What's the progress on de-censoring?

[retsa2b]

While I will usually vote with my wallet when a company makes a bad decision, including for games such as this one where I have a legitimate interest in playing it, I'm also just a little too practical to stick fully to my guns on that choice if fans ultimately manage to step in and fix all the problems. I rationalize this wishy washy stance as me being lenient to a company for choosing to release on a platform (PC) that makes such a thing reasonably convenient for enthusiasts.

That said, I'm finding it hard to pin down how things have progressed. There was a lot of talk early on, but of course Nexus's rather lazy stance on the matter severely complicates finding a quick answer. Is there a patch that more or less returns the game to its "activism indifferent" 80s roots? A state of preservation that wouldn't have prompted the DQ creator's incredulous criticism in that one interview.

[Tim Allahn SnAckbarr]

It was published the same day as the game came out and has received a handful of updates since -- https://gamebanana.com/mods/555706

[V2C]

The person responsible for the mod has stopped updating it because, according to him, not enough people are playing, so he's used his time on other mods. If there are a lot of people who want this mod to continue, I think it would be better if someone else took over updating it.

[Tim Allahn SnAckbarr]

Originally posted by V2C:

At this point, the mod appears to be feature-complete with all of the notable censorship removed.

What hasn't been addressed at this point?

The author mentioned wanting to add a couple things in a future update "when the game gets discounted / in April or May", but I can't imagine anything that significant.

I'm sure you're eager for more updates, but if someone were to "take it over" -- what would they even work on?

You're much more likely to end up with something far removed from a faithful recreation if there is no roadmap or concrete vision.

[V2C]

Originally posted by Tim Allahn SnAckbarr:

Originally posted by V2C:

At this point, the mod appears to be feature-complete with all of the notable censorship removed.

What hasn't been addressed at this point?

The author mentioned wanting to add a couple things in a future update "when the game gets discounted / in April or May", but I can't imagine anything that significant.

I'm sure you're eager for more updates, but if someone were to "take it over" -- what would they even work on?

You're much more likely to end up with something far removed from a faithful recreation if there is no roadmap or concrete vision.

There are still some priest sprites that need to have the cross.

[atmasabr]

Originally posted by retsa2b:

Is there a patch that more or less returns the game to its "activism indifferent" 80s roots?

There is no such thing as "activism indifferent" 80s roots for this game.

https://censorship.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon_Warrior_III

The video game was released on February 10, 1988, due to Nintendo's policies at the time the game was censored for the International release.

...
The cross on the king's clothing was removed.
The Priests were completely redesigned and renamed healers.
The Priest class was renamed Pilgrim and the crosses on the outfits were removed.
The old man's walking stick was redesigned to make it look less like a cross.
Shines were redesigned as a result the cross that was on them was removed.
In the uncensored version when party members of defeated they are represented by coffins with crosses on them. In the International release the dead party members follow you around as ghosts.
Crosses in graveyards were replaced with tombstones.
The shrines in Lancel and Necrogond are decorated with a cross on the floor. In the International release the crosses were removed.
In the Dharma Temple there is a large manji on the floor. In the International release it was removed.

Similarly, I am quite sure that there is no such thing as a patch for this version that removes the woke DEI-ship that does not also remove the puritan censorship.

[Master Zone]

Originally posted by V2C:

The person responsible for the mod has stopped updating it because, according to him, not enough people are playing, so he's used his time on other mods. If there are a lot of people who want this mod to continue, I think it would be better if someone else took over updating it.

But that's kinda an oxymoron... More people would play if he completed his mod.

[Tim Allahn SnAckbarr]

Originally posted by V2C:

There are still some priest sprites that need to have the cross.

Oh, you're right -- they had done some of the female cleric sprites, but some of the male sprites still need corrected.

There are also some world elements that need adjustment as well (tridents on some of the churches / etc).

I'll ping them tomorrow and ask about it. Thanks!

[Tim Allahn SnAckbarr]

Originally posted by Master Zone:

But that's kinda an oxymoron... More people would play if he completed his mod.

https://i.ibb.co/BVnPpDWX/image.png

I'm sure it could go either way, but I think it's more to do with the fact that there's not much community activity at all right now. Less than 2% of those who got the game on Steam are still playing DQ3HD, regardless of mods -- there's just more interest in other titles at the moment.

BUT we know that the game is going to inevitably be discounted and when that happens, then interest will pick back up again.

Currently there are over 60 published mods[www.nexusmods.com] for DQ3HD -- why shouldn't they take advantage of the downtime to make other things that also make the game experience much better?

[V2C]

Originally posted by Tim Allahn SnAckbarr:

Originally posted by Master Zone:

But that's kinda an oxymoron... More people would play if he completed his mod.

https://i.ibb.co/BVnPpDWX/image.png

I'm sure it could go either way, but I think it's more to do with the fact that there's not much community activity at all right now. Less than 2% of those who got the game on Steam are still playing DQ3HD, regardless of mods -- there's just more interest in other titles at the moment.

BUT we know that the game is going to inevitably be discounted and when that happens, then interest will pick back up again.

Currently there are over 60 published mods[www.nexusmods.com] for DQ3HD -- why shouldn't they take advantage of the downtime to make other things that also make the game experience much better?

Perhaps the right thing to do would be to have more Dragon Quest mod communities or just something more decentralized, most mods have the same person. Someone who is very interested in updating this mod and is capable of doing so, could take the latest version and take over the new updates. If there's so much interest, someone should at least help with the update.

[Tim Allahn SnAckbarr]

Originally posted by V2C:

Perhaps the right thing to do would be to have more Dragon Quest mod communities or just something more decentralized, most mods have the same person. Someone who is very interested in updating this mod and is capable of doing so, could take the latest version and take over the new updates. If there's so much interest, someone should at least help with the update.

We definitely need more (1) talented and (2) motivated people who are involved in the community. There is no question about that.

I think they'd welcome any help they could get.

[simoay]

I am just wondering about the de censor mod is actually replacing some of the sprites with the Japanese version of the game? So hypothetically if I have Japanese steam account and buy this game it will be the de censored version?

[Melodia]

Originally posted by simoay:

I am just wondering about the de censor mod is actually replacing some of the sprites with the Japanese version of the game? So hypothetically if I have Japanese steam account and buy this game it will be the de censored version?

The game 100% the same in all regions.

[Tim Allahn SnAckbarr]

Originally posted by Tim Allahn SnAckbarr:

I'll ping them tomorrow and ask about it. Thanks!

They said they'd be able to get to it "in the next week or so" and sure enough, looks like they released an update (v0.0.8) yesterday.

I'll also update the thread for it since it's a little out of date by now anyway.

[V2C]

Would it be useful to have a mod where everything was translated from the Japanese version but the character names were the same as in the English version?

[Hexenhammer]

Originally posted by retsa2b:

While I will usually vote with my wallet when a company makes a bad decision, including for games such as this one where I have a legitimate interest in playing it, I'm also just a little too practical to stick fully to my guns on that choice if fans ultimately manage to step in and fix all the problems. I rationalize this wishy washy stance as me being lenient to a company for choosing to release on a platform (PC) that makes such a thing reasonably convenient for enthusiasts.

That said, I'm finding it hard to pin down how things have progressed. There was a lot of talk early on, but of course Nexus's rather lazy stance on the matter severely complicates finding a quick answer. Is there a patch that more or less returns the game to its "activism indifferent" 80s roots? A state of preservation that wouldn't have prompted the DQ creator's incredulous criticism in that one interview.

Last update is 3 days old
https://gamebanana.com/mods/555706