Shiroi Kizuna Gaiden: Kuroi Kizuna (German Localisation) [rv20260214 | KotatsuAkira]

German fan-translation patch for the bonus chapter to the first RPG Maker XP SampleGame.

Original Work Overview

"Kuroi Kizuna" (黒い絆) is an additional chapter to "Shiroi Kizuna" (白い絆), one of the games included with the software, released a few months after the release of "RPGツクールXP" / "RPG Maker XP". This short role-playing game was created by "AlphaNuts", primarily Hidenobu Hongou (HIDE), and incorporates all the technical features of the main game with only a few additions. It was originally released exclusively on the DVD accompanying the 2004-10 issue of magazine "TECH Win" and hasn't been officially available free of charge on the internet until 2020. This chapter should only be played after completing the main game, even though it chronologically takes place in the middle of it.

Story Introduction

The story is set in the middle of the events of Shiroi Kizuna, while the protagonists, in search of the white phoenix, plan to go to Alire... but went in the completely wrong direction. They end up in an idyllic little town that is not to be found on their map...

What does the patch change exactly?

• All the text of the japanese original being rendered in realtime as dialog or part of system interfaces is replaced with german text. It can occur that, for technical, reading-flow or artistic reasons, that some sentences are heavily rewritten, but prevention of losing information in translation and preserving tonal stability got handled with high priority.
• Names of characters, locations and some other things are either mentioned somewhere in this or other works by AlphaNuts in a latin letters format already or I had to interpret them myself. In first case, even if I wouldn't agree, I kept the intented way, in second, my interpretation may differ from HIDE's original intention. Only once, I had to fully replace a character name to not destroy the story's core setup in the process of localisation, there are no other cases where such step had to be done.
• The game contains graphics of several types with pre-rendered texts, which are replaced by new files created with their original styles in mind.
• If you need any help with how the game works, the game's digital HTML manual is also fully translated and always worth reading.
• Some technical additions this game puts on top of RPGXP's default systems are refined and some interface parts were re-adjusted to fit increased need of space for german language contents, the same way as it's done with the main game.
• To make realtime-rendered texts easier readable, a decent black outline is applied around them.

How can the patch be applied?

• This patch needs the original game coming from an RPGツクールXP retail disc, digital purchase or free trial edition of the program. Get "RPGXP_J.exe" (a self-extractor archive file you can open up with any packing program) from the publisher's official website for the product series, and extract either everything or only the game. For that, in its "Games" folder, look out for the file "White.exe" (16433560 bytes, CRC32: AD5B0A4B), which is a self-extractor archive, too.
• The patch itself is provided as a Ruby-script with a provisoric, custom-configured MKXP launcher. All files included must be extracted to the game's main directory and can be deleted after everything is done. To start patching, launch "SK-DE.exe", follow the steps and tell the author if errors are occuring. Don't modify the game in any way before applying the patch, it's aligned specifically to work with a fresh installation. At launch, the patcher will ask you for permission to unpack the game's encrypted RGSSAD archive, this step is absolutely necessary. Before the patch does it thing, you have to confirm you've read the big wall of text. Of course you did... am I riiight?
• Due to a lack of nerve to fix trivial trifles, the progress bars may sometimes look very strange during patching, but that shouldn't cause any further trouble, it's just cosmetic failure.
• The game will need the official RPG Maker XP RuntimePackage (RTP) if you got the original TECH Win version of it, the newer release on the other hand doesn't. Nevertheless, this thing will already be on your computer if you have played the main game.
• If the game is confusedly asking for "RGSS104J.dll", just copy it over from the main game. It just gets a little bit more complicated when it was missing over there already...

～炬燵あ