[Nisshoku]

My teammate this morning surprised me when he put out a Toy Rappy. Because this struck me as just a wee bit odd, I asked how he got it.

From what I heard from him, you seem to get it from the JP Puyo Pop GC save...

What i'm wondering is, has this actually been proven?

[Arislan]

Well, I dunno, but I can say that Toy Rappy got un-banned the same update that Puyo Puyo Fever came out in Japan, so I'd give it about a 90% chance that he's correct.

[Malkavian]

Uhm... I have Puyo Pop Fever PAL and Episode 3 NTSC JP and I don't get any bonus cards
But I did with Billy Hatcher PAL, Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 PAL, etc.

I'm not saying that can't but true, Only that if it is true why I don't get it >.<

[AquaFlare7]

keep in mind some people know how to hack quest items >_<
thats always a possibility

[Arislan]

Yes, true. I can categorically say that Del Rappy is *freakin' 'uge*!

It is odd then though, that Toy Rappy was banned, but was unbanned on the same date as Puyo's release. Maybe the EU and JP Puyo saves have a different format? Some JP saves use full width characters for save formats, and don't convert well to different card formats. So if the EU save uses standard, and th JP save uses full width, that explains why the EU version wouldn't pop up as Event Cards.

[Nisshoku]

Well, from what I'm seeing for US releases of Puyo Puyo Fever, it won't be arriving in North America until Late July/Early August.

And if it only works for the game version that the two share, (EU=EU,JP=JP, etc...) then EU players will have Toy Rappies before the US.

[Stefan]

It is odd then though, that Toy Rappy was banned, but was unbanned on the same date as Puyo's release. Maybe the EU and JP Puyo saves have a different format? Some JP saves use full width characters for save formats, and don't convert well to different card formats. So if the EU save uses standard, and th JP save uses full width, that explains why the EU version wouldn't pop up as Event Cards.

What do you mean with that they "don't convert well to different card formats?" Do you mean that it is impossible to store such files on a non-JP-formatted memcard and that using Freeloader on a PAL cube to save the games on a PAL-formatted card will not work (c.f. Donkey Konga), or do you just mean that e.g. a file called "PSO" in zenkaku will be called "‚o‚r‚n" (assuming Shift-JIS & Windows-1252, which seem to be used for the file descriptions that you see in the memcard menu) on a PAL cube, but that everything will work as normally?

That is, will I be able to save the game if I import Puyo Puyo Fever from Japan and play it on my PAL cube using Freeloader, and will any game (e.g. PSO) be able to recognise that file and use it for whatever purpose it is supposed to use it for?

[Arislan]

On topic for the topic, off topic for the forum. What to do?

Donkey Konga doesn't work because the game scans the card and sees which format the memory card itself is. If it has a EU or US hash for the card, it refuses to read the card for saves. Mr Driller acts the same way. Those particular games have nothing to do with any kind of formatting and game save strategies.

What I meant by different formatting is the same thing that has occured since NES days, possibly before. If you notice in a JP input setting, you have two types of hiragana and katakana input. One is full width, one is half width. Kanji is always full width, so this is not an issue. A given full width JP character takes 2 bytes of space, but a half width character takes only 1 byte.

Most save files in a JP format use half width characters, which works fine for save files that use no data that is read by a human. Most games use this format. Some games however, use full width, either because the save format requires text strings to be read from it, or because it is simply easier to program with (programming lazyness). My guess for Fever is the latter.

Now, the problem lies in that the game save, since it is in a 2 byte character format, cannot be easily converted to a 1 byte format, unlike a 1 byte save. Current game save conversion formats simply change the header to a different region, which normally works. But a EU cube will look at a 2 byte character save that is *theoretically* its own region, and reject it, since it has no idea what to do with the characters in the file.

Where does this tie in? You're using a US/EU version of Ep3, which naturally, looks for a 1 byte character file. and finds this weird thing wearing the guise of a file it knows. The actual and expected contents dont match, so the game rejects it as a valid event file, and doesnt give you the card. That is, if my theory is correct. I'd need a unicode capable hex editor and a JP Puyo Puyo file to test that. But it does follow the rules of other such save files.

As for your question, it's hard to say. A EU copy of Ep3 is going to look at that wacky JP save file and spit it out. Other games that use the save file as a marker depend on their reading method. PSO looks like it not only checks the header, but the size and format as well. A game that simply checks the header will have no problems. A Freeloader, loading a JP copy of Puyo Puyo Fever will be able to read its own save file with no problems (assuming the Donkey Konga case above isn't true), since it's looking for a 2 byte format save file.

[Stefan]

On 2004-06-10 10:09, Arislan wrote:
If you notice in a JP input setting, you have two types of hiragana and katakana input. One is full width, one is half width.

Wrong. There is no hiragana hankaku.

A given full width JP character takes 2 bytes of space, but a half width character takes only 1 byte.

Assuming Shift-JIS. ISO/IEC 2022-JP and EUC-JP are different.

Now, the problem lies in that the game save, since it is in a 2 byte character format, cannot be easily converted to a 1 byte format, unlike a 1 byte save. Current game save conversion formats simply change the header to a different region, which normally works. But a EU cube will look at a 2 byte character save that is *theoretically* its own region, and reject it, since it has no idea what to do with the characters in the file.

This appears to be completely unrelated to the problem in question.

You're using a US/EU version of Ep3, which naturally, looks for a 1 byte character file.

No, I'm using a Japanese version of Ep. 3.

A Freeloader, loading a JP copy of Puyo Puyo Fever will be able to read its own save file with no problems (assuming the Donkey Konga case above isn't true), since it's looking for a 2 byte format save file.

But what about Ep. 3 JP, will that be able to read files from PPF JP on a PAL cube using Freeloader?

[Arislan]

Wrong. There is no hiragana hankaku.

Oops, you're right, cut the hiragana out of the previous statement.

Assuming Shift-JIS. ISO/IEC 2022-JP and EUC-JP are different.

I have yet to see a GC coded JP game that does not use Unicode/Shift, so this argument is probably moot.

This appears to be completely unrelated to the problem in question.

Actually, that would be the problem. A US/EU copy of Ep 3 was looking at a JP save of PPY and finding nothing for an event file. The difference in save formats would be a cause for this.

But what about Ep. 3 JP, will that be able to read files from PPF JP on a PAL cube using Freeloader?

Should be no problem whatsoever. The JP game would be designed to look for a 2 byte save file, whereas the US/EU version would not.