Dreams of Saturn 2.0 Released! | Fan Game

Dreams of Saturn 2.0, the eagerly-anticipated update to last year's fan game by George Kitchen, is now available for download!

This is an incredible Christmas present for all Shenmue fans.

Containing not only the complete original game (tweaked and improved), it features a complete new harbor-based section with brand new mini games, an extended story line, numerous QTEs and cut scenes, fully-voiced NPC interactions and more. What's more, Ryo is now controllable in either first-person or third-person mode throughout the game.

Head over to the Shenmue Dojo to download it now for PC & Mac!

Notes:

• A controller is required to play (mouse & keyboard not currently supported)

If you need help on installing / setting up the game, Matt from the Shenmue Dojo has released a "how-to" video:

DOS 2.0 Feedback and Discussion

• A forum has been created for discussing the game over on the Shenmue Dojo forums.
• Any bugs found can be reported on this forum thread.

...or on the Shenmue Dojo Discord.

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Must Be Seen to be Believed: Dreams of Saturn 2.0 "First Look" Trailer & Mini Games Trailer

Update: the release date is now scheduled for December 21, 2024

George Kitchen has released a "First Look" trailer for Dreams of Saturn 2.0, a major update and expansion for his initial version of his game from last Christmas which made waves across the community, and it looks jaw-droppingly stunning!

It adds a ton of content, in particular a whole new harbor location which was not present in the original, and allows the whole game to be played with a third-person view of Ryo.

Watch the amazing trailer below:

There is so much packed into just this short trailer! Just a few of the many humorous touches and carefully-choreographed scenes to be seen in this extravaganza of brand-new content:

• A tiny new hero? Ryo's cockroach takes part in the adventure.
• Even from this brief preview, the beautifully-rendered sets and landscapes look incredible: from the sky, object lighting and shadows through the detailed individual character animations and facial expressions.
• Ryo is now rendered in third person, bringing it even closer to the feel of the original game.
• A brand new "ride to the harbor" mini-game has been implemented
• In one QTE interaction the player controls Guizhang.
• Ryo traverses areas that were not accessible in the first Shenmue game, running across the rooftop of buildings and even ascending the structure of the gantry crane to operate it.
• An impressive missile launch from a submarine?!
• Does Santa Maeno save the day?
• A homage to Streets of Rage 2
• A sequence featuring Segata Sanshiro.

According to creator George Kitchen, DOS 2 consists of two separate stories (the original story and the new one). Both will be accessible from the main menu.

The release date is planned for 19th December, 2024.

Update: the release date will now be 21st December.

It is hard to believe this is a fan-made game, let alone one created by a single person. What a treat this promises to be!

Screenshots:

Interview with Sega Lounge

15 December Update : Shenmue Dreams of Saturn 2.0 Mini Games Trailer

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Joe & George Kitchen's Magical Fan-made Videos

A hilarious skateboard scene from Episode 7 of the Shenmue Short Stories video series

Anyone who has not yet discovered the collection of fan-made Shenmue videos created by Joe and George Kitchen... you've been missing out on a fantastic experience.

It is truly mesmerizing to see Shenmue's world in such beauty, with a cinematic presentation that pulls the viewer into the stories being told. Joe has hand-crafted the graphics and animations for each video over the course of weeks, months - even years before each video's release. From a technical standpoint, the scenes aren't running on the Shenmue engine, but were built inside animation software from the original assets. The result is just as convincing as if they were part of the original games.

Characters are fully animated and interact within meticulously-recreated environments enhanced with a multitude of stunning visual effects: blossom petals drift down from cherry trees, puddles still glistening from recent rain reflect the surroundings; mist swirls on a mountain road in the evening; clouds gradually change shape as the sun sets behind distant mountains; Christmas lights strung along house roofs softly illuminate a wintry night.

Entirely new environments that weren't present in the original games have been expertly imagined and crafted to the point of being indistinguishable from those of the original games: office and bedroom interiors, mountain cliffs and even the interior of a train.

Making the videos even more special are the gorgeous original musical compositions. Each music piece could easily be mistaken for an official Shenmue track, and they have been written with such detailed attention that the brothers even located and obtained the actual musical instruments and synthesized sounds. The music consists of compositions by both Joe and George.

Some videos bring officially-unused models to life, such as Master Yunhai from Shenmue II's cut Miao Village storyline

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Ryo at Miao Guang Temple Entrance

Ryo approaches Miao Guang Temple.

This image is a composite of a screenshot showing content cut from Shenmue 2, and a model of a temple gate & wall present in the released version of the game.

The latest posts in the Miao Village analysis series have more details about the cut temple content:

• [Part Four] The Secret of Miao Village: Temple Screenshots Analysis
• [Part Five] The Secret of Miao Village: Temple Content Left Behind

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Fan-built Shenmue 3 Character Database Released!

Something that adds greatly to Shenmue's sense of realism are the believable characters that inhabit its world. Each has been carefully crafted, with their own motivations and back-stories, not all of which is necessarily even revealed while playing - how many players will have been astounded to find out perhaps many years later that the "fine and dandy" drunk that stumbled around Dobuita's streets at night is an ex-actor who is in fact only pretending to be drunk?

When Shenmue I and II were released, players had various options to access this extra character information in various forms such as the Shenmue Passport disc (for Shenmue I), magazine features and strategy guidebooks - even if much of this was published only in Japanese. However with Shenmue III,  there has been no such guide or character repository for Yu Suzuki's third game in the series.

But now, long-time Shenmue fan Stuart Peacock (otherwise known as Miles Prower on the Shenmue Dojo forums) has released to the community a comprehensive Shenmue III character database. The culmination of a great deal of thorough research and careful investigation, the database contains entries for 300+ characters met or seen in the game, complete with headshot images, names, ages, locations, notes and more, all of it just a few taps away.

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Shenmue Doujinshi "Mankan Zenseki": Extra Sample Pages | English Scanlations by Daniel Mann

You may recall our interview last month with mappy, one of the team of artists who created the delightful Shenmue doujinshi "Mankan Zenseki." (Read the interview here if you haven't yet seen it).

If you enjoyed the manga samples in English that accompanied the post, these scanlations were the skillful handiwork of Daniel Mann who both produced the text translations and seamlessly transplanted them into the original comic pages.

In the previous interview post we hinted at a further set of scanlations by Daniel of Mankan Zenseki sample pages, and we're delighted to present them in today's post.

(The comic panels read from right to left.)

Shenmue I Themed Sample Scanlations

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[Video] Shenmue 1&2 in Unreal Engine 4: Dragon and Phoenix Collection | Segalacious

A newly-announced (but already well-established) fan project called Shenmue Dragon and Phoenix Collection has been rousing excitement and anticipation throughout the Shenmue community.

By replacing the aging under-the-hood engine of the Shenmue I & II games with Unreal Engine 4, the project team aims to take advantage of modern rendering features to really show off the world of Shenmue as never before. Not only that, but the project will offer players two ways to enjoy the games: Dragon Edition, which will have gameplay that is entirely faithful to the originals and Phoenix Edition, which will be a "full UE4 reimagining" that modernizes the game with new features.

Can't wait to find out more? Segalacious has come to the rescue in his latest video below with tantalizing details and information as he breaks down exactly what the Dragon and Phoenix Collection is about, along with a Q&A session with the members of the modding team working on this ambitious task.

Shenmue 1&2 In Unreal 4 | Dragon and Phoenix Collection Modder Q&A, by Segalacious

Segalacious has also kindly allowed us to reproduce a full transcription of his narration below, together with a selection of in-engine screenshots he received from the project team for inclusion in the video.

Transcription:

The original Shenmue games are well known for being technically and visually impressive. Chasing the full potential of what Shenmue could look like using modern technology has long been an obsession for fans. Kid Nocon famously captivated the internet with his fan-made Shenmue HD remaster concept in 2014 that contributed to him being hired to work on Shenmue III. Videogame co-development studio d3t would assist Sega in creating an enhanced re-release of Shenmue I and II that was ported to the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Windows that both impressed and frustrated fans. As good as this port was it still missed the opportunity for greatness by neglecting to give the Shenmue games a thorough HD treatment in terms of cinematic cut scenes, sound quality, and other various blemishes. Soon after this release Digital Foundry broke a story about Sega's abandoned attempt at a ground up remake of the Shenmue games and fans were tantalized with the question “What if?” What if Shenmue I and II could be cleaned up to their fullest potential? Even if a true remake isn't financially possible, just how well could the original assets clean up on a modern engine like Unreal Engine 4?

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Interview with Shenmue Doujinshi Creator Mappy

Today we have a special interview with mappy, one of the team of artists (who are also of course Shenmue fans!) who recently released an amazing limited-print Shenmue doujinshi [fan-made comic book] called "Mankan Zenseki".

The cover of the "Mankan Zenseki" comic book.

The original interview in Japanese is included after the English translation.

英訳の後に日本語のインタビューの原文を掲載しています。

The 100-page book was released on 29th December 2020, and is A5 size in size. The cover illustration, shown above, wraps completely around to the back, so if two books are placed together they will form the complete image! It was produced in Japan, but the creators even offered global shipping for Shenmue fans overseas. Note: due to popular fan demand, the book sold out quickly after its release.

The book represents an updated edition of content that the artists published previously between 2002 and 2008, with new comics and some color illustrations added.

Note on the illustrations in this post: Mappy has kindly given us permission to reproduce some sample pages from the book in this post, and Daniel Mann has done a wonderful job of turning these into English scanlations! (We plan to feature more of his sample page scanlations in a future post). Note that the panels read right to left.

Introduction

PRS: To start, could you please introduce yourself?

mappy: My name is mappy. I have been a Shenmue fan since 2001.

Shenmue Fan-made Book “Mankan Zenseki”

PRS: I really enjoyed reading your Shenmue fan-made book! By the way, what does its name “Mankan Zenseki” mean?

mappy: Thank you very much for reading it! They call the more than 100 different types of imperial dishes in Chinese cuisine "Mankan Zenseki". Since this doujinshi was exactly 100 pages long, we decided on this title.

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Shenmue World: Fan-made Magazine on Kickstarter (Fully Funded!)

The Shenmue Dojo has just celebrated its 20th anniversary, and as part of the celebrations a new Kickstarter project was announced: Shenmue World is a fanzine that boasts 160+ pages of full-color fan-created content on Shenmue, packed with contributions from fans around the world,

The creator behind the whole project, Shenmue Dojo co-owner James Brown, has poured untold months of time and effort into designing and producing this magazine, and the result is something that any fan will be delighted to have on their shelf. The project is entirely non-profit, with the costs having been meticulously calculated to cover the costs of ordering a mass print of the items and shipping them to backers globally, all of which is laid out very transparently on the project page.

As the product creation and design has already been completed up-front, then after successful completion of the Kickstarter period the only remaining task is the physical print order.

In the Kickstarter project video (below), James gives a sneak preview of some of the magazine's content, and the high production values of the product impresses. The varied content includes an interview, fan art, cosplay photos, articles, manga... and a lot more that's waiting to be discovered once the magazine is in the backers' hands.

Incredibly, the reward for backing the project is not just the magazine itself, but also a number of Shenmue-themed extras: a music CD of tracks by RyoX, a print hand-signed by voice actor Eric Kelso, an A3 poster of the superb artwork by Kohji Nakazawa as featured on the magazine's cover, and even a set of Guilin picture postcards. A nice additional touch is that every backer's name will also be printed inside the magazine.

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Shenmue Undub: Definitive Edition | Video & Download

Case mock-up art by Shenmue Forever

In this post, we present an improved version of the Kogami Shenmue Undub, brought to you by Shenmue Master and Phantom River Stone. Download using the links below, and read on for more information about the Undub: Definitive Edition!

March 2023 Update!

• Previously, a separate step was necessary to enable subtitles before starting play by selecting "Game Mode" via the main Shenmue settings menu. This is no longer the case!
  
  Thanks to Derek Pascarella, the disc images have been updated so that Game Mode is set on by default meaning the subtitles will be displayed without this additional action. Many thanks to Derek! Check out his various Dreamcast and translation projects over on Twitter. 
• The information text for Disc 3 of the GDI version has been corrected (this previously incorrectly displayed as being GD-ROM2/4).

Download Shenmue Undub: Definitive Edition for the Dreamcast

Disclaimer: to legally use this you must own an original copy of Shenmue for the Dreamcast.

GDI images are now also available. Many thanks to Guillaume Nunes for preparing these!

Download the Undub (mdf/msd)

Download the Undub (GDI)

A download page for the Shenmue Undub is also now available over at the Shenmue Dojo.

Features & General Information

What is the Shenmue Undub (Definitive Edition) all about? Here is a brief list of features:

• Based on the Kogami Undub: this version builds upon the most complete fan-made Undub version, which was created by Kogami and runs on the Dreamcast.
• Full English subtitles: the official translated lines are used where available. A small number of the Japanese spoken lines (around 3%) which did not have English equivalent translations available have been translated by hand. A few small corrections were also made to fix specific lines that had incorrect grammar or meaning.
• Full Japanese audio with no down-sampling.
• PAL-compatible save files: saves can be carried over to the PAL version of Shenmue II.
• CDDA audio tracks included: recorded audio tracks play as expected during the game (e.g. the music that plays when Ryo rides home from the harbor with Nozomi on the back of his motorcycle).
• Coca Cola branding: the branding for the vending machines and soda cans in the game shows the Coca Cola branding, as seen in the Japanese version of Shenmue..
• Fixes for small glitches identified in the previous Undub version (e.g. conversations when Ryo knocked on house doors did not play out properly).
• Fits on standard CD-R discs: the images have been stream-lined to allow them to be played on a Dreamcast console using standard CD-R discs, with no missing or cut content.

Useful Notes

• Save files: Shenmue Undub loads and creates PAL (50Hz) compatible save files. Using a VMU that has NTSC save files may give an "Attempt to load game unsuccessful" error.
• ReDream emulator: this emulator runs the GDI version of the disc images (unzip these first). Under System Options, set the Broadcast setting to "pal".

Background

A few years ago we talked about a "100% translation" project that was underway by Shenmue Master and Phantom River Stone to produce an improved "Shenmue Undub" (Japanese audio + English subtitles) for the Dreamcast.

• Related post: Evolution of the Shenmue Undub Part 3: Translating the Last 3%

Previous fan builds of an Shenmue Undub had paved the way and already represented great achievements, and the Kogami version in particular was recognized as the most comprehensive version to date. There were however a few known issues still to overcome, such as a small percentage of subtitle lines that remained in Japanese for NPCs and a couple of minor glitches. Also, due to size requirements, the use of (notoriously-unreliable) 99-minute discs was necessary for playing on Dreamcast hardware.

The goal then for this project was to build on optimized version of Kogami's Shenmue Undub that would bring together a complete set of Japanese audio with a fully-translated set of English subtitles, and if possible fit these onto standard-capacity CD-R discs without compromising audio quality or loss of content.

Shenmue Master initiated the project, and reached out to Phantom River Stone to work together to achieve the goal. Work took place over a span of several months and a working version was achieved. However the project was subsequently put into hibernation, due to various factors.

The project team is now pleased to announce the result of the project effort: an updated Shenmue Undub which has been named the Definitive Edition.

Mentions

We're delighted to have had the Shenmue Undub: Definitive Edition covered by The Dreamcast Junkyard with a fantastic website post as well as discussion on the DreamPod podcast: Episode 82: Another Dreamcast News Round-Up. Many thanks to Tom and team for their support of this fan project!

Credits

The Definitive Edition is an extension of the Shenmue Undub version created by Kogami.

This project was led by the team at Shenmue Master who optimized the disc images. Translations for lines not officially available were provided by Phantom River Stone. (Special personal thanks to David from Shenmue Master for all his guidance and technical assistance in merging the additional translations and building test versions).

QA testing was carried out by GameHacKeR.

The Dreamcast case mock-up image was created by Shenmue Forever.

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Suka Pass v.1.1 Announced: New Character Profile Search

The fan-made Shenmue Passport app, Suka Pass, has received a shiny new update (the latest version is 1.1). You can now search for words across any character profile text, and check off characters as you meet them.

New features include:

• Character Profiles: Mark a character
• Character Profiles: Text search
• Character Profiles: Metric Units support
• Music: New music added
• Various fixes

Download the update via the Suka Pass site, or read more about the new features.

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The Changing Beauty of the Hazuki Cherry Tree

The Shenmue series is beloved by fans for its ability to draw you into its world with attention to the smallest details that really make you believe in it as a living, breathing world. And a new video by James Brown illustrates that perfectly, showing off the incredible depths in the game implemented by Yu Suzuki and team.

• James runs the SkillJim channel on YouTube and has contributed several articles in the past to the blog such as one describing the Tokyo Metro Shenmue stamp rally held that was held in 1999.

The cherry tree that stands in the Hazuki garden is brought to the player's attention in the starting prologue, which occurs during a thundery winter day, where it's calm domain is violated by Lan Di and his henchmen who dig up the earth to locate the Dragon mirror that has been buried there. After that, while it makes further appearances in a childhood flashback and dream sequences, it's appearance during game play may escape the player's notice.

James has captured its gradual season transformation that is portrayed in detail as time goes on, emphasizing its role as a time keeper in the game. Not only that, but other areas of the garden also undergo changes with the arrival of spring flowers popping up.

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"What is Shenmue 3?" | Fan-made Trailer

A wonderful trailer for Shenmue III has been put together for Shenmue Day (the 3rd of every month) by Shenmue Dojo member yuc02.

yuc02 is a past contributor of articles to this blog, and who also organized and produced a banner on behalf of the community, adorned with signatures and logos, that is now hanging proudly in the YS Net office.

This new trailer crafts together trailer footage, concept art and photos. Watch it here:

There is also a Japanese version:

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Shenmue Passport Fan-Made App "Suka Pass" Now Available for Download!

Today marks the launch of Suka Pass, a free fan-made revival of the Shenmue Passport!

Shenmue Passport accompanied the original Shenmue game on the Dreamcast and gave access to various extra content that helped flesh out the world of Yokosuka including music, movies and detailed character bios.

The motivation for app was to revive and preserve the passport's wealth of content, and was created by members from these community groups: Phantom River Stone, SkillJim, Shenmue Forever and Shenmue Dojo. (In the future I plan to write some posts for the blog to give some insight into some of the some behind-the-scenes activities that went into bringing it back to life).

It runs on both iOS and Android devices (and looks great on tablets!) so as Tom says, click on the image or link below to download it now!

Link to Download Page 

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Fan-Made Shenmue Passport Releasing August 27th | Suka Pass

Last year saw the release of Shenmue I & II HD, bringing our beloved game series to the modern day and creating a generation of new fans for the franchise.

However, those familiar with the Dreamcast version missed a certain part of the original release which didn't make the transition forward to the modern day: namely, the Shenmue Passport.

Well, Shenmue fans will not be left without for much longer. A new fan-made app called Suka Pass (a contraction of "Yokosuka Passport") has been in development over the past year, and is now ready for release! 

The release date for the app is in three days' time, on August 27th - a nod to the previously-scheduled release date of Shenmue III, providing fans with something to tide them over until they get their hands on the new game.

You can pre-register over at the Suka Pass website to receive an email with download instructions once the app is released.

Find out more at the Suka Pass website

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Diorama of the You Arcade: Interview with its Creator

Earlier this year, a talented Shenmue fan and model hobbyist in Japan completed an amazingly-accurate scale model diorama recreation of the interior of Shenmue's You Arcade.

Diorama of the You Arcade: view from the front.

We got in touch by email with the fan who created the diorama, Hiroaki Suzuki - who coincidentally shares the same surname as the series' creator - to ask what prompted him to embark on such a project and find out exactly how it was made.

(All images and videos of the diorama were included with the creator's kind permission. Note that the responses have been translated from Japanese).

An image and video gallery follows the interview.

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"Shenmue Gaiden: A Christmas Story" | Fanmade Visual Novel

Talented developer ShenSun is back with the release of a new visual novel creation named "Shenmue Gaiden: A Christmas Story", for all Shenmue fans to enjoy. (The original intention to release in December didn't work out due to real life commitments, but thankfully there's no need to wait until the end of this year to play!)

ShenSun's previous Shenmue visual novel released a year ago, "Shenmue Gaiden; Christmas Event", masterfully mixed audio-visual elements together to produce a memorable and moving story that was sprinkled with plenty of humor throughout, and this year's release provides an equally-immersive experience to satisfy those Shenmue cravings.

Our post on the previous game can be found here:

• "Shenmue Gaiden: Christmas Event" [Jan 2017]

Storywise, "A Christmas Story" starts out with a similar premise to the previous version: you the player have been invited along to an upcoming Christmas party with Ryo and friends.

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Ryo spotted joy-riding through Dobuita

On a recent visit to Dobuita Street, this crazy biker almost ran me over!

(The photo was taken at the quieter end of Dobuita Street.)

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Evolution of the Shenmue Undub Part 3: Translating the Last 3%

Over the past half-year (with support from the French-language fansite Shenmue Master and others), I have been working on translating the small percentage of subtitle lines in the Kogami undub that were still displayed in Japanese - as well as including a few other miscellaneous fixes.

The point has now been reached where the work has been completed, and once fully tested this updated version will be released to the community in the future.

This post goes over the various changes that have been made for this "100% translated" version.

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2 New Additions to the Shenmue Community | Shenmue Blog & Shenmue Lounge

The Shenmue community has gained two awesome new Shenmue services, set up by fans for everyone's enjoyment.

One is a newly-launched blog from community member BlueMue, and the other is a new media channel featuring live-streams of Shenmue news & gameplay hosted by Peter Campbell, launching at the start of next week.

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