Shadowrun Sega CD English Translations thread

[5thWolf]

Just throwing this thread out there for keeping track of this game. I know there is no finished translation but this is a good spot for people to dump info & links.

• SHADOWRUN
  • This Redditt thread links to a hinted Shadowrun translation from Iwakura.
  • Here is a NEOGaf thread showing progress by Iwakura from 2012

 

[AnonymousCookieMonster]

I've wondered what the SegaCD Shadowrun would be like (hopefully more content and great music). This is one translation I'm looking forward to.

 

[otogirisou]

from Iwakura

So, it will be finished in 20 years? ?
Just kidding. Their Fate CCC translation is great.
I'd be very grateful to whoever translate this game.

 

[Bonkers225]

A Sega CD game, from 1996?? Didn't know it lasted that long. Than again, I'm in the West.

And that artstyle, was it the same artist that did the Groove on Fight series?

 

[Ppapeno7135]

I remember I used to read the news and progress reports on Iwakura's blog regarding this translation...
It's on my "I hope I'll be able to play it someday but I don't keep my hopes up" list, just like Surging Aura and Miegakure.

 

[Trainer Red]

Oh the other version !
If this ever gets done I'm definitely playing !
I mean I already gave the click and point SNES version during middle school days and the Sega CD version has always had me intrigued
Can't wait !

 

[5thWolf]

Oh the other version !
If this ever gets done I'm definitely playing !
I mean I already gave the click and point SNES version during middle school days and the Sega CD version has always had me intrigued
Can't wait !

Try the Genesis version. Its super unique as well!

 

[AnonymousCookieMonster]

Try the Genesis version. Its super unique as well!

The genesis version is the closest to being PnP accurate that i can tell. Actually reading the 4th Edition Shadowrun book explains how the system works and the game makes more sense!

The SNES version was.... 'everyone stands in place and shoots with guns' (exceptions in the arena). The genesis version you had implants for melee, shotguns, handguns, silencers, and missions to do (infinite missions), and cyberspace that's complex and interesting.

It takes about a week to beat the genesis version. And it has a interesting story and hidden tidbits like messages from Sega/FASA

 

[Parasite_Steve]

I briefly entertained the idea of working on a translation myself to further improve my Japanese and because I’m a sucker for shadowrun but I found the writing incredibly dry and lost interest quickly as a result.

 

[Ezri_Muldoon]

This may sound like blasphemy but surely AI could be used to lighten the load for some parts of the translation?
Not the actual alternation to game code, but you could run the game through a live translation system and get a very rough machine translation of all the onscreen dialogue, then a person smarter than me could probably come up with a batch script that takes the generated text and dumps the dialogue into a word document.

It wouldn't be the most accurate but it could be used as a starting point to refine and create a fully documented script of the entire game.

Or is this a situation where a complete script exists in the depths of the internet and the old team just got stuck at its implementation?

 

[Parasite_Steve]

This may sound like blasphemy but surely AI could be used to lighten the load for some parts of the translation?

AI is kinda crap when compared to dedicated translation software like deepl, which has come a long way with Japanese. It’s still much more accurate with European languages though but it would be a better start than ai

 

[AnonymousCookieMonster]

but you could run the game through a live translation system and get a very rough machine translation of all the onscreen dialogue

As a starting point i don't see why not. And if the CD version of the game heavily follows the Genesis ROM version, then you could copy/paste whole dialogs. But if it got say 80% there with MTL, then adlib/rewrite to make it readable and following the theme of the game we already know, i'd be happy with that.

Though if you have an actual translator or bilingual in Japanese would no doubt result in a much more accurate translation. Though even badly translated would make it much easier to update later.

 

[UnDubious]

As a starting point i don't see why not. And if the CD version of the game heavily follows the Genesis ROM version, then you could copy/paste whole dialogs. But if it got say 80% there with MTL, then adlib/rewrite to make it readable and following the theme of the game we already know, i'd be happy with that.

Though if you have an actual translator or bilingual in Japanese would no doubt result in a much more accurate translation. Though even badly translated would make it much easier to update later.

It has nothing in common with the Genesis Shadowrun, which was a Western-developed game. The Sega CD game was made by Compile in collaboration with the company that sells the Shadowrun P&P RPG in Japan (same company is behind the Lodoss franchise). It's an adventure game/RPG hybrid with dice-based combat.
Also, AI translations from Japanese are not good enough for that yet. Tons of lines will make no sense if translated without context and the whole thing will read terribly. I've checked out a few recent AI-translated games and they're basically unplayable if you care about the story and dialogue - and this is a text-heavy game.

 

[BassForever]

2025 and people still suggesting AI translations ?

 

[FrancoEdge41]

Try the Genesis version. Its super unique as well!

I loved the Genesis version. Very unique gameplay but it definitely captured the Shadowrun universe feel. Years later I bought all the Shadowrun PC games. They were definitely made with love for the genre and source material. Sometimes the entire series is free on epic games.

 

[UnDubious]

I think the Genesis game is the only Western RPG I ever beat. Great game. It's like a precursor to the open-world genre, there's so much you can do around the city and it doesn't follow the regular RPG formula at all. I spent so much time hacking the matrix that I found the hidden message where the game itself congratulates you. I almost never teamed up with other runners, when I was broke I would hire them for a single run, sell all their gear and dismiss them, lol. The SNES game is more user-friendly so it gets talked about more, but it doesn't have the depth. It's not bad though.

 

[AnonymousCookieMonster]

I think the Genesis game is the only Western RPG I ever beat. Great game. It's like a precursor to the open-world genre, there's so much you can do around the city and it doesn't follow the regular RPG formula at all. I spent so much time hacking the matrix that I found the hidden message where the game itself congratulates you.

Yep. I remember that. While downloading files it's an extra 'note' you put aside, treated as a key item.

I almost never teamed up with other runners, when I was broke I would hire them for a single run, sell all their gear and dismiss them, lol. The SNES game is more user-friendly so it gets talked about more, but it doesn't have the depth. It's not bad though.

Hmmm. usually did what my brother would do. I'd be a net runner, then have an orc in a trench coat and the elf shaman, though magic sucks until you get it higher tiered.

As for hiring... you can hire them permanently for 10x the price of a single run. But a 'single run' doesn't include a lot of things, like doing deliveries, and i don't think it counts towards ghoul hunting though i need to check again.

The 'single run' usually is going into a building and rescue or steal something specific from the MegaCorp building. So early on you can hire the guys you intend to use later and do like 50 delivery jobs in the first town, build your Karma up and level them up. Then when you got the Nayum you can keep them as your party.

 

[UnDubious]

I just didn't like the concept of having allies who act on their own in battle, though, so I only kept them around on the story missions where you need them. As a samurai class I was strong enough to handle pretty much anything myself. Maybe I did way more runs than necessary, though.

 

[AnonymousCookieMonster]

I just didn't like the concept of having allies who act on their own in battle

In the genesis, 'acting on their own during battle' usually just mean if you are in combat, they shoot or cast magic or punch in melee. Otherwise they follow you and are harmless, though if they get separated from you it's a bit more difficult.

Course you could swap between them at any time.

But Experience is like dot hack. If you aren't in a party, you are leveling slower and harder since you don't get more experience going solo. So you might as well have max party.

 

[UnDubious]

Yeah, I'm not saying it's objectively better not to have them, just that I didn't need them. It just goes to show how free the game is. I do think I had some partners during the final boss (maybe Stark and some other guy?)

 

[Toppis]

I am at discord server and shadowrun is stuck but iwakura did say last year that project was close to finish but no more information after that

 

[AnonymousCookieMonster]

but iwakura did say last year that project was close to finish but no more information after that

Then fingers crossed... I do hope to see some good news soon.

 

[5thWolf]

Oh man that's great news if he mentioned it just last year!

 

[_oBSOLEte_]

Looking forward to it! The old Megadrive and SNES games were awesome, I also really liked the PC trilogy with XCom lite turn based combat.