Translation patches

[VincentASM]

List of patches

NES / SNES translation thread

Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi (Sword of Seals)

Project page

Fire Emblem: Shin Monshou no Nazo (Heroes of Light and Shadow)

Project page

Patching instructions

Soft-patching

This is usually the easiest way of patching. Effects aren't permanent on the ROM.

Firstly your emulator must support this feature. Most good emulators support this, although you may need to enable it from a configurations menu.

Place your patch file in the same folder/directory as your ROM file.

Rename your patch so that it has the same names as the ROM file, barring filetype suffix, eg. the patch is FE4.ips and the ROM is FE4.smc. (If the filetype suffix isn't displayed on your computer, don't add it!)

Then just load the game, from your emulator, as per normal.

Hard-patching

Some people have problems with soft-patching or their emulator doesn't support it. In this case, you'll want to use this method.

Effects are permanent on the ROM, so you may want to keep a clean (un-patched) copy of the ROM, just in case.

You will require an external program that specialises in patching files, such as LunarIPS or IPSWin. Download one of these.

Run the program and then follow the instructions to patch the file. It should be pretty straightforward to do.

Then just load the game, from your emulator, as per normal.

Note on extracting files

Some patches may be in a compressed zip, rar or 7z file.

To extract the actual patch file, you will need Winzip (zip files), WinRAR (zip and rar files), 7-Zip (all three files) or Powerarchiver (all compressed files o__o). These programs should be easily found online.

Patching troubles?

If you're having troubles with patching, feel free to ask in this topic. Make sure you state what problem you're having in as much detail as possible, so that we can help you quicker.

Bad example:

"Help, the game won't patch!"

Good example:

"Help, I tried patching the game, but when I load the game I get a black screen. I tried the game without the patch and it works fine."

Troubles with patching SNES titles

The step that seems to trip most would-be-patchers is whether your SNES ROM has a header or not. You can check whether your ROM has a header by using a hex editor or certain ROM utilities like SNESTool. Basically, you're looking for a large area of empty space near the very beginning of the ROM. If you need to add or remove a header, you can try using SNESTool.

~Troubles with FE5: Thracia 776~

This information likely no longer applies to the current Lil' Manster patch.

Most people seem to have troubles with patching this game for various reasons. To begin with, if you're experiencing any graphical issues, such as the map tiles being all black, this is likely the fault of your emulator. Obviously, you should try using another emulator.

Next, there are three versions of the translation patch, which one should you use? Well, you'll probably want to figure out which version of Thracia 776 you have - either the "NP" or "ROM" version. You can find this information from the site where you downloaded the ROM or maybe your ROM has it labelled on their name. Some emulators also display the ROM's codename when loading it. To be honest, I don't know if it's really that important to figure out which version you have.

Finally, check the section above on SNES headers. If your Thracia 776 ROM has a header, you can try the HIROM version of the patch. Otherwise, remove the header and apply either the NP or ROM version of the patch.

Edited September 26, 2023 by Parrhesia

[鳴美]

Actually, 7-Zip works for all 3....

[Jyosua]

And Powerarchiver uncompresses EVERYTHING. Literally. And it has an infinite free trial ;D

[Vangaurd]

I like stuffit expander, personally. It unzips basically everything that is a 1 part archive. If you have archives that are more than 1 part, then you are downloading waaay too much stuff.

[Metal Rabbit]

The patch i downloaded for FE gaiden doesnt seem to be working... I used the one from the link you provided.

[Goobaman]

Hey there, im sort of new to the whole patching all ive ever patched was FE6 so i could play it, awesome game. But i was wondering if you can actually apply multiple patches to the same ROM? For instance i really like Celice's various graphical edits but im just curious if it would work properly to use IPSwin to apply both of them at once, maybe even others? thanks for any replies.

[VincentASM]

You can apply multiple patches, although it's generally not recommended (unless the authors state that they are compatible etc.). Most of the time you'll have no problems though.

[Goobaman]

Thank you very much pal, i really appreciate the help

EDIT: Do the pacth files need to be named the same as the ROMs? Bevause using IPSwin, none of Celice's graphical edits for Sacred Stones seem to work, even applied individually to a fresh rom. I'm trying others to see but it doesn't look like they'll work... anyone able to offer any help?

Edited May 7, 2008 by Goobaman

[Celice]

I don't see why it wouldn't be working, and if you're hard-patching (not renaming, but physically patching the ROM) then the names shouldn't matter...

It should work for a fresh ROM. Make sure you have the American (U) version of the game, as that's what it was intended for (but if the data's in the same location in each language, it shouldn't matter).

Just apply one at a time and they should work. If you can't get them to, you could try a different program, like LunarIPS, but that shouldn't change anything :/ If at worst, I can try patching them and see the outcome.

[Goobaman]

On second thought... It's been well over a year since I played the actual cartridge... the ROM I have has me select a language as soon as it is loaded... That means it's not the (U) right? Because I don't recall the GBA cartridge asking for a default language... I'll see if i can locate a different copy, but in the meantime thanks a whole lot for taking time out to address my issue individually, it's very nice of you.

[Celice]

Yeah, you must have the European version (E). My first try would I guess to try the (U) version out.

Oh, of course ^^ I just am kinda surprised someone picked up these old things to try 'em out. Maybe I should try finishing it one of these day, just for fun :/

[Goobaman]

Well see, SS was far too easy for me so i dropped it in favor of the harder ones, by which i mean ANY other one lol. but your edits looked interesting and its been about a year since i even touched it, i figured why not. from the screenshots you provided i have to say it looks great btw.

[Celice]

Well that's nice to hear. But since it's so simple, I could pro'lly do the same to the other two GBA games, if you'd like the patches for that one as well. I could possibly give them the correct palette as well (for icons, but not units--those I'm too lazy to budge with at the moment) :/

[Goobaman]

y'know that's the one thing i hated about SS. In FE7, i used to fiddle around with codebreaker codes to swap different units and classes, and they actually retained their colors properly, like i used to always make shaman canas into an archer-sniper because he retains his black and purple palette as a sniper, but in SS there's like a generic green and blue palette when you switch classes between the few chars i tried it with ... it's a huge bummer cause i liked fidgeting with that <_<. This sort of thing i'm no good at though, codes are one thing but hacking and all that stuff is beyond me haha.

[Harbinger of Death]

Well, I recently tried to use the English patch for FE3. Unfortunately, all it does is make the begging of the loading process in my SNES9X say "Check um Bad" and then the game either fails to load, or it will load, then freeze before the title screen, or at the "Start" screen. Does anyone know what could be my problem? I've tried soft patches. Hard patches. All of it. <_<

If it's any help, the file name I use for my game is Fire Emblem - Monshou no Nazo (J) (V1.0).smc

I noticed someone said that the game should be (E) or (U) to work... but FE3 only comes in (J)! I also use V1.1 too... v_v

[General Spoon]

The link for the Sword of Seals patch seems broke. Any other link that could be used?

[torifae]

hmmm...I don't think Eaichu runs this site anymore because of his lost interest.

[Admiral "Bull" Halsey]

Here you go.

[General Spoon]

Thanks.

[Lady Lyndis]

Thanks so much for this..

[Kintenbo]

I kept on trying to do both of the methods, but nothing seems to happen. It even says I successfully patch the game, and it's still in Japanese. This is Thracia 776 I'm talking about, by the way.

[VincentASM]

"Successfully patching the game" can often be different from actually patching the game... if you know what I mean. If not, nevermind ^^;;;

Anyway, some possible(?) ideas:

1. Are you definitely loading the correct ROM? Maybe check your ROM's location in case you have multiple copies of it.

2. Have you started playing, say, Chapter 1? Some translations forgo editing the Japanese openings for various reasons.

[Kintenbo]

"Successfully patching the game" can often be different from actually patching the game... if you know what I mean. If not, nevermind ^^;;;

Anyway, some possible(?) ideas:

1. Are you definitely loading the correct ROM? Maybe check your ROM's location in case you have multiple copies of it.

2. Have you started playing, say, Chapter 1? Some translations forgo editing the Japanese openings for various reasons.

1. I'm really not sure, I tried all types of ROMs, but none seem to work.

2. Yeah, nothing but Japanese text as far as the eye can see. I'm even using the patch recommended on this very thread....

I tried Lunar IPS, but it didn't work. I tried IPSwin, but it's not working either. Soft patching is having no effect, even with auto-patching on..... Maybe it has to do with the ZSNES? I'm using the Windows version, if that helps.

[VincentASM]

1. Oops, I meant your ROM's location on your hard drive. Sometimes, when I'm hacking, I get frustrated that nothing works until I noticed I've been opening the wrong ROM on my emulator >___<

Just to be safe, you extracted the patch from the 7z file right?

Not too sure what could be wrong. I've used the same patch in the past, and it's worked fine ^^;;;

[Kintenbo]

1. Oops, I meant your ROM's location on your hard drive. Sometimes, when I'm hacking, I get frustrated that nothing works until I noticed I've been opening the wrong ROM on my emulator >___<

Just to be safe, you extracted the patch from the 7z file right?

Not too sure what could be wrong. I've used the same patch in the past, and it's worked fine ^^;;;

It was out of the 7z file the instant I got it. It still had the .7z to it, though. Is there anywhere I can get it while still in the zip file?