Minigame Patch Release!

Update (April 2 2011): In case you were wondering, the April Fools joke with this post was that... it's not joking! Go right ahead & download our patch! - Mion

(Updated April 4 2011, for a new patch version & ONScripter-EN release)

Hey folks,

Thought we'd go ahead and release that Higurashi minigames patch we were talking about doing.

You'll need the original Japanese game Higurashi no Naku Koro ni in order to use the patch - see Getting the game for instructions on how to purchase it.

Please note that this patch's script contains just the minigames - no other features are included (well, the main menu, but that's about it.) In other words, this does not replace any earlier patches, so be sure you unpack it into a different subfolder of the game!

Another thing you should know is that saving and loading are also disabled in this patch. However, since it uses the same game-id and global variables as our other patches, any high scores and hidden games that you unlock in the minigame patch should be accessible in the standard patches (and vice-versa.) The minigame patch gives you access to all four minigames without having to unlock the story arcs, and does not change the lock status of stories in the standard patches.

We recommend that you play the games in order for greatest entertainment value, and be sure to follow Rika-chan's advice, try special moves & play at higher levels - you never know what you may unlock!

Well, without further ado:
Higurashi Minigame Patch (v1.1) (US Mirror EU Mirror 12032786 bytes, MD5: be0c1a8301c1f54310a99da79adbba84)

Non-Windows users may download the current version of ONScripter-EN (20110404) from Uncle Mion's ONScripter Corner - Releases page.

Since this isn't an actual story patch, we're just releasing it as a ZIP file, but we'll consider providing Windows & Mac installer versions if there's enough interest.

Leave us a comment if you have problems installing or using the patch and we'll see what we can do.

Happy gaming!
Mion

Current Status

Hey guys...

Sorry for the long silence. We wanted to have a release to post about, so we put off posting, and we still didn't have a release ready, and it'd been months and we were embarrassed it'd been so long... and we still don't have a release to announce, but I'm finally biting the bullet and posting about what's up. I hate giving bad news :( but here goes.

For a while there, we were deliberately staying quiet to let Mangagamer do their releases and make some money, figuring that people could at least get their version to read the story without having to wait on us.

Yes, we know that they changed some of the music and sounds, and left out the music box & mini-games. Honestly? We don't blame them. From what I saw of the hoops pbsaffran (the French Higurashi translator) has had to jump through in order to get permission to release with the original music and sound effects -- and he couldn't even get all of them, in the end -- music licensing is a serious pain in the ass. Let this be a lesson: composeth thy own music (or commission someone to do it) unless thou enjoyeth legal torture (and prepareth for it even so).

As for the mini-games: several of them used graphic elements from other companies, like Key/VisualArt's and Atlus. This isn't a problem for doujin releases, like the original Higurashi, but can be a serious issue for commercial release. (Even the French release had to leave out the mini-games in question.) What with that and (most likely) problems with porting the games from NScripter to BGI, and the fact that the mini-games are, well, pretty silly ^^; it makes perfect sense for Mangagamer to leave them out.

...Hey, you know what? We don't have enough ready for a Watanagashi release, but we could do a patch for just the mini-games. There's minimal text, and some image edits... I think we can get that done by the end of the year.

*********

Okay, getting back to our current status:

• We are still working on the patches.
• We are not dead; we're getting better.
  
• Shion is reading ahead to make sure we present information properly for the overarching mystery.
• We do not plan to make further Watanagashi releases until Shion has translated (in at least a first-pass) all four Higurashi stories, and preferably had a chance to read through all of Kai.
• Shion has been busy with a full-time science research fellowship that is about to end.
  
• Maintaining onscripter-en is a lot of fun ^^; and provides something to put on a software-developer résumé.
  
• Shion is moving in with me at the end of the month, and we're both looking for work... but we plan to spend time on higu as well.
• Happy Holidays!

Mion

Higurashi en français

French-language Higurashi fans may want to check out Tout d'Asie, which has copies of Version française du jeu higurashi no naku koro ni, renommé Le sanglot des cigales. This release contains Onikakushi, Watanagashi, and two mini-games, and comes on CD-ROM.

The game runs on PONScripter, which Uncle Mion maintains over at her ONScripter Corner. Speaking of which, there should be a more general PONScripter-based release of the Higurashi demo sometime in the near future (once Uncle gets it whipped into shape).

Joyeux Noël guys!

Mion

Update (March 22 2010):
We've added a link to the French version's official website, Le sanglot de cigales.