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ReadMe-DvD_Translations-Demonic_Castle_Dracula.txt

This file should be viewed using a mono-spaced font like "Courier".
Use a font size where 79 columns are visible.

Please don't distribute the ROM file in patched form.
Please don't distribute the DvD_Demonic_Castle_Dracula_revA.ips file without
this file.  Thanks.

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                             DEMONIC CASTLE DRACULA

                      for the Nintendo Famicom Disk System
                            Copyright 1986 by Konami

             English Translation Copyright 2020 by DvD Translations
             Patch Version: Rev A      Release Date: April 26, 2020

                                DvD Translations
                      dvdtranslations.eludevisibility.org

                                      GAME

                            Translation: DvD
                           Code Editing: DvD
                       Graphics Editing: DvD
                                Testing: DvD, 1AM

                                 ReadMe: DvD

----------------------------------- CONTENTS ----------------------------------

INFO 

(1)  Castlevania Game Series
(2)  If You Read Anything, Read This

USING THE PATCH

(3)  Patching the Disk Image file
(4)  Playing the Game on a Flash Cart or Emulator

TRANSLATION DETAILS

(5)  Why DvD Chose to Translate THIS Game
(6)  Why YOU Should Bother Playing THIS Game
(7)  DvD's Translating & Hacking Comments
(8)  1AM's Beta Testing Comments
(9)  Project Timeline
(10) Software Used In This Translation

------------------------------------- INFO ------------------------------------

(1)------------------------ Castlevania Game Series ---------------------------

This is a translation of the very first game in the Castlevania series.  If you
don't already know about this series, then I'm not sure why you are reading
this.  Here's some things you might not know about the 3 games released on the
Famicom.

"Akumajou Dracula" was released by Konami for the Famicom Disk System on
September 26th, 1986.  It was quickly ported to the MSX, released on October
30th, 1986.  This version was localized as "Vampire Killer".  The FDS game was
also quickly ported to the North American Nintendo Entertainment System in May
of 1987, adding a two player mode, but lacking the save feature found in the
FDS version.  "Akumajou Dracula" was even ported to the arcade in 1988 which
was localized as "Haunted Castle".  There are also versions for the Commodore
64, IBM, and Amiga.  Due to the popularity of this game, very late in the
Famicom's lifetime, it was ported to cartridge format on February 5th, 1993.
The Famicom version, like its North American counterpart lacked any way of
saving the game.  It did add a whole new ability to start in a easier mode, but
a password to save the game with the proper difficulty would have been much
better.

"Dracula II: Noroi no Fuuin" was released August 28, 1987, also for the FDS.
Unlike the first game, this game utilized the extra sound channels of the FDS.
It was released in North America as "Castlevania II - Simon's Quest", but
without the extra sound channels, the audio had to be simplified, similar to
what was done for the Legend of Zelda.  Due to the fact that this game was an
action RPG, they needed some way to save the game.  So, a password save system
was created.  This game was never released in cartridge form for the Famicom.

"Akumajou Densetsu" was released for the Famicom on December 22nd, 1989.  This
game is one of only three Konami games that utilized the amazing sound
capabilities of the Konami VRC6 chip.  It was localized in September 1990 as
"Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse" highly modifying the music for a cartridge
that lacked the VRC6 and drastically changing one of the playable characters.

Of course, countless other games in the Castlevania series came out after this.
Also, note that the first Game Boy game in the series came out before "Akumajou
Densetsu".

Don't buy repro carts!  They are expensive.  They don't support bug fixes for
patches because they can't be modified in the future.  If they aren't built
from scratch they destroy a real cart.  Every time a donor cart is used to make
a repro, it raises the scarcity and price of that real cart.  If you still want
to spend your money on a multiple repro carts, instead of buying a single flash
cart, buy them from a vendor who only makes carts from scratch with new boards,
chips, and housings.

(2)-------------------- If You Read Anything, Read This -----------------------

No translated manual is needed for this version of the game since it is exactly
the same as Castlevania.

Besides being able to save the game, which Castlevania was never able to do,
playing this translation of the game also features:

* Accurate Title Screen Translation
  (The exact name was chosen based on a detailed discussion on what the
   original authors intended the game title to mean.)

* Translated main menu, Enter Name, and Erase Name screens
  (Also finally describes the column of numbers that represents the total
   number of times a player has died when they saved.)

* Able to Use Space in a Player's Name
  (Since your name is actually displayed in the ending in this FDS version
   having a name that is less than 7 characters without having periods
   to pad it makes a big difference.)

* Displays the Hi-Score on the Main Menu and Game Over Screens
  (The Hi-Score completely existed in the save file but was unused for some
   unknown reason.  Why not display it?  Since it is unlikely that people
   playing this game are starting with a clean install of the FDS game,
   the patch purposely zero's out the Hi-Score so the player can see their
   copy's personal high score.  Also, note that the Hi-Score is only saved
   if Save is chosen sometime before resetting or turning power off.)

* Displays the Last Played Score
  (Again, the Last Played score also completely existed in the save file, for
   whatever reason, although it's not very useful.  Still, since it existed,
   why not display it too?)

* Automatically Selects the Last Save File Saved
  (Again, this also existed in the save file, but it was never used.  So, I
   added it.)

* Moai hidden treasure now FINALLY animated properly
  (This is pretty cool.  Konami never got this working properly in the North
   American NES or Japanese Famicom releases.  It's likely that they
   never got it working in any re-release.  Since most people never played
   through the 2nd round, it's unlikely that very many people have even seen
   this.  It's the only hidden treasure that is animated.  There are at least
   two of these.  One is on Stage 24 [duck when standing on the first moving
   platform] and Stage 27 [simply go to the end of the hallway without going
   up the stairs].)

* Localized Simon Belmondo to Simon Belmont in the Ending
  (Even in Japan, starting with the 2nd game, his name changed to Simon
   Belmont.)
   
* Secret enhancement to the main menu, Enter Name, and Erase Name screens
  (See if you can figure it out...)

------------------------------- USING THE PATCH -------------------------------

(3)---------------------- Patching the Disk Image file ------------------------

For this translation, before patching the ROM file, you'll need to expand the
ROM file first using a ROM expander.  Only one file was expanded, and only by
64 bytes.

Game file size: One 2 sided disk
                 65,500 bytes on each side (36 bytes less than 64k)
		  = 131,000 bytes
              =      72 bytes less than 128 kBytes

How to patch the FDS (Famicom Disk Image) file:

You need:

1) A FDS file.  The file may or may not include the standard 16 byte iNES
   header followed by the program disk image data.  With header, the FDS file
   is 131,016 bytes in size.  The data in the header doesn't actually matter
   because ROM Expander Pro is going to replace it anyway.

   I'm not telling you how to get the FDS file, but once you do, you first need
   to make sure it is version 1.02 of the game.  This patch is not compatible
   with the 1.00 version of the game.  Sorry.  Call the FDS file
   Akumajou Dracula v1.02.fds.

2) "ROM Expander Pro.txt" which is included with this patch.

3) For PC users, use ROM Expander Pro.exe, which you can get from the
   DvD Translations website.  It's pretty self-explanatory.

   Just make sure your FDS file, called
   "Akumajou Dracula v1.02.fds",
   "ROM Expander Pro.txt" and
   "ROM Expander Pro.exe" are all in the same directory and then run
   ROM Expander Pro.

   Regardless of whether your FDS file has a header or not, always choose
   "Expand and Add/Replace Header" as that is what the patch is expecting.  You
   will get an error saying your MD5 is doesn't match if you don't have a blank
   save file in your game.  It will still expand the FDS properly.

   Headers are pretty silly on FDS games as all the information is stored in
   the FDS file, but we've standardized on releasing FDS patches with headers
   as the patched FDS files with headers are better supported by flash carts.
   
   ROM Expander Pro will not modify your original FDS file.  It will instead
   make a copy of the file and modify it calling it
   "Demonic Castle Dracula.fds".
   Keep your original file for backup purposes.

   If you don't own a Windows PC and you don't want to run a Window's virtual
   machine to run Rom Expander Pro, it can be expanded manually using a hex
   editor by doing the following steps in the following order:
   
   a) Make sure it has the standard FDS header for 2 sided single disk:
      46 44 53 1A 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
      If not, insert is at byte 0.  The fist few bytes after will be 01 2A 4E
   
   b) Replace bytes at A5BB through A5BD: 00 61 00 with C0 60 40
   
   c) Insert (don't replace) 64 bytes of FF starting at A5C1 and continuing
      through A600. This means the previous bytes that started at A5C1 now
	start at A601.

   d) Delete any 64 bytes of 00 somewhere between D200 and FFD0.

   If done right, the final FDS file will be 131,016 bytes.

4) Patch File: DvD_Demonic_Castle_Dracula_revA.IPS

5) An IPS patching program
   Remember to patch the file only AFTER it has a been expanded.

   Recommended IPS patching program for IBM PC:  Lunar IPS.exe by FuSoYa
   Recommended IPS patching program for Mac:     UIPS          by Lucas Newman
   
   Using Lunar IPS / UIPS:

   a) Double-click "Lunar IPS" / "UIPS"
   b) Click  "Apply IPS Patch" / "Apply Patch"
   c) Choose "DvD_Demonic_Castle_Dracula_revA.ips"
   e) Choose "Demonic Castle Dracula.fds"
   
(4)------------- Playing the Game on a Flash Cart or Emulator ----------------

All emulators and flash carts that can play the original FDS file can play the
translation.  The game is a single 2 sided disk.  Even if your emulator or
flash cart automatically flips the disk when necessary, no content will be
missed because disk flips only occur after the user takes an action.

The PowerPak flash cart emulates it perfectly, automatically flipping the disk
when necessary.  I have not tested this on an EverDrive-N8 flash cart, but it
should work fine.

----------------------------- TRANSLATION DETAILS -----------------------------

(5)------------------ Why DvD Chose to Translate THIS Game --------------------

I had 1AM play this version of the game so that he could save his game.  Just
before he finished it, I decided I might as well translate the title screen
and menu screens as a simple project.

Also, I was considering translating Dracula II so he could play it with the
extra sound channels, so I felt like this game should be done first.

(6)---------------- Why YOU Should Bother Playing THIS Game -------------------

Unfortunately, the thought of making a password save system was overlooked when
this game was released on cartridge in North America and so we had to play the
entire game in one sitting.  This is especially problematic for people who want
to play the 2nd, harder round which is a lot of fun; it includes more enemies,
new hidden treasures (including a 1-up and an animated spinning Moai), and
more hidden food.  Fortunately, Castlevania still has infinite continues, but
who wants to leave their NES on for days on end, cooking their console and
cartridge, hoping that a power failure won't occur without the ability to play
another game?

Until I made this patch, I probably never played the 2nd round past stage 23.
But, I'm really enjoying the challenge and being able to save.  It almost feels
like playing a new Castlevania game.

And why not also enjoy all the other new features including saving your
Hi-Score and finally seeing the animated Moai hidden treasure?

Castlevania is one of the greatest game series ever made.  Play the original
version we never got to play and finally understand the real title.

(7)------------------ DvD's Translating & Hacking Comments --------------------

Well, before anything could be done I had to crack the copy protection system.
So, in my typical fashion, I disassembled the game using Table Dumper Pro and
eventually could do just about anything to the game.

Then, I worked on the title screen, which of course, had a compressed layout.
Fortunately, the tile-set was not compressed.  Before spending time on the
graphics for the new title, I spent a lot of time researching the best
translation of the title.  There was a great reddit discussion on this:

https://www.reddit.com/r/translator/comments/
7p3sdl/japanese_english_akumaj%C5%8D_dorakyura/

From this discussion it's clear to me that the main title is "Castle Dracula"
or "Dracula's Castle" with "Demon" describing the castle, NOT that
Dracula is a Demon.  They proposed "Demon Castle Dracula".  In the end,
"Demonic Castle Dracula" seemed to better convey the intent that the the
castle was demonic.

It does seem like the best title screen would be:

                                    Demonic
                                 CASTLE DRACULA

But, only Dracula was written in the large dripping font in Japanese.  Just
writing Dracula in the main font was both more ascetically pleasing and in
reality it was the only way to have enough unique tiles to actually make the
screen with the limitations of the NES.  But, it lacked the cool flying bat
of the Castlevania title screen.  Well, why not add the bat?  Since this
screen is scrolling simulating film going by, where Castlevania's is not, it
didn't make sense to also animate the bat.  So, I placed it statically on the
title and I think it really spruced it up.

Of course, once this was done, I had to translate everything else.  This meant
menu screens and the ending.  While, forcing the ending to occur, I saw that it
was in English already.  So, I worked on the menu text.  And, something had to
be done with those skeletons and I had one spare tile left...

Next, the fact that I couldn't have anything but a 7 letter name without having
periods for spaces really bothered me.  So, I corrected this on and, of course,
I now had to modify the ending to handle this properly.

While 1AM was playing, to keep using my new hack, I had to be able to swap out
the save file.  So, I learned everything about the save file.  It was then
that I discovered the game completely handled the Hi-Score but never displayed
it!  Wow, this had to be put back.  And it also saved the Last Score, maybe so
that a demo screen didn't overwrite it, but since that doesn't exist, it really
has no purpose.  Well, might as well display this too.  Displaying both on the
Main Menu and only the Hi-Score on the Game Over screen made the most sense
but posed some challenges.  And, lastly there was a byte that saved which save
file was selected last.  Might as well use this too.

And, might as well put that copy protection back in...

And that was it, for months.  I had started a new project and while playing
through the Alpha patch.  1AM passed it as well.  We both made it to Level 2,
saving on Stage 23.  But, trying to pass Level 2 was tough.

I did notice in Level 2 that it had food that was missing on the normal round
of the game, but it really didn't help because getting it was tough.  And one
day I discovered a curious hidden treasure that looked like something was
broken on Stage 24.  But, I wasn't in the mood to tackle it right away, and
eventually passed Level 2.  But then I quickly found another one of the glitchy
treasures on Level 3, Stage 27.

Now I had to figure out what was going on so that I could fix it to prove that
my hack didn't break the game.  It didn't take to long to confirm what I
thought this was: the ubiquitous Moai made his presence in another Konami game!
Now, how to fix this?  Holy cow, fixing it was... fun.  Every sprite in this
game is handled by a 28 element array of 24 byte UDTs.  672 bytes of RAM just
for this, a whole third of the NES memory!  Once I figured out this and the
complex format of the table that described how the sprites associated with
Moai were defined, it was a simple matter of adjusting some constants and
bingo, it worked.  It really looks cool.  It's such a shame no one has seen it
until now. I tweaked the values in the FDS file and adjusted the copy
protection and then started working on this ReadMe.  I felt I should check if
this was fixed in Castlevania.  It wasn't.  Someone had to have noticed this
and Konami fixed it in '93 Japanese version, right?  No, not in that one
either!  So, if you make it through Stage 27, congratulations, you are one of
the first people to actually see this as a rotating Moai instead of a weird
flashing face.

(8)---------------------- 1AM's Beta Testing Comments -------------------------

I started playing the game before it was translated so that I could save the
game.  Before I finished, DvD translated the game.  I feel the translation
helps me get back into the game when I stop for a while because it remembers
that I played last and my last score.  I also like that I can understand what
the number on the right means on the main menu screen.  I  really like the
secret DvD put on the menu screens.

The normal game is very hard, but the infinite number of continues and this
version's ability to save, make it easier than Contra.

I'm playing it on Hard mode.  You should definitely pay attention when you play
the Normal version first.  When you play it on Hard, you don't have many lives
left when reaching the boss.  This makes it difficult to experiment with how
to fight them.  So if you plan on playing the Hard mode, you should write down
where items for successful boss methods are and write down the methods and/or
boss weak spots.

I love the fact that the Moai strikes again in another Konami game.  DvD found
it first, but I found the 1-Up hidden power up on Stage 25.  

(9)---------------------- Project Timeline Highlights -------------------------

Jan 31 2020 - Stared on the project
              Split FDS files
		  Researched the new title
		  Created the first new Title Screen Mock-up

Feb  2 2020 - Title screen completed without bat

Feb  6 2020 - Bat added to Title screen

Feb  9 2020 - Menu screens in English and Space is a selectable in a player
              name
            - Fixed graphic manipulations on each menu screen

Feb 17 2020 - Dynamic graphic manipulations on each menu screen

Feb 22 2020 - Ending edited
              Alpha version 1 testing started

Apr  5 2020 - Proper Moai animation graphics figured out
              Moai code reasearch started

Apr 11 2020 - ReadMe started
              IPS patch file completed
		  RomExpander Pro File completed
		  
Apr 26 2020 - ROM translation released along with Bomberman and Nekketsu
              Fighting Lengend

(10)------------- Software & Hardware Used In This Translation ----------------

* Emulator

  FCEUX 2.2.2	(FCEUX 2.2.3 has too many problems)
   by zeromus, adelikat

* Disassembler, Table Dumper, Relative Seacher

  Table Dumper Pro (ver 20.02.29)
   by DvD

* Hex Editors

  Beyond Compare 4.3.4
   by Scooter Software

* Tile Editors
  
  Tile Layer Pro 1.0
   by Kent Hansen
  
* Disassembled code manipulation, script editing, ReadMe creation, &
   ROM Expander Pro file editing

  Notepad++
   by Don Ho and the rest of the Notepad++ team

* Project management

  OpenOffice Calc (Part of OpenOffice 4.1.5)
    by Apache

* IPS Patch File Creator

   Lunar IPS
    by FuSoYa

* ROM Expansion

   ROM Expander Pro 12.8.12
    by DvD

* Alpha Testing on a real NES

   PowerPak
    by retroUSB

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