3D Hero and Tao (obscure Taiwanese MS-DOS games with custom Doom-based engine) get an English translation patch

[taufan99]

Special thanks to @WhiteMagicRaven for the English translation patch, as well as @Redneckerz and @<inactive>Player Lin for the additional information. Grab the patch here!

(Tao translation patch coverage can be read here, English patch for Tao can be downloaded here)

 

So WTF exactly is this game?

The DOOM craze in the mid-90's reached the Eastern hemisphere, in fact, also with the hand of id Software themselves. In 1994, they signed a deal with three publishers to release DOOM in their respective countries; Imagineer in Japan, SsangYong in South Korea, and last but not least, Kingformation Co., Ltd. in Taiwan. As that last country was rife with software piracy, id decided to work with one such pirate publisher at a relatively low fee of $1 per copy. Then, there was the infamous Legend of the Seven Paladins 3D, which started as a deal between Apogee and another Taiwanese company Accend Inc., but later spun off into its own thing. For now, however, that is another story.

 

Engine Technology Co., Ltd., on the other side, was not bound in such a deal with yet another Western publisher for a title. Yet, with the skills of Tin-Yen Nieh (also known as John Nieh), they built up an engine of their own, with the Classic Doom engine as the basis and influenced by BUILD engine titles. As such, this first iteration of the custom engine, later dubbed the T3DFX Evolution Real-Time 3D Engine by Nieh himself, shares similar main features with our beloved Classic Doom, but also additional features such as visual effects not found in Classic Doom. This engine was used for the publisher's three title; 終極戰士 (Mars - The Ultimate Fighter), 三國志:蜀漢英雄傳 (3D Hero, which we feature in this thread), and 人間道之少年燕赤霞 (Tao). If a thread reply, allegedly from Nieh, from a Duke4.net thread about the first game mentioned before is to be believed, the publisher shut down its doors in 2002, and Nieh also lost the source code of his own works.

 

For all these years, word-of-mouth spread within the global retro FPS community about these obscure Taiwanese games, and they remained nothing more than exotic curiosities infamous for their rather unfortunate qualities in several aspects, until Community Releases decided to re-issue Mars - The Ultimate Fighter in late 2019, complete with an English translation and a few adjustments to make the quality less notorious. This, in turn, inspired @jval to write the Mars3D recreation (not exactly source port, despite considerably having features of one) based on his DelphiDoom code in late 2021.

 

Now that's one game translated, what about 3D Hero and Tao? Following that, @WhiteMagicRaven spent some time analyzing the game's format (which is more or less identical to that of Classic Doom) to translate the necessary things in 3D Hero, such as the game interface and the setup executable. The hard work paid off, and on October 21, 2022, the English patch for 3D Hero was finally released (yay!). I've also uploaded it on mega.nz by request (link on the top of the thread), as the original link was set to delete after about 7 days. @WhiteMagicRaven also finished the English patch for Tao on October 30, 2022.

 

3D Hero's original Chinese title actually translates roughly to Records of the Three Kingdoms: Legend of the Shu-Han Heroes, making it one of a myriad of fictional media adaptations of the 14th-century historical novel, itself based on the even earlier historical text. 3D Hero features six playable characters, which can be switched between levels by going to the menu and choosing "(Re)Start" option while in a level; Kongming/孔明, Guan Yu/關羽, Zhang Fei/張飛, Zhao Yun/趙雲, Huang Zhong/黃忠 (the only character with a crossbow instead of a bladed weapon), and Guan Feng/關鳳 (the only female character in the roster). They are a fictionalized version of the Five Tiger Generals, who all ruled under the warlord Liu Bei/劉備, with Ma Chao/馬超 replaced with Kongming and a new female character added for whatever reason. In this game, they must fight across rivaling warlords and garrisons, led by the tyrannical Cao Cao/曹操, throughout the titular Shu-Han state.

 

In comparison to Mars - The Ultimate Fighter, 3D Hero is a different beast. It drops away the first-person perspective, in favor of the third-person one and has more to do with a hack-and-slash RPG. Each character has different stats (health/attack/guard/magic/dexterity points) and weapons. Health and magic-replenishing items are stored in inventory, instead of immediately taking effect. It also has CD audio tracks, instead of MIDI ones. You can tell this is a more ambitious affair compared to their previous one.

 

But what about from the technical perspective? It's quite a buggy mess, which might be a let-down for those excited for this game. Some of these bugs include, but are not limited to:

• janky camera that can only be fixed by either keys that cannot be reassigned and are non-existent in most laptops (like what I'm using) or a screen size option in the Options menu, which will interrupt the game's flow to many players,
• upper and lower tiles scrolling in a way that messes your perspective, if you jump too often (again, not unfixable, but can be very annoying at times),
• item inventory being inconsistently handled whenever you switch a character in a level,
• screen size option (most possibly including others) not saving after a finished level,
• player movement for platforming being too finicky, which requires some extreme precision on occasions,
• important items being unpickable at times, forcing you to restart (fortunately, this rarely occurs),
• and a few others I may not be aware of.

 

Enemies are also a mixed bag to an extent. While most of your enemies are human warriors, with garrisons or even warlords serving as a boss at the end of each level, and they're usually manageable, non-human enemies also exist, such as the bees (why does it have to be the bees!? I hate it when this kind of games features them), which are hard to take down, and the aquatic mutants from Mars - The Ultimate Fighter, which might as well have infinite hit points.

 

Otherwise, I recommend that you play 3D Hero, if not for the rather ambitious curiosity alone. You don't get to see this kind of engine be utilized for a third-person perspective game every day, after all. Also, here's hoping @jval either adds support for both games on Mars3D or makes a new one for those two alone.

 

Installation Guide for The Unexperienced (aka. I wanna install the game, but have no idea how!)

Quote

1. Get a CD rip of the 3D Hero game (it's not too hard to search out there).
2. Download the translation patch linked above.
3. Fire up your DOSBox and load the .cue file of the rip with "imgmount d: (dir)/(game).cue -t cdrom". This is important to get the CD audio running as well (provided the CD rip you downloaded has any).
4. Don't forget the usual "mount c (dir)" command as well. This will use a certain directory you referred to as the C: drive in the emulator session
5. Go to the CD drive (D: is usual), and run "install.exe".
6. Install the game. Optional: choose the directory where you'd like the game installed. C:/3dhero is default, with C: being the directory you placed at the "mount c (dir)" command.
7. Exit the installation program. At this point, everything is still in Chinese.
8. Unzip the translation patch to the directory the game was installed (refer to no. 4 if you didn't change the C:/3dhero default directory the installer gave you). Approve the change of files with similar names.
9. Voila! 3D Hero now runs with the English translation patch.
10. "Enjoy" the game while tinkering over all the bugs/glitches! :P

I don't wanna play this game, I just wanna watch the patch in action!

In that case...

 

3D_Hero_(DOS)_English_Patch.7z

Edited November 1, 2022 by taufan99 : Tao video posted on latest thread reply from OP.

[fai1025]

As a Taiwanese, I'm gonna be honest I never heard of these games, I do knew there's a lot of three kingdom theme game here, like a lot.

But this Idk, maybe I'm not Taiwanese enough.

[Wyrmwood]

Pretty interesting read, definitely never heard of this one. Someone should make some slaughter maps for it, Dynasty Warriors 0.

[Sonikkumania]

I've just started Witchaven, so I might try this and report which one is better :D

[Dark Pulse]

Now what about Rock 'n Shaolin?

 

 

[taufan99]

14 minutes ago, Dark Pulse said:

Now what about Rock 'n Shaolin?

Different material source. It's based on Seven Heroes and Five Gallants, set in 11th-century Song dynasty.

 

Now, I'm not as much of a Chinese literature aficionado as I am a Japanese culture one, but the translation work by @UnknDoomer and @fgsfds has proven useful for everyone to get more insight of the game's background.

 

Also, support for the game has been provided by BuildGDX since v1.07.

[Wadmodder Shalton]

3D Hero looks like a third-person Daggerfall meets Diablo from the looks of the graphics.

[taufan99]

8 hours ago, Wadmodder Shalton said:

3D Hero looks like a third-person Daggerfall meets Diablo from the looks of the graphics.

I'm not sure if I'd say it resembles Daggerfall to an extent. Otherwise, yeah, the graphics are kinda fascinating in their own, embodying the mid-late 90's 3D craze.

[WhiteMagicRaven]

Thanks for great presentation.

Special thanks to Dormcat https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&amp;t=90320&amp;p=1106990#p1106990

and Mr-edit from community-releases 

 

as Ukrainian i have now often black-outs (no electricity and sometimes no internet) due that translation of Tao can be longer than 3D Hero.

 

For now i can share a first step of translation - it only UI translation of Tao. 

every step i will share.

 

I have hopes for @jval too, its rather recreation than source port =) but i like how Mars3D done in just approximately close to original game but don't care to be 100% exact, just visually looks close. 

TAO.7z

[Herr Dethnout]

Wow, interesing, the only things I know about Videogame industry in Taiwan was Legend of Seven Paladins (cool sprites and ost eh), PGM Arcade Machine (Pretty influential among the industry because it received a lot of support from Japanese developers) and The Bootleg Dragon Ball Super Butouden 2 for NES by Hummer Team (one of the big names among Taiwanese bootleg developers who also made a game based of the Three Kingdoms too lol)

Talking about Three Kingdoms, I'm suprised that nobody in Taiwan created a game based on Journey to the West (or at least one well know). I mean, is probably the most influential Chinese novel in the history, and being the principal inspiration for creating the first Dragon Ball anime/manga. I'd see more support from Western a Japanese developers than Chinese/Taiwanese developers.

Anyway cool stuff indeed, always thinked that Taiwan should be a strong name on the industry if the piracy and the lack of support from the west wasn't be a problem :/

[taufan99]

10 hours ago, WhiteMagicRaven said:

as Ukrainian i have now often black-outs (no electricity and sometimes no internet) due that translation of Tao can be longer than 3D Hero.

Whoa, sorry to hear that. I hope the most of safety for you and that the Tao translation effort pays off sooner or later.

 

4 hours ago, Herr Dethnout said:

Anyway cool stuff indeed, always thinked that Taiwan should be a strong name on the industry if the piracy and the lack of support from the west wasn't be a problem :/

I guess their competition with the broader Chinese gaming industry doesn't really help as well. AFAIK Chinese studios are benefiting not just from the bigger population number, but also a vast improvement of their products' quality (if we're going by those trailers of new-gen Chinese games like Black Myth Wukong and Lost Soul Aside, among others), whereas Taiwan is less interested in upping their dev game and more fascinated with Japanese games as of currently (ironically, China does also have many fans of Japanese games). Although, I'd be very glad to be proven wrong in this case.

[Herr Dethnout]

53 minutes ago, taufan99 said:

Whoa, sorry to hear that. I hope the most of safety for you and that the Tao translation effort pays off sooner or later.

 

I guess their competition with the broader Chinese gaming industry doesn't really help as well. AFAIK Chinese studios are benefiting not just from the bigger population number, but also a vast improvement of their products' quality (if we're going by those trailers of new-gen Chinese games like Black Myth Wukong and Lost Soul Aside, among others), whereas Taiwan is less interested in upping their dev game and more fascinated with Japanese games as of currently (ironically, China does also have many fans of Japanese games). Although, I'd be very glad to be proven wrong in this case.

Yup, It doesn't help than Mainland China has a lot of presence in the AAA industry (cof cof Tencent cof cof) and the fact that theres at least one case of a Taiwanese game being pulled of popular stores thanks to Mainland China nationalism.  <(-_- )\

[taufan99]

23 minutes ago, Herr Dethnout said:

Yup, It doesn't help than Mainland China has a lot of presence in the AAA industry (cof cof Tencent cof cof) and the fact that theres at least one case of a Taiwanese game being pulled of popular stores thanks to Mainland China nationalism.  <(-_- )\

Oh wow, almost forgot Red Candle Games exists. Yeah, that one case sucks, but I won't comment too much on the political aspect, so as to avoid derailing this thread. Either way, I'm looking forward to their upcoming game Nine Sols.

[WhiteMagicRaven]

Tao setup translated

TAOSETUP.7z

[Murdoch]

On 10/26/2022 at 9:20 AM, Sonikkumania said:

I've just started Witchaven

 

Are you a masochist?

[Sonikkumania]

4 hours ago, Murdoch said:

 

Are you a masochist?

Maybe. I have a thing for B class stuff. Witchaven is not the worst game but it seems rushed. I dig the atmosphere.

[fai1025]

19 hours ago, taufan99 said:

whereas Taiwan is less interested in upping their dev game and more fascinated with Japanese games

yeah, basically my childhood is either nintendo or PS, like I have all PS from 1 to 5 but none of the Xboxs, 

18 hours ago, Herr Dethnout said:

the fact that theres at least one case of a Taiwanese game being pulled of popular stores thanks to Mainland China nationalism.  <(-_- )\

that was a funny joke tho

[taufan99]

10 hours ago, Sonikkumania said:

Maybe. I have a thing for B class stuff. Witchaven is not the worst game but it seems rushed. I dig the atmosphere.

Made this with you in mind XD

This is just a joke btw, no offend to those who like the former, as I'm also a big fan of Prodeus.

 

Edited October 28, 2022 by taufan99

[Sonikkumania]

@taufan99 thanks, I appreciate it, man :D

[taufan99]

On 10/28/2022 at 3:11 AM, WhiteMagicRaven said:

Tao setup translated

TAOSETUP.7z

That actually came out faster than I thought, even if just for the setup executable.

17 hours ago, Sonikkumania said:

@taufan99 thanks, I appreciate it, man :D

My pleasure fellow brother of Sega fan. :P

[Redneckerz]

The Quake Quad damage sound effect in 3D Hero never fails to amaze me due to how misplaced it is, haha.

Tao is just a curiosity: It can once more be played in first person (and then it looks like a first person rendition of Prince of Persia) but at that time (1997-1998), the Mars 3D tech (Or was it TFX, @WhiteMagicRaven?) became rather long in the tooth.

 

But English patches of these are great, and they should also be made available to 3D Legends, which is basically the most complete site on shooters i know of.

[taufan99]

3 hours ago, Redneckerz said:

The Quake Quad damage sound effect in 3D Hero never fails to amaze me due to how misplaced it is, haha.

Tao is just a curiosity: It can once more be played in first person (and then it looks like a first person rendition of Prince of Persia) but at that time (1997-1998), the Mars 3D tech (Or was it TFX, @WhiteMagicRaven?) became rather long in the tooth.

 

But English patches of these are great, and they should also be made available to 3D Legends, which is basically the most complete site on shooters i know of.

Tao is gonna be a laughfest for you when it comes to improper SFX misplacement.

 

Oh right, we need to tell the 3D Shooter Legends on this patch, but I don't know much about their forum and where I should exactly post that.

[Redneckerz]

1 hour ago, taufan99 said:

Tao is gonna be a laughfest for you when it comes to improper SFX misplacement.

Kissu my ass? :D

1 hour ago, taufan99 said:

 

Oh right, we need to tell the 3D Shooter Legends on this patch, but I don't know much about their forum and where I should exactly post that.

I do, but im not sure if it is okay to link publicly.

[taufan99]

1 minute ago, Redneckerz said:

Kissu my ass? :D

I mean, stuff like Doomguy's grunt being used as the pain sound of male jiangshi enemies, Afrit's idle roaming sound for jiangshi enemies' attack sound (regardless of gender), Mars 3D's pick up sound for a few items, and some more. Nowhere as hilarious as "kizz my azz" or "dammit", but still... interesting nonetheless.

[WhiteMagicRaven]

Translation done.

Engines for this game is called 'T3D' http://www.vr3d.net/

 

Actually 3D Hero can be played in First Person mode, just press F10 several times, no hud gun just.

 

As i spot a T3D engine partially based on Doom & Heretic disassembled o reverse engineered code. A lot of Heretic data inside of main exe's of all games.

 

Quote

dormcat: The first "tao" game (人間道之少年燕赤霞) was a 1998 game but was still under DOS with 320x200 resolution using a modified DOOM engine, roughly equivalent to Heretic / Hexen of 1994-5 vintage but with rather inferior artistic quality.

 

As Heretic/HeXen lover i would like to see this game to be much closer to heretic or/and hexen, if they whenever will be ported/re-created engine, like mars3d 

hope @jval can do it whenever in future. P.S. Miracle i have good luck today, whole free time and no electricity shutdowns in Ukraine today, letted me to finish it =)

 

Tao.7z

 

The 3D Hero indeed have much better artistic and level design, but to be honest i like both very much, just love fantasy =)

Edited October 29, 2022 by WhiteMagicRaven

[taufan99]

8 hours ago, WhiteMagicRaven said:

Translation done.

P.S. Miracle i have good luck today, whole free time and no electricity shutdowns in Ukraine today, letted me to finish it =)

Most impressive! I'm glad you got to finish it soon.

Now hold on for a minute, as I'm about to install the game and the patch, as well as (again) record a gameplay footage while preparing for another post on this thread about Tao.

[taufan99]

Okay, here you go, the Tao video!

Tao's original title means "Yan Chixia, the Youth of the Dao (Path) of Humanity". Its sole main character is Yan Chixia (燕赤霞), an exorcist from a collection of stories from the QIng dynasty, known as "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" (聊齋誌異). The stories belong to the zhiguai xiaoshuo (志怪小說) and chuanqi (傳奇) genres, and were meant to implicitly criticize societal problems that arose back then. In the stories, Yan Chixia is best described as an exorcist and demon slayer. At one point, Chixia falls in love with a female fox spirit Nie Xiaoqian, who later demands that Chixia kill her. Xiaoqian only loses her memory and later finds another love in Ning Caichen. Chixia's story has been adapted into countless movies and dramas since mid-20th century.

 

Given the background, it only makes sense that Tao goes with a horror direction, while still retaining the fast-paced gameplay of the previous 3D Hero game. The game itself is largely still the same as the 3D Hero one, except this one features a proper hub system, instead of choosing characters each time you finish a level, as well as the level you want to play at next.

 

However, much like the previous two games, Tao is rife of bugs, perhaps even moreso. You can get stuck in several walls, which forces you to restart the game, and sometimes the game just randomly crashes upon moving to another level at some points. Magic attacks also lack the punch they had in 3D Hero, which is just ever so underwhelming for a character supposed to be an exorcist. Not to mention that by 1998 standards, the engine has already been outdated by the likes of Half-Life and Unreal, which further contributed to the lack of sales. On a more technical side, the only CD image we have for the game so far may have been damaged to an extent, which results in a few CD audio tracks containing random noises that, fortunately, aren't all too fatal.

 

Otherwise, Tao is yet another fascinating curiosity worth checking out. It could definitely do with a source port/recreation treatment, tho. @jval *wink wink*