hilltopworks

February Update

Hi all,

It was a bit of a quiet month, but not because stuff isn't going on. Behind the scenes there are 2 secret extra projects in the works:

• One is a very tricky but much smaller translation patch. Despite the small size, it might be one of the most popular patches we've ever done. I've mentioned this series in interviews before, so some of you might have an idea of what it ...
  2024-02-28 03:50:52 +0000 UTC View Post

January Update

Hi all.

We unveiled Rowdy Princess this month and so far the reactions have been exactly what we were hoping for:

Rowdy Princess is a game with a lot of heart and a lot of fresh, interesting ideas that never got the chance to shine when it originally released on the same day as Metal Gear S...

Rowdy Princess translation patch reveal trailer

Hi all!

Here it is, our next big project. This is a criminally underrated game from a legendary game creator whose games have almost never released outside of Japan. It is very special to us on the team, and the reasons why will become incredibly apparent when you finally get your hands on it.

Localization for Rowdy Princess is being handled by talented fan localization veteran Carg...

Next translation patch reveal trailer

Hi all,

Tomorrow at 1:00 PM Pacific the trailer for our next fan translation will go live on YouTube! This one is a hidden gem of the highest caliber, and I'm beyond excited to finally let people see it. I hope you can be there at the live premier.

-Hilltop

December Update

Hi all,

It's the final update of the year, and looking back, it was wild how much was accomplished in 2023. The entire Boku 2 patch is a staggering amount of work in and of itself, but we also managed to fit in Dog of Bay and a few videos along the way. Fan translations will continue in 2024, and we've already poured countless hours into the next one (I spent weeks defeating the file comp...

Developer Secrets: Hacking Video Games With Ghidra, an Introduction

Hi all!

Sorry about all the delays on this video. It's really hard to pull myself away from a new translation project when we're really in the swing of establishing the groundwork.

But here it is, by far the most technical video I have made, aimed at introducing Ghidra as a tool and explaining what it can accomplish through various examples. There's no way any reasonably-sized video...

November Update

Hi all.

I've been watching the response to Boku 2's release closely and it's been phenomenal. I knew that people would not only instantly fall in love with it, but be left with one of the most impactful gaming experiences of their lives. Watching it happen to people in real time has been very special for me.
But of course, there is always more coming on the way, and production has real...

Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 English Patch Release!

After eleven months of work, I am beyond proud to present the long-awaited English patch for one of the most special games ever to grace the PlayStation 2. I would like to thank the rest of the team for helping me in making this localization the absolute highest quality possible, with no expense spared and not a single corner cut.

Note: If you are planning on playing on P...

October Update

Hi all,

I will keep this update short. We are in the middle of testing and bug fixing the final build of Boku 2. Expect a release in November.

-Hilltop

Big Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 milestone!

Hi all!

I want to share that we've just hit the most important milestone on the Boku 2 project. All dialogue is now fully translated and inserted! We've now moved on to the playtesting and editing phase. It's been a long road with many challenges since I started hacking the game in January, but the end is finally in sight.

Because I've been going so hard on Boku 2, expect that the G...

September Update

Hi all,

This month was spent mainly on 2 things: Translating Boku 2 and working on the Ghidra video. The video is far along and will probably be uploaded in the next few weeks. It's the most technical video I've made but it has undoubtedly some of the most important information that I've shared when it comes to hacking video games.

Lots of progress was also made on the main script o...

Vagrant Story Font Patch

Hi all!

Another little surprise patch today. I've always wanted to play Vagrant Story, but I hated the "edgy-sketchy" English font that they went with. So OGB and I created this new font that still has the original comic-style intentions of the original but with a more legible and restrained typeface.

Don't like the font we picked? Then use your own! I've created easy-to-follow inst...

August Update

Hi all, time for another update.

Dog of Bay went out this month and it was a very quick and fun project to work on in-between the bigger stuff. All in all, it was completed in only about 2 weeks. In case you were wondering, the "criminally underrated" game I referenced in this tweet some time ago is not Dog of Bay, but a PS2 RPG that's planned for after Boku 2:

2023-08-28 19:36:57 +0000 UTC View Post

Dog of Bay English sing-along lyrics

Hey, almost forgot to mention, but we made English lyrics videos for all the songs in Dog of Bay. 

Click the video above to be taken to the playlist!

-Hilltop

Lyrics by Cargodin

Dog of Bay English Patch Release!

Hi all!

This was a really fun project to work on in-between our larger games. I urge you to give this game a chance because it's a very fun rhythm game will a stellar OST. 

Credits:

Hacking, Editing: Hilltop

Localization, Graphics: Cargodin

Video Editing: OldGameBox

Testing: Oculin, Gwendolyn, ItsumoKnight

Download Here:

2023-08-16 17:37:58 +0000 UTC View Post

Dog of Bay English patch trailer!

Hi all!

This was a fun little side-project to break up the work on Boku 2. I hope you give it a shot because this is a really fun rhythm game with a great OST and a AAA list of Japanese singers and voice actors. The full patch will be released in 2 days on August 16th, along with videos of song lyrics for all the tracks.

-Hilltop 

July Update

Hi all,

This month I finally got into the groove of sitting down and actually translating. Up until now there was a mountain of technical hurdles to solve, but with that all squared away I've started tackling the main script. Progress is going really well, I've been doing a number of scenes each day. After the first draft though, there's still a lot of editing, playtesting, and re-editing...

Minor Update

Hi all,

Just a small update for today. I finally enabled Discord integration so as far as I'm aware, invites to the Discord server and the channel role should be automatic going forward. You may have gotten a random buzz from the Discord app, sorry if it caused any confusion.

In other news, I have to put together a presentation on the hacking tool Ghidra for my day job, so that's ve...

June Update

Hi all,

I'm happy to announce that programming has wrapped up on My Summer Vacation 2! Aside from any bugs that might pop-up, all text and subtitles are fully injectable. The last few bits were the most difficult and something I hadn't attempted before: adding subtitles wholesale to dialogue that had none. This game had two situations that needed all new subtitles, and both were incompati...

My Summer Vacation 2 Stream

Hi everyone!

I'm going to be trying something new tonight. In about 5 minutes at 9:30 Pacific I will be streaming and talking about the My Summer Vacation 2 English patch and its progress so far. Be there! https://www.twitch.tv/hilltopworks

Edit: VOD here for those who missed it 2023-06-23 04:25:47 +0000 UTC View Post

An exhaustive video on extracting graphics from PS1/PS2 games

Hi guys!

It's been a long time coming but my latest video is finally complete. It's over 1.5 hours long and represents an immense amount of the independent learning that I've gone through over the last couple years.

As mentioned in the video, I am extremely interested in how this video will be received and if any viewers have stories of trying to extract graphics from games. If I ge...

April Update

Hi all,

Once again it was a hugely productive month for us mainly focused on adjusting all of the many, many individual menus throughout the game and painstakingly translating the background graphical elements in My Summer Vacation 2.
Oh yeah, after playing Millennium Kitchen's latest game "Shin chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation The Endless Seven-Day Journey" I've ...

March Update

Hi all,

It's been an extremely busy March for me, between all the stuff going on in Boku 2 and work being very demanding, but it was a hugely productive month. Multiple new team members have offered to help on Boku 2, and progress has been explosive. The work they're doing is nothing short of phenomenal.

Most of my time was spent of hacking and fixing all the different menu screens ...

Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 English patch announcement

Hi all, here it finally is! It's an honor to be working on this game. This is a truly wonderful and unique franchise that never made it to the west. A lot of work has already been poured into this game to get it to where it is. This has been one of the most challenging games to wrangle with but I'm beyond delighted at the state it's in. Boku 2 has so much charm and many deeply touching moments,...

February Quick Update

Hi all!

I had really hoped the trailer for the next project would be ready before March but it's still waiting on a couple of external things. I am nearly bursting with anticipation for people's reactions to it, and it shouldn't be too much longer. I'm hoping that you will all see it within a week or so.

I've also made some extremely cool discoveries on the second game we're worki...

January Update

Hi all,

This month I've been hard at work on the engineering groundwork for the next patch. The chart above describes some of the work on the different file formats the game has but there's still a ton of work to be done on top of it. The size and scope of this game is like nothing I've ever encountered, and in more ways than one. Sorry to keep hush and cryptic about the title, but the re...

December Update

Hi all,

Hope you're having a good holiday season. 2022 was a period of intense growth and learning for me and it's primed 2023 to be an exceptionally spectacular year for English patches. I'm currently working on the most ambitious and difficult projects I have ever embarked on, but it will be worth it in the end. There are two games I'm focused on: one incredibly highly demanded; one abs...

b.l.u.e. v1.1 Softlock fix

Hi all, 

Sorry, but it seems like the initial version of our patch had an issue where depending on the order of events in Chapter 2, the door to the bio lab would remain locked and you could be unable to progress. There is a workaround by talking to Qing Long immediately at the start of the chapter, but it requires restarting the chapter over. 

I've fixed this bug in v1.1,...

🐬 b.l.u.e. Legend of Water English patch available now! 🐬

Hi all!

I'm proud to finally release the English patch for b.l.u.e. Legend of Water! Explore underwater ruins and uncover an ancient secret with your dolphin friend Luka in this hidden PS1 gem. 

Once again, I'd like to extend my thanks to everyone who supports, plays, contributes to, and shares my projects. It sincerely means a lot to me that the community of folks who share th...

b.l.u.e. Legend of Water English patch releases tomorrow

Hi all!

b.l.u.e. is complete and we'll be releasing the full patch tomorrow! More news and a new trailer then. If you'd like your name added to the in-game credits, become a Patron at the third tier soon!

Illustration by Cargodin