OBD:Localization/Japanese

File properties of examined Japanese Oni (Windows)

	Size (Bytes)	Completion time
level0_Tools.dat .raw	2,044,404 6,582,304	2001/05/17 20:40:18 20:40:16
level0_Final.dat .raw	4,520,626 29,964,288	2001/08/27 12:38:30 12:38:28
level1_Final.dat .raw	9,228,427 46,185,408	12:41:30 12:41:28
level2_Final.dat .raw	7,746,752 36,836,384	12:42:28 12:42:26
level3_Final.dat .raw	10,057,083 31,447,200	12:43:30 12:43:28
level4_Final.dat .raw	9,108,703 34,365,600	‏‎12:44:30 12:44:28
level6_Final.dat .raw	10,589,595 35,089,984	12:45:28 ‏‎12:45:26
level8_Final.dat .raw	13,131,091 42,350,912	‏‎12:47:10 ‏‎12:47:08
level9_Final.dat .raw	11,535,489 34,567,616	12:48:18 12:48:16
level10_Final.dat .raw	12,234,094 46,970,048	12:40:20 12:40:18
level11_Final.dat .raw	10,079,684 32,815,328	12:49:34 12:49:32
level12_Final.dat .raw	8,879,768 30,825,856	12:50:30 12:50:28
level13_Final.dat .raw	5,149,398 34,199,136	12:51:14 ‏‎12:51:14
level14_Final.dat .raw	10,039,427 41,758,912	‏‎12:52:20 ‏‎12:52:18
level18_Final.dat .raw	10,190,295 37,197,088	12:53:32 ‏‎12:53:30
level19_Final.dat .raw	11,276,307 44,215,840	12:55:06 12:55:04

This is an overview of the differences between the Japanese and English versions of Oni for Windows.

The main focus is on instance files (.dat/.raw) and not on hardcoded text in Oni.exe which was localized – typically limited to the strings "Syndicate Warehouse" and "Save Point %d", and cheat-related messages.

Extra font files (JPN_BIG.fnt, JPN_MIDDLE.fnt, JPN_SMALL.fnt, JPN_BOLD.fnt) are also not discussed here, since they have no equivalent in the English version(s).

The table on the right lists the file properties for the specific Japanese version that was examined. For the file properties of the reference English version(s), see HERE. File sizes exactly identical to the US and/or UK versions (level[2-4,6,8-9,14,18]_Final.dat) have been marked in bold and bold italic, respectively. Significantly larger file sizes (level0_Final.dat) have been underlined.

level0_Tools

A notable feature of the Japanese localization for Windows and Mac is that it comes with level0_Tools.dat/.raw, a component that is inaccessible from the shipping version of Oni and can only be used by a copy of the game application built in "Tool Mode". The other known instances of level0_Tools are found in the French, German, Italian and Spanish releases for the Mac and in Final Candidate 7 for Windows. Not counting the leaked FC7, Japanese Oni is the only publicly available instance of level0_Tools that was built for Windows.

The level0_Tools in the European Mac localizations has had some of its labels and buttons translated to the target language in 23 of the 70 tool dialogs, apparently an accident on the part of the localizers since since "Shipping Mode" Oni cannot display them. By contrast, the Japanese level0_Tools is less localized; out of the 70 tool dialogs, only 18 are modified by the Japanese localizer, and 8 of those merely have had their "OK"/"Cancel" buttons replaced with "OK" (in romaji) and "キャンセル" ("cancel" in katakana). The copy of level0_Tools found in Final Candidate 7 is completely in English since it came directly from Bungie.

Apart from the localization, the Japanese level0_Tools offers better quality TXMPs than the German release in 91 textures out of 373: DOORLOCK, DOORLOCK2, and all those with prefixes DOOR_AIR, DOOR_MP, DOOR_SB, _DOOR_AIR_, _DOOR_DR_, _DOOR_HA_, _DOOR_MP_, _DOOR_PW_, _DOOR_PW2_, _DOOR_RL_, _DOOR_SB_, _DOOR_TC_, _DOOR_TC2_, _DOOR_Z_, A_GARAGE_, AIR_DK_, CON_SB_ (uncompressed storage rather than DXT1).

See level0_Tools for an overview that is not focused on localization.

Size of the .dat files

It shouldn't be too surprising that 4 out of 15 .dat files (not counting level0_Tools) have exactly the same size as their English counterparts. If two level files contain exactly the same instances (possibly in a different order), and if matching instances differ in content only but not in size (e.g., with translated TxtC/OPge/IPge/etc, but no size change for array instances like TXCA/VCRA/IDXA), then the .dat files' sizes will naturally match. Textures, sounds and subtitles are likely to vary for a localization, but their variable data resides in the .raw, and does not affect the size of the .dat files.

So the real question is why would the other eleven .dat files be larger than their English counterparts?

level0_Final

The case of level0_Final is special: its much larger size (4,520,626 B against 2,816,050 B) is attributable to the font files (TSFT) and glyph arrays (TSGA) belonging to the Tahoma TSFF.

Like for the English Oni, there are fifteen TSFT font files (normal, bold and italic variants in 7pt, 9pt, 10pt, 12pt and 14pt sizes). Each of them has a slightly larger pixel data array: there are no extended ASCII glyphs (96 of those), but the 154 kana/kanji more than make up for them, so the pixel data of the TSFTs ends up taking more than for English Oni, by 230,560 B overall.

The main difference in size comes from the somewhat bloated use of auxiliary TSGAs (code pages) for kana/kanji descriptors: in addition to the main TSGA used for regular ASCII (less than half full), there are 19 more TSGAs, totalling space for 4864 glyph descriptors (per TSFT), but filled very sparsely (only 154 kana/kanji glyphs are actually present). The excess space thus taken up by the 19 auxiliary TSGAs – as compared to storing all the glyph descriptors in one TSGA – is about 100 KB (including instance headers, instance descriptors, and padding), so for the 15 fonts we get about 1.5 MB (about 30 times more than for the glyphs themselves, i.e., the pixel data in the TSFTs).

At the time of writing, it is not known whether the TSFF/TSFT/TSGA instances of the Japanese level0_Final.dat are actually necessary. The engine has custom logic that loads glyphs from the separate JPN_*.fnt files, and bails out if any of them is absent. The English engine, if used on the same game data, does not load the extra font files and falls back to TSFF, although the output is semi-broken and we do not yet know why.

Actual levels

Typically a level will have a larger .dat file in the Japanese version because it contains more instances of some type or other. If the case of Japanese Oni, there are extra sounds (alternative takes and copies from other Oni versions, see BELOW) in level1_Final, level10_Final, and any level that features Ninjas or "ninjabots". There are also variations in the sharing of ONCP files (unnamed) between ONCCs (named). After removing the superfluous SNDDs and repacking with optimized ONCP sharing, the level .dat files have the same size as for English Oni (repacked as well).

A detailed analysis of the level#_Final files of the Japanese version, covering gaps in .raw files or unnamed orphans has not been performed at this point. It is a somewhat tedious process involving OniBrowser, hex viewing, and lots of masochismpatience.

level#_Final textures

No TXMPs were translated apart from the three types of level splashscreens (.MISSION COMPLETE, .MISSION FAILED and chapter intro).

(Of the six TXMPs forming a 640x480 splashscreen, only those containing text have been substituted; the others are identical.)

The final splashscreen has no .MISSION COMPLETE label, thus it remained unchanged.

Two of the ".MISSION COMPLETE" backgrounds had their English text replaced – although, somewhat surprisingly, not with Japanese:

• TRACKING SIGNAL LOST, in CHAPTER 05 . HOT PURSUIT, was painted over with black (!)
• MAXIMUM SECURITY, in CHAPTER 11 . DREAM DIVER, was replaced with "MÁXIMA SEGURIDAD" (!!!)

Apart from the level splashscreens, all the TXMPs are exactly identical to those of the reference English Oni (same compression).

(This applies only to level#_Final files, i.e. to level0_Final and to the 14 chapters. For level0_Tools, see ABOVE.)

Menus, dialogs, UI

SUBTmessages was fully translated, with no changes in the lookup labels or in their order.

All the Data Comlink screens were fully translated, namely: OPge, IPge, WPge, DPge, HPge and IGHH.

The ONLDs for the 14 playable levels were translated (along with the strings "Syndicate Warehouse" and "Save Point %d" in the engine). The 14 pre-beta ONLDs were not translated.

The nine WMDDs and one WMM_ (pm_difficulty) that are visible in regular Oni were translated. Additionally, the following four unseen dialogs were translated:

• WMDDdialog_gettext
• WMDDdialog_get_mask
• WMDDdialog_new_game
• WMDDdialog_string_list

AKEV differences

Somewhat surprisingly, four levels in the Japanese version of Oni have slight differences in their AKEV files (level environment). The differences are limited to one or two UV coordinates in the AKEV's TXCA. Moreover, those UVs are practically zero (0,0) with or without the diff. The reason for these diffs is anyone's guess. If it's memory corruption, then why does it affect just a couple of bytes in AKEV TXCA and nothing else?

EnvWarehouse (level1_Final), UV coordinate #53 in TXCA

in English Oni the value is (1.36078921805e-30,7.08227594387e-39), or (0x0DDCCCF9,0x004D1E81) in hex

in Japanese Oni the value is (1.56416742018e-30,7.08301582946e-39), or (0x0DFDCCF9,0x004D2091) in hex

lab (level3_Final), UV coordinate #2195 in TXCA

in English Oni the value is (0.437627911568,7.08227594387e-39), or (0x3EE010C4,0x004D1E81) in hex

in Japanese Oni the value is (0.437627911568,7.08301582946e-39), or (0x3EE010C4,0x004D2091) in hex

lab (level3_Final), UV coordinate #4592 in TXCA

in English Oni the value is (0.999500393867,7.08227594387e-39), or (0x3F7FDF42,0x004D1E81) in hex

in Japanese Oni the value is (0.999500393867,7.08301582946e-39), or (0x3EE010C4,0x004D2091) in hex

tctf (level8_Final), UV coordinate #14836 in TXCA

in English Oni the value is (7.35236319953e-30,7.08227594387e-39), or (0x0F151FA7,0x004D1E81) in hex

in Japanese Oni the value is (8.97938881655e-30,7.08301582946e-39), or (0x0F361FA7,0x004D2091) in hex

power (level9_Final), UV coordinate #116

in English Oni the value is (1.82834352549e-29,7.08227594387e-39), or (0x0FB96A83,0x004D1E81) in hex

in Japanese Oni the value is (2.31503616367e-27,7.08301582946e-39), or (0x13376A83,0x0F361FA7,0x004D2091) in hex

Most of the differences amount to the addition of either 0x00210000 or 0x00000210 to a float, which does look like memory corruption.

Subtitles

Like SUBTmessages, SUBTsubtitles was fully translated into Japanese, with the exception of two obsolete voice lines that no longer exist in Oni:

• "Striker: Huh?" (08_29_31, fits into the numbering of minor NPC encounters of CHAPTER 08 . AN INNOCENT LIFE, but is too generic for an informed guess.)
• "グリフィン: I knew it was only a matter of time. It's over." (09_33_08, apparently an early variant for the CHAPTER 08 . AN INNOCENT LIFE outro, in which Konoko's rogue status wasn't stated at all until the next chapter.)
  

(There are no SNDDs or OSBDs for these two sounds in any version of Oni, just the subtitles.)

Speech

Almost all the speech lines have been translated into Japanese: vocalizations and pain sounds, cutscene speech, NPC speech, Easter egg voice lines, as well as "Access Denied". A few remarks, though….

Non-translated speech

The following nine sounds were not re-dubbed into Japanese even though they contain a form of voice acting.

• SNDDkon_snz1.aif and SNDDkon_snz2.aif (Konoko's idle sneezes)
• SNDDkon_yawn1.aif and SNDDkon_yawn2.aif (Konoko's idle yawns)
• SNDDninja_cdscene.aif (Mukade's defeat sound, similar to snin_hrt_dth*)
• SNDDkerr_dth1.aif (Kerr's unique death sound)
• SNDDmutcomkick_heavy.aif (Mutant Muro's "super_kick" vocalization)
• SNDDmutcompunch_heavy.aif (Mutant Muro's "super_punch" vocalization)
• SNDDmutcomthunderbolt_start.aif (Mutant Muro's repulsive attack)

Alternative takes

All of the below are orphan SNDDs left over from the localization process, not referenced in OSBD and therefore not playable from Oni.

English

In EnvWarehouse (level 1_Final) there are backups of three English Oni sounds, not referenced in OSBD:

• SNDDoriginal_c01_01_01griffin.aif (a copy of the English c01_01_01griffin)
• SNDDbbb_c01_01_01griffin.aif (another copy of the English c01_01_01griffin)
• SNDDoriginal_c01_01_05griffin.aif (a copy of the English c01_01_05griffin)

German

In power_II (level10_Final), there is a copy of the German SNDDc09_31_25shinatama .aif ("Detonazion in 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12..."), stored as SNDDc09_31_25shinatama.aif (without a space) and not referenced in OSBD. Unlike Griffin's lines above [...?].

Japanese

SNDDc00_01_29shinatama.aif occurs both in level 0 and level 1 of Japanese Oni, as two takes with slightly different intonations. The English counterpart ("Hi Konoko! It's me, Shinatama.") is exactly the same in level 0 and level 1.

In all the levels with Ninja sounds, i.e., featuring either Ninjas or "ninjabots" (level[1,10-13,19]_Final), there are five SNDDnin_hrt_md#.aif files (#=1-5), different from the actually referenced "SNDDnin_ hrt_md#.aif" (with a space). Unlike the final versions, the original Ninja sounds or those of other localizations, the orphan SNDDnin_hrt_md#.aif are plain-sounding male voices (with no FX applied), and the voice acting seems similar to other male voices in the Japanese version. Therefore it is likely that these are Japanese placeholders and not copies from another language version.

Likewise, in level11_Final (state) and level12_Final (roof), there are five SNDDsnin_hrt_md#.aif files (#=1-5), different from the actually-referenced "SNDDsnin_ hrt_md#.aif" (with a space). Unlike for the SNDDnin_hrt_md#.aif, the SNDDsnin_hrt_md#.aif do have some FX and are consistent with Mukade's other pain sounds, so it looks like they are legitimate alternative takes that were discarded.

Other sounds

Longer city ambients

The ambient loops named city_amb* are cut at a different length than in the English version, sometimes significantly longer. Bungie West may have originally been using full-length samples from a sound library and later decided to cut them back after the localizer had received a copy of the game assets. The shorter sounds in the English version still loop perfectly and save on memory; some of them also cut out undesirable sounds such as individual cars and emergency vehicles passing by the listener, which would be disconcerting in a game world with no traffic on the road.

• city_amb_t05a lasts ~3 seconds (182 ticks) in English Oni and ~6 seconds (348 ticks) in Japanese Oni
• city_amb_t05b lasts ~2 seconds (123 ticks) in English Oni and ~4 seconds (262 ticks) in Japanese Oni
• city_amb_t05c lasts ~3 seconds (155 ticks) in English Oni and ~6 seconds (363 ticks) in Japanese Oni
• city_amb_t06b lasts ~4 seconds (250 ticks) in English Oni and ~6 seconds (358 ticks) in Japanese Oni
• city_amb_t06c lasts ~3 seconds (193 ticks) in English Oni and ~5 seconds (319 ticks) in Japanese Oni
• city_amb_t07a lasts ~6 seconds (332 ticks) in English Oni and ~8 seconds (492 ticks) in Japanese Oni
• city_amb_t07b lasts ~5 seconds (292 ticks) in English Oni and ~7 seconds (416 ticks) in Japanese Oni
• city_amb_t07c lasts ~5 seconds (293 ticks) in English Oni and ~8 seconds (462 ticks) in Japanese Oni
• city_amb2_t07a lasts ~3 seconds (179 ticks) in English Oni and ~8 seconds (469 ticks) in Japanese Oni
• city_amb2_t07b lasts ~5 seconds (319 ticks) in English Oni and ~9 seconds (536 ticks) in Japanese Oni
• city_amb2_t07c lasts ~4 seconds (215 ticks) in English Oni and ~14 seconds (853 ticks) in Japanese Oni

Thus, of all the "city ambient" loops, only the 5-second city_amb_t06a uses the same sound data as in English Oni.

These longer durations are consistent across levels, the occurrence being as follows:

• city_amb_t05* occur in level3_final (lab) and level14_Final (neuro)
• city_amb_t06* occur in level8_final (tctf), level11_final (state) and level18_final (tctf_II)
• city_amb_t07* occur in level2_final (manplant) and level6_final (Airport_III)
• city_amb2_t07* occur in level1_final (EnvWarehouse, level4_final (Airport) and level14_Final (neuro)