FF12 International: Zodiac Job System English Conversion

[rlbond86]

2 questions about this patch:

1. I have the FF12 english image on my harddrive, already patched with the autostutter patch. should I just use the patcher on this image plus the IZ edition?

2. Does it use the circle button instead of x now? Is there a way to fix that if so?

Thanks for all the hard work, I can't believe someone actually did this!

[dlanor]

2 questions about this patch:

1. I have the FF12 english image on my harddrive, already patched with the autostutter patch. should I just use the patcher on this image plus the IZ edition?

You could try that, as the 'unstutter' patch is rather limited in extent, so that it hopefully doesn't conflict with the ZJS patches. But it is safer to go with a fresh rip.

And of course this goes for each new update as well. The new patch file should always be applied to fresh copies of the untouched originals, as new changes may very well conflict with old changes. So applying new patches to an already patched file could malfunction badly.

2. Does it use the circle button instead of x now?

Yes of course. That has been an unchanged standard ever since the first PS1 was created. And the megalomaniac at Sony US (who changed that standard for western imports) had no influence at all in Japan.

The real standard remains as it has always been:
Circle => Choice / Activation / Change / Continue
Cross => Deselect / Deactivate / Cancel / Backout

Is there a way to fix that if so?

Why 'fix' a return to the true standards.
Do you love the false standards so much ?

Ok, I know that force of habit can be hard to break, but personally I prefer using the original standard (like in good old FF7), rather than the other.

Best regards: dlanor

[dlanor]

Version History:

v0.11:
Fixed a bug in Rabanastre Southern Plaza (this caused eg. Cartographer
Moogle to sell you one map over and over, until you ran out of gil).

It's a good thing I didn't try to 'wait him out' then, as I had cheated myself to 99,999,999 Gil at the start of the game.

But that reminds me of another bug that I should have reported earlier. This one doesn't really affect gameplay, but it is a pretty big numerical error anyway.

One of the odder features of the 'Clan Primer' menu is that "Sky Pirate's Den" entry which lets you view various 'virtual trophies' for odd pseudo-achievements, such as wasting money etc. And that particular trophy (the 'Gurdy' doll) seems bugged in that its info states that it is a reward for spending one million Gil, even though I received it when I had only spent a bit over one hundred thousand Gil (mainly on buying the six 'Monograph' items available as soon as most shops are open). So I think that the amount is either displayed as too high or tested as too low (in awarding the trophy I mean).

For now I'll just play on with the v0.11 patch from a save made before I got stuck with the map-buying earlier, but if you make a patch for the 'Gurdy award' amount I can easily recheck that by replaying the early part in Rabanastre again, with a similar shopping spree.

I suspect that there isn't enough buyable goods in all of Rabanastre to spend a full million, even if I were to buy the max amount of every item available. So getting that award at so early a stage in the game might not be possible regardless of the money available, when the test really is fixed to a full million.

Of course, if instead you decide to lower the amount number displayed for that trophy, then no replay of that part will be needed, as I already got it at close to 100,000 Gil.

Best regards: dlanor

[rlbond86]

The real standard remains as it has always been:
Circle => Choice / Activation / Change / Continue
Cross => Deselect / Deactivate / Cancel / Backout

Why 'fix' a return to the true standards.
Do you love the false standards so much ?

Ok, I know that force of habit can be hard to break, but personally I prefer using the original standard (like in good old FF7), rather than the other.

Best regards: dlanor

Actually, I'm playing FF7 right now, and I changed the buttons

It makes sense that circle is confirm and x is cancel, but the x button is just more comfortable than the circle button. I just figure there's probably just some pointer somewhere that could be easily changed to use the x button instead.

[ffgriever]

1. I have the FF12 english image on my harddrive, already patched with the autostutter patch. should I just use the patcher on this image plus the IZ edition?

It should work. The autounstutter patch does affect only main executable, which is of no interest to the patcher. You will just have to patch the resulting image with autounstutter for ZJS. By "english" you mean the PAL/UK version, right? It should work in this case too. It wasn't tested too much with anything else than american release (NTSC U/C), though.

2. Does it use the circle button instead of x now? Is there a way to fix that if so?

Yes, it does. And yes, there probably is a way to do it. One way is to use one of the codebreaker cheats that I've seen somewhere on the net. It just changed the buttons (if you're asked on screen to press circle, you'll have to press x - quite annoying). The other way would be to change it in game configuration data (which won't most likely happen - at least I do not plan to do it).

PS. I like the way it is now. It was always easier for me to use circle instead of cross (it's the way I hold the pad in my hands). Yet, it's not a problem for me to play it either way - it's just one minute or so to reconfigure my brain ).

[ffgriever]

It's a good thing I didn't try to 'wait him out' then, as I had cheated myself to 99,999,999 Gil at the start of the game.

Even if you did, that wouldn't help a lot. When you're out of gil, he stops selling it to you, but keeps assuring you, that it was a good purchase, hehe - over and over and over...).

One of the odder features of the 'Clan Primer' menu is that "Sky Pirate's Den" entry which lets you view various 'virtual trophies' for odd pseudo-achievements, such as wasting money etc. And that particular trophy (the 'Gurdy' doll) seems bugged in that its info states that it is a reward for spending one million Gil, even though I received it when I had only spent a bit over one hundred thousand Gil (mainly on buying the six 'Monograph' items available as soon as most shops are open). So I think that the amount is either displayed as too high or tested as too low (in awarding the trophy I mean).

I didn't change it. If it reacts this way, it means that the required amount of gil to spend to achieve this trophy has been lowered (heck, but 10 times lower?). Anyway, I guess I'll have to change the label to say 100000 (or whatever it really is - got to check the japanese file)

But that would comply with a general observation, that ZJS version of FF12 is much easier than its predecessors. The restrictions applied by the new license boards make it a little bit harder (not everyone can use magic, etc.), but I guess they have compensated too much. You find potions in almost every jar, max mp grows faster, mps are restoring faster. Even though I couldn't find good weapons in usual places, they're sold in shops right away.

Yet there is a hardcore mode, which makes you able to start a game without the possibility to gain EXP at all (completing trial) - making the game much harder. There is also another one, that lets you start a game with your characters at level 90 (completing game).

[Jones23]

I just started testing this patch and it looks fine so far, at least with the US/NTSC version. This is really awesome, as I can finally play ZJS without having to put Japanese brains into my head.

I also used the patch with the German version and encountered two problems at the beginning of the game.

The subtitles in the first FMV are shifted and when I hit Start it displays "Faram." instead of the usual "Skip". I guess this is due to an additional line of subtitles in the German version. At the beginning you see a scene at the market and a salesman/customer says one sentence. The US version doesn't have subs here, but the German version does. US and ZJS have the first subs at the wedding and so the German ZJS displays the market sub as first sub in the wedding, shifting all subs to the next dialog. "Faram." is the very last sub in this FMV, and isn't displayed normally but somehow mixed up with the "Skip".

Second problem is a hang in Nalbina Fortress with Reks. When encountering the first foe you'll be told how battles work. On page 4 of this dialog it won't go any further no matter how often you press circle. You can still hit Start to quit the game and press triangle to view the dialog history, but circle is no good. I guess this is due to similar differences as above, meaning the dialog layout was changed for the German version.


Don't get me wrong. I'm not asking for quick fixes for these bugs, but since you stated that the patcher also works with the German version (which it indeed does), I just wanted to report that there are some additional problems with the German version and probably other PAL versions. This might be of interest for future versions of the patcher.

I'll stick with the US ZJS for my further testing, cause that's the most important version. But you can count me in for the German translation, when it should be necessary.

Keep up the great work!

best regards Jones23

[ffgriever]

I believe I might be able to fix this particular problem without any additional work. I will just have to check how the game will react to my idea.

Both problems are related. In most of the cases there is simple rule in effect: single file for location, single file for cutscene, single file for movie. The problem with the intro movie and tutorial is that that they've got merged into one file. So most likely the additional text at the beginning is the culprit (it shouldn't cause any problems in most of the movies and cutscenes... but since this one is special, it can't be patched with the methods I used for other movies and cutscenes).

But I give you my word, that when the english version is done, I'll work on all the other localized versions (incl. german) - as long as someone will supply me with the missing translations . It's not a big problem, since that means only minor changes...

PS. If the solution I think about won't work, then this will have to wait, as it will require special "german only" patch.

[dlanor]

----- re: gaining 'Gurdy' trophy for "Sky Pirate's Den" after spending appx 100,000 Gil

I didn't change it. If it reacts this way, it means that the required amount of gil to spend to achieve this trophy has been lowered (heck, but 10 times lower?). Anyway, I guess I'll have to change the label to say 100000 (or whatever it really is - got to check the japanese file)

Don't do that until I have confirmed the error in one new test restarting from scratch. I've just realized that one thing I did could have led the game to believe that I spent a lot more money.

The thing is that almost immediately after starting the game I used the money cheat just to test that cheats were properly activated, which they were. This means that I got 99,999,999 Gil already in the initial parts with Reks and 'Basch'. Now when that sequence ends (after the scene where Basch's brother stabs Reks etc) the game switches to 'present time' Rabanastre and Vaan, effectively dropping any money and items that Reks had.

So when I had control of Vaan I again performed the money cheat (I have a button combo for it) to regain 99,999,999 Gil which I then used for purchases as mentioned before. And when I first looked inside my Clan Primer and its "Sky Pirate's Den" entry, I got the 'Gurdy' award at once. So I cant say for sure at what point I 'earned' it.

It is possible (though a bit farfetched) that the game noted the amount of money I did have as Reks, and counted it as 'spending' when that money was dropped in the transition to Vaan, as mentioned above. If so, then my total 'spending' was in fact over a hundred million Gil at the time I got the award, in which case there is no bug in the tested amount, but only an original bug in how the spending is measured. But that bug is then really unimportant, since it is impossible to earn any major amounts of money as Reks without cheating. (And no debugging can account for all cheat possibilities.)

But that would comply with a general observation, that ZJS version of FF12 is much easier than its predecessors. The restrictions applied by the new license boards make it a little bit harder (not everyone can use magic, etc.)

The choice of individual license boards is all the more tricky since we can't know what choice would be best before trying it. So it's really a good idea to save before each such decision to make it possible to back out of particularly bad choices...

, but I guess they have compensated too much. You find potions in almost every jar, max mp grows faster, mps are restoring faster.

Even that hardly matters, when save crystals instantly restore HP and MP anyway. And you only need a good healer in the party to make potions fairly redundant (except for some boss battles maybe, when losing too much MP)

Even though I couldn't find good weapons in usual places, they're sold in shops right away.

Huh? GOOD weapons at once ? Not here...

I'd call the initial shop weapons mediocre at best, though the variety of them may be greater than for the non-ZJS version. But they are all pretty crappy in attack strength.

Yet there is a hardcore mode, which makes you able to start a game without the possibility to gain EXP at all (completing trial) - making the game much harder.

If this really means staying at Lv.1 throughout the entire game with all characters, then I really don't see how it can be possible to defeat some of the bosses.

There is also another one, that lets you start a game with your characters at level 90 (completing game).

I'm not sure I see the point of this. If they wanted a way to let characters replay without losing all their past development, why not just let them keep exactly the level they had at completion. (Should be just as easy to implement, and much more 'natural'.)

Not that it matters though, as similar effects can easily be had through cheat codes.

Best regards: dlanor

[yoshi314]

If this really means staying at Lv.1 throughout the entire game with all characters, then I really don't see how it can be possible to defeat some of the bosses.

it's quite possible, just search for 122333 challenge or something along the lines (that are the levels characters start out at if nobody levels up).

it's actually quite possible when sticking to using guns, since they are pretty much independent from character stats. and you can switch equipment during battle, switching your elemental immunities. check youtube/dailymotion - some hardcore gamers have even beaten yiazmat at those levels (in standard ff12)