I'm decompiling Terranigma and building a PC port from it. It's in the final stretch, mostly playtesting now and fixing the last things. I'm aiming for a mostly stable version by the end of the year, and I think that's very realistic. Background here: https://diemilchgebendekuh.de/terranigma-decompilation/

Why recordings help: a Mesen movie is just the button presses. I can replay the exact same inputs through my engine and lay it frame by frame against the original, same frame, same position, same state. Wherever the two drift apart, I know exactly which mechanic still has a problem and at which frame. The more playthroughs, the more mechanics get covered and I don't have time to keep replaying the game myself currently :(

What you need

The Japanese ROM - Tenchi Souzou (Japan).sfc. The port is built on the Japanese one. Please dump it from your own cartridge, use only a ROM you legally own.

Emulator: Mesen 2 (get it here).

How to record

1. Load Tenchi Souzou (Japan) in Mesen.
2. Tools → Movies → Record, pick a filename.
3. First session: choose "Record from power on." The game reboots and starts recording.
4. Play. To stop: end the recording, then save an emulator savestate.
5. Next session: load that emulator savestate, then Record again with "Record from current state."

Three rules, each one breaks the recording

1. Never use the game's in-game save to continue. Using save points in-game is fine as gameplay, but to resume playing you must load an emulator savestate, only ever that.
2. Never use rewind. It tears the input track apart and the whole recording becomes worthless.
3. No idling. Don't leave it recording for two hours while you cook dinner. Stop the recording and continue later.

Naming

Please keep one name across all your parts and just number them:
YourName_Part1.mmo, YourName_Part2.mmo, … and the last one YourName_FinalPart.mmo, so I can see the order and know where the run ends.

What's most useful

• A complete, gapless run. Including the grinding, if you level up off-camera, there's a hole in the chain. Some bugs (flags set in the wrong order) only show up across a whole playthrough.
• Combat: every technique, every ring, every spell. Tip a lot of people miss: Magirocks are refunded once you actually cast the spell, so buy and use rings freely.
• Side content: the town development quests, not just the main story. (Main story alone still helps a lot.)
• Let yourself get hit so status effects trigger.
• Talk to lots of NPCs, and pick different answers where there's a choice.
• Menu: buy things; delete an item, a weapon, an armor. Cast spells both from the menu and from the quick slot (magic box on X).
• ...

Think of it as playtesting, the more mechanics you touch, the more I'm able to fix stuff.

Sending it

Mesen writes a single .mmo file. It's only the input track: roughly 300 KB per hour of play, not a video.

• Discord: DieMilchgebendeKuh
• Mail: diemilchgebendekuh@outlook.com

This would be a huge help and would genuinely speed up finishing the port. Thank you.

Best regards,

DieMilchgebendeKuh