Tamagotchi Park App for Keitai Tamagotchi - Server Recreation

[stark oasis]

Sorry, the original post got deleted because I put some outlinks to the server where we are working on the app implementation. I will stick to the general discussion of the project until I get mod approval to share outside links.

Summary:
About 1-2 months ago, Keitai Archive found the lost Tamagotchi Park app on a used Japanese flip phone. We've uploaded the app to Keitai World Launcher, which is a software we host on KeitaiArchive.org for running Japanese mobile games (the Tamagotchi Park app uses a special form of J2ME that isn't yet compatible with most open source emulators). Right now, you can browse the menus, but the features do not work because the servers are no longer online. We are currently working on recreating the online server for the app so we can use this app just like it was used back in the original days of the keitai Tamagotchi!

Our online server expert @tacit mulch has already started on this new server. Thanks to @uncut shadow's work reverse engineering the keitai tamagotchi codes, we have most of the information we need to reimplement the server - it's just a matter of taking these code algorithms and adding them to the online server.

I'm making this thread to keep everyone here updated and to begin recruiting beta testers for when the server is more developed.

Currently, the only feature we have running is the King Gotchi animation. If you input the code 00044 - 00200, you will see an animation, and then King Gotchi will return that same code for you to enter into the Tamagotchi (I'm pretty sure this is not how the codes are supposed to work, but it at least lets us try out the app feature while we are still implementing all the code algorithms into the server).

These are screenshots of King Gotchi's castle

[stark oasis]

Hello everyone! I have some exciting updates to share. We have been working on adding proper code verification and code generation to the server. The current server is still a WIP (my rough code will need to be reviewed lol) but this is what we have

• King Gotchi Visit = Can now take a code straight from a Keitama and generate a code that should work ON the Keitama
• Shop = Now generates passwords for all items, and properly updates the catalog for seasonal items
• Parent visit = can take code straight from a Keitama, shows a scene with the parent Tamagotchi at their house, then generates a code that should work on the Keitama

Here are some of the major tasks remaining

• English translation: The text for this game mostly lives inside a binary file called a scratchpad file (.sp), and this file needs to be directly altered to add an English translation. If anyone is interested in attempting this task, PLEASE let me know
• Travel Memories = We are able to create images by combining travel backgrounds and tama sprites, but we don't actually have the original sprites and images that were used. This feature basically needs to be recreated. There are a few ways to approach this. The Keitama guide show a few examples of custom travel images- these could be adapted by artists into digital versions and added to the app. Alternatively, artists could create whole new images, making this part of the app a fan art showcase. It could be a combination!
• Exchange Square = I had a strange issue before where I was able to generate valid codes, but when I put them onto the device, no item showed up, and the Tamagotchi just got confused. This is something I'll be working on and investigating the next few days.

If anyone is interested in any portion of this project, please let me know! Especially for the Travel Memories, there's a lot to do and a lot of creative choices that need to be made.

[bold veldt]

Huge

[stark oasis]

Do you have any thoughts about the travel memories part of the app in particular? Recreation vs fan art display of some kind?

[bold veldt]

Recreations of the ones we know about would definitely be a good idea, fan art could be a cute bonus though!

[stark oasis]

Yeah! We are basically in the position of

1. We dont know what all the pictures looked like or even how many there were and
2. We have the ability to add as many or as few images as we want
   So I've combed through some of the guides for examples, and maybe some people shared their images on a blog back when the site was live, but there will probably be gaps

There was a feature where each region had a set number of images to collect. The total is 152 per region. But I dont know how many backgrounds and character poses they used.

We do have the ability to give different players unique user IDs on our servers to save progress in photo collecting

The tama team was wild, they literally created unique art for every character per location

Those character illustrations would need to be extracted and/recreated. Same with the backgrounds themselves (but those are just generic locations, you can find similar pictures on the web)

[bold veldt]

hmmmmm i wonder if the old tamagotchi website had any of these screenshots

[stark oasis]

Maybe some but probably not all. If people want to look into that, it would be very appreciated 🙏

[bold veldt]

i might spend some time on it tomorrow if i remember

[stark oasis]

alright we now have tools for taking apart the sp file and making a translation!
it will take a little bit of time to get everything to fit though

[stark oasis]

The English language translation is still in progress, but we currently have a semi-functional version of the Tamagotchi server! Right now you can use the Shop feature and the Gotchi King visit (I think). The trade mode should also technically work, but we are having an issue where some of the passwords it generates end up giving no item to the Tamagotchi. If anyone wants to try this out, we recommend downloading Keitai World Launcher where all the emulators and game files are already set up
https://keitaiarchive.org/downloads.html

Right now we are working on getting the parent visits going. This requires creating images for each parent that can fit next to their tamahouse, as well as dialogue options.

based on the guidebooks, it looks like we need a "happy" image version of each parent tama

[stark oasis]

We now have more parent visits working for original Keitama! A few notes

• the 3rd parent visit is being marked invalid, probably due to some math I did wrong (lol). This should be fixed soon.
• That red text box is supposed to have dialogue. We don't have any of the dialogue that went there originally so either it will stay blank OR we need some creative writers to make something (any volunteers?)
• This isn't compatible with Akai yet. While it's easy to add the Akai character sprites, there's no way to replace the regular house with the blue background. Either the Akai tamagotchi are renting an apartment outside of Makkakka (lol) or we will need a whole reskin of this app just for Akai

Note: This feature is available to test RIGHT NOW so feel free to try it with Curlour's list of codes!

[stark oasis]

@uncut shadow are you willing to try out some of these app features? 😄

[uncut shadow]

maybe! what would i have to do, exactly?

[bold veldt]

I’d love to try stuff out too, I’ve not looked into how to get the keitai world launcher etc running yet though

I’m planning on doing a brief section on this in my Tamatown video

[stark oasis]

just...use it!

everything should be working to some degree except for travel

[stark oasis]

If you download the program, it will tell you everything else that you need to install. If you need help, just ping me 🙂

[uncut shadow]

tested shopping, visiting the parent and inviting the king using my k-tama and it all worked fine!

[stark oasis]

Amazing!!

@uncut shadow can you also test the trade square? I really don't know what's going on to make some codes not work

[uncut shadow]

hmmm
yeah it seems like it won't work if i try to trade corn

but it did work with natto and fried shrimp

[stark oasis]

is there an issue with the item ID password?

[uncut shadow]

it's not the password itself it just
tells me the password i input from the device is invalid after choosing the region i want to get an item from

[stark oasis]

Can you show me the passwords you've used that havent worked?

[stark oasis]

oh also it might be having issues with Akai

[uncut shadow]

i think it may show a different password every time but
if i try to trade away the corn now it gives me this one
05117 51615

and i used a regular k-tama to test

[stark oasis]

Is this password invalid according to the reverse engineered logic, or does it have the right logic but it still doesnt work anyway?

[uncut shadow]

it seems to match the logic i found in the passwords properly
checksum adds up, and it has correct ids for both the character and the item
but the app would say that the password is invalid after i chose a region (tried more than one region, to make sure)

[stark oasis]

wait you get invalid password after choosing the region but before you do the actual trade?

that would mean it's rejecting the password from the tamagotchi itself (I need to fix it so the pasword rejection happens before you reach the map screen)

[uncut shadow]

yes

[stark oasis]

can you share some of the passwords you are getting from your tama?

[stark oasis]

Also I realized, the parent visit is totally correct, the visit 3 code shouldn't work because that's the code the parent gives YOU, not the code that you enter into the app

[uncut shadow]

for corn:
13137 14215
59411 85751
17516 11756

for zunda-mochi:
89621 35011
87515 21067
13120 25015

[stark oasis]

English patch is uploaded! Thank you so much @warped birch !!

[stark oasis]

This will be addressed (it will be much easier for me to do testing with the new English patch)

[stark oasis]

I have a rough implementation of parent vistis for the Akai (everyone except Tengutchi cause I need to use photoshop on its smiling picture to remove the background)

[stark oasis]

Ok we have a rough Tengutchi but if anyone wants to make this better than let me know

[stark oasis]

first code worked on my testing server so let me see if something wasn't uploaded to the live server

This seemed to work on the live server as well so I'm not quite sure what the error is

(gonna shorted Prefecture to Pref. so it fits)

[stark oasis]

Ok I accidentally mixed up the R type code for the exchange plaza, will push an update that fixes this soon! (Update - it's fixed)

[stark oasis]

@uncut shadow here's a sampling of some passwords the app gave. The checkmark means the password worked, while the X means that the Tamagotchi accepted the password, but no item actually showed up.

[uncut shadow]

thank you for sharing these with me! after some more testing i managed to replicate the issue and figure out what was happening
it seems like the trade will "fail" (the character will come back without a new item and look confused) if a specific digit in the passwords is 5 or higher
this is a digit i previously thought did nothing at all, so it could have any value
it's one of the ones i marked "0" in the explanation on my site
this are the new patters accounting for the new additional value digit "Z"

[X] [P] [Z] [B] [A]
[0] [R] [T] [Y] [S]

P = 2 or 3:
[Z] [P] [A] [R] [Y]
[X] [S] [0] [B] [T]

P = 4 or 5:
[0] [P] [B] [R] [Y]
[T] [X] [S] [A] [Z]

P = 6 or 7:
[0] [P] [T] [A] [R]
[X] [B] [Y] [S] [Z]

P = 8 or 9:
[R] [P] [0] [X] [B]
[S] [T] [Y] [Z] [A] ```

in the codes you share above, the only 2 that worked properly were the ones that have a Z value under 5

sometimes the k-tama device itself will generate a code with a Z value of 5 or higher, so it seems this value only matters for the code that you input into the k-tama from the phone app

[stark oasis]

WILD. Ok I can totally fix that

[stark oasis]

@uncut shadow z digit has been added and it seems like the exchange plaza is totally functional!

I have a separate question. I just did 3 parent visits, and I thought I wouldn't be able to generate more codes, but it looks like I still generate a code? Is it likely that, if you typed this into the original server, the parent would say something like "I have no more allowance to give?"

[uncut shadow]

not sure What the parent would say exactly
but yeah, you could visit the parent as many times as you want, but you'd only get an allowance the first 3 times you did so

[warped birch]

i think the dialogue can be made different per adult, i can definitely add a nor more allowance column to the dialogue page

[stark oasis]

Yeah, I think it would be strange for the tamagotchi to generate a code and for the server to reject it without explanation.
It's possible that the server gave an error stating "you've already visited this parent 3 times" and we can technically make that happen on this recreation server.
But I don't see any information about how this worked one way or another

idk if people mentioned it in the forum posts at all?

like "oh I tried the extra parent password but it wouldn't let me get an allowance" or what

[warped birch]

so within the app theres dialogue that appears when connecting to your parent for sharing the allowance. im wanting to create dialogue for both the normal character and their akai counterpart but there isnt much description given for the akai character's personalities. akai mametchi is described simply as smug for example. is there anyone within the server who might be more knowledgeable of the sort of action or quirks akai counterparts have?

[stark oasis]

btw @uncut shadow feel free to test the Exchange Square, it should be totally functional now!

Also idk if Mika told you but I got the Hanerutchi guidebook. I'm hoping it has some screenshots of the mobile website for Hanerutchi. From what I can see, there was never an app, just a site.

[uncut shadow]

hmm. i see
i don't really know much about the hanerutchi tbh, i don't have one

[warped birch]

hey @uncut shadow do u have an akai book that mentions the types of personalities akai tamas have

[uncut shadow]

personalities?
i don't own any akai book, but i have seen a few on internet archive
they usually have the type (serious, normal, naughty, stubborn…) and genus / group (mame, kuchi, kabuki…)
they also tend to add a little character profile for each

[warped birch]

yeah I’m mostly looking for a character profile blurb to make some dialogue centered around thanks

[stark oasis]

There is so little to work with from the guidebooks themselves 😭

[warped birch]

the guidebooks are notoriously vague, especially for the vintage era

[stark oasis]

@uncut shadow @warped birch the travel photos should be working now! are you willing to test?

right now it is just one basic background and one character image

[warped birch]

does it work with child form?

[stark oasis]

It should work with everything except Petitchi and Shiropetitchi (since the babies can't use the communication menu at all)

[uncut shadow]

iirc your tamagotchi needs to be in the teen stage or older to be able to travel

[stark oasis]

oooh then we can deactivate the toddler phase images

I guess it would be strange for toddlers to travel alone 😛

[warped birch]

then im unable to test it just yet

[warped birch]

as in u added child stage images or they were part of the originals?

[stark oasis]

I added child stage images, not knowing exactly which characters were in the originals

[warped birch]

i can certainly test to confirm whether the child stage can travel or not

i feel like they dont but itll be good to know

[warped birch]

the canned seal animation is so funny

[warped birch]

hello everyone, unabandonware and i are in need of some more play testers for the upcoming tamagotchi park app. there are the occasional glitches with character/location sprites that the 2 of us can only go so fast with raising our characters 1 at a time. if anyone here has a keitama theyre up to running to test out each character it would help us out a lot! seen above are some examples where memetchi is super tiny in the africa photo or nikatchi ending up tan. if you utilize the app and come across sprite glitches like this please let us know here in the app forum post! thanks!

[elfin forum]

does an akai work as well for this? I might be able to get one going :O

[warped birch]

yes!

[warped birch]

the application can be downloaded here
https://keitaiarchive.org/downloads.html

[bold veldt]

i'll have to start my keitai up soon and give it a go

been a bit too distracted with christmas

[bitter sphinx]

I tested the Europe trip on every keitai character, they all appear to be fine (I can post the screenshots if you need them)

[warped birch]

which character stages are you including when you say every?

teen and adults?

also how did you work that fast 😂

but yes screenshots would be awesome just to see how they look

[bitter sphinx]

teens & adults, since toddlers can't use the tickets
I used debug character select, and then used a deka to get enough money to buy the ticket over and over lol

[warped birch]

awesome! I was thinking either debug or an emulator, these are perfect! if u have an akai and can do that same it would be appreciated!

[stark oasis]

Perfect

it's also possible to invent your own codes using Curlour's formula by changing the travel tama ID

https://curlour.neocities.org/en/tmgc/ktama/expw

I should put smiling sprites for the teens at some point

[warped birch]

ive made a public post which goes into a bit of detail on what the app features and how to use it, we would still appreciate test players to go through the different travel locations (and possibly parent video call) just in case theres something we didnt catch tho! hope u guys enjoy it!
https://www.reddit.com/r/tamagotchi/comments/1q0rk9k/introducing_tamagotchi_park_a_2004_keitai_flip/

[vapid trout]

I have a hanerutchi 1, would that work?

[bitter sphinx]

Thanks for bringing that up, making my own passwords was a lot easier lol

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/162FjWo8fkh-AXoMzYFO5tDrHvUvAm0bF?usp=sharing
I did some travelling with akai characters (put them on google drive so I don't have to spam 30+ pics here)

[warped birch]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdVj-wHrQRw

tolovel covers the release of the app in her latest video!

[slow dust]

@stark oasis can I PM you?

[stark oasis]

sure

[slow dust]

Thanks! I wrote!

[warped birch]

im looking for someone who can test something for me, i saw on the debug wiki page that connection devices couldnt connect to tamatown if they were debugged so i thought id try it out with the keitai/akai and the park app

seems like debugging does prevent connecting to the app because the passwrod i just tried to enter to visit the king says incorrect even though its typed in correctly

if anyone else is down to debug their keitai/akai could you test the king address before debugging the device and then after debugging?

i seem to be locked out of using the exchange plaza as well

[stark oasis]

Separately, I'm ready to start testing Hanerutchi

[stark oasis]

Just found this information sheet in an ebay listing, though it diesn't add that much info
https://www.ebay.com/itm/187050871032

Items

[warped birch]

character specific item codes that are unique to the hanerutchi:

animal kajiguti /gold medal/34130 69710
babasenpai/car/91481 43662
mugatchi.autumtchi/yumekotyanCD/86613 97594
mugatchi.autumtchi/yumekotyan ticket/95231 69812
mugatchi.autumtchi/yumekotyan picture /64237 69911
murata sanaetchi /putaro picture/33133 93146
remicthi /nisino'namecard/47613 95434
shioritchi/kiss heart/90031 23626
abukotchi/book/02139 80106
akiyama/GS /38889 46840
from: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/tamazone/hanerutchi-1-codes-t15645.html

[warped birch]

uaw wants me to share my passwords here @uncut shadow, this keitai was debugged and then un- debugged but still gives “incorrect password” in the app

my akai was never debugged and gave incorrect password upon trying to select a region in the exchange plaza

[uncut shadow]

these both seem correct, the first one should be the one generated by the device to visit the king on the app if you have hitodetchi
the akai one should be one you get from trying to trade away natto while raising a kuchipatchi
all the values seem correct and the checksum adds up

[warped birch]

seems like something is up with the app then @stark oasis

[stark oasis]

It was working before, @tacit mulch is there something that could have changed the code generating algorithm?

[warped birch]

or the apps ability to accept codes

[warped birch]

would you mind trying to connect in app with your devices? no one has managed to test this but me so i just wanna confirm its not an issue on my end...

[uncut shadow]

i tried a while ago and i think it worked properly sometimes
but i really struggled to get the program to run the app running on my pc at all

[vapid trout]

I got pinged here what happened

[stark oasis]

Sharing this here so it's not just lost in any of the general channels
https://github.com/Unabandonware/FlipperKeitama/

[swift jasper]

Any details about the Tamagotchi Park app itself?

[weary marsh]

what do you mean?

[swift jasper]

It was mentioned in passing a while ago that there may be a lead on porting the app to android? I believe it works on the computer via emulation, but was just curious if there are plans to bring it back to a mobile experience.

[weary marsh]

@stark oasis ⬆️

[vapid trout]

I was wondering too if it would be able to bring it back onto the keitai

Like the 4U app

[slow dust]

I didn't finish it yet, so I don't really want to share it yet, but I'm working on porting it to the web. I'm trying to make it so that you could easily use it on phone

Maybe could also implement a pwa, so you could install the webapp to your phone (which works on iphone too i think?)
I think that is really easy to do, once my web emulator/port works without issues

[slow dust]

Ok this was even easier than I thought

And it even works as a deskop app lol!