Syndicate Wars (DOS)/Korean Version

This is a sub-page of Syndicate Wars (DOS).

The Korean release of Syndicate Wars is an extremely strange version of the game. Distributed in Korea by Dong Seo in early 1997, it's not clear if the company had any technical hand in the release, as there are no new credits, unlike the Japanese Windows release. It's actually likely to be a Bullfrog in-house work, due to how little effort seems to have been put into localising the release, but unfortunately (or extremely fortunately for fans of cut stuff) also by someone seemingly with little knowledge of the actual game or its development, based on the bizarre mistakes made in mastering the disc. File timestamps indicate that the disc image was assembled in January 1997.

The Korean version in fact has no Korean language option or text at all, and only includes English language files. The setup executable still allows the user to try and install all the other European languages, even though they don't exist on the disc (although their respective in-game menu icons oddly still do).

The core sound and text files for the game are identical to the original English release (the new sound effects from the German and Japanese versions are not included).

Japanese Censorship

Due to Korea's then-strict anti-Japanese culture laws, all Japanese writing in textures is removed, and the advert for Ghost in the Shell is instead replaced with a second copy of the Judge Dredd/2000AD ad. Because the SOUND.DAT file was not altered to reflect this, these second instances of the 2000AD ad still use the original voiceovers advertising Ghost in the Shell.

Texture Differences

TEX01

Original	Korean

TEX02

Original	Korean

TEX03

Original	Korean

Oddly, the Manga entertainment logo in the fourth texture file is not removed, and as visible above there is now a new English reference to "anime" in the replacement textures. No one would associate anime and manga with Japanese culture, right?

(Source: Mefistotelis)

FMV Differences

Various FMVs have also been censored with visible Japanese text overlaid with new English text or blurred.

Original	Korean

A neon sign with Japanese characters visible in the Eurocorp Mission Failed FMV has been overlaid with a graphic of a new sign saying "DANCING".

The Japanese characters under the "Devil Fish" shop sign in the intro have been blurred. Oddly, the same sign seen partially in the Mission Complete FMV is not censored at all.

(Source: Mefistotelis)

Changed Map Files

One of the strangest changes is the alterations to several of the game's maps. While the maps have newer timestamps than those of the original game (and even compared to the rest of those on the disc) the changed maps have large numbers of objects removed/missing from them. Comparing these to the PlayStation version reveals that in fact several are exact matches. Combined with the PlayStation format map/level files also included on the disc it seems the Korean build was unwittingly created from a snapshot of the game's main development files (which were shared between both versions of the game) during transition to the second design iteration of the PS1 release. The maps that had been changed were being simplified to run on the PlayStation. What's even more interesting is that while some of the maps exactly match the PS1 versions (Phoenix, Johannesburg) others are still undergoing that process. That Bangkok is missing the PlayStation-only transport tubes is revealing, as it suggests that trains were still included in this build of the PS1 game (implied by early coverage as being the case before the port was radically resigned). So too all levels featuring the London map were totally removed from the final PlayStation version, to the extent that the first Eurocorp level was totally redone on another map in the end. The file included here shows an already greatly simplified London map for the PlayStation port, but clearly even this was not enough for the console version.

Map 2 - Matochkin Shar

Original	Korean

Minimal changes, only the walkway model used in multiple locations in the level has been changed to a thinner one.

Map 3 - Bangkok

Original	Korean

Massive amounts of detail missing in the base to the right of the level. The bank on the left is missing its stone lions, and more importantly the statue and office block are now a pointless open field. Lots of fencing is also missing from around the level, but especially at the church and the IML stations.

Map 10 - Phoenix

Original	Korean

Note the massive amount of buildings and objects missing at the right-hand edge of the map, the three buildings missing at the bottom, and the disappearance of the DeLorean from the traffic island across from the car dealership. The wreckage at top of the map is more simplistic.

Map 22 - Johannesburg

Original	Korean

The industrial area to the right has only been sketched out as a skeleton in the Korean version, and a similar area to the left is missing many bits of extra detail.

Map 26 - Buenos Aires

Original	Korean

The church at the bottom is missing lots of embellishments, including half the gravestones. The stadium to the right is missing the statues outside, and the one inside it. The industrial area at the top is greatly simplified, as is another one to the far left.

Map 30 - London

Original	Korean

Most obviously, this map is missing the external walls. The industrial areas are also looking sparse to the right of the map, with a dome and lots of gas tanks missing.

Map 65 - The Moon

The game ships with a file in the maps directory called MAP065.OLD. Comparison shows this is in fact the final game's map 65 file. What is more interesting is the file that takes its place. There is no difference at all in terrain visible, but checking the level's pathfinding data exposes a single crucial difference between the two versions - the "cage" area the Moon Mech enemy starts in has the blocking collision on one of its sides removed, allowing the cut final boss to move. This is the case in the final PS1 version, where the boss is replaced with a lesser claw mech that starts in the same place (but does attack, unlike the PC version). This change allows the final game boss to be restored to the PC version.

(Source: Mefistotelis)

DAT Files

Also included in the Maps directory are several .DAT files for various maps. Analysis shows these are the raw map object data files that would then be processed to have the pathfinding and vehicle traffic data "baked" in to form the final .MAD files (and combined with level files to create final PlayStation .MUL files). The fact the ones included match the "new" .MAD map files suggests these had been used to generate new maps from these files before release, hence their wrongful inclusion.

MAP010.DAT
MAP022.DAT
MAP026.DAT
MAP030.DAT
MAP044.DAT

(Source: Mefistotelis)

PlayStation Version Map Files

Bizarrely, a complete set of maps for the PlayStation version of the game are present in the Maps directory of the disc. Even stranger is the fact that this includes 21 previously-unreleased levels that are not on the PS1 final game disc. And that's without the fact all these maps are in a totally different format to the final PlayStation maps (and are likely from the scrapped first attempt at the game's port documented in pre-release coverage). It also includes levels for things like the Orbital Station level, which was removed from the final PS1 version entirely. Analysis of these files reveals the data structures in them are still mostly the same as the PC version at this point, whereas they would be aggressively optimised for the final PS1 build to reduce memory-wasting empty fields.

New Maps:

MAP01L03.MUL
MAP05L01.MUL
MAP07L01.MUL
MAP09L03.MUL
MAP11L01.MUL
MAP20L16.MUL
MAP22L02.MUL
MAP25L16.MUL
MAP25L46.MUL
MAP26L01.MUL
MAP26L02.MUL
MAP27L01.MUL
MAP27L02.MUL
MAP30L02.MUL
MAP30L16.MUL
MAP32L02.MUL
MAP32L16.MUL
MAP36L01.MUL
MAP36L02.MUL
MAP41L01.MUL
MAP79L02.MUL

There's also a file charmingly called POO that simply contains a directory listing of all these PS1 map files. It begins with:

 Volume in drive N is WORK       
 Directory of N:\Syn2\FINAL\SWARS.CD\GAME\MAPS

Changed Levels

To do: The level file c003l001.dat for the Eurocorp mission Bring Him Back Alive is massively different, with a third of characters removed. Needs testing to see how this version actually plays

Several levels have different timestamps, and examining them reveals that while they are exactly the same in terms of enemies etc., the characters defined within have different levels of health and movement speeds, suggesting either earlier versions of the levels, or an attempt at a rebalance to make them easier.

TEXT.DAT Changes

This is the only version of the game to add the following multiplayer modem game error strings to the end of this file:

INITIALISING MODEM DIALLING WAITING FOR CALL ERROR\n\nCouldn't initialise modem. ERROR\n\nFailed to connect. ERROR\n\nModem timed out. ERROR\n\nError dialling. ERROR\n\nError initialising. ERROR\n\nError answering. CONNECTED ERROR\n\nNo dial tone. ERROR\n\nNo carrier. ERROR\n\nBusy.

(Source: Mefistotelis)