Translation Game - Dragon Quest IV - Michibikareshi Mono-tachi (Japan) - English - PS1

[DQMaster]

Hi everyone, I've been studying and creating Python scripts with AI assistance for months and I've made great progress towards translating the PS1 game Dragon Quest IV - PS1
The biggest problem I'm having is re-inserting it; that's the biggest challenge. I've tried all sorts of testing methods, using various AIs, but I haven't been able to do it. I would appreciate any help with the project.

Here's my repository on GitHub: https://github.com/DQ-2025/PROJECTDQ

Any help is welcome.
All the texts are translated and are in the folder:
Translation_files: file name:
translation_csv_limpo.csv (
They are all translated already, but a slight review is needed, as I couldn't translate some specific Japanese texts correctly (more or less 87000 translated texts)
In the tools_output folder: are all the extracted and decoded texts with their correct paths, more than 91,000 texts.
Progress:
Extract text → DONE (dq4_extractor_with_mapping.py)
Generate CSV → DONE (generate_translation_csv.py)
Fill CSV with translations → DONE, need review (Excel/LibreOffice)
Validate translations → RUN load_translations.py
Inject into ROM → RUN dq4_advanced_real_injector.py
Test on PS1 emulator → FINAL STEP

Read the readme (It's in Brazilian Portuguese, but you can translate it into English to understand).

All the tools used are in the tools folder.


Credits and Project Basis
This project is based on studies, I.A and tools available at:

Markus Projects - Dragon Hacks IV
GitHub - dq4psxtrans

Terms of Use
Commercialization prohibited: This project is strictly for non-commercial use.

Fan project: Developed by fans with the goal of translation and cultural preservation.
Respect copyright: This project does not include ROMs or any copyrighted material.

 

[Felipe]

Hi and kongratz for your work, did you try romhacking.net too? It's a good place to try a chance at it, perhaps the help might come from there. (Or here too or both ).

 

[DQMaster]

are very hard input texts...

 

[blossom357]

Been hoping to see DQ4's PS1 version for years .... and when do, it's AI crap.

 

[Abominat]

I still hope the PS1 version gets a translation patch one day.

 

[N.E Lima]

Been hoping to see DQ4's PS1 version for years .... and when do, it's AI crap.

So why you don't do yourself a proper japanese to eng translation Instead of complaining about someone trying with AI
There's nothing wrong with using MT tools, there are no jobs being threatened here by AI, and many hackers and translators are busy And as you can see, he's asking for help from anyone who can.

 

[marxcore]

This thread my turn into a open can of worms very fast.

 

[blossom357]

So why you don't do yourself a proper japanese to eng translation Instead of complaining about someone trying with AI
There's nothing wrong with using MT tools, there are no jobs being threatened here by AI, and many hackers and translators are busy And as you can see, he's asking for help from anyone who can.

Look, I'm fine with it simply not existing. I can wait patiently until if/when someone does - the key word being "someone," a human. If I have to choose between nothing and AI garbage, give me nothing every time. The fact this will be "already translated", in the future, will potentially discourage someone to do an actual translation. Then again, glass half full, maybe it will be the motivation for someone to say "OK, let me do it for real." I guess we'll see.

 

[N.E Lima]

Look, I'm fine with it simply not existing. I can wait patiently until if/when someone does - the key word being "someone," a human. If I have to choose between nothing and AI garbage, give me nothing every time. The fact this will be "already translated", in the future, will potentially discourage someone to do an actual translation. Then again, glass half full, maybe it will be the motivation for someone to say "OK, let me do it for real." I guess we'll see.

So shut up then, I not gonna play a Machine Translation too but look I'm not complaining, neither I tried to do anything nor you tried to translate or help this guy.

in the future, will potentially discourage someone to do an actual translation.

Oh really? If that were the case, existing localizations wouldn't receive a Translation made from scratch, why make a translation of Dragon Quest III and I&II for the SNES when the NES and GBC versions already exist, the DS and NES versions should be enough to not need a "Human" translation, and you're telling me that an MT for a game that hasn't received any fan translation so far is going to be the reason?

 

[Atma]

The Github page is gone, so the project might be canceled.

Bummer, since while DQ4 is readily available in a lot of places, the PS1 version would still be fun to experience.

 

[Super2]

I'm hoping the project is still active, I've messaged the author just in case :)

 

[Gabrinius]

Been hoping to see DQ4's PS1 version for years .... and when do, it's AI crap.

I'm starting to think you guys are something like "teenage IAs".

 

[blossom357]

So shut up then, I not gonna play a Machine Translation too but look I'm not complaining, neither I tried to do anything nor you tried to translate or help this guy.

Again, what is there "to help?" I'm sick of this mollycoddling, pretending LLM usage requires work. "But the prompting takes effort!" Get real.

 

[DQMaster]

Hey everyone, the project is on hold due to a lack of time, but if anyone is interested in helping finish it, I can open up the GitHub repository.
You might think it’s a simple matter—using AI, prompts, and scripts to assist with translations (which are usually done via Google Translate)—but it’s not the quick and easy process everyone imagines. It requires reasoning, adjustments, and code decryption. People often say, "Just use AI to translate," but 100% of the games here use Google Translate for that; do you really think there’s a Japanese translator working on them for you? The manual method is effective too, but even then, Google Translate is used to translate the text once it's identified; the only difference is that manual insertion takes longer.
If you don't want to play games translated using these tools, you're better off leaving the forum, because you won't be playing any of them.

 

[Super2]

Thank you so much for all your work DQMaster on this translation and for opening your Github project: (https://github.com/DQ-2025/PROJECTDQ)

1) Just to confirm: so the only thing missing is for someone to come in and find out how to re-insert the included translation, is that right? (plus test it of course :) )

2) Also, would you be ok with me mentioning your Github in other pages? To spread the word and get people interested? Happy for you to mention it if you prefer, (I was going to open threads in Romhacking.net and GBATemp.)

 

[Onicat]

Just in case, from a dude who was part of an "underground" translation team many moons ago...

I’d like to add that “translating a retrogame” (in case of fellow enthusiasts) isn’t just about “translating lines of text in the game_text.txt file”.

You have to find the text in game resources. It’s often encrypted because games from that era constantly faced storage space limitations. What’s worse - in those old games, there’s often a strict limit on the number of narrative (that are not directly related to the game code) characters allowed (per line etc), and you can’t use more characters than "permitted" (by original devs). And you need a lot of creative thinking (and a HUGE vocabulary) to produce narrative text that’s understandable to players under such conditions.

And after all that, you have to put this text back into the game. And that’s not all.

You have to test how it all looks in every (and I mean every) possible place (for example, the unofficial translation of SNES DQ2, where talking to the nun in the neighboring temple after the final boss battle triggers an endless dialogue loop you can’t escape from - what a joy for everyone. I won’t even mention the bunch of other minor errors), even in the ones you didn’t touch (because it's programming, baby). That also takes a lot of time (and significantly more than it takes to simply play through the game).

In short, even official translations, with all the official resources and tools, are a challenge. Unofficial translations, on the other hand, are really only for die-hard fans with a burning passion in the eyes.

And they don't get paid for it.

 

[DQMaster]

Hey everyone, the project is on hold due to a lack of time, but if anyone is interested in helping finish it, I can open up the GitHub repository.
You might think it’s a simple matter—using AI, prompts, and scripts to assist with translations (which are usually done via Google Translate)—but it’s not the quick and easy process everyone imagines. It requires reasoning, adjustments, and code decryption. People often say, "Just use AI to translate," but 100% of the games here use Google Translate for that; do you really think there’s a Japanese translator working on them for you? The manual method is effective too, but even then, Google Translate is used to translate the text once it's identified; the only difference is that manual insertion takes longer.
If you don't want to play games translated using these tools, you're better off leaving the forum, because you won't be playing any of them.

My project is based on other unfinished projects; I simply created a more effective tool that extracts all the text—along with its location mapping—in a single pass.
The GitHub page lists the sources used:

Dragon „Hackst“ IV | Markus Projects

GitHub - mwilkens/dq4psxtrans: Attempt at Python tooling for the Dragon Quest 4 PSX Translation

Attempt at Python tooling for the Dragon Quest 4 PSX Translation - mwilkens/dq4psxtrans

github.com

Those were unfinished projects as well.
Feel free to share the projects if you wish, though they have already been publicized on ROM hacking sites.
Generally, there isn't much interest in translating older games because enhanced versions have been released.
You are welcome to use my base and the reference materials to help out.
Just a reminder: regarding any ROMs created, you are only permitted to distribute patches, not the translated ROM itself, and commercialization is prohibited due to copyright issues.