=============Planet Laika=================
V 1.0 - Initial Release
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Japanese Title: プラネットライカ
Genre: Action Adventure
Source language: Japanese
Patch language: English
Original Platform: Playstation
Original developer: Zeque, Quintet
Original publisher: ENIX
Original Release Date in Japan: ? October 21, 1999
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Folder Contents
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Patch file
Readme
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About Planet Laika
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Project History:
Project started in summer 2021, I think?
I'd been peeking at scripts for this and Kowloon's Gate
for fun, since Planet Laika is a so-called 'ghost game'
to Kowloon's Gate.
There are several character names, scenes and concepts
that overlap between the two games, so I tried to keep
the lexicon in Planet Laika as faithful as possible to
that of Kowloon's Gate.
Comparisons:
Think of this as a twist on that Magnetic Rose
anime, but add in a slew of real-world literary
references, ranging from science fiction novels to
evangelism and more. Soviet pop culture and
retro-futurism were two of many direct inspirations
for the game.
Esper compares it a lot to the novel Solaris.
Also, mono and I were laughing at how terrifying
lifted certain parts of 2021's Malignant's plot
summary were to Planet Laika. They don't have
the same plot or anything, but once you play
Laika, go give the wikipedia summary of
Malignant a peek, and you'll see what we mean.
Game Length + Difficulty:
I'd reckon this game is a good 15-20 hours per play.
There is one primary ending, and the storyline is
linear. There are a couple different ways to get
game overs in this game, but this is more a relaxing
visual novel in survival horror's clothing than
anything too blood-pumping. Replay value would
be in swapping around party members as you explore
Mars and talk to different people within the colony.
There are a few mini events that can only be seen
when you have certain Mind Scope levels at certain
places at certain times.
Content Warnings:
There is one definite jump scare in the game.
It comes a couple hours in at the Elder's Cottage.
I don't think there are other photo-sensitive
parts of the game, but just be careful or play
with/after a friend who knows what to look for.
There aren't any Porygon Episode segments,
but please be careful all the same.
This game was released on Playstation, so you're not
walking into anything explicitly/visually violent or sexual.
However, the meat of the game is in its suspenseful and
often crude text.
Therein, and without going into direct
spoilers, one of the major themes of the
game is PTSD from domestic abuse.
It comes in varying forms and is peered at
to varying lengths. There are flashbacks involving
physical abuse, verbal abuse, sexual abuse,
medical abuse (mentions of forced abortions,
forced procedures), et cetera.
This includes both towards adults and towards children.
There are no voice overs for these segments,
but they're still designed to be striking.
The game anchors its lore very heavily on
dissociative identity disorder (DID).
The main character is a system with DID or OSDD,
depending on interpretation, and there are other
characters who are also systems in the game.
Because of the setting and the fact that the game came
out in 1999, Planet Laika does an interesting amount
of research into the topic for a game of its scope,
but can also be insensitive when discussing
mental illnesses and the people who have them.
I don't shoot to use any hard slurs or the like in
the script. In the whole wide world of translations,
I'm sure there are instances where a direct slur is
the proper and/or best translation for certain
narratives, but I don't think Planet Laika
is that sort of work, nor does it claim to be.
That's my stance for this and any of our projects,
so if you believe I've slipped up (especially when
talking with/about neuroatypical characters), please
say so. While I don't see us poking and prodding at
Planet Laika's text for the next eight years, I'll
use that feedback as I go forward with other projects.
I want as many people to enjoy the game as possible,
but if you're not looking for a game that goes into
this kind of stuff off-the-cuff, and you don't want
to be caught unawares by it, it might be safer to wait
until there is more public discussion about the game,
so you can read about it and make your decision then.
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Patching Instructions
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Notes from Esper:
Just drag and drop the ISO (bin) file onto the
Drag and drop ISO on me.bat and it automagically
patch the game for you.
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Patch Notes/Warnings
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We joked a little about this game being an
emulator killer, in that quite a few tried-and-true
emulators just don't work. However, I cleared it
on ePSXe, and others testing it cleared it on
duckstation and Mednafen. If you're having a gameplay issue or
a freeze, feel free to post about it, but also
see if swapping emulators works for you.
Known emulators to break are pcsx and No$psx.
Nothing else so far.
If you happen to find anything, do let us know!
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Translation Patch Project Credits
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Cargodin: Translation
Esperknight: Head romhacker
Mr. Nobody: Image/Video editing
Dialogue VWF:
https://www.romhacking.net/fonts/124/
Special Thanks:
SnowyAria
Floppy
Gwendolyn
Mono
TurnipTheBeet
Katya G.
C Nguyen
The Opponent
Hilltop
CJ Iwakura
Little Cabbage
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This patch is entirely fan-made and unofficial. Please do NOT redistribute this patch in bad faith- whether by pre-installed illegal roms or physical discs. Do not sell or buy this patch under any circumstances.
This was a labor of love, and those bad faith actions not only insult us, but also endangers fan translation as a whole.
Thank you for understanding.
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Compiled by Cargodin, February 2022.