May 29, 2020
Genesis translations fully databased &
Major application updates!
The goal of this project is to bring verification to romhack translations, much like the standards No-Intro and Redump have introduced to the community.
Today a major application update is released, which includes the complete Sega Genesis translation database (38 games to date). All Genesis checksums have been verified and repaired as needed, except Dynamite Headdy which uses a non-standard check. Fixing the checksum brings the "red screen of death".
In addition to the complete Genesis database, the following updates are also included:
Enjoy the release and if interested, please join us on discord to provide feedback and shape the future of the project. The ability to auto-update the application and databases will enable quicker, incremental releases moving forward. The next system is still to be decided!
-mibro
April 29, 2020
Super Nintendo translations fully databased!
The goal of this project is to bring verification to romhacks, much in the way projects like No-Intro and Redump have for their respective mediums. Another goal is to convert the base to the cleanest form - for example, SNES would use No-Intro ROMs with no header.
The complete SNES translation library (232 games to date) has been fully databased and converted to use a No-Intro base. RomhackDB now has its first complete database with verified translation CRCs!
Each database entry contains the following infomation:
How was the database created?
For each game, the most complete translation was used. If one game has two incomplete translations and one fully complete translation, the complete translation was used. If a game has addendum patches that fix issues with the translation (glitches, bugs, etc.), the addendum was applied to the base translation to create the "most-definitive version" of the game. For games with two independent translations that are both complete, both translations are included (e.g. Dragon Quest V, Mystic Ark, Amazing Spiderman).
As some older translations relied on bad dumps, the base file was converted to a headerless No-Intro ROM as needed. Additionally, since the goal is to create "verified" files, all internal header checksums were repaired and internal game names that contained incorrect version numbers were updated. The final result is 232 translations, all with valid internal header checksums, all using a No-Intro base.
How to use the database?
The database is incorporated into an XML file used by the RHDB App. By downloading and launching the RHDB App, you can select a ROM folder on your local computer (no ROMs are hosted on this site or distributed with software!) and desired output folder.
The RHDB app will search for the correct game file (using the base CRC), download and apply the patch, then output the patched ROM to the specifed folder. Verification checks are performed along the way to make sure the output is clean and verified. In addition to the patch file, a .txt file will be produced to identify the translation version and authors for complete traceability and author credit.
Note: If you are a romhack translation author, please consider joining the discord to provide feedback. Much effort has gone into maintaining the translation lineage, notes, and credits. If there are any suggestions for improvements in this area, we look forward to hearing from you!
In the future, the following updates are planned:
Thank you for reading and if interested, please join us on discord to provide feedback and shape the future of the project. The next system will be... Sega Genesis!
-mibro