Shenmue 1 Undub Japanese Speech English Subs DC Findings

[sm1th]

When I first looked at Shenmue 1 stream folder I was viewing ripped .cdi files so the structure is completely different due to the afs files being compressed. (afs compactor)

When .afs is compressed it shows as (file1, file2, file3 etc.)
Instead of a raw .afs file would show the actual file names.. i.e (0001.srf, 0001.str, 0002.str etc.)

This is why I thought the /stream (.afs etc.) file structure was different for Shenmue 1.

It is different in many ways to what is used in Shenmue 2!

A few differences are that there are no .ahx files used for speech like in Shenmue 2; instead the speech in Shenmue 1 uses .str files. Shenmue 2 .srf files do not hold subs, and the .idx files are different.

The .srf files are for the subtitles in Shenmue 1.

idxwrite will allow you to create a new .idx file depending on wether or not you extracted the original .afs files and have the .xml file for it.

If you try to make a custom .afs, then use idxwrite it will say the file is invalid!

For some reason you can create an .idx after you compress the .afs files, but this results in no speech in cinematics or free speech.. subs work though.

To selfboot Shenmue 1 this is what I found:

binhack ip.bin and 1st_read.bin to 11702 LBA.
Use custom sort order based on Shenmue Perfect rip. (remove dummy file .dat from data files and sort order)

[sm1th]

Sorry to post so many times.
I will update the last post from now on.

[sm1th]

still testing...

[berrupp]

Nice! Thanks for all that testin stuff! Keep us posted

[sm1th]

Nice! Thanks for all that testin stuff! Keep us posted

Thanks.

Update#4

Tested:
Shenmue 1 PAL GDI (allows modding of subs)
Shenmue 1 US Ripped CDI (tests the same as PAL) <--- .afs not compressed
Shenmue 1 JP (all subs are mixed JP/ENG subs together. not working at all.)

Created modified .afs of everything in the stream folder.
(.srf from PAL and .str from JP)
Everything somewhat works using jp .idx
There are alot of conflicts on CD1 (.str files are completely different):
A0125.afs conflict
BTT00.afs conflict
E1001D.afs conflict
E1036.afs conflict
SA1088.afs conflict
For these I used the original PAL .afs files instead.
Free01.afs has many missing .str files from one version to the other...
Even if you try to make a custom .afs with all JP/PAL .str files it will crash.
So for this I used a custom .afs with alot of .str files left out.
This causes eventual crash when you talk to an NPC that has missing .str files (also not linked in the .idx)

Here is what is working: (if you can call it an undub lol)
Currently the cinematics will only load all JP speech/JP subs when using custom .afs or original JP .afs (JP .idx files)
Custom FREE01.afs (JP .idx files) will load a mix of:
When NPCs use JP speech it usually shows JP subs
When NPCs use ENG subs they are silent.
Rarely NPCs use a mix of JP/ENG subs together.
Rarely NPCs use ENG speech.

Update#5

The custom .afs I am referring to above used the .xml from the JP FREE01.afs.

Next up is creating a custom .afs w/o using an .xml file to see if it loads the correct subs.
There are a total of 107 .afs files to create.
FREE01.afs has close to 10,000 or more files depending on what you mod. (PAL, JP)

After I do this if the subs and speech are the same as mentioned above I am out of ideas..
If anyone has any ideas about how to get the ENG subs to always load when JP speech is being used let me know.
Feel free to respond with any needed info.

Thanks.

[Anthony817]

Wow, good luck on this. I will be watching it. I know many people would love an undub of Shenmue.

[sm1th]

Wow, good luck on this. I will be watching it. I know many people would love an undub of Shenmue.

Thanks Anthony.
I am still testing mods.
Too bad Shenmue 1 is not similar to Shenmue 2 for subs and speech.
If it were I think I would have something working by now?

[SeppukoPanda]

I've been hoping for this for years, if you get it running you'll be a hero.

[sm1th]

I've been hoping for this for years, if you get it running you'll be a hero.

I hope I can get it to work.
I hope it is possible to mod the game without having to do a complete translation!
Currently I am comparing Shen2 xbox undub to find any similarities?
I don't think there are any.

Next up after creating custom .afs files without any .xml files.. I need to find out more about the .idx files and how to mod them correctly.
idxwrite will not work for what I am trying to do.

[SeppukoPanda]

Did you try using US Shenmue?

I mean the Japanese release called "US Shenmue."

It's the exact opposite of what we want. It's got English dubbing and Japanese subtitles.

[sm1th]

Did you try using US Shenmue?

I mean the Japanese release called "US Shenmue."

It's the exact opposite of what we want. It's got English dubbing and Japanese subtitles.

Yes, I have tried US Shenmue, Shenmue US, Shenmue PAL, Shenmue JP.

I am modding PAL currently since it seems to work better with modding the subs/speech.

Update#6

Compared Shen2 xbox undub and it is not similar at all.
Tried using the translation guide for creating the .srf files etc. and it is of no help.
Created custom .idx and it causes even more problems.

I might have figured out a way that this mod could work?...need to test more.
I have the cinematics loading mostly ENG subs and JP speech with no lip movement lol.
Rarely loading mixed JP/ENG subs together and sometimes no subs at all.
It crashes eventually.

But, this is a step in the right direction.
Considering I couldnt even get the ENG subs to load at all with JP speech during cinematics.

[sm1th]

Great news.

I think this is the closest to an undub as Shenmue 1 can get.

Got the cinematics working perfectly. <---JP speech with ENG subs.

Only cinematics that are not undub are:
(.STR Files are too different from JP to PAL)
A0125.afs
BTT00.afs
E1001D.afs
E1036.afs
SA1088.afs

FREE Speech loads JP Speech w/ JP and ENG subs. <---ENG subs load when NPC is silent, JP when they speak

Now I have to figure out howto fit this onto a CD-R

[Ziming]

Before optimizing it for CD release you should create a full version to play on emulators.

[sm1th]

Before optimizing it for CD release you should create a full version to play on emulators.

I plan on releasing the .cdi's as I make them so you guys can play them.
I might make 2 versions.
a 99min version and one version for standard cd-r's

I have a selfboot of the mod running on my dreamcast right now.
Had to remove quite a few files (language files etc.) and I used imgburn with the pfctoc.dll plugin to burn the disk.
Good thing about using the PAL version ppl can transfer the save to Shen2 PAL.

I want to add the coca cola machine texture to it.
If any1 knows what texture I need to add for that let me know.

You guys were right the jp speech sounds great.

Will post a selfboot .cdi soon.

[Ziming]

I want to add the coca cola machine texture to it.
If any1 knows what texture I need to add for that let me know.

Send Wude a message. I think he can provide you the coca cola texture your looking for.