Saturn RPG Cyber Doll Now in English!

Exxistance dropped his and Wiredcrackpot’s English translation hack for the Saturn exclusive Cyber Doll this morning on his GitHub. Developed by Betop and published by I’Max in 1996 in Japan, Cyber Doll is a unique turn-based RPG that involves collecting cybernetic body parts from your enemies instead of EXP. You can then visit the mechanic to swap parts to improve your body, or sell what you don’t need for cash to buy items and better guns. If your body is fast enough, you can even avoid random battles!

When asked how many Saturn translation hacks he’s done now, Exxistance says “I think this might be #10, but only the 2nd RPG. Got a few more in the works but I’m approaching the end of my list of desired games.”

Exxistance said, “Once again, we have translator extraordinaire Wiredcrackpot to thank for volunteering to translate the game.” To make the game entirely playable in English, he implemented the following changes:

• Minor spelling cleanup on a few sprites (“Disorber” -> Disorder, “Maintnance” -> Maintenance)
• Full game dialogue translation alongside implementation of single byte encoding with new 8 x 16 monospaced font
• Translated UI elements
• Modified name entry screen to default to English alphabet entry
• Localized title screen (removal of Japanese text)
• Removal of JP subs in the intro video
• Translated “save warning” screens
• Translated debug menus

“If you find an issue, be it a text overrun, a crash, or a freeze, please submit a new issue here,” Exxistance said. “The game has been thoroughly tested, but the universe loves a good joke and all that…”

Special Thanks

• Bo Bayles (whose cracking of the game’s custom text encoding really unlocked this translation)
• Malenko (who also posted some helpful insight/clues about this game)
• Double Dime (who truly went above and beyond in helping test this patch. Thank you!!)
• Majuular (whose great video The Weird World of Saturn RPGs introduced me to this game)
• YouTube channel 21stNimrods (whose playthrough of the entire game was invaluable for testing and getting context throughout patch development)
• Whoever it was on the dev team that came up with the awesome debug mode that allowed me to verify all 1,800+ strings easily. MVP!

You can visit Exxistance’s GitHub here to download the patch, as well as additional information including patching instructions.

Now get a move on Debugger, and retire some DVs!