Mega Man Battle Network 3: Translation Revision
by vgperson

This is a mod for the Legacy Collection version of Mega Man Battle Network 3 (both Blue and White) that aims to generally improve the quality of the English script while mostly keeping to the original localization.

For clarity, things this mod does NOT do:
- It does not retranslate everything from scratch; it is working off the base of the original English script, retaining lots of text that didn't warrant changing and most localization decisions.
- It does not, for the most part, change any localized names/terms to their Japanese ones (Netto, RockMan, Electopia to Japan, etc.). See further down for a few arguable exceptions.
- It does not change the font to be variable-width or expand character limits, so the abbreviated names for things like chips and items are generally untouched.
- It does not change localized jokes and the like (such as with the Humor program) to more literal translations.
- It does not modify the gameplay itself in any way.

What this mod DOES do is fix and improve many lines, the result of a more or less full script comparison with the Japanese text.

In general, this mod:
- Fixes typos and other text mistakes.
- Improves strange or incorrect wording resulting from a lack of context.
- Retranslates numerous lines that were missing details or nuances, or were outright mistranslated.
- Overall edits the script as a whole to read better.
See below for a more detailed list of how the text has been revised.

----------

Installation:

Download and install ChaudLoader onto your installation of Legacy Collection Volume 1.
https://github.com/RockmanEXEZone/chaudloader

After ChaudLoader has been installed, go to the local game files for Volume 1 and find the "mods" folder. Place the "BN3Revision" folder there, then launch the game and enable this mod in the mod list.

The mod simply replaces a few files in the data archives, so it is also fairly simple to install manually without ChaudLoader if you want.
- Go to the game files and change the extension of "data/exe3.dat" (White) and/or "data/exe3b.dat" (Blue) to ".zip." You may want to make a backup first.
- Open that file as a ZIP archive, and navigate to the "exe3(b)/data/msg/" directory.
- Replace "message_eng.mpak" and "message_eng.map" with the corresponding files from the mod folder: "message_engW.mpak/map" (White) or "message_engB.mpak/map" (Blue). Be sure to rename them to just "message_eng.mpak/map."
- Change the extension of the data file from ".zip" back to ".dat."

----------

Notable edits made to the script:

- Retranslated all sorts of text to add missing detail from the Japanese.
- Fixed some hints that were lost or not as clear in translation, such as "the back pillars," "where evil falls," and the Haniwa statue "puzzle."
- Added normal ending punctuation to all environmental check dialogue.
- Aimed to standardize and improve the way text is formatted in general.
- Fixed Legends references: "Kasket Kids" to "Caskett Kids," "Family Boone" to "Family Bonne," and Yai's "data doll" to "Data doll."
- Changed references to Serenade to use gender-netural language, in line with comments from Masakazu Eguchi.
- Restored a few Japanese cultural references; most obviously, "gin rummy" is now "mahjong" (itself a bit of a localization of the less recognizable "donjara," a variation meant for kids).
("Corn-on-the-cob" was kept, mostly because the graphics had been edited for it, and also it's kind of funny.)
- Fixed instances that displayed the wrong chip code versus what you were given.

Character name changes:

- Program -> Mr. Prog (localized name from later games, when appropriate)
- Glide -> Glyde (in line with Legends series)
- FlamMan -> FlameMan (no idea why it wasn't always this)
- Cossak -> Cossack (in line with classic series, no clear reason for spelling it different)
- JapanMan -> YamatoMan (in line with classic series, and original name from Japanese version)
- Anna Mori -> Anna Morishima (original full name from Japanese version)
Also, the one-off instance of "Shun" instead of "Sean" was fixed.

Other than the above, I kept all localized names, as de-localization isn't one of my aims with this; familiarity for English fans is more important here.
But here are some notes on names just for fun. (This contains some spoilers if you haven't played the game before.)

- Yai's name is shortened from her Japanese name, Yaito (last name Ayanokoji).
- Ms. Mari's name is shortened from her Japanese name, Mariko.
- Dex's Japanese name is Dekao, and Chisao's name is play on that: "deka(i)" means huge, and "chiisa(i)" means small. Ideally, they would have localized this to something clearly playing off "Dex," but I didn't see a point in me doing that here.
- Tora's name is shortened from his Japanese name, Torakichi (last name Aragoma), and in his first appearance, he calls himself the "tiger (tora) of Swapopolis."
- People sometimes call Lan's dad by his first name Yuichiro, but this was always localized to things like Lan's mom calling him "honey" or most others calling him "Dr. Hikari," to avoid confusion from players who might not realize that's his first name.
- The BBS message that brings up "the inventor of the PET, the father of the creator of MegaMan," in Japanese, actually mentions him by name as Tadashi Hikari prior to the name otherwise coming up in the story.
I could've added that back in, but because Yuichiro doesn't get named in English, I could've seen it resulting in confusion, maybe even thinking that Lan's dad was named Tadashi.
- Ura Inn and Mamoru's last name Ura were shortened from "Urakawa." The Undernet is also called the "Ura (back/undersurface/reverse side/etc.) Internet" in Japanese, so the throughline there was sort of lost.

----------

Changelog:

Version 1.1
- Many small changes to improve wording, formatting, or natural splitting of textboxes.
- More translation fixes, typo fixes, and restored details.
- Removed instances of multiple ellipsis characters in a row, changing them to a single ellipsis or series of normal dots.
- More consistent capitalization and usage for names of Internet areas. ("ACDC Area," etc.)
- Fixed some recurring lines being translated inconsistently.
- Changed translation of "Bonzu" to "Bonds," just in case he's meant to be the same character from BN4.
- Changed graphics for poster in Beach Street (Blue version) to say "JACK IN" instead of "PLUG IN." No plans to edit other map graphics left in Japanese, but this was notable for being "unlocalized English."
- Fixed more cases of incorrectly-displayed chip codes.
- Fixed some controls text, mostly a few missed button icon replacements.

Version 1.0
- Initial release.

----------

Credits:

Script extraction and insertion done using Prof. 9's TextPet and RockmanEXEZone's MMBNLC scripts.
https://github.com/Prof9/TextPet
https://github.com/RockmanEXEZone/MMBNLC-Scripts

All other editing and translation work done by vgperson.