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General Category => Games => Topic started by: zeropolis79 on 22:05, 22 April 15

Title: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 22:05, 22 April 15
As people would know, this was a French only game... (curses!) but Amstrad Action mentioned that mail order company Turbosoft had arranged with UBISoft to translate the game into English...

Did this go ahead and did anyone have it?

Now for my other question - could a disc sector editor be used to change the text from French into English?

Many thanks!
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: pacomix on 13:34, 23 April 15
Quote from: zeropolis79 on 22:05, 22 April 15

Now for my other question - could a disc sector editor be used to change the text from French into English?

Many thanks!



It depends. If the sectors contains the text without any kind of compression or CRC check for each string to print there shouldn't be any problem to modify the content while preserving (in most of the cases) the original length of the strings.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 14:52, 23 April 15
So it would be worth a try? I'd love to play it myself without referring to translated notes.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: TFM on 15:46, 23 April 15
Using a disc monitor is for sure the tedious way. You can do it, but need to stay into the formatting parameters. And especially don't overwrite control codes.


Maybe somebody from France can get the source code?
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: MacDeath on 21:46, 26 April 15
Just write a letter to UBIsoft... they still exist today you know.
;D
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: Gryzor on 19:11, 27 April 15
Oh great idea, I'll call their support tomorrow :D

(I'm sure that'd give the poor rep a crazy look :D)
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 21:58, 28 April 15
Quote from: MacDeath on 21:46, 26 April 15
Just write a letter to UBIsoft... they still exist today you know.
;D

Never knew that... better dictate a letter for my daughter Annabelle to write (she's fluent in French).
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: MacDeath on 17:21, 29 April 15
They actually have a modest website in english too you know...

Ubisoft (https://www.ubisoft.com/en-GB/)

Sadly I failed to find their Amstrad CPC section...


Also :
Quote(she's fluent in French).
So can't you just let her play ?
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 22:10, 03 May 15
She's too busy these days.. Next month, she has six exams to take - two of them A-Levels.. she's also designing my Dizzy book and designing her grandmother's book cover.

Also, why get her to play it for me?
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: MacDeath on 22:27, 03 May 15
QuoteShe's too busy these days.. Next month, she has six exams to take - two of them A-Levels.. she's also designing my Dizzy book and designing her grandmother's book cover.
sound like child labour/exploitation... ;D
just let her play it...
Or... get her to translate the game to you..
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: TFM on 02:24, 04 May 15
Or you translate it using a disc editor. Your French is great!  :P
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: remax on 16:28, 04 May 15
Quote from: TFM on 02:24, 04 May 15
Or you translate it using a disc editor. Your French is great!  :P

A future MacDeath Vaporware (c)  ;D
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 22:28, 07 May 15
Quote from: MacDeath on 22:27, 03 May 15
sound like child labour/exploitation... ;D
just let her play it...
Or... get her to translate the game to you..

She offered to do them! I'd get my niece to design the Dizzy book but she's too busy tattooing people.

The idea of using a disc editor is a long-shot. Hoping the text is stored in sectors that can be edited.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: Gryzor on 17:46, 08 May 15
From what I see the text is there in plain sight, but this doesn't mean it'll be an easy job...

http://cpc-power.com/HexaDump.php?fiche=1178&slot=7&rang=0 (http://cpc-power.com/HexaDump.php?fiche=1178&slot=7&rang=0)
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: dlfrsilver on 23:19, 09 May 15
I wanted to translate this game from french to english.

Problem : the texts are stored as graphics, and this game also seems to use compression.....


Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: MacDeath on 00:27, 10 May 15
really, they don't use a font ?
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: dlfrsilver on 00:47, 10 May 15
Nope, they really didn't, otherwise you bet somebody would have tried to pass the game in english :)

Just to illustrate, just check the graphic dumps below :


Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: Puresox on 00:48, 10 May 15
Quote from: dlfrsilver on 23:19, 09 May 15
I wanted to translate this game from french to english.

Problem : the texts are stored as graphics, and this game also seems to use compression.....



You'd be very popular if you managed too.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: Gryzor on 08:20, 10 May 15
Is it really in images? I guess not all of it because I saw plenty of text in the dump...
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: MacDeath on 10:00, 10 May 15
looks quite normal that the Mode1 cool logo is in graphics...

but the letters are somewhat as tiles, so as mode font as they use all 3-4 inks... not normal "mode2" fonts then converted.

I used winape and could find proper letters quite fast...
To find the way the "text data" are encoded/stored as text : may need to check when those letters are called/used then get back to the piece of code/data used, need to be quite a coder indeed.


Hey, when do we have Abadia del Crimen in French and English as well ?

Concerning ingame fonts, they are stored in "Mode2" as very often, and converted into 2bit per pixels as always done in Basic or speccy games.

Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: MacDeath on 10:18, 10 May 15
While those datas may be compressed on the disk, on the RAM when program runs, it is still pretty typical use of a font : font are basically tiles, as CPC doesn't have text mode but only graphic mode, then some routine would read a text table and get those tiles to put on screen zone.

So You have to find the moment the game go get the letters in RAM, then go back in cycles to check where it takes the text datas, then you can know how it is done and where it is, may need to de-code and break/hack this text data thing... then check when game loads so you can know when and where it takes stuffs from disk into there. and so on...


yeah, the game uses 4 disks and 128K RAM I guess so it may be quite tricky indeed.

but hey, Rick dangerous, R-Type or DeathSword were done and patched this way... somewhat...


Please while at it, patch the game so it has Rasters and PLUS hardsprites... and some bits of graphics could use the CGA version graphics instead... oh wait... ;D

(http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/532473-iron-lord-dos-screenshot-riding-on-our-horse-cga-s.png)
(http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/532478-iron-lord-dos-screenshot-the-abbey-cga-s.png)
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: dlfrsilver on 20:25, 10 May 15
Well, you're wrong here Mac. The fonts you showed is only used when the credits are rolling in the introduction, and never used afterwards.

The texts inside the game are purely graphics, and not tiled.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: MacDeath on 20:18, 11 May 15
Then why could I see those 1bpp (mode2) fonts (see last picture posted) which seems to be the one used in game ?
Perhaps the game uses a buffer...

>> the "insert disk X" panels are in bitmap : mode1 and 18 bytes wide

Could find a whole village map in 80 byte width.

As the game is heavy on multiloading, they don't really try to gain space so many big buffers here and there, obviously.
And isn't the game a fully 128K RAM one ?

Game is really heavy heavy on multiloading.

could find the galloping horse window in mode1 & 10 bytes width, as well as mask also in Mode1 same width...
smaller horse animation in 6 byte width (and masks) for when you enter a village (little animation).


Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: Puresox on 20:36, 11 May 15
Is the game as good as it looks?
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: dlfrsilver on 21:59, 11 May 15
Quote from: MacDeath on 20:18, 11 May 15
Then why could I see those 1bpp (mode2) fonts (see last picture posted) which seems to be the one used in game ?
Perhaps the game uses a buffer...

You have a view on the overall RAM. The font you showed in only used in the introduction. The letters you see for the
chatting, buying & all are bitmap parts, untiled.

Quote>> the "insert disk X" panels are in bitmap : mode1 and 18 bytes wide

Could find a whole village map in 80 byte width.

Yes that's not hard :)

QuoteAs the game is heavy on multiloading, they don't really try to gain space so many big buffers here and there, obviously.
And isn't the game a fully 128K RAM one ?

You're wrong here too XD ! Iron Lord is only using 64kb of RAM, not 128k.

QuoteGame is really heavy heavy on multiloading.

Yes, but this doesn't mean anything :)

Quotecould find the galloping horse window in mode1 & 10 bytes width, as well as mask also in Mode1 same width...
smaller horse animation in 6 byte width (and masks) for when you enter a village (little animation).

Nice :) !
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: MacDeath on 22:14, 11 May 15
Sorry to be somewhat dense, but this :
(http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/games/iron-lord-by-ubisoft/?action=dlattach;attach=14566;image)

is clealy not the opening font in 4 colours, but a font in 2 colours (aka mode2 in 1bpp = 1 bit per pixel) that seems to be used during those village parts...

It is Mode2 turned into Mode1 the same way the letters are turned in Basic (same pixelisation despite every modes, just different pixel ratio)

why would they put this font into RAM if it is not used ?
You can find them in RAM during the village scenes/sequences.


Ok the game doesn't use 128K ? then this can explain why there is so many multiloading... well also because it is a heavy on graphics 4 floppy sides game as well...  :o
This game is not a 6128 but a disk only game, it can run on most settings provided you get a disk drive.
Show that 64K is not so much of a limitation provided you insert a new disk/side every minutes...  ;D

QuoteIs the game as good as it looks?
seems to be an adventure game made of many minigames.
Yes it looks terrific, but to be honnest, while some parts are great on CPC, some other screens look actually a bit better in CGA.

Bizzarely they didn't quite used the exact same graphics...
BTW most are ports from the ST version.
CPC version is a bit more on the monochrome aspect while CGA fixed palettes and EGA compatibility would somewhat get more realistic sometimes.

(http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/532473-iron-lord-dos-screenshot-riding-on-our-horse-cga-s.png)
(http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/148269-iron-lord-amstrad-cpc-screenshot-riding-on-to-my-destinations.png)
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: dlfrsilver on 22:39, 11 May 15
Oui tu as trouvé cette fonte là :

la petite de l'intro, et celle-ci, qui fait les lettres plus grosses :

Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: TFM on 22:45, 11 May 15
Meinte er nicht, er hätte den Zeichensatz in Hauptprogram gefunden?


Für mich macht es ehrlich gesagt auch wenig Sinn Text als Grafik abzuspiechern.

Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: MacDeath on 22:58, 11 May 15
Yes, in game there are upper case letters using more tiles (16x16 pixels), and lower case letters in 8x8 x1bpp... winape can display them in "Mode2" so it pull the 1x2 pixel ratio as it is suppposed to be Mode2 code.

[attachimg=1]

Basically the intro font and ingame font are the same, but :

>> the intro ones has 4 colours and add layers of colour (the shadow from yellow-orange-red) so letters are "bigger" : 8x10 per lower case letters, in native Mode1 (2bpp, 2 bytes width) because you know : extra colours...

>>in-game only use 2 inks (1bpp) are are a bit  smaller as a result : only the "yellow" on my pictures... hence the 8x8.


in french :
à quel moment tu n'arrives pas à faire la différence entre les deux images appelées "letter tiles11.png" et "ingame font IL.png" ?
Ce sont des screenshots de la fonction find graphics de winApe.
la première à été prise dans la RAM durant l'intro, l'autre pendant une séquence quand le joueur explore un village.

Si tu passe la première en "mode2" crois moi ça donne absolument pas ce que tu vois sur l'image 2.
Tu peux voir l'étalonnage de largeur, hauteur et le Mode graphic d'encodage.
WinApe aura tendance a magnifier la vue en "mode2" car tu sais, les écrans aux pixels carrés modernes ne savent pas faire des pixels genre Mode2...
Tu peux aussi voir que l'emplacement en RAM n'est pas le même non plus.


Après ok, ils ont surement mis cette fonte Mode2 dans la RAM pour faire jolie et ont alors mis de gros panneaux bitmaps en Mode1 native mais compressés avec les textes déjà fais car on sait qu'UBIsoft était une bande de branquignolles et de bras cassé du code.  ;D

Sinon oui les lettres pour indiquer les ponts cardinaux sur la Minimap sont bien en Bitmap à l'image... ça fait partis du cadre de la minimap vraissemblablement, et elles utilisent un poil plus d'encres que le lettrage de base de la zone de texte.

enfin il y a des séquences de dialogues avec des lettre majuscules  en 4 couleurs et les lettres minuscules en 1bpp, du moins à l'écran ,faudrait voir en RAM.


http://www.emu-france.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Iron-Lord-Map.png (http://www.emu-france.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Iron-Lord-Map.png)


anyway, this sort of game could be the perfect exemple of what a proper PLUS version could add to a mode1 game with nice sprites.
The Map could use them for the casttles/village/towers/mouse pointer... to add many more colours and details.

Also many squences could use hardsprites as well here and there (labyrinthe).
The game could also use a bit more different palettes to get more variations during game.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: alex76gr on 08:00, 12 May 15
I remember playing this game without having a clue of what to do and understanding nothing from the on screen text!
Still the graphics were superb even on my green monitor. :)
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: MacDeath on 21:07, 12 May 15
Indeed this game is quite optimized for green screens.
:D
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 22:16, 12 May 15
You would find it funny that I can complete Zelda Ocarina of Time with Japanese text and I haven't a clue what's being said.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: alex76gr on 22:23, 12 May 15
Maybe because the game isn't story sensitive?
I mean it doesn't require the player to answer or choose things related to the on-screen text.
I haven't played the game, i am just wondering.
QuoteYou would find it funny that I can complete Zelda Ocarina of Time with Japanese text and I haven't a clue what's being said.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: ZbyniuR on 16:14, 19 November 17
Mine version of colors for Iron Lord. :)
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: siccoyote on 14:01, 13 November 19
Just such a big game, very fancy, would be a really nice addition to the GX4000 Library if it could be converted.
And not be in french :D .
Shame you're still stuck with 4 colours even if the palette is altered.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: kawickboy on 14:55, 13 November 19
A 4-sided game to CPR... You can hope.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: siccoyote on 15:30, 13 November 19
Quote from: kawickboy on 14:55, 13 November 19
A 4-sided game to CPR... You can hope.
Yeah it would be a real operation for someone and they'd probably have to split it in two?With some way to carry on a game on a second cartridge by entering some values or something?
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: dthrone on 01:00, 14 November 19
Quote from: siccoyote on 15:30, 13 November 19
Yeah it would be a real operation for someone and they'd probably have to split it in two?With some way to carry on a game on a second cartridge by entering some values or something?


Two carts - crazy  :P   Data transfer via some sort of password - seems reasonable  :)   Splitting the game up across two carts - considerable work  :(

Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 12:03, 14 November 19
I'd just love a version in English..
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: jackic on 01:38, 15 November 19
Quote from: zeropolis79 on 12:03, 14 November 19
I'd just love a version in English..
Not that hard with the proper motivation, you just need the time, a simple hex editor can do the trick as the graphics don't need, mostly, to be altered in any way.

(https://i.ibb.co/n8sXKSd/ironlord.jpg) (https://ibb.co/4gZb0xv)
(https://i.ibb.co/YdL6FcQ/ironlord2.jpg) (https://ibb.co/t2JSTqK)
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 16:00, 15 November 19
I could do it - I have the text from the Spectrum version - would just need to know where to start..
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: kawickboy on 09:45, 18 November 19
As english words are using less letters than french words a translation shouldn't be to hard.
As we are more and more people using hcx/gotek devices, would it be difficult to have a 2-sided-game using 800ko dsk ?
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 21:37, 18 November 19
Quote from: kawickboy on 09:45, 18 November 19
As english words are using less letters than french words a translation shouldn't be to hard.
As we are more and more people using hcx/gotek devices, would it be difficult to have a 2-sided-game using 800ko dsk ?
I've got an English version of the text, I just need to work out how to get started - I'm wondering if the editor on WinAPE could help me with it or maybe a disc sector editor.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 00:10, 19 November 19
Just taken a look on the WinAPE debugger but no luck in finding the text
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: jackic on 09:48, 19 November 19
Quote from: zeropolis79 on 00:10, 19 November 19
Just taken a look on the WinAPE debugger but no luck in finding the text
Hi again, I will give you some pointers on how to proceed, but keep in mind that translating a game like this without some knowledge will be a LONG task, anyway, here it goes:
First of all, the main tool I use for these kind of works is Windhex, a pretty old hex editor but i find it easy to use and very robust. I will show you an example of localising some random text and some tidbits about hex editing.

After downloading windhex and running it, you will have a completely black main window, then press:
File -> Open file for editing ; and select the SECOND dsk for Iron Lord, you'll be greeted by a screen full of bytes on the left side of the screen and their "ascii interpretation on the right"

Then press File-> Open Table File -> File #1 and open "iron.tbl" (I will provide this file)

Then press File-> Open Table File -> File #2 and open "ironB.tbl" (I will provide this file)
With this, you can already start looking for text, we are going straight to a section of the dsk for ilustrative purposes, press CTRL+G (Go to) and enter: 2f090 and press enter, this will move the editor to that position in the file and you will see this:
(https://i.ibb.co/5WGDMgz/end.png) (https://ibb.co/HDBvFfM)
As you can see, I have already localised some text (but it won't be like that on your file, it'll still be French), in this editor, you can switch between editing the left and right side by pressing TAB, this is mandatory as you will have to manually enter line jumps and the position of the text, this first image also has highlighted the FF byte that, as you can see, marks the end the sentence. Where this byte not present, the program would keep drawing on screen all the characters in the file until it finds the FF byte.

(https://i.ibb.co/w7HwxMf/linejump.png) (https://ibb.co/MfTG3Mm)

So, you already know about the end byte, next is the line jump, that forces the program to start drawing in the next line provided:

(https://i.ibb.co/LJr5Jqz/XY.png) (https://ibb.co/nnBCnVs)
As you can see, after the <nextline> mark, there are two bytes prior to the text, these two bytes determine the X and Y position of the line that follows so, in this particular example, if you wanted to draw the "on your old" line further to the left of the screen you should change the highlighted 70 on the LEFT to a lower value, keep in mind that it is hex and not decimal so 70-2 (for drawing 2 spaces to the left) would be 6E and not 68. The Y or vertical position can also be changed but I did not do enough testing as to have a clear idea on how it works. Also, let's say that you edited the PREVIOUS line "in the castle" and left just "in the", after the "the" you should switch to the left side of the editor by pressing tab and manually enter the line jump and the position of the line that, in this case, would be 00 70 C1, then, switch back and keep editing, OR, if you feel that the space is enough for you without moving line jumps, these control codes could be ignored and just overwrite the french text.

(https://i.ibb.co/0fSYh9b/UBERCASE.png) (https://ibb.co/SK8VRmC)
This last picture, shows how do the MASSIVE uppercase at the start of some text work, they are stored in memory as TILES, and in this particular case, those big letters are formed by 4 of these tiles, two on the upper line and two on the bottom one, you can see that 90 91 forms the UPPER (Y-) part of the letter and 92 93 the BOTTOM (Y_) part, they are shown as Y- and Y_ for simplicity's sake. So, say you would want an X instead of the Y, just open the IRON.TBL file provided with some text editor and just find the code for the letter you want, (X- BEING 88 89 and X_ being 8A 8B)
The last thing I will mention is why two table files (IRON.TBL and IRONB.TBL), I am not very familiar with this game but it seems that it has several ways to show text so one tbl file may not be perfect for every situation so, if you find text that has a dot instead of an space between words, just switch tables (ctrl + 1 is tbl 1 and ctrl + 2 is table 2) this is mandatory because the position of some uppercase letters is also changed between game styles. Also, one of this game styles' text only uses ONE byte to mark the position of the text and, as I am very unfamiliar with the game, have not been able to test it.

So, now you should load the first dsk, load the tbl files and start looking for the text and localising it, then load other dsk, rinse and repeat.

I hope I have been clear enough for you to understand, if you have any questions that I am able to answer, I will gladly do.

Good luck!
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 10:34, 19 November 19
Doesn't look too hard. I'll take a look at the program and make a start as soon as I can.
As I said, I have the English text thanks to the Spectrum version. The Amstrad Manique walkthrough video will help make sure I've got the right text for the right sections.

Many thanks for the help.. i think I can do it, it's just working out where to get started.


Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 21:27, 19 November 19
In theory, could this program help find and fix the bug in the disc version of Famous Five (which I've mentioned in another posting)
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: MacDeath on 23:17, 19 November 19
funny to see this old topic was raised from death and still kicking.

;D
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 23:37, 19 November 19
I'm determined to carry this out - just needed some help to get started.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 11:01, 20 November 19
Well, my part in this project is over.

I've followed the instructions, I found the first batch of text which was easy to access in the game itself (for checking), got an English translation... and it didn't work.  First attempt I got part of the first line in but it went into a BASIC mode - numerous attempts after that, I load the area for which text I had translated all I get is a black screen.

(and I'd worked on it for six hours)
So, I'm throwing in the towel on this one and going to leave it for someone else to do.  :(
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: jackic on 10:55, 21 November 19
If you attach the modified file, I can point out what the error might be. I do quite a bit of work on fan translation, mostly in Spanish. https://jackicblog.blogspot.com/
(https://jackicblog.blogspot.com/)I would take on this project cause it looks like an interesting one and not enough translation is being done for old computer games but I have more than I can chew already on my plate.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: Gryzor on 12:51, 22 November 19
That would be really great indeed...

Now, hex-based translations... used to do that with Discology back in the day :D I remember being fed up with Basket Master's "Canasta!" exclamation!
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 18:16, 22 November 19
Having another go at it.. Might try Discology at some point.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: ||C|-|E|| on 18:51, 24 November 19
With Discology I "translated" Savage eons ago... I remember that pretty well. Sadly, I was also 9 by that time and my "translation" was mostly a bunch of stupid jokes in Spanish  :picard2: :picard2: I was so proud of that...
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 22:57, 26 November 19
Quote from: ||C|-|E|| on 18:51, 24 November 19
With Discology I "translated" Savage eons ago... I remember that pretty well. Sadly, I was also 9 by that time and my "translation" was mostly a bunch of stupid jokes in Spanish  :picard2: :picard2: I was so proud of that...
Well, if you can do Savage with Discology, it'll be worth trying it witih Iron Lord.. Thanks
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: jackic on 21:19, 27 November 19
Ok, ok, let the spanish guy translate the french game into english... XP
I will keep working on this for a while, I might even finish it BUT (and it is a BIG BUT) I will not TEST IT, I will need someone familiar with the game to do it for me and make sure the game is finishable.
(https://i.ibb.co/3WbLcpQ/ironlord3.jpg) (https://ibb.co/bLV8XsD)
(https://i.ibb.co/rsDbwsP/ironlord4.jpg) (https://ibb.co/L5VQZ5w)
(https://i.ibb.co/R2MwtGL/ironlord8.jpg) (https://ibb.co/2qL4R0X)
(https://i.ibb.co/YNK2Xhw/ironlord9.jpg) (https://ibb.co/WHdn0fj)
(https://i.ibb.co/JqGjkgP/ironlord10.jpg) (https://ibb.co/PMPGC08)
There's some text that seems to be formed by graphics and I won't be able to modify, like the archery tournament greeting, things that won't be perfect as some parts of the script are reused in more than one text and there's the thing that some of the initial letters of some text (like the sorcerer-herborist menu) that are, again, made in graphics and can't be changed so I have to do with what is provided.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 23:16, 27 November 19
I can do the testing as I've played other versions...

Thanks
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: ComSoft6128 on 05:55, 28 November 19
If any of the graphics are stored as standard 17K screens (and there are not too many!) I could have a look at modifying them using the Advanced Art Studio - the AAS also has an option in the filing menu to save/load compressed screens. Mmm......
Cheers,

Peter
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: jackic on 11:31, 28 November 19
Quote from: ComSoft6128 on 05:55, 28 November 19
If any of the graphics are stored as standard 17K screens (and there are not too many!) I could have a look at modifying them using the Advanced Art Studio - the AAS also has an option in the filing menu to save/load compressed screens. Mmm......
Cheers,

Peter
If you want to try and find it, be my guest, I guess it has to be on disk 4 as it is the one on the drive while this screen loads, this is what we are looking for:
(https://i.ibb.co/p0NQ6mW/irontext.jpg) (https://ibb.co/0D1KpwB)
Keep in mind that I am nor REALLY SURE that it is stored as graphics, I am GUESSING as I can not find that text anywhere on the 4 discs unless it is compressed, but I don't think so as all the other text I found is in plain format.
Thanks everyone.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 19:41, 28 November 19
Quote from: ComSoft6128 on 05:55, 28 November 19
If any of the graphics are stored as standard 17K screens (and there are not too many!) I could have a look at modifying them using the Advanced Art Studio - the AAS also has an option in the filing menu to save/load compressed screens. Mmm......
Cheers,

Peter
Sounds like this would be a great group project.. I'm taking a look at the text in Discology too myself..
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: ComSoft6128 on 06:14, 29 November 19
I'm glad to give any help that I can but unfortunately my PC and CPC don't speak to each other.
@zeropolis79 (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=115) any chance that you could send me a copy of side 4 to look at?
The Advanced Art Studio could also save smaller areas of the 17K screen ("windows") so possibly the screen shown by @jackic (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=2111) is composed of them - either 3 or 7 or indeed could(!) be a full 17K screen.

If its a full screen (or the smaller windows) the AAS came with a gothic type font that should do the job.

Cheers,

Peter


Update - found this which may be of interest:

https://fontstruct.com/fontstructions/show/1029311/iron_lord_amstrad (https://fontstruct.com/fontstructions/show/1029311/iron_lord_amstrad)

And this Spectrum walkthrough obviously in English:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP-8ftVgAqc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP-8ftVgAqc)
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 16:47, 29 November 19
If you PM me an e-mail address Comsoft, I'll send you Side 4 to look at. Thanks.

Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: ComSoft6128 on 18:49, 29 November 19
Mmm.......


http://francksauer.com/index.php/about-me/my-workspace/15-games/published-games/8-iron-lord
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: MiguelSky on 19:59, 29 November 19
Quote from: jackic on 21:19, 27 November 19
Ok, ok, let the spanish guy translate the french game into english... XP
Hey, Jackic, take advantage of the work done and also create a Spanish version!
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: jackic on 22:36, 29 November 19
Quote from: MiguelSky on 19:59, 29 November 19
Hey, Jackic, take advantage of the work done and also create a Spanish version!
I would if anyone could modify the font to give me proper punctuation (áéíóú¿?¡!ñ), I really do not want to do a sloppy job with this one, but there isn't even proper punctuation on the french one... but, the font is more than enough to do a mostly correct english localization.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: robcfg on 23:31, 29 November 19
Most spanish games didn't have proper punctuation either, probably due to memory constraints.


So that's no excuse to make a spanish translation  ;)


Come on! Don Quijote has no proper punctuation!
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: MiguelSky on 23:32, 29 November 19
According your .tbl file there are 11 punctuation characters including colon, semicolon... We could use both letters and chars not used as accented vowels but I think there are not enough available chars.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: ||C|-|E|| on 00:10, 30 November 19
Quote from: robcfg on 23:31, 29 November 19
Most spanish games didn't have proper punctuation either, probably due to memory constraints.


So that's no excuse to make a spanish translation  ;)


Come on! Don Quijote has no proper punctuation!
Haha, certainly not many adventures in Spanish had it, many of them just to be able to use the standard firmware  :D It is also true that memory constraints can be more serious when it comes to a language like ours or French, particularly if you are trying to squeeze as many contents as possible in an adventure or RPG.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: jackic on 00:23, 30 November 19
Quote from: robcfg on 23:31, 29 November 19
Come on! Don Quijote has no proper punctuation!
Well, it was not ME who made that game's script  ;)
Quote from: MiguelSky on 23:32, 29 November 19
According your .tbl file there are 11 punctuation characters including colon, semicolon... We could use both letters and chars not used as accented vowels but I think there are not enough available chars.
I mean tilde and opening signs for exclamatives / interrogatives
¿Sabes a qué me refiero? ¡Seguro que sí!  :D
I have actually translated one of my favourite games on the cpc into Spanish, Nightbreed, but due to not having those features, I did not release it.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: MiguelSky on 00:35, 30 November 19
Quote from: jackic on 00:23, 30 November 19¿Sabes a qué me refiero? ¡Seguro que sí!  :D
¡Claro! pero entre las cinco vocales con acento, las cuatro admiraciones/interrogaciones, coma, punto y espacio, ¡nos pasamos por una! No se si quedará alguna consonante sin usarse, la equis o algo de eso, pero también necesitaremos seguramente una eñe...
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: jackic on 00:48, 30 November 19
Quote from: MiguelSky on 00:35, 30 November 19
¡Claro! pero entre las cinco vocales con acento, las cuatro admiraciones/interrogaciones, coma, punto y espacio, ¡nos pasamos por una! No se si quedará alguna consonante sin usarse, la equis o algo de eso, pero también necesitaremos seguramente una eñe...
IF graphics can be modified, it would be no problem as there are quite a few useless letters and symbols for the spanish languaje 'kKwWxX those ones, unless you need them for names, can be replaced but what we need. But, alas, graphics seem to be compressed and it is way beyond my skill to work with.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: jackic on 11:58, 03 December 19
(https://i.ibb.co/9gkDwj7/ironfren2.jpg) (https://ibb.co/RbkFhWq)
This is another of those screens whose text I can't locate, thinking about it, I am guessing that there is not a full font for this text in memory and it only contains the letters needed for this text, I poked the memory with tie "find graphics" option in winape to no avail as there doesn't seem to be uncompressed graphics for this particular screen, so a relative search for text can not be used to locate where this particular text is stored.

(https://i.ibb.co/vHsF9rT/ironesp1.jpg) (https://ibb.co/g3v2YXf)
The text in the game is not really as long as I thought so maybe I will also do a Spanish one.
Quick edit:
So, I just realized that the text that I can't find is indeed a compressed graphics screen:
(https://i.ibb.co/F7R3Mkw/ndice.jpg) (https://ibb.co/881spn5)
All letters have a unique background that seems to indicate that it is a full image that loads into memory.



Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: jackic on 11:56, 12 December 19
Just noticed, the Amstrad CPC Wizard seems to be a more demure person than his Speccy counterpart XP:


(https://i.ibb.co/Wv2Sxr1/ironspec.jpg) (https://imgbb.com/)(https://i.ibb.co/tpwMsLX/ironlord3.jpg) (https://imgbb.com/)
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: GUNHED on 18:17, 12 December 19
Some guys (like me, but others too) have problems to read black letters on dark red (3), maybe this could be changed to a more bright color. Would be great!  :)
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: jackic on 19:12, 12 December 19
In this particular case, just emulating a green screen monitor would be helpful.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 17:12, 13 December 19
I'll try it in green screen mode too..
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: jackic on 17:48, 16 June 20
Greeting again,

I hope everyone is doing well during this trying times, the English translation for Iron Lord on the cpc is finished but it has not been fully tested and I am thinking on releasing it here for everyone to try and report bugs If someone feels like it.
Admin, would it be agreeable to post here the 4 translated dsk files or would it be better to have an ips patch for every disk?
Thanks.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: Gryzor on 18:51, 16 June 20
Oooh nice!!

I think full disks would be better, why meddle with patching?
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: ||C|-|E|| on 23:35, 16 June 20
Awesome news!  :)
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: jackic on 10:08, 17 June 20
There it is then,
the main goal now is to see if the game is finishable as it is and correct as many typos, text off screen and justification problems as possible.
A screenshot of any problem will suffice but, a save state BEFORE an error would be excellent  in order to correct and try it right away.
Hope everyone enjoys it, the user Zeropolis was kind enough to try the game to about half way though so props to him.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: GUNHED on 15:34, 17 June 20
Great! Would it be possible to translate it to other languages too?
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: SRS on 16:28, 17 June 20
Great news. 

Some minor I found during first 10 minutes. Should we post here or send pm ?
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: jackic on 16:53, 17 June 20
Thanks SRS, I will be correcting everything soon, about the O instead of W(est) I have not found that particular script yet, and with "Bien" I can change It for Back as I can not modify the capital B.


Keep the typos coming please!


Maybe we can have a half decent version in a little while.


About other languages, there is enough info on this post for anyone to try and do his/her own attempt.

Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: betpet on 15:46, 12 October 20
Any updates on this? I was desperate for this game back in the day but it was never released in English. I see we have a beta, did you fix the typos?
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: jackic on 06:56, 13 October 20
Quote from: betpet on 15:46, 12 October 20
Any updates on this? I was desperate for this game back in the day but it was never released in English. I see we have a beta, did you fix the typos?


Everything that was reported has been fixed, as stated, I am not going to test the game so I need for someone to actually play It to completion and report errors, there is really no point on release anything else unless this is addressed.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: betpet on 08:05, 13 October 20
I'd offer to do this but I've never played it before and would take forever to do it!
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 10:16, 13 October 20
There's a Speccy longplay on Youtube which can be used for reference.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: betpet on 10:25, 13 October 20
I'm busy for the rest of the month but I can go for it in November?
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 11:11, 13 October 20
Quote from: jackic on 06:56, 13 October 20

Everything that was reported has been fixed, as stated, I am not going to test the game so I need for someone to actually play It to completion and report errors, there is really no point on release anything else unless this is addressed.


If there's a new version, I'll give it another going over at the weekend on my Plus machine..
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: jackic on 19:12, 13 October 20
There's not really an updated version as the current one seems stable enough to play till the end, if anyone familiar with the game can test it to completion, everything that is reported will be fixed but I can't really commit the time to play the game right now.
Keep in mind that there are several instances where text is being stored as compressed graphics and that is way more advanced that what I can do, ie. the archery tournamente greeting or the save/load screen.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: betpet on 19:23, 13 October 20
Give me a couple of weeks and I'll do it.  I'll follow the walkthrough on the Speccy and check it all.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: betpet on 22:05, 01 December 20
Ok, that was more than a couple of weeks.  Sorry! Where can I get the game and walkthrough? I'll go through and post any translation/game issues as I find them.
Title: Re: Iron Lord by UBISoft
Post by: zeropolis79 on 18:13, 02 December 20
Send me a message with your e-mail and I'll send it to you with links to a French CPC playthrough and a Speccy English playthrough
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