Suikoden II PC vs PS1

[Raww Le Klueze]

Don't know about compression but the file structure is 99% the same except all .bin files are now called .dll files, e.g. va01.dll, book.dll, monsyoy.dll etc., so they should be stored wherever they are stored on PSX disc.

[Omnigamer]

Raww, can you comment on whether you ran it on a 32-bit or 64-bit system? I've tried various things that have been unsuccessful so far (including running it in a Windows XP VM), but have not yet tried it on a 32-bit OS.

[Poet]

Where to get the pc version?

[Pyriel]

I managed to find a copy that was slightly broken. It won't install because the archive was missing a few bytes, but I was able to get enough of it extracted that I could see most of the files. The structure of contents isn't identical, but it's close enough, and the handful of files I've reviewed so far are as similar as they could be.

Compare the AreaData for VA11.BIN from the US PSX version:

Code: Select all

RAM:801127E4 off_801127E4:   .word off_80112768       # DATA XREF: RAM:8010DC50o

RAM:801127E4                                          # Pointer to 2 struct pointers.

RAM:801127E4                                          # 1st pointer sets up the area from the Taxonomy.

RAM:801127E4                                          # 2nd is pointer to dialog arrays.

RAM:801127E8                 .word 6

RAM:801127EC                 .word ptrBlockScript

RAM:801127F0                 .word 0

RAM:801127F4                 .word 5

RAM:801127F8                 .word Taxonomy

RAM:801127FC                 .word 0

RAM:80112800                 .word EncSet_Array

RAM:80112804                 .word unk_801127C0       # Possibly a script run on entry (displays area name).

To Windows PC, Chinese:

Code: Select all

.data:1008A2A8 off_1008A2A8    dd offset off_1008A218  ; DATA XREF: GetData+5o

.data:1008A2A8                                         ; va11_GetDatao

.data:1008A2A8                                         ; Pointer to 2 struct pointers.

.data:1008A2A8                                         ; 1st pointer sets up the area from the Taxonomy.

.data:1008A2A8                                         ; 2nd is pointer to dialog arrays.

.data:1008A2AC                 dd 6                    ; Num BlockScripts

.data:1008A2B0                 dd offset ptrBlockScript

.data:1008A2B4                 align 8

.data:1008A2B8                 dd 5                    ; Num AreaElements in Taxonomy

.data:1008A2BC                 dd offset Taxonomy

.data:1008A2C0                 dd 0

.data:1008A2C4                 dd offset EncSet_Array

.data:1008A2C8                 dd offset unk_1008A270  ; Area Entry Data?  (Area Name and pop-up script.)

Compressed blocks of data are identical for tilesets and other things they didn't change, so there's a good chance the same compression was used everywhere, including on the sprites and portraits.

One really, really, amazingly cool thing (at least to me) is that they built the DLLs without stripping debug information, so, for example, the main game DLL, GSDMain.dll, has helpful hints in it like:

Code: Select all

.text:10012B20                 public G2_party_gold

.text:10012B20 G2_party_gold   proc near               ; CODE XREF: MCommandMain+1D3p

.text:10012B20                                         ; sub_1003A220+3Cj ...

.text:10012B20

.text:10012B20 arg_0           = dword ptr  4

.text:10012B20 arg_4           = dword ptr  8

.text:10012B20

.text:10012B20                 mov     eax, [esp+arg_0]

.text:10012B24                 dec     eax

.text:10012B25                 jz      short loc_10012B69

.text:10012B27                 dec     eax

.text:10012B28                 jnz     short loc_10012B5D

.text:10012B2A                 mov     eax, [esp+arg_4]

.text:10012B2E                 cmp     eax, 0F423Fh

.text:10012B33                 jle     short loc_10012B51

.text:10012B35                 mov     eax, lpBuffer

.text:10012B3A                 mov     dword ptr [eax+0EE90h], 0F423Fh

.text:10012B44                 mov     ecx, lpBuffer

.text:10012B4A                 mov     eax, [ecx+0EE90h]

.text:10012B50                 retn

.text:10012B51 ; ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

.text:10012B51

.text:10012B51 loc_10012B51:                           ; CODE XREF: G2_party_gold+13j

.text:10012B51                 mov     edx, lpBuffer

.text:10012B57                 mov     [edx+0EE90h], eax

.text:10012B5D

.text:10012B5D loc_10012B5D:                           ; CODE XREF: G2_party_gold+8j

.text:10012B5D                 mov     eax, lpBuffer

.text:10012B62                 mov     eax, [eax+0EE90h]

.text:10012B68                 retn

.text:10012B69 ; ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

.text:10012B69

.text:10012B69 loc_10012B69:                           ; CODE XREF: G2_party_gold+5j

.text:10012B69                 mov     ecx, lpBuffer

.text:10012B6F                 mov     edx, [ecx+0EE90h]

.text:10012B75                 mov     eax, [esp+arg_4]

.text:10012B79                 add     eax, edx

.text:10012B7B                 cmp     eax, 0F423Fh

.text:10012B80                 jbe     short loc_10012B99

.text:10012B82                 mov     dword ptr [ecx+0EE90h], 0F423Fh

.text:10012B8C                 mov     ecx, lpBuffer

.text:10012B92                 mov     eax, [ecx+0EE90h]

.text:10012B98                 retn

.text:10012B99 ; ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

.text:10012B99

.text:10012B99 loc_10012B99:                           ; CODE XREF: G2_party_gold+60j

.text:10012B99                 mov     [ecx+0EE90h], eax

.text:10012B9F                 mov     edx, lpBuffer

.text:10012BA5                 mov     eax, [edx+0EE90h]

.text:10012BAB                 retn

.text:10012BAB G2_party_gold   endp

I think all the scripting commands are labeled. Assuming the engine wasn't altered, this is a massive leg-up in figuring out just what some of it does.

If I can ever find a full, working copy, there's a lot that can be done with this. As the PC is less restrictive than the PSX in almost every way...the possibilities man, the possibilities!

Sadly, they seem to have created their own font and encoding. This is nice in that it allows you to (probably) play the game in any locale, while still seeing identifiable Chinese text, but it's a big pain in the ass if you want to insert a script in another language.

[Raww Le Klueze]

If I had any idea what you just said I'm sure I'd be very impressed.

Seem to be a lot of broken copies out there, the one I have was missing some file but still installed and played fine though from the labeling it seemed the missing file had something to do with magic so assumingly if I use the wrong rune/spell the game is likely to crash. But the game appears to install everything to the HD and then just uses the disc to start so should be an easy fix if you find the missing piece.

[Omnigamer]

I have a copy I assume to be complete. All the files match up, at least. Send me a PM and we can work something out.

Edit: Raww, I would still appreciate a comment on whether you are running the game with a 32-bit or 64-bit OS

[BadPotato]

Edit: Raww, I would still appreciate a comment on whether you are running the game with a 32-bit or 64-bit OS

I managed to find a copy on some random chinese website that work straight out of the box(I didn't need to use any patch-no-cd or use compatibility mode, but I might for movie). I use Win7-64bits. I believe anyone could find it with the right keyword with the help of a Tor-like tool for better browsing

Also the game recognized my joypad right away.

Thought, it seem that the opening movie show a black or green screen 1 time on 2. Also, I think they encoded the opening movie with lower bitrate than the PSX version, despite it was already the case before.


I somewhat hoped that this guy would got his hair corrected, if it got re-encoded

As Raww said, buddy unite with Riou and Jowy got speeded up. It seem there's a slower transition everytime you win a battle, the sound seem to slowy stop then go silent for about 1.5 second, weird.

Every time the game music loop, we can head fade out and restart with a fade in effect, kinda annoying.

The Mist Shade is a lot more "ghosty" in this version.

PSX version:


Oh and beware of glitch when minimizing the game, else...


At some point, I wonder if this version is based on a version before packaged PSX source code, so that may explain why there's a couple of irregular game design choice here and there.

[Poet]

At some point, I wonder if this version is based on a version before packaged PSX source code, so that may explain why there's a couple of irregular game design choice here and there.

[/quote]

Can you share the link to get this pc version?

[Omnigamer]

To further comment on BadPotato's suggestion that the version is based on a pre-PSX version, I believe that it is expanded off of the original "Demo" version released in Japan. Of note are several different portraits, particularly for Pohl and Leona, that are present in that demo version but are updated in all of the other releases. It doesn't entirely borrow from the demo however, since enemy values are updated and some features (like the pushback from walking into diagonal walls) are present.

On Poet's comment, sharing resources for pirated material is still illegal in most of our respective countries.

[Raww Le Klueze]

Edit: Raww, I would still appreciate a comment on whether you are running the game with a 32-bit or 64-bit OS

32-bit

Can you share the link to get this pc version?

He probably could, but it would very much be against the board rules to do so.

[bluemask]

Looks nice but I think the sprite upscaling is blatantly forced. Looks similar when played using 2xSal sprite smoothing. Though the portraits being completely looks good. Wonder why it's only in Chinese?

[Pyriel]

Game consoles were banned in China for quite a few years, and PC gaming was very popular even before the bans were enacted. The short answer is "money". In the west, and Japan, consoles were the rage. A PC version probably would have sold even worse than the PSX versions, and we'd all know them as, "games grandma got us from the bargain bin at Best Buy".

[bluemask]

Makes sense. Though it wouldn't hurt if westerners experience the same improvements .