-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ReadMe-DvD_Translations-The_Miracle_of_Almana.txt

This file should be viewed using a mono-spaced font like "Courier".
Use a font size where 79 columns are visible.
The file is encoded in UTF_8 to display the Japanese characters properly.

Please don't distribute the ROM file in patched form.
Please don't distribute the DvD_Miracle_of_Almana.IPS file without this file
or the ROM Expander Pro.txt file.
Thanks.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                             THE MIRACLE OF ALMANA

                      for the Nintendo Famicom Disk System
                            Copyright 1987 by Konami

             English Translation Copyright 2012 by DvD Translations
             Patch Version: Rev A    Release Date: January 17, 2012

                                DvD Translations
                      dvdtranslations.eludevisibility.org

                                      GAME

                             Title Translation: DvD
                              Graphics Editing: DvD
                                  Text Editing: DvD
                           Stage Select Coding: DvD
                                    Testing by: DvD
                                     ReadMe by: DvD

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

INFO 

(1) Game Information
(2) Patch Features

USING THE PATCH

(3) Patching the FDS 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) Hacking Comments
(8) Project Timeline
(9) Software Used In This Translation

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

(1)---------------------------- Game Information ------------------------------

Unlike Rush'n'Attack and Castlevania II: Simon's Quest which came out around
the same time, this action platformer released on the Famicom Disk System by
Konami was never ported to cart for a North American NES release.  Like
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, this game would have had to have its music
downgraded for a US release as it makes heavy use of the FDS's extra music
channel.

The game is comprised of 6 stages.  Originally, you got 3 continues and
started with 3 lives per continue, although you can collect more lives, health,
and increase your health bar.  See the next section for how this has changed...

Start              - Start Game, Pause Game, Execute CONTINUE or END
Select             - Skip Demo, Choose Weapon, Choose CONTINUE or END
A                  - Jump
B                  - Shoot selected weapon
B & D Pad Diagonal - Shoot rope

Weapons are found on screen or dropped by red enemies.
The spiky ball weapon called a mine can be used to blow up walls and find
hidden equipment.

Meat refills your LIFE gauge.  Pendants increase your LIFE gauge by 1.
1-ups give you more lives, or as Konami likes to call them, RESTs.

There are a number of great strategy pages out there for this game that explain
everything about it with nice graphics.  Check one of them out for more
information on how to play.

(2)----------------------------- Patch Features -------------------------------

The game is quite challenging, even on stage one, as using the rope can be a
real pain.  To make the game more fun for people playing it on actual hardware,
we have removed the limited number of continues and have added a Stage Select
feature to the Continue / End screen!  Simply press up or down to select the
stage you wish to continue on.

- If you don't want to cheat, you can ignore the infinite continue feature and
  select END instead of CONTINUE the fourth time you see the Continue / End
  screen.
- If you simply want to give yourself infinite continues, like Castlevania, but
  otherwise don't want to cheat, just select CONTINUE.
- If you simply want to be able to save where you left off, after turning off
  your console, you can only choose to CONTINUE to a level you have been to
  before.
- Or you can cheat away and go right to Stage 6!
- No, we didn't give it an infinite lives or 30 lives code.  With infinite
  continues, that kinda takes all the challenge out of it.

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

(3)---------------------- Patching the FDS Image File -------------------------

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

You need:

1) A FDS file.  The file needs to include the standard 16 byte iNES header
   followed by the program disk image data.  With header, the FDS file is
   131016 bytes in size.

   The header should be as follows:

       46 44 53 1A  02 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00

   I'm not telling you how to get the FDS file, but once you do, call
   it "The Miracle of Almana.fds".

2) (optional)   
   If you have a FDS file without a header, and don't know how to add the
   header with a hex editor, no worries.  You can use the included
   ROM Expander Pro.txt file with the generic ROM expander like
   "ROM Expander Pro" from DvD Translations to give the game a header.  You'll
   need to name the game "Arumana no Kiseki.fds" before doing this.

   Also, you can run it through ROM Expander Pro to check that your FDS file
   matched the one we started with.  If it was different, ROM Expander Pro
   will give you a warning, but it will still add the header for you.

3) Patch File: DvD_Miracle_of_Almana.IPS

4) An IPS patching program
   Remember to patch the file only if it has a header.

   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_Miracle_of_Almana.IPS"
   d) Choose "The Miracle of Almana.fds"
   
(4)------------- Playing the Game on a Flash Cart or Emulator ----------------

Game file size: One 2 sided disk
                65500 bytes on each side (36 bytes less than 64k)
		  = 131000 bytes
              = 72 bytes less than 128kBytes

This game DOES use the extra sound channel of the FDS hardware to create some
great music and sound effects!

The game works well in all emulators and flash carts.  It's been tested in
FCEUx and Nestopia.

But, of course, the best way to play it is on a real NES.  And the easiest way
to do that is with a PowerPak.  Remember to add the resistor to the bottom of
your unit to hear the FDS sound effects.

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

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

Pennywise suggested it as it was not much more than a title screen hack.

This particular FDS game had stood out to me previously because of the great
music it created with the FDS music chip.  But, I had not messed with it much
because, unlike other Konami platformers released in the US, I'm not very good
at it.  The lack of infinite continues on an already difficult game made it not
too appealing.

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

See one of the best Konami platformers that did NOT make it to the US.  Hear
what the Famicom Disk System was capable of doing with music that the NES was
not.

You should play the patched version of the game because it lets you pass the
game without playing the game over and over again.

(7)---------------------------- Hacking Comments ------------------------------

Hacking the title screen was more difficult that it looks because it is a
combination of sprites and background graphics.  And, as usual, I had just
enough space in the code and tiles in the CRAM to fit the new title in.

Although I considered changing REST to LIVES, I finally decided to leave it as
REST and not change it to LIVES because:
- LIFE was already used for the health bar
- REST is what Konami used in the Contra series.  It never bothered me for
  that game.
- There was no "V" in the font.  I'm not sure there was any room to add it.
- Adding the S would have been a pain to add in the code.

Konami made this game hack proof by making checksums for all the PRAM disk
files.  Changing just one byte in a file would make the game reset itself over
and over.  Strangely, they didn't check for manipulation of the CRAM files, so
one could easily have removed Konami's name from the title screen w/o defeating
the routine.  Of course, I had to defeat the routine.  I did consider making
a new checksum for the patched version so that no one could tinker with my
patch!, but I decided to instead use the room for the Stage Select feature that
I felt was necessary for the game to be fun for me to play.  Even with infinite
continues, who wants to leave their NES on with nothing but this game inserted
until they pass the game?  By Castlevania 2 and 3 Konami fixed this issue, but
at this point, password saving was not an option.

(12)---------------------- Project Timeline Highlights ------------------------

Dec 16 2011 - Pennywise suggested project, Project started
Jan 12 2012 - Konami anti-hacking code nullified, Title screen hack complete
Jan 15 2012 - In game Engrish fixed
Jan 16 2012 - Stage Select completed
              ReadMe completed
              ROM Expander Pro file created
Jan 17 2012 - IPS patch file completed
              Patch released

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

* Emulator

  FCEUX 2.1.2
   by zeromus, adelikat

* Flashcart

  PowerPak
   by RetroZone

* Disassembler, Table Dumper, Script/Items/Menus Inserter, File Comparator

  Table Dumper Pro (ver 12.1.15)
   by DvD

* Hex Editors

  WindHex32 2005.4.20
   by Genecyst East Software

  Frhed 1.7.1
   by Raihan Kibria

* Tile Editors
  
  Tile Layer Pro 1.0
   by Kent Hansen
  
  Tilemolester 0.16
   by Kent Hansen

* Disassembled code manipulation, ROM Expander Pro file editing

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

* IPS Patch File Creator

   Lunar IPS
    by FuSoYa

* Automatic Header Adder

   ROM Expander Pro 11.11.29
    by DvD

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
987654321098765432109876543210987654321 123456789012345678901234567890123456789
