DS Kageyama Method: Tadashii Kanji Kakitori-kun - Kondo wa Kanken Taisaku Dayo!

DS Kageyama Method: Correct Kanji Kakitori-kun - Now with Kanken Preparation! is an expanded re-release of a kanji learning game. With the help of Professor Kageyama and some polygonal birds, study up and prepare for the Kanji Kentei!

Unused Stroke Data#

In bimoji/, there is unused data for Writing mode: specifically, stroke files for the small hiragana っ, ゃ, ゅ, ょ and the small katakana ッ, ャ, ュ, and ョ. If these small kana are hacked into the character selection screen, Writing mode will be able to load the unused files.

Once loaded, however, any attempt to actually write the small kana will result in a score of 0 points. This is probably caused by other missing or incomplete data.

Unused Graphics#

Since this game is played with the Nintendo DS held vertically like a book, all graphics are actually stored sideways in the ROM (except when noted below). All affected images have been rotated for easier viewing.

Early Title Screen#

Early	Early (with background)	Final

title_bg00.narc is a simple title screen, likely used as a placeholder during development. It's copied almost directly from the prequel to this game; the only differences are a lack of animations and the addition of a number 2.

On a similar note, while the final game doesn't have a 2 in its title, the internal title is still "KAKITORI2".

Early	Final

title_bg02.narc is another unused image, possibly used alongside the early title screen. It translates to "Please touch the screen." It lacks the animations of the final version, but otherwise it's identical.

Neither of the two images are referenced anywhere in the game's executable.

UI Elements#

Unused Menu Title#

Tiles	Tilemapped Graphic

An unused menu title that says "Help Menu" can be found among the tiles in iga/help/tori26.narc and iga/help/tori27.narc. Some of its tiles are strangely miscolored.

During tests, it would have appeared at the top of the pause menu. While these graphics are used for the pause menu, the tiles in question are not used.

Unused Banner#

obi25.narc is an unused banner that translates to "Let's try to answer." It isn't referenced in the game's executable.

Unknown Menu Part#

Individual Files	Combined Mockup

title00.narc and title17.narc combine to form an unknown menu part. It looks like a menu title, except it has triangular cutouts at either end and the font is slightly thicker. The text means "Writing" (referring to the game's Writing mode), and it would have appeared at the top of the screen. Neither of these files are referenced in the game's executable.

Unused Minutes Display#

Unused	Final (at the bottom)

time00.narc is a display for number of minutes. It isn't referenced in the game's executable.

The final game uses a larger minutes display, which appears during tests at the bottom of the pause menu. It's part of a unified menu graphic rather than a file of its own, and it shows the elapsed time compared to the time limit.

While the unused graphic may be an earlier version, it's also possible it would have been used elsewhere in addition to the final version.

Messages#

Unused	Final

mess016.narc is an unused, unreferenced version of "Return to the drill selection screen?" The unused one appears higher on-screen and is a tilemapped graphic, while the final version is a sprite. Aside from that, they're visually identical.

Unused	Final

mess020.narc is an unused, unreferenced version of "Return to the settings screen?" The furigana "せ" is shorter, and there are subtle differences in anti-aliasing. Also, the unused version appears higher on-screen and is a tilemapped graphic, while the final version is a sprite.

Unused

mess034.narc is an unused message that asks "Return to the grade selection screen?" This implies that before the ability to save was implemented, quitting a test would have returned to the grade selection screen.

An unreferenced identical copy of the file can be found at iga/help/mess034.narc.

Unused	Final	Comparison

mess036.narc is an unused, unreferenced version of "Practiced 10 times in a row. Return to the character selection screen?"

As seen in the comparison, nearly all the furigana were touched up in the final version, and some lighter pixels were mistakenly drawn over the last "し" in the second line. Also, the unused version appears higher on-screen and is a tilemapped graphic, while the final version is a sprite.

Tamagotchi Test Sprites#

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: These are referenced by the ARM9 binary, so see if they're used in an animation test or something. Also, check if the sprites are from an existing Tamagotchi game, most likely the one made by Jupiter.

Test sprites featuring Tamagotchi characters, for some reason. Animation speeds are estimated. These sprites (and the debug font) are the only graphics that aren't rotated to match the DS' vertical orientation.

test_sprite	Animation Name
	CellAnime0

test_sprite is the face of Tamagotchi Planet. There is only a single animation, showing him asleep and drooling.

test_sprite2	Name of animation
	aseri (mild panic)
	odoroki (surprise)
	koke (trip/fall over)
	mepati (eyes blink)
	(combined mockup)

test_sprite2 is Kuchipatchi, another Tamagotchi character. Various animations show him panicking and falling down.

test_sprite3	Name of animation
	CellAnime0
	CellAnime1

test_sprite3 shows smoke rising in two animations.

test_sprite4	Name of animation
	walk
	koke (trip/fall over)
	stand
	smile
	keep_koke (keep tripped/fallen)
	(combined mockup)

test_sprite4 is another Tamagotchi character, a Royal Servant, carrying a cup and saucer. He has different animations for walking, falling over, and getting back up.

Debug Font#

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: The ARM9 binary still references the debug font file. Does that mean it's used (likely for debug menus)? If so, then given that the palette file isn't referenced, does the debug font actually use the palette or not?

DebugFont/key2.chr is a font that's likely meant for debugging purposes. It differs significantly from all the other fonts in the ROM—it doesn't contain any Japanese characters, the file format is completely different, and the characters aren't rotated to match the DS' vertical orientation.

DebugFont/key2.col is a palette of 16 colors. Its file format is different from all other palettes in the ROM. It seems to go with the debug font; however, the debug font is only designed to use the first two colors of the palette, black and white.

Unused Text#

Professor Kageyama Messages#

scriptMesTbl.dat contains lines spoken by Professor Kageyama. Found among them are 101 lines that simply say "ダミー" ("Dummy").

Most of the dummy lines use Professor Kageyama's default pose and leave the top screen blank. However, some use different poses, and a couple also display something on the Top Screen.

Correction Messages#

word/tensaku.dsv contains tips, corrections, and other messages used to evaluate the characters written in Writing mode. Among them are various dummy messages. (Several duplicates have been omitted.)

After the last two entries above, there are ten more entries in which the first two numbers continue to increase from 58 to 67, i.e. FIVE EIGHT to SIX SEVEN.

Development Text#

Hello World#

hello.txt is a regular text file that isn't referenced anywhere in the game's executable.

Hello, world!

Database Copyright#

Copyright Decuma http://www.decuma.com
ver 4.1.0 Market. dbtag: Nintendo_Jis1-2 Mon Jun 25 11:26:12 2007

Present near the beginning of data/dltjdb.dat, the handwriting recognition database. It includes a copyright, version number, and possible build date. The website mentioned here is now defunct, as Decuma AB was acquired by Zi Corporation prior to the development of this game.

Debug Menus#

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: Are these menus still accessible, or are these strings all that's left of them?

<< Debug Menu >>
Task ID : %3d
Name    : %s
A : ChangeTask / X : Exit Game

A simple debug menu, found at offset 0xEAFBC of the ARM9 binary.

_/_/_/_/_/ DebugSound _/_/_/_/_/
BGM   : %d
SE    : %d

A simple menu for testing music and sound effects. Located at offset 0xF9040 of the ARM9 binary.

Developer Credit#

Present at offset 0xF2154 of the ARM9 binary. "HiroKanata" may refer to Hiroyuku Tanaka, one of the game's programmers.

It was made in 2007.HiroKanata

Other Strings#

[SDK+Zi Corporation:DLTLIB]

Found at offset 0xBD8 of ARM9 binary. Zi Corporation provided the handwriting recognition technology, though it isn't credited in-game.

アイウエオ
アイウエオ
アイウエオ
アイウエオ？

あいうえお
あいうえお
あいうえお鳥Ｋ
あいうえお鳥Ｋ

Purpose unknown, possibly test strings? Each of these begins with the first five characters of the Japanese alphabet. "鳥Ｋ" may be referring to "Kakitori" or "Kakitori-kun" from the game's title. The strings are Shift JIS encoded and reside at offsets 0xE9A34 and 0xEB318 of the ARM9 binary, respectively.

References to Nonexistent Files#

/Test3D/human_run_t.nsbmd

Found at offset 0xEB03C of the ARM9 binary. This file doesn't actually exist within the ROM, but an unused 3D model with the same name can be found in Densetsu no Stafy 4 and Super Princess Peach.

/paper01_a_right.NSCR
/paper01.NCGR
/paper01.NCLR

Found at offset 0xECEC4 of the ARM9 binary. Filenames for a 2D graphic that no longer exists. Oddly, only a "right" .NSCR tilemap file is listed here; by contrast, all graphics used in the final game have tilemaps for both left and right orientation.

/tensaku00_x.narc

Found at offset 0xF7328 of the ARM9 binary. The game only contains tensaku00_a.narc through tensaku00_f.narc; they're images used for the different score rankings in Writing mode.

Oddities#

Fallback Character#

If Writing mode tries to load a character with missing data, then instead of crashing, the game will load the data for the kanji 正. This behavior is never seen in normal gameplay; to witness it, one would have to delete stroke data files from the ROM or hack invalid characters (like numbers or punctuation) into the character selection screen.

The kanji 正 means "correct"; it may have been chosen for being the first character in the game's title (after the series name).

Wii Channel Banner#

opening.bnr is actually the Wii Channel banner file used by the North American version of Trauma Center: Second Opinion. Its presence here is almost certainly an accident. Unsurprisingly, the game's executable doesn't reference this file.