Update []:
Nebulous Translations' English translation patch for the Sega turn-based strategy game The Hybrid Front is now available to download from the group's website.
As mentioned in our original article, the English translation patch for this particular title has had something of a stop-start development for several years now, with the group behind the effort encountering a number of problems along the way that caused it to stall temporarily.
According to a blog post, which accompanies the new release, the team revealed that the Japanese-to-English translation by TheMajinZenki had actually been completed way back in 2018. However, issues with hacking the game slowed things down significantly, with one of the major issues being the tightly-packed user interfaces, which often rely on vertical kanji to save on layout space.
To make this translation work, the team has had to redesign these menus to provide the necessary room for English text, with the group stating that t"he most difficult component of UI was the boarding interface, where players assign pilots to units before each mission."
Here are the credits for the patch:
- cybermind – hacking, graphics, user’s manual design
- TheMajinZenki – translation, user’s manual translation
- cccmar – editing
- Fei, Spolan – beta-testing
- Jiggeh – map/unit chart translation and design
- celcion – original hacking, special thanks
- miralita – original hacking, special thanks
You can download it here.
Original Story: Sega's Japan-exclusive turn-based strategy game The Hybrid Front is finally being translated into English, thanks to TheMajinZenki and the group of fan translators at Nebulous Translations.
Originally launched for the Sega Mega Drive in 1994, The Hybrid Front takes place in a sci-fi future where a galactic trading empire named CoCoON has exerted control over Earth, with players assuming command of a ragtag group of couriers named "mules" transporting illegal weapons and supplies to fight for the planet's survival. It was also later released for the Wii Virtual Console in 2007. However, both versions of the game were only ever made available in Japanese, making it difficult for people who managed to import the title to understand exactly what was going on.
Back in 2018, members of Nebulous Translations announced that it was working on an unofficial fan patch for the game, which would potentially make the title more accessible to a wider audience, but progress on this project seems to have stalled out at some point, with the group eventually going on hiatus in 2023.
Now, though, it appears that it is very much back on track, with TheMajinZenki recently claiming on social media that the patch will be finished "very soon", before linking to an impressive 16-minute promo video showing off the newly-translated opening credits, character and history indexes, and general gameplay.
You can check out this video below. We'll also give you a heads-up once the patch is finally available to download.