Exploring Tokimeki Memorial: Files changed between revisions

Releases of Tokimeki Memorial: Forever With You for PSX after the original print run changed various files. Since normal file listings are not accessible in later printings of the disc, a creative approach has to be taken to compare files. This analysis reveals that various files have changed between revisions.

Preface: Method

The main executable of Tokimeki Memorial accesses files by referencing the disc sector, rather than the filename. In the original release, the file index is accessible anyway, allowing the filenames to be viewed in a normal PC. Subsequent printings appear to have a corruption in the file index, perhaps intentionally to foil casual piracy or cheating.

However, the files appear to be located in the same sectors. This means applying the index for the original disc to the later ones gives us a chance to recover the files for comparison to the originals.

A tool called jPSXdec, intended for extracting FMV from PSX discs, has the side-effect of producing an index which maps any known filenames to disc sectors. By replacing the .BIN with another and loading the same index file, it’s possible to extract the same files to the same names, assuming they are still the same filesize and in the same locations.

Original release Rev 1 v110 => Limited edition v110 (31 Aug 1995)

No changes. All files are identical, except for the CD-ROM disc metadata.

Rev 1 v110 => Rev 2 v125 (17 Nov 1995)

The following files changed:

psx.exe
openxa.str
konamic3.str
cdrom/bs/d_12_02.bs
cdrom/bs/d_24_03.bs
cdrom/bunka/bun_fu.bin
cdrom/bunka/ko_s6.bin
cdrom/exedir/bunkaken.exn
cdrom/exedir/bunkasai.exn
cdrom/exedir/bunka_sd.exn
cdrom/exedir/date2.exn
cdrom/exedir/date.exn
cdrom/exedir/ending.exn
cdrom/exedir/en_nichi.exn
cdrom/exedir/etc.exn
cdrom/exedir/geko.exn
cdrom/exedir/kangei.exn
cdrom/exedir/master.exn
cdrom/exedir/name_ent.exn
cdrom/exedir/olh.exn
cdrom/exedir/omimai.exn
cdrom/exedir/option.exn
cdrom/exedir/rensyu.exn
cdrom/exedir/rpg_bat.exn
cdrom/exedir/shougatu.exn
cdrom/exedir/shugaku.exn
cdrom/exedir/taco.exn
cdrom/exedir/taiiku.exn
cdrom/exedir/tel.exn
cdrom/exedir/tt.exn
cdrom/exedir/valen.exn
cdrom/fukutest/joho.nbn
cdrom/fukutest/option.nbn
cdrom/fukutest/staff_r.nbn
cdrom/serifu/date_ka.bin
cdrom/serifu/date_mi.bin
cdrom/serifu/date_ni.bin
cdrom/serifu/ending.bin
cdrom/serifu/event_as.bin
cdrom/serifu/event_ka.bin
cdrom/serifu/event_kg.bin
cdrom/serifu/event_ni.bin
cdrom/serifu/gasshuku.bin
cdrom/serifu/shugaku.bin
cdrom/serifu/white.bin
cdrom/serifu/xmas.bin
cdrom/shiai/siai_tx.bin
cdrom/taiiku/kari.bin
cdrom/taiiku/taopd.bin
cdrom/taiiku/tasetu.bin
cdrom/tara_obj/karakasi.bin
cdrom/vab_seq/koku_vol.vh
cdrom/xa_g/asahina.xa
cdrom/xa_g/bgm378.xa
cdrom/xa_g/etc.xa
cdrom/xa_g/fujisaki.xa
cdrom/xa_g/himoo.xa
cdrom/xa_g/kagami.xa
cdrom/xa_g/katagiri.xa
cdrom/xa_g/kisaragi.xa
cdrom/xa_g/kiyokawa.xa
cdrom/xa_g/koshiki.xa
cdrom/xa_g/mikihara.xa
cdrom/xa_g/nijino.xa
cdrom/xa_g/yoshio.xa
cdrom/xa_g/yumi.xa

This list of changes omits several files which read as unchanged except that they’re padded with zeroes. Many of these are .bs files which appear to be padded to some round number of bytes, either as an artifact of the file read process or perhaps for some technical reason.

Nearly all the overlays in exedir are changed. The only ones which haven’t are event.exn and gaozi.exn. The leftover object file o.bin is still unchanged, suggesting that it’s an accidental leftover from an old version.

The extraction method doesn’t allow for examining file dates. However, for those files in the root directory, files which changed have retained their original file date. This suggests that the staff member who authored the disc provided updates by modifying the original disc image without changing its metadata. It also suggests that, if we could read the metadata (which appears to still exist, it’s just somehow corrupted or unreadable), it’s plausible that the file dates would not have changed.

Rev 2 v125 => Rev 4 v143 (31 Mar 1996)

The following files changed between V125 and V143:

psx.exe
cdrom/exedir/bunka_sd.exn
cdrom/exedir/bunkaken.exn
cdrom/exedir/bunkasai.exn
cdrom/exedir/date.exn
cdrom/exedir/date2.exn
cdrom/exedir/en_nichi.exn
cdrom/exedir/ending.exn
cdrom/exedir/etc.exn
cdrom/exedir/geko.exn
cdrom/exedir/kangei.exn
cdrom/exedir/master.exn
cdrom/exedir/name_ent.exn
cdrom/exedir/olh.exn
cdrom/exedir/omimai.exn
cdrom/exedir/option.exn
cdrom/exedir/rensyu.exn
cdrom/exedir/rpg_bat.exn
cdrom/exedir/shougatu.exn
cdrom/exedir/shugaku.exn
cdrom/exedir/taco.exn
cdrom/exedir/taiiku.exn
cdrom/exedir/tel.exn
cdrom/exedir/tt.exn
cdrom/exedir/valen.exn
cdrom/master/tear.bin

Again, files whose only changes are zero-padding are omitted from the changes list. The files event.exn and gaozi.exn are still unchanged.

Rev4 v v.143 => PlayStation the Best (25 Dec 1997)

This version looks like it may be a new CD image burned from scratch from the set of files, given changes like file dates and punctuation in the metadata name. The following files have changed:

cdrom/bunka/twinbee.bin
cdrom/en_game/kingyo.bin
cdrom/en_game/shateki.bin
cdrom/exedir/bunkaken.exn
cdrom/exedir/bunkasai.exn
cdrom/exedir/bunka_sd.exn
cdrom/exedir/date2.exn
cdrom/exedir/date.exn
cdrom/exedir/ending.exn
cdrom/exedir/en_nichi.exn
cdrom/exedir/etc.exn
cdrom/exedir/geko.exn
cdrom/exedir/kangei.exn
cdrom/exedir/master.exn
cdrom/exedir/name_ent.exn
cdrom/exedir/olh.exn
cdrom/exedir/omimai.exn
cdrom/exedir/option.exn
cdrom/exedir/rensyu.exn
cdrom/exedir/rpg_bat.exn
cdrom/exedir/shougatu.exn
cdrom/exedir/shugaku.exn
cdrom/exedir/taco.exn
cdrom/exedir/taiiku.exn
cdrom/exedir/tel.exn
cdrom/exedir/tt.exn
cdrom/exedir/valen.exn

A file size modification appears to have occurred in cdrom/taiiku/kasetu.bin. This and every file alphabetically after it on the disc are detecting as modified, which probably means that this file was changed in size and as a result all files after it in the disc are actually moved in position. The sector count is also apparently 14 blocks smaller (298,500 instead of 298,514). It’s possible that some files located after cdrom/taiiku/kasetu.bin have been modified.

It may be notable that event.exn and gaozi.exn remain unchanged from the original release.

The main exe has been renamed from PSX.EXE to SLPM_86.053, and system.cnf has been updated to reflect that.

Other releases

While there was a 2003 PSone re-release (SLPM-87300), I don’t have a copy of that version.

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