingly, considering that Tokimeki Memorial is a long game. So, unfortunately, I still have made little to no progress. Sorry.

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Keep trying with it.

If you don't find a translator, I can do it.

I always wanted to try this game. Like you said, it appears to have been a very influential game to this genre.

 

But I'd like to ask 2 things.

1 - How long is the whole game?  On vndb it says 30-50hours, but the text seem simple and short, like you mentioned.

2 - So, 2 teams have worked on it before. How much of the existing translation can be used? How much of the game were they able to translate?

 

I can't translate the whole thing from 0, but let me know when you'll need a hand.

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About question #1, I think both are true.  I think those hours are the total play time, not the time you spend reading the story text.

Because Tokimeki Memorial 1 is not a visual novel.  It is a dating sim.  Specifically, it was supposed to be a high school life sim.

 

Now this next part is completely my opinion.

I tried this game out a long time ago.  The reason I gave up on it is because, I felt that there was too much time spent doing school activities to level up your stats compared to the time spent advancing the story...

But at the time it came out, it must have seemed pretty awesome.  After all, there was no To Heart or Kanon yet...

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Sorry about the late response. I've been busy with college visits, creative writing, and other school stuff. But now I'm here, and I'll give another update. I've been playing a bunch of Ren'Py games, and they're pretty good. Guess I just needed a little inspiration before I return to this project.

 

Now, to be honest, my biggest problem with this game is getting the text out of the game so I can machine translate it and proofread it. So, I'm going to go to a Rom Hacking website and ask how I can do that. If I can find a way to get the text out of the game and onto paper, I'll be making major progress; I just don't know how to do that yet.

Keep trying with it.

If you don't find a translator, I can do it.

I always wanted to try this game. Like you said, it appears to have been a very influential game to this genre.

 

But I'd like to ask 2 things.

1 - How long is the whole game?  On vndb it says 30-50hours, but the text seem simple and short, like you mentioned.

2 - So, 2 teams have worked on it before. How much of the existing translation can be used? How much of the game were they able to translate?

 

I can't translate the whole thing from 0, but let me know when you'll need a hand.

Thank you. I really appreciate the support. And rest assured, I'm not giving up that easily.

 

1. Oh, it's very long. There are about 12 different girls, 3 years, and TONS of activities. It'll take a while, to be sure.

2. One of the links translated about...one fourth to one third of the game, I think, and the other translated all of the endings, which is helpful. Again, they didn't translate too much, but it's definitely something.

 

I'll be sure to let you know. PMing is fine and dandy, but it would be preferable if you add me on Skype, as it's the easiest and most effective way to contact me.

 

 

About question #1, I think both are true.  I think those hours are the total play time, not the time you spend reading the story text.

Because Tokimeki Memorial 1 is not a visual novel.  It is a dating sim.  Specifically, it was supposed to be a high school life sim.

 

Now this next part is completely my opinion.

I tried this game out a long time ago.  The reason I gave up on it is because, I felt that there was too much time spent doing school activities to level up your stats compared to the time spent advancing the story...

But at the time it came out, it must have seemed pretty awesome.  After all, there was no To Heart or Kanon yet...

That's very true, but it's visual novel-esque and it's extremely popular in Japan, so I feel like this project has a place on this forum.

 

Completely understandable. I appreciate all of the help you've given me up until now, and I respect your opinion. And hey, I might give those games a try sooner or later.

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  • 1 year later...

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