I have just completed a re-write of the long Introduction.
SSMS-II is unique in several ways. One is that I gained full control of a few characters in the middle of that Intro. I even enjoyed a few battles and encountered my first dungeon save point. As I mentioned previously, while proceeding, I placed the existing script in a column next to Gerb's translation and compared each string. My earlier estimates seemed consistent. My original reading was within about 95% of Gerb's, but that 5% proved to be crucial. Gerb clarified several nuances in the game that were fuzzy to me until I began this second pass. Merging his work with mine resulted in what I consider a major rewrite of some strings.
This means my second pass will take some time, much longer than a usual second pass. One mystery Gerb's work solved is why the world maps in SSMS-I and II are totally different. The answer is a mystery even to many Shelldoradans and fits plausibly within typical devises of the fantasy saga genre. This game is a direct sequel to SSMS-I yet also contains unexpected twists. Introducing a totally new world map makes SSMS-II seem fresher than, say, recycling the SSMS-I game map with major changes explained by some recent cataclysm, etc., or left unexplained. Sometime in the future, those who gain access to our translation patch may look forward to learning all there is to know about "the world beyond the fog" of Shell Beast Island!
Below are some notes I wrote in the block file that contains the introduction. For the curious, this explains why the world maps in SSMS-I and II are different:
For SylarDean: I am about to land in the woods of the Rumiella Chapter (#1). In maybe a week I will reach the point you stopped playing two years ago. Then, I will look at your errata file and fix what is still relevant. Once I do that I will send you an updated V 0.99. Bear with me. My full family responsibilities returned a week ago, for a while, but I will make steady progress with this translation. By June, at the latest, we should be able to enter full testing. We'll shoot for having it finished no later than one year from now.