I just found a page with links to several b-game translation projects. Among the finished projects is a translated demo of Anonono from Spirit Speak. Maybe a little interest will help bring this game to our shores.
Here’s the link: http://www.misu-net.com/downloads.htm
Note the bubble at the bottom of the page:
Use the BitTorrent links if at all possible (instead of the direct download option) to save their bandwidth.
[This message has been edited by Dark_Shiki (edited 03-29-2005).]
How would somebody go about “fansubbing” a game? Wouldn’t you need access to the source code? Where the heck would you find something like that without licensing from the game company itself?
“Fansubbing” a game is much more difficult than fansubbing an anime. It requires a substantial amount of complex hacking in addition to the often huge volume of script that must be translated. I don’t think they use the source code…they probably just decompile the .exe and somehow gain access to other important files through various utilities. I do know that an inserter usually has to be custom designed to get the translated text back into the game, and getting the font right and fitting the text into the message window are problems such projects often face.
[This message has been edited by Dark_Shiki (edited 03-29-2005).]
Hmmmm… how much do you know about this kind of hacking, Dark Shiki? I’m still looking for bishoujo game fans who would be willing to attempt to sub some games with me in the future. Translation would be on my end while I would need more members for help with other parts of the project. This won’t even get started for another year, so anyone who’d like to help has time to check into the kinds of skills that would be required.
quote:
Originally posted by Jason4:
geez. I've seen sooo many translation projects for b-games and the vast majority (if not all) are either bogged down or completely stopped altogether. I'm sure this website you gave isn't the "clearing house" for translated b-games, but how do you guys keep track of all of them? Are there any other b-games that have been COMPLETELY translated?
I simply surf a lot--finding web pages, following the links, watching message boards, etc. Message boards especially offer a wealth of information, if you know where to look and which ones to watch.
I've already mentioned all the fully translated b-games I'm aware of, for the most part. There's Castle Fantasia II and Planetarian, and that's pretty much it. There's a game called Bloody Bride for the PS1 that's been translated, but that requires an emulator and the transfer is pretty terrible. Melty Blood, Sexy Beach 2, and Artifical Girl 2 have menu patches (though that's mostly all you need to enjoy the games). There's a few others as well with partial patches, including Air. There's work on a full translation of Tsukihime over at Revolve, and it's now at 70%. At the rate it's going it might be done in a few months.
I've already answered bishounen_blue via IM. In short, I'm not a hacker. In Buenoexcellente's words, I'm just a Master Surfer (TM). [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/wink.gif[/img] I know my way around Windows and how to troubleshoot problems in a pinch, but that's about the extent of it.
[This message has been edited by Dark_Shiki (edited 03-30-2005).]
quote:
Originally posted by bishounen_blue:
Translation would be on my end while I would need more members for help with other parts of the project.
Perhaps you should talk to Nande about this matter. He had a slightly different concept...
[This message has been edited by Unicorn (edited 03-30-2005).]
I thought Bloody Bride was a very good game myself (finished it with all the girls). Unusual premise for a dating sim, but hey…
The patch for translating the movie clips is pretty big, but at least the endings are fully understandable then.
I’m gonna replay it someday and see what the “failed” endings are like.
I think we might see final translations of Wind ~Breath Of Heart~ ( http://nnl1.com/wind/ ), Kanon ( http://www.haeleth.net/kanon.html ) and Tsukihime ( http://www.manga-sketchbook.org/mirrormoon/tsukihime.php ) this year.
Someone is working on Air ( http://www.cjas.org/~zalas/AIR/moin.cgi/Fan_20Translation ) and someone announced work on Clannad ( http://www.misu-net.com/clannad/ ) but I think it’s all in early stages.
Insani ( http://www.insani.org ) and HGTP ( http://hgtp.hshare.net/ ) will probably have some new projects soon too.
[This message has been edited by byndhrzn (edited 03-30-2005).]
quote:
Originally posted by Dark_Shiki:
There's work on a full translation of Tsukihime over at Revolve, and it's now at 70%. At the rate it's going it might be done in a few months.
This is not true. Don't believe the hype. The person creating our status pie chart has NO clue what he's doing with statistics. That 70% figure is how much has gotten a rough translation.
Edit: Oh, and by the way. The word for such projects is "fannotate". (Yes, it's a word I invented myself. I'm trying to spread it.)
[This message has been edited by Nandemonai (edited 03-31-2005).]
Fan Translation requires several tools.
1. A Hex Editor. Those can be found on most any large download site.
2. A Table of english and forigen (in this case Japanese) text. For many games this is shift-JIS, but it may not be. This can be quite a pain if you have to manually figure this out yourself.
3. A script dumping and insertion programs. While not essential for smaller games, like fighting ones, a lack of one for any game with text, especially multi-paths, but really any amount of text really makes translation nth times more difficult.
4, A translator. Yes, surprise surprise, someone should speak both languages!
This is just the basics, It often gets more difficult if you want to add or remove text (because of space issues usually so you don’t get stupid lines like ‘Jack run down hill’"
Then sometimes text (sometimes quite important text) can be inserted into images and really does need to be transalted. This means you usually haveto extract the image as its not in a format you can usually easily read with your average image viewing program, then edit it and reinsert it without screwing things up.
Then of course you haveto do testing for bugs…
quote:
Originally posted by Nandemonai:
This is not true. Don't believe the hype. The person creating our status pie chart has NO clue what he's doing with statistics. That 70% figure is how much has gotten a rough translation.Edit: Oh, and by the way. The word for such projects is "fannotate". (Yes, it's a word I invented myself. I'm trying to spread it.)
[This message has been edited by Nandemonai (edited 03-31-2005).]
You work for Revolve? Or one of its partners? Either way, that's news to me...
quote:
Originally posted by Dark_Shiki:
You work for Revolve? Or one of its partners? Either way, that's news to me...
Yeah, I'm a proofreader.
That’s cool. How long have you been doing it?
About … 4 or 5 months now, I forget.
Foolproof or bulletproof?
(I know, lame joke)
In addition to needing all that good stuff for a translation project, you will also need a good graphics editor to hack at menus, remove japanese, and replace it with english. Also, a good QC (Quality Control) Team is needed to go through the product before it was released. Whoops, almost forgot, you need a good Editor to go over the translators work, usually another person fluent in Japanese or at least has a large background in it works quiet well for this position. Finally, a good distribution team is required so that you can get your release out to everyone ^^.
Oh, finally, thanks for linking to my site ^~ (I’m the webmaster of Misu-Net) and for linking to the actual download rules page then directly to the downloads section. Its much appreciated ^^.
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Misu-Net
Clannad Translation Project
[This message has been edited by Misuzu (edited 04-01-2005).]
No problem, though I suspect your leecher protection would have bounced people away anyway.
[This message has been edited by Dark_Shiki (edited 04-01-2005).]
I was impressed with the translation of the demo Anonono and especially for the game itself. Normally “Advanture” bishoujo game don’t appeal to me, but after trying the demo I was quite fond of the game. Then I became disappointed as the demo ended. I do hope this game comes to the English market, but I somewhat have my doubts.
I’m also curious to how Miyoshi died and what could the protagonist do to save her.
[This message has been edited by NU_ALERT (edited 04-03-2005).]
But this is a demo so I didn’t get to see any ending.
[This message has been edited by NU_ALERT (edited 04-03-2005).]