Gachaste! Dino Device (Red and Blue)

Discuss the Dino Device 1 games here.
RacieB
Posts: 871
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:27 am

Re: Gachaste! Dino Device (Red and Blue)

Post by RacieB »

Has anybody played this besides me? I love this game but it's pretty hard to figure out at first if you don't read Japanese. When I figure the goals out better, I'll write some sort of a walkthrough for it.

When you first start the game, you're asked to fill out an address book type entry for yourself.. name, gender (note: whether you pick male or female, the protagonist is male), birthdate, address, bloodtype, phone numbers, etc. plus input the current date. What for? Well, mainly think Monster Rancher.. your Dinomo (the robots/monsters of this series) are spawned from these address book entries. Also, Dino Device's main menu, a device called the Planet OS, carries the following options:

DinoDevice (the main game)
Data Save (saves the game)
Communication (link battles or trading; DinoDevice works on VBAlink with this)
Minigame 1 - shooter (a lot like Xevious)
Minigame 2 - minesweeper (not the same as the computer version)
Minigame 3 - feed Dinomo (run around giving the right food to whiny Dinomo)
Music List (the game's soundtrack.. 20 tracks, kind of short but good)
Memo (write whatever here)
Finances (keep track of your savings and spendings)
Calculator (a calculator >__>)
Schedule (a calendar)
Timetable (another calendar, I forget which does what though)
Address Book (where all of your address entries are stored)

A fairly useful collection for one GBA cart, wouldn't you agree? Also I love the menu music.

Anyhow, once you start the game, you are given your first Dinomo.. depending on version, it is either Centaurus-Agena (red) or Centaurus-Toliman (blue). Now, Dinomo are arranged like.. there are 30 main types in all, all named after constellations. Each of these main types has five sub types- normal, fire, water, thunder, and earth. These subtypes are named after stars in that constellation. These subtypes all learn the same moves and can use the same equipment as each other, their typings just seem to determine strengths/weaknesses against weapon types. But yes.. with 30 Dinomo divided into 5 types each, that's 150 you can get in all.

After you get your Centaurus, you're asked to generate a new Dinomo based on whatever your address book entry was. You watch a scene of the protagonist sticking a card in a toy dispenser machine - you know the ones you put 50 cents in and a plastic ball comes out with a toy? - and.. Gachaste! A Dinomo comes out. What kind? Well, I can't tell you. It's different for everyone. When I first played I got Aquarius (a spikey turtle), probably because of my birthdate. The subtypes that come out when you generate Dinomo this way are random, so you can keep using the same address entry if you want all the types of a certain kind.

Then, things get a bit confusing. Basically you're hired by this girl to build houses for Dinomo, she shows you how to build a house, put a Dinomo in, take a Dinomo out, and demolish it, then you're left to your own devices for a while to go around building houses and stores and generating Dinomo until she yells at you to build a Stadium. This is the part where I initially got stuck.. because I didn't have enough money to build it and she stopped paying me while she was yelling.. Oops, new game -_-"

Once you build the stadium, you can participate in battles. Battles are sort of a cross between Battleship and turn-based fighting.. honestly they're hard to describe, so I've got a couple videos showing how they work kinda:

Centaurus-Agena, Leo-Algieba, and Libra-Elgenubi

Cancer-Praesepe, Lepus-Arneb, and Scorpius-Sargas
(my favorite team, I've got an old unfinished drawing of them here.)

Also, besides generating Dinomo from address book entries, occasionally a "wild" one will assault you (it runs up to you HOWLING) and you can have a one-on-one fight with it, if you beat it you can keep it. I think this is the only way to get certain rare ones.

Oh man I almost forgot weapons and stuff.. There is some ridiculous amount of weapons and armors, all of them coming in the same types as Dinomo do. You can outfit them with as much stuff as they can carry, although different "body types" have different things they can hold. The ghost-like ones (Ophiuchus, Gemini, and Perseus) are basically a head with arms, so they can carry one weapon and one shield. Sea creatures (Scorpius, Cancer, and Cetus) can carry two weapons and a head shield, if I remember correctly. Also, different body types have different effects on the battlefield.. sea creatures generate a fog in the squares around them so the enemy can't see their position, plant-like ones can lay two beartraps down instead of one, birds can swoop in to assist a partner, etc.

I'm not sure what the ultimate goal of the game is.. once while just playing through, I was invited to go to a Battle Convention. There were other people there and I fought my way through the ranks, expecting to win a rare Dinomo or something but.. nothing special seemed to happen. I only saw the place once so I dunno how often that happens or what triggers it. I still have a lot more to learn about the game.
Blaziken257
Posts: 983
Joined: Fri Dec 22, 2006 11:52 am

Re: Gachaste! Dino Device (Red and Blue)

Post by Blaziken257 »

No, I haven't played this game, but I heard of it (from your YouTube videos). I couldn't really understand what was going on, because my knowledge of Japanese is non-existant. I don't know any Japanese whatsoever, I can't really play it at all. It looks like an RPG, though, so is it anything like Telefang/Telefang 2? The game sounds like a cool concept from what you said about it.
RacieB
Posts: 871
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:27 am

Re: Gachaste! Dino Device (Red and Blue)

Post by RacieB »

My knowledge of Japanese is pretty limited.. I can recognize katakana fairly well but that's about it. Most of my figuring out what to do involved copying down whatever was being said and dumping it in Babelfish to get an idea of what was going on. I suppose I could try figuring out the storyline and such that way, but it'd be kind of time-consuming.. although who else is gonna do it?!

It's really nothing like Telefang.. trying to think of stuff to compare it to is kinda difficult really, it's pretty unique. I guess it is an RPG, there's leveling and equipment and stuff, but I'm really not sure of the plot other than what I can vaguely infer from the soundtrack listing..

01 Planet OS Activation
02 Opening
03 Normal City
04 Hazardous City
05 Fun BGM
06 Battle Convention
07 Normal Battle 1
08 Normal Battle 2
09 Cheering BGM
10 Defeat BGM
11 Pinch BGM
12 Baira- City (cannot figure out what Baira- is, just a name or Vira or something? I dunno x_x)
13 Boss Battle 1 (I can't remember if you got to hear the boss music at the Convention..)
14 Boss Battle 2
15 Sad BGM
16 Room Governor
17 Last Battle 1 (I love this music.. I guess there's some sort of last boss)
18 Last Battle 2
19 Goal BGM
20 Staff Roll

So.. yes. Not a lot to go on. You're in an internet type place, at least from what the background looks like on the map, and you build houses for robot critters and occassionally there is a tournament, and somewhere bosses, and at some point, a last boss. That's all I know of the story =/
Blaziken257
Posts: 983
Joined: Fri Dec 22, 2006 11:52 am

Re: Gachaste! Dino Device (Red and Blue)

Post by Blaziken257 »

An Internet type place huh? Sounds like this game is futuristic... I may try it out sometime. Until I get stuck due to my lack of ability to read Japanese, that is... doesn't help that there are NO FAQ's of the game on GameFAQs (unlike Telefang 2) so I might not be able to get very far.

I wonder if I should learn Japanese just for these Japanese-exclusive games... Japan gets a LOT of stuff that the U.S. doesn't get. Grrr...
lapeirousia19(imported)
Posts: 168
Joined: Thu Dec 06, 2007 2:36 am

Re: Gachaste! Dino Device (Red and Blue)

Post by lapeirousia19(imported) »

Do you have any screenshots??
RacieB
Posts: 871
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:27 am

Re: Gachaste! Dino Device (Red and Blue)

Post by RacieB »

Image
Centaurus Agena vs Corvus Algorab

Image
Virgo Syrma vs Cepheus Alfirk

Image
Cygnus Deneb

Image
Hercules Rasalgethi
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Sanqui
Posts: 736
Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2007 12:25 am

Re: Gachaste! Dino Device (Red and Blue)

Post by Sanqui »

I .. somewhat remember this game. I dont know about the name or anything, but I remember playing an game with same graphics and music... Strange. Some kind of Deja-Vu! I should play this game ^__^
RacieB
Posts: 871
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:27 am

Re: Gachaste! Dino Device (Red and Blue)

Post by RacieB »

Well.. it's been something I've been meaning to do for a long time, and I've finally started it...

Image Image Image

The number of available text characters (includes punctuation, numerals, uppercase, lowercase, hiragana, katakana, and yes some kanji too), plus apparent multiple methods of encoding text, are NOT making this easy. I wanted to start out with all the Dino names, but I can't find them in the rom at all with the table I've made. I have, however, found the majority of the battle text, so I'm going with that for now. Even a partial patch should make it more appealing for people to play on VBAlink with me, right <_<?!
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Sanqui
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Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2007 12:25 am

Re: Gachaste! Dino Device (Red and Blue)

Post by Sanqui »

RacieB,Jan 16 2008 wrote: Well.. it's been something I've been meaning to do for a long time, and I've finally started it...

Image Image Image

The number of available text characters (includes punctuation, numerals, uppercase, lowercase, hiragana, katakana, and yes some kanji too), plus apparent multiple methods of encoding text, are NOT making this easy. I wanted to start out with all the Dino names, but I can't find them in the rom at all with the table I've made. I have, however, found the majority of the battle text, so I'm going with that for now. Even a partial patch should make it more appealing for people to play on VBAlink with me, right <_<?!
Great! I can help, if you need one. I had some experince with translating in HEX. (I dont know hiragana or katakana...)
Zephyr(imported)
Posts: 113
Joined: Wed Dec 06, 2006 7:37 am

Re: Gachaste! Dino Device (Red and Blue)

Post by Zephyr(imported) »

Awesome! :D Can I say how much this rules? I can't wait until this is translated enough for me to play without being totally lost. :D

...Wish I could help, but I am Japanese-impaired and know nothing about hacking. Is there anything an average Smilesoft enthusiast such as myself can do to help?
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