Contents:
  01. Guide 				[gui01]
  02. Installing Mods			[mod02]
  03. Wizzard Guide			[wiz03]
  04. Optional Components		[opt04]
  05. Recommended Mods			[rec05]
  06. Resources				[res06]
  07. FAQ				[faq07]

		** IF YOU ARE USING THE HF PATCH FOR AA2 **
		This install guide is not for you. This is for installing manually, in the event that you don't want to wait for HF patch to get updated, or you want finer control over mods you install. If you already installed HF patch and want to use this guide, uninstall and wipe your game installation folder, then reinstall from scratch using the directions below. Likewise, I don't recommend installing via this method then going to harass Hongfire for support.


	GUIDE										[gui01]

Complete Idiot's Guide to Installing Artificial Academy 2, patches, DLC, and mods
by a very patient /hgg/ anon

This guide will serve to counsel new users on installation of the essential components needed to run AA2 in English.

BEFORE YOU START: You will need Applocale or HF pApplocale. If you opt instead to set your system locale to Japanese, REMEMBER TO CHANGE FORMATS (Formats tab in Region settings) to Japanese as well, or text WILL be screwed up, in addition to some things not working/displaying. ONLY USE EITHER APPLOCALE OR JAPANESE SYSTEM LOCALE, NOT BOTH.

Don't install anything to the default Japanese-named folders, edit every install directory to something readable. Don't install to Program Files or other system-default directories, or you may not have write access to save characters and games unless you run as admin. This goes for utilities like Wizzard as well. Run almost everything with Applocale -- installer, update files, maker and game executables, translated maker loader, etc. If it shows Japanese anywhere, or you know it is of Japanese origin, use Applocale.

  01. Obtain the game.
  02. Open the game archive and extract the three multiple-gigabyte .mdf files to a temporary folder. Don't extract anything else, only the .mdf images are needed. Rename ジンコウガクエン2.mdf to something simple and English like DISK1.mdf.
  03. Use Daemon Tools Lite (or your preferred virtual disc software) to mount DISK1.mdf, do not autorun.
  04. Explore the mounted disk, right-click to use Applocale to launch Startup.exe in Japanese locale as Administrator.
  05. Click the third button to install the AA2 Maker (character creator/editor). Your choice whether you want to install it in a separate directory from the main game, it causes me no problems installing it in the same folder. (Disclaimer: The maker may not run properly in windowed mode if you install to the same folder.) Remember to change the install path to something simple and non-Japanese, for example c:\illusion\aa2make. During all these installations, (N) means Next, (B) means Back, (I) means Install, and (F) means Finish.
  06. When that's finished, click the fourth button on the install menu to install the game. As before, choose a nice, simple install path with no Japanese characters.
  07. 1/3 of the way through, it will prompt you to insert disk 2. Use Daemon Tools Lite (or equivalent) to do so, again cancelling autorun if applicable, then click the button on installer to proceed.
  08. Repeat as above for disk 3. The base game installation is now finished.
  09. Now that the game is installed, you'll be wanting the DLC and updates next. There are five files:

	jg2_sou.exe							-- Pre-order Bonus
		Mega: https://mega.co.nz/#!0g8jgDCK!KzGhViq5YCj8p2UEef1SNHbaIoZvLIgo8mssyxf15DU

	jg2_ex_0707.exe							-- Bonus Hair Extension
		Mega: https://mega.co.nz/#!y0BhCJTI!VEKPwH0R405C0kma_Wms3QdUtlD5BNTQ5tJ6aM8tpLQ

	ジンコウガクエン２ 特別会員用 追加髪型データ.7z			-- Special Member Bonus Hair
		Mega: https://mega.co.nz/#!UxcxQDAT!OEsEsW3-xXKlqjVz_kwy01-o3roVpvDR4-qWNLMxVYo

	VJ008700.zip							-- Append Set [Blazer / Other]
		https://mega.co.nz/#!dABgiBKR!zJ9Gawox3O_9FJfAOwEG1PjzeXnwlYzdnDz6i5RWIN8

	jg2_03_plus11.exe						-- All inclusive Update v11 (includes updates v1-v11)
		Mega: https://mega.co.nz/#!Q5EA2DKQ!ZvCZzPJWj4y2VvTYKFYoNN6qlLDmninyijdfARqy92g

  Run these in this order with Applocale. When prompted choose a temporary directory to extract the contents to. Open the extracted folder, look for the 'setup' folder which contains 'main' and/or 'edit' folders. For the pre-order, there are two sets of these in two separate moonrune folders; make sure you find both. Drag and drop the contents of main to your AA2 game installation directory, overwriting. Drag and drop the contents of edit to your AA2 Maker directory, also overwriting. Note that the Bonus Hair .7z file is almost identical, but it has no .exe, so you'll have to extract it manually; Applocale is not required for that. Assuming you have 7-zip installed, just right click the file and select Extract to "<moonrunes>/" and it will unpack it to a new folder.
  10. This completes the game installation. You can test functionality by mounting DISK1.mdf and opening AA2Play.exe with applocale if you'd like -- 'game start' is the top button. You're not done yet if you want to play in English, however.
     ** I recommend using the standard AA2Play.exe distributed with the game or your latest update to launch the game for minimal issues. The English launcher can be dodgy. If you want to stop it harassing you about mounting DISK1.mdf, open AA2Play.exe in a hex editor and change location 1236 from 75 to EB. If you get an error message on startup that says something about 'ディスク1', this is what it's referring to, you need either DISK1.mdf mounted or you need to edit this value in a hex editor.


	INSTALLING MODS									[mod02]

  1. For mods, download the Illusion Wizzard utility with AA2 profile from the link in the main pastebin or the mirror in the Resources section. Unzip to a folder in your game directory, I use c:\illusion\wizzard. This will serve as your installation hub for any mods you want to apply. It will also allow you to uninstall mods and revert changed files so you can apply future updates/DLC without reinstalling the whole game from scratch. I don't recommend using it to launch the game or maker, just because it needlessly complicates the process.
  2. Launch Illusion_Wizzard.exe once, select the AA2_PLAY profile from the dropdown list, click 'Start', then exit. This creates the folder where you place mods. Drop any mods you want in the Wizzard\AA2_PLAY\mods folder, **keeping them inside the 7z archive they are distributed in.** Run the Wizzard (with Applocale) again to apply mods. Remember that wizzard mods are always 7z format, so rars and zips are not compatible.
  3. Use the wizzard interface to install all your favorite /hgg/ mods. Dialog translation, UI, translated names and stuff -- almost everything listed in the main pastebin under '/hgg/ Mods' should be wizzard-ready. If you need further details on wizzard usage, see the next section.
  4. Once you install the /hgg/ translation, UI translation, and whichever uncensor mod you prefer [I suggest avoiding the HQ/LQ skin versions for now] with the Wizzard, you're finished. You can start the game by running AA2Play.exe with Japanese locale and pressing the top button. The second button is for graphics configuration, but you may need an English launcher to get the config setup for the first time.
  ** Quick footnote: Only use one dialog translation or uncensor mod at a time. Applying more than one simultaneously might break things.


	WIZZARD GUIDE									[wiz03]

Wizzard is a utility for adding and removing mods. It is not (generally) used to launch the game. It is not used to install Illusion patches. I can't even believe I have to write this guide. You seriously just drag and drop mods, then open Wizzard and press 'Apply mod' or 'Remove mod'.

  01. Download the Illusion Wizzard.
  02. Extract the archive somewhere like c:\illusion\wizzard.
  ** NOTE: If you extract the Wizzard to Program Files or certain folders in My Documents, it will not have sufficient privileges to write the data it needs to in order to function. You will get file not found errors related to preview images and descriptions, and most critically it will not be able to back up your game data files when applying mods.
  03. Start Illusion_Wizzard.exe, select AA2_PLAY from the dropdown on the left, click 'Start', then exit. This creates the folder where you put mods.
  04. Drag and drop mods in .7z format directly into the wizzard\AA2_PLAY\mods folder. DO NOT EXTRACT THEM. JUST PUT THE 7Z FILES IN THERE.
  05. Start the Wizzard again. Provided you have the game installed correctly, you don't have to do any configuration, it will find your install via the game's registry entries.
  06. You should see a list of available mods. Find one you want to install. Click it. Now click the 'Apply mod' button at the bottom. If you want to remove a mod, click the 'Installed Mods' tab. Click the mod. Click 'Remove mod' button at the bottom.
  07. If you are updating a mod you already had installed, remove the old version as in step 06, then apply the new version. Mods are not highly scripted install routines, they may break if you just keep piling new stuff on top of old.
  08. You are now an expert at adding and removing AA2 mods, congratulations.

  Brief note: Translations will almost always break if you install an official Illusion update over top of them. This is normal, because it's the wrong way to do it. Use Wizzard to remove mods first, then apply the Illusion update, then re-apply mods.
  Note #2: I've never needed to, but one anon reports that Wizzard needs to be run with Applocale as admin. Might only apply if you're launching the game or maker through it, which I don't recommend. In any case, try that if it's giving you trouble.


	OPTIONAL COMPONENTS								[opt04]
	[Get these from the main pastebin or the Mega link in the Resources section]

- Get the Translated Maker Loader [1.4.0]
  This translates the Maker (AA2Edit.exe) into English. It makes character creation much, much easier. Note that it does not replace AA2Edit.exe, so don't delete that file. This just loads AA2Edit.exe and changes text to English. Remember to start it with Japanese locale.

- Get the Frontier Pack maker
  [included in the Frontier Pack Launchers Mega link]
  This works the same as the stock AA2Edit.exe file, and can be used with the Translated Maker Loader, provided you rename it to AA2Edit.exe. This allows you to add an unlimited number of traits to your character, and set certain parameters beyond their normal bounds by entering them directly in the text box. It also enables an unlocked hue slider so you can create characters with blue or green skin.

- Get the Frontier Pack launcher [v11 compatible]
  I know I recommended using the stock Japanese launcher above, but this launcher lets you do neat things like open the buddha statue interface anywhere [RMB+click on roster button], and force a 999% on any interaction [RMB+click on any action]. Takes all the challenge out, but it's fun to play with sometimes. It's also required for proper color on blue/green/etc characters in-game.

- Get JG2ChrData [0.2.1/Eng 1.3]
  This utility allows you to edit characters in-place without withdrawing them from your current class, to add/remove traits, etc. Partially translated, and sometimes glitchy, but it's preferable if you don't want to reset your relationship progress with a character to edit them in the normal Maker.
  ** BE CAREFUL with this. It works fine, but if you open a class file while it's open in the game, the file will corrupt and you will lose the save. Make backups before editing.


	RECOMMENDED MODS								[rec05]

  These are the mods I use, or have used previously. This is not intended as an endorsement for these mods or against other mods; I'm only writing this to help newcomers get going with a minimum of fuss. I encourage all players to experiment on their own with mods they have an interest in. All of these are wizzard-format unless otherwise noted. All files available in the main pastebin unless otherwise noted: http://pastebin.com/BhpfXqHP

 Translations:
  /hgg/ Dialog Translation v2.3
	This is for translating the dialog. If you care to know what other characters are saying to you, you'll be wanting this.
  /hgg/ UI Translation v11.2
	This translates the buttons and menus in the game.
  Translated Names and Stuff List
	This translates the built-in random character names and items in the maker. It won't translate already-created character cards. That includes the default cards.

 Uncensor:
 All uncensors are found in the /hgg/ Uncensor Compilation
  2D Clothed Female Uncensor + 3D Clothed Male Uncensor + Dildo Uncensor ALPHA v6
	Trying this one out currently, seems all right. It's in the root of the uncensor compilation folder, you'll see "[AA2][HGG] 2D Clothed Female Uncensor + 3D Clothed Male U".
  Clothed Male + Female Uncensor v5
	This is the one I favor of out the ones I've tried. It's in the 2D Female Uncensor / 3D Male Uncensor v5 folder.

  HEXA Hairpack v2.5R
    This contains practically every hair mod known to mankind. New hair styles, extensions, hats, and various hair props. If you see a custom character with something like that, chances are you need this pack to enable it in your game. Note: It is perfectly normal to have a bunch of greyed-out options for hair after installing v1.8+, the AA1 hairs that were added are in the last available slots, leaving empty space in between. These will be filled as new hair mods are released.

 Elf ears:
  Christ, these are a mess. HEXA hair pack includes two (same shape, different colors) that are installed as hair extensions. Unfortunately, you have to manually match the skin color to the ears, because the ear color is fixed.

  There are several alternatives that replace face models to add the ears, so they automatically match the skin color. These are in the Hongfire mod release thread http://www.hongfire.com/forum/showthread.php/430353

  I use [Face 1 in Slot 7][Medium Elf Ears] and [Face][Short Elf Ears][v0.3]. Navigating Hongfire is horrible, so I've put all the different versions (to my knowledge) in the Mega link in the Resources section. You should match which version you install to the character you're using -- and yell at the character uploader if it's not specified.

 Music:
  I like the Ace Attorney and Touhou Jazz music packs.

  I suppose I should note, this is a messy category of mods with little consistency. If you download one of these packs, peek inside the archive first.
  If it contains a jg2p07_00_00.pp file, back up the file of the same name in your aa2play\data folder, and drop the new one in.
  If it's a 7z archive with a AA2_PLAY\jg2p07_00_00 folder, it gets applied through the Wizzard.
  If it's just full of AA2BGM00.wav files, those all go in the aa2play\data\custombgm folder, and enabled in-game in the config.
  And finally, if it's the Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance music pack, you have to repack the 7z with the AA2_PLAY folder at the root of the archive, then apply through wizzard, because it was archived improperly.

  Like I said, messy.


	RESOURCES									[res06]

  All files mentioned herein can be located using the following resources. I'm not hardlinking each individual thing because stuff changes too rapidly for me to feasibly maintain this guide doing so. Most are linked directly from the /hgg/ pastebin. Follow these links, read, Ctrl+F, use forum search, if all else fails use Google. I trust you can manage.

  ** Changed my mind, I gave people too much credit. Here's a Mega archive of utilities, including Wizzard and JG2ChrData. Everything else is linked directly in the /hgg/ pastebin. Refer to the readme files if present or the appropriate Hongfire or Anime-Sharing forum threads for support. If anything is out of date, too bad.
  https://mega.co.nz/#F!IFZnVSxQ!whC3QR1tgA3qWP0CVaWVsQ

/hgg/ AA2 Pastebin:
  http://pastebin.com/BhpfXqHP
    Dialog Translation v2.3 out now
    UI Translation v10.1 out now
Hongfire Mod Release thread:
  http://www.hongfire.com/forum/showthread.php/430353?p=3539158#post3539158
Anime-Sharing Mod Release thread:
  http://www.anime-sharing.com/forum/requests-releases-123/-a-223235/#post1532689


	FAQ										[faq07]

  Q: What does "Normalfags go die" in the Buddha statue mean?
  A: Other students are jealous or envious of your public displays of affection with your partner.

  Q1: Why does dialog text have u and v before and after each line?
  Q2: The maker and/or game install doesn't let me edit the install path, why is everything blank?
  Q3: Why do all my interactions fail with 0%?
  A1: Because you didn't read the very first part of the guide, where I told you that if you're using Japanese system locale, you also need to set Format to Japanese.
  A2: Because you didn't install with Japanese locale as administrator.

  Q: The maker installation runs fine, but doesn't let me edit the install path. Why?
  A: Because you still have the pre-release maker installed, or a previous installation of the release version maker. This is dictating to the installer where it should install. Uninstall first, then your new installation will work properly.

  Q: What's the HF patch, and why isn't it in your guide?
  A: The HF patch is a collection of separate items you may or may not need to install. It usually rolls up the latest official updates, translations, uncensors, and a few other bits. It's an irreversible install, which is why I prefer installing each item individually. You're not ever going to need to revert Illusion's official patches, but new updates might break your installed translation or UI mods, for example. So it's beneficial to be able to easily roll those back, apply updates, then re-apply your mods, without having to wait for someone else to aggregate them for you. Feel free to use the HF patch if you want, but don't ask anyone but Hongfire for help with it, and don't use this guide together with it.

  Q: My game is crashing, what do I do?
  A1: You have a corrupt character card or class save file. In Windows Explorer, sort the files by date, move the most recently added/modified out to a temporary folder, and re-add them until you find which one is crashing the game.
  A2: Uninstall the 'HQ skin' uncensor mod. It causes memory leaks and crashiness, especially for toaster PCs. Not sure if 'LQ skin' version is similarly affected.
  A3: Verify you're using the correct launcher version for the Illusion game update you have installed. Right-click AA2Play.exe (or whatever custom launcher you're using), select Properties, then look at the Details tab. Version 1.03 is for v3 update, 1.04 for v4, etc.
  A4: If you're using the English translated launcher, try running the game with the standard Japanese AA2Play.exe. The English launcher can introduce some instability.
  A5: Alternatively, you may have done something out of order, overwriting something important. If all else fails, reinstall the game from scratch.

  Q: My game runs poorly and looks bad, what can I do?
  A: Try running it with highest graphics settings. No, seriously. Somehow Illusion has perfected the alchemy required to make a game run worse on lower settings.

  Q: My game has only a white screen on startup or in the F1 config menu / my config menu has checkboxes and sliders everywhere, what happened?
  A: You screwed up. First, make sure you're using the right version of AA2Play.exe. Then try forcing the updated UI translation patch in Wizzard by selecting the mod and clicking 'Force mod'; it's a dirty fix, but it works a lot of the time. Ideally you should reinstall from scratch.

  Q: My game looks messed up, there are lines through things / something else is wrong, what do I do?
  A: Uninstall the game, start again from the beginning. You missed a step somewhere, or some other catastrophic failure of comprehension. This can also happen if you install an update without reverting your mods first. Reinstall will fix it unless you're having hardware problems. Lines and artifacting are common symptoms of failing / overheating GPU.

  Q: My maker / game suddenly started freezing / crashing / failing to launch without any file changes, what do I do?
  A: Close Firefox, Skype, or other memory-heavy programs and try again. Don't ask me why, but it works. Nips apparently code like it's still 1995.

  Q: The maker isn't saving character cards / the game isn't saving my progress, what happened?
  A1: You installed the game to Program Files or another system-default folder that's write-protected. You can either run it every time as admin to gain write access, or move your install somewhere like c:\illusion\aa2. If you do move the folder, remember to use the Registry Fixer linked in the main /hgg/ pastebin to point to the new folder.
  A2: For the maker, you also have to provide at least a last name (family name) or you cannot save your character card.

  Q: When I launch the game, I get an error message in Japanese. What do I do?
  A1: You didn't mount DISK1.mdf while using the stock, unmodified AA2Play.exe. You need to hex edit a value to enable no-disc. See the note at the end of the install guide.
  A2: You screwed up your install. The registry entries for AA2 think the game is somewhere else. Use the registry fixer utility to rectify this.

  Q: I'm getting an error about the path being too long, what does this mean?
  A: It means you can't follow instructions. Your path, that is, the string of characters that tells the location of the file you're using, is exceeding what your OS supports. This is really dumb. Just put the game in c:\illusion or something similar.

  Q: When I launch Wizzard, it says there are Japanese characters in my path, even though there aren't. What happened?
  A: You didn't follow the guide. You installed to Japanese directories and then renamed them after the fact. The registry entries for AA2's install path are still referring to those Japanese folders. You'll need to use the registry fixer utility.

  Q: My game is stuck on a black screen after alt+tabbing, what do I do?
  A: Install the fullscreen window mod, mirrored conveniently in the Mega link under Resources. Just drop the contained d3d9.dll into the same folder with AA2Play.exe and AA2Edit.exe. Following that, you can alt+tab without issue.

  Q: How can I tell if a mod is Wizzard-compatible?
  A: Open the 7z archive (it's always a 7z archive). If there's a AA2_PLAY and/or AA2_EDIT folder containing some jg2_* folders, it's Wizzard-ready. It may optionally contain an image or two for previews and a text file for the description pane in the Wizzard.

  Q: Why do the legs of character models look like matryoshka [Russian nesting] dolls?
  A: You're using the high heels and/or spats mod with game update v3 or above. Don't. v3 broke them and there's no indication so far that they will be fixed, as far as I know.

  Q: How do I get blue / purple / other unnatural colored character cards to appear properly in the game?
  A: Use the Frontier Pack game launcher and maker. They're linked in the main pastebin, and the only ones currently to support the unlocked hues needed for these cards.

  Q: How do I make rainbow cards?
  A: Use the alternate maker included with the unlocked character maker, it creates rainbows 100% of the time. If you want to change one to a rainbow, just open it with that maker and save it.

  Q: How do I zoom in the maker / in h-scenes?
  A: Left click and drag rotates, right click and drag pans and zooms.

  Q: Why are my character's items / clubs in Japanese?
  A: You can edit these to whatever you like. Items in the maker, clubs when starting a new class. Just type in something in English. There's a new file in the main /hgg/ pastebin that translates these called Translated Names and Stuff List.

  Q: A character asked me to wait for them somewhere, but the location is in Japanese. What does that mean?
  A: They want you to wait in a specific room for them next period. Open your location map during the next period, the designated place will have a red stick-figure indicating where you need to be.

  Q: Why does the karaoke scene close immediately?
  A: You need to add music for it. There's a folder for each personality in AA2_PLAY\data\sound. The text file within one of these folders instructs to add .wav files of music you want to hear during karaoke. .ogg files should also work, saving a ton of space.