Well, what's the chance that the release will be delayed?.Pretty big, you may guess. But the fact is...

It is available NOW!

Thank you for waiting. Together with the patch v0.30 there are quite a few FAQs that I'm releasing. Take a look to see if anything interests you. However, you should at least take a look at the Patch FAQ or the readme file that comes with the patch, as I won't answer any questions that are already in there (or I'll answer sacrastically :) ). And, if you want to report bug or file a complain, please look at the Patch FAQ first before you do so. Other questions (like gameplay) can always be raised on the usual message board if you don't like to read the long FAQs that I have written..

A few things that's worth noted are:

Name editor: this program comes with patch can hack into a ZSNES save-state and replace the name of the main character. If you don't like the name "Katrina" and want to change it to "Katarina", normally you have to endure something like "K a t a r i n a" due to the compression scheme used. Now you can make it "Katarina" by using the program. See README.1ST file for details in using the program.

Secret hack:Where the hell is this place!? Well, I have given you, especially the beta testers and people who have already played this game, extra pleasure to find this SEKRIT place out. It is not easy (I hope :P), but it is not impossible. The place isn't big, but there are a few things there other than seeing the staff's not-so-nice-looking names.^_^ This place is not available in the original game, so the addition of it shouldn't affect original gameplay. Don't worry.

Thank you for your support on the message board. That really is a boost, making me feel that it is not a wrong decision to do something like this. Anyway, I know that waiting for something without knowing the exact date can be frustrating. Now that I have 3 testers done, the release is on the way. Although I'm not obligated to give anyone any dates, as a gift to those who made warm support on the messageboard, I'll provide a tentative release date for the public patch: July 23. So, soothe your need?

First of all, definition of "tentative" from my Oxford dictionary: (adj) made or done as a trial, to see the effect. So I'm not obligated to anything. Don't take this as seriously as Squaresoft's release date (well, sometimes they slip as well). All I'm saying is that I'll try my best to release the patch on or before that date. Take that as a 90% chance. Of course, if I can't make it, I'll post something here so everyone will know.

Why this date? Well, for no particular reasons, but I need to set a date that I feel comfortable with. There are things happening, and I'm busier than I thought, and I'm sick (again; geez, this project really deterioates my health). I still have to correct the bugs, finish my secret hack, and the name inserter program. With the program, one can enter customed names with a nicer look (no longer K a t a r i n a, but Katarina). Without the program, one has to stick with the original name, or get used to the wide separation of each alphabet, due to a not-so-easily-changed compression scheme that I use. This is some trade off.for a full translation. As for secret hack, more will be revealed later.

I have more to say, but that will be left until the patch is out. Various FAQs will be out or updated, too, so if you like to read and don't mind my bad English, you will get a lot of entertainment in the next weekend.

BTW, Sheex has opened up an IRC channel called #rs3 in DALNET. If you have experience with IRC or want to know some friends, try it out.. I just tried it yesterday the first time, and it took me some time to learn. Anyway, I think I won't spend too much time on that for I'm really busy. Use the message board if you want to tell me something.

So far 1 beta tester (again, the good (wraith)) has finished the game and reported the bugs. I have corrected all the bugs reported through e-mail and is waiting for reposts of the missing ones. I really hope to get this done soon. Not only because I'm getting very busy with my real work, but also I need some spare time to do some other things (like to play the new Square games :) ) Right now I'm debugging the Business Game. If I lose my interest in doing so, I may release an incomplete patch and you will have to bear with it. Stay tune for this month. BTW, I have updated the screenshots to soothe your anxious mood a little bit....

There should be nothing new other than fixing the locking bug. Sorry for the troubles.

The patches above ONLY fix for the original beta patch. It won't work if you apply it to a Japanese rom, so don't bother to download them if you are not a beta tester. So far most of the reports cover the first 20-50% of the game. It seems that no beta tester has finished the game yet. Thus I can't estimate the release date of the public patch. But it shouldn't be more than a month.

The patch above is ONLY a bug-fix for the original beta patch. It won't work if you apply it to a Japanese rom, so don't bother to download it if you are not a beta tester. So far most of the reports cover the first 20-50% of the game. It seems that no beta tester has finished the game yet. Thus I can't estimate the release date of the public patch. But it shouldn't be more than a month.

This is just an update. A few of the beta testers work very hard to give me bug reports. I'm happy to know that most of them are enjoying the game at the same time. But now I have more than 100 corrections to make, and more are coming. I have to carefully organize the lists from many people to avoid missing some during the debug period. In fact I have problem catching up, as I'm very busy in my real life, so please understand that I'm working slowly at the moment (but I'm still working almost every day). I actually want to get this off my shoulder as soon as I can, but unfortunately free time is limited. Therefore I'll set priorities of things that I want to fix now. Some people have good suggestions, like keeping "Aurum" instead of "Gold" which I have translated to, but those will be left later if time permits. I want to put the patch in good shape (no crashing, minimum text errors) in a month or two, not to fix everything and take forever.

Snowman/Tiberius bug: this serious bug will be tackled soon and a bug-fix will be released.

Okay, I have got back and get ready to work! If you take a look at the WWWBoard, there are many posts, which means I will have quite some work to do! To keep things short, I'll begin the correct-and-debug process after tomorrow. And tonight I'll try to reply messages and probably update the beta FAQs. Unexpectedly, someone is interested in where I come from. Well, that's a secret :P, but I can tell you that my native language is Chinese. If you have anything Chinese you want me to translate, feel free to let me know. I'm okay in reading Japanese, but you can easily find people better than me in translating Japanese stuffs.

I should have replied e-mails to all the applicants, whether they are chosen or not. Check the progress page for the list of beta testers. If your name is there, but you still haven't got a patch, let me know. If you haven't got my reply, may be I have missed you (the list is long). However, all positions are filled and no more beta testers will be accepted for now. May be next round.

Good news to other big fans is that many beta testers have already got passed the Prologues of the game. A few work very hard and have already submitted bug reports more than once. When I got back from my course, I'll try my best to fix all the bugs and release the second beta patch. I can't give you a release date, though.

Thanks for many big fans of the game, I have already got about 30 applicants, and I have only 10 more positions left for these people. So I think I'll close the beta tester request here. No more e-mails on beta test request please. For the ones that I have received e-mails I'll reply to you whether you are selected or not, and the selected candidates will be listed in the Progress page later when I sort the things out. Don't worry, if every beta tester is doing their job, the public patch will be released pretty soon.

I'll be taking a course out town from the coming Tuesday to Sunday. So if you send me anything after Tuesday, I probably won't be able to reply until May 1st. Just let you know, in case you send me bug reports and I'm not responding.

New: I got quite a few application already, but I'm tired right now and have things to deal with tomorrow morning. For those who haven't got a reply, I'll try to reply tomorrow night.

Unlike many other games, this game is almost impossible to be 100% tested. First of all, there are 8 different main characters, and each one has 10% different dialogues that will not be found in other characters. You may say this is simple. Just find 8 people and play it 8 times, right? The real difficulty is the free-scenario system. During the game time, one can do different things and one can do things in different order, and many dialogues will turn out to be dependent on the gameplay! I have played the game twice with Julian, and see how things can be different if the game is played differently. I think I have covered 99% of his dialogues. Still I have quests remained unsolved and ways that I have never thought of. Because of this, I'm planning to find many beta testers (may be 2 for each main characters). I will have to see how this is done.