If there is stiff writing, that will significantly undermine the reasons for translating the game in the first place.
Would it be possible to release the game, and then release a patch to apply the text edits? If not, then I think we ought to wait. We’ve waited 3 years, 3 more months for a better product is worth it.
Welcome to our little world, Dark_Shiki.
Thanks. I hope I’ll enjoy my stay. This isn’t the first time I’ve had a stray impulse to post here, but on past occasions either my opinion had already been voiced or the topic was old beyond memory.
@Nandemonai: My point was that the process of translating (especially when dealing with such disimilar languages as Japanese and English) essentially entails rewriting the script being translated. Of course, the original idea is retained, but things such as word choice and phrasing (key elements of style) must be essentially created anew. My idea of “stiff writing” here pertains to these two elements, and is wholly separate from the writing as it existed in the original Japanese. Though I do admit that stiff writing in general can involve content as well as style.
[This message has been edited by Dark_Shiki (edited 10-10-2004).]
Take as long as is needed to make the game as perfect as possible.
quote:
Originally posted by Dark_Shiki:
@Nandemonai: My point was that the process of translating (especially when dealing with such disimilar languages as Japanese and English) essentially entails rewriting the script being translated. Of course, the original idea is retained, but things such as word choice and phrasing (key elements of style) must be essentially created anew. My idea of "stiff writing" here pertains to these two elements, and is wholly separate from the writing as it existed in the original Japanese. Though I do admit that stiff writing in general can involve content as well as style.[This message has been edited by Dark_Shiki (edited 10-10-2004).]
Yeah, that's generally the point. It's quite possible to have games like Fire Emblem, which received a rather stiff localization into English, but enough of the well-written qualities of the original material made it through that you can tell how good the game is.
I would prefer not to enjoy the game in spite of poor wording, so taking time to polish the game's translated script is always a good thing.
quote:
Originally posted by Nandemonai:
...I would prefer not to enjoy the game in spite of poor wording, so taking time to polish the game's translated script is always a good thing.
Yeah, that's kind of how I felt with Kana, at times. Despite the occasional awkward wording and overall simplistic/bland writing style, the story itself shined so brilliantly that I couldn't help but overlook the translation's imperfections.
now that i rmember the title… If you played Gin-Iro at any time… you would understand why i care not about translations… heh the story was very very good… reguardless of actually having to sit for 10-15 mins to figure out what they meant… in a long paragraph…
I understand what you mean, Gambit. The game itself is great reguardless of a bad translation or spelling mistakes. If I just wanted to kind of understand what was going on then I’d play the Japanese version. They point of paying for an English version that comes out years after that Japanese version is so that we can have a nice, clear English version. As great as the story may be, PeaPri doesn’t make the story. If all we can say about a game is that it’s great but only a so-so job on the translation, that means that PeaPri is only a so-so company. I’d rather have them be known to do good work. It’s not like we could say “At least they put out a lot of games” because they don’t. If this game comes out with tons of mistakes then G-collections will truly be better than PeaPri. Right now each has it’s own good points. I like the good translations from PeaPri. Words that are better left in Japanese are left in Japanese. (Onii-chan) I just like PeaPri’s translations more in general but I won’t be able to say that if there are lots of errors and bad translations. I think the patch is a bad idea, too. Many people will get the game and not know about the patch, and end up seeing only the “rough” verion of the game. I would like to see it turn out really nice, not just for me, but for everyone else and for future players as well.
Please do take your time to make the game. Better a perfect game than an imperfect one IMHO. Three months more or less is nothing.
quote:
Originally posted by Spectator Beholder:
Three months more or less is nothing.
Agreed!
Three months is nothing copared to the time we already wait for it. So please, take your time and do a great job as usual! [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/wink.gif[/img]
Hi Peter, well it seems most everyone else has weighed in already, but let me throw a serious proposal out there to you.
Being a perfectionist, I personally come down on the side of “make it perfect”. I always prefer to do something right than do it fast. Having just played the LMM demo, my expectations are very high for this game. But I understand those on the other side of the fence, who have waited as long as I have (or longer) and just want to play the darn thing.
So, I’d like to offer this: why don’t you recruit a few of us board members with the right “mad skillz” to help out? I mean, I’m one of those programmer-types, and I would love to help out if it meant getting the game sooner AND more polished. We could coordinate with the lead tester (Lamuness?) who could dole out the work and roll updates & fixes back in.
If an NDA would be necessary to get the higher-ups to agree, I’d wouldn’t mind signing one.
If you really could use the help, please let those of us who are willing and able to help you.
Well as long as it’s not a babelfish translation I won’t complain too much. Hell I hardly complained about the translation job in Adam Double Factor In any case Peter whenever you release it I’ll probably order it unless it’s like 10 years from now
Thanks for everone’s comments. First of all, the game is looking very good, and is MUCH better than the demo, which was released without any checking of the script, or much. We won’t release it before it’s ready, don’t worry. One of the issues is that there are 1800 files to this game, partially because scenes that appear on different days are all represented by their own text, so changing one line in the game must be covered in 10 other locations, sometimes. To combat this, we’ve got a very advanced script that makes the changes globally.
I guess what I want to say is, I really want to get this game out to everyone. Would it be acceptible if we “deputized” some people who would email text problems they find in some of the alternate paths (which generally don’t have to do with game endings), if they find any?
Oops, didn’t finish my post. We will, of course, fix all errors in the text and make updated game files available to everyone.
I’m along with the rest of the people who would like to see a “good translation” come out. My copy has been on pre-order for a while now, and I’m willing to wait as long as it takes.
If there’s a reasonable compromise–i.e. “deputizing” a few people–then by all means, go for it. I think everyone would love to see the game come out as soon as possible, but there are plenty of us who want to see Peach Princess live up to its hallmark of quality.
Besides… I believe a number of people have already “volunteered” to help, if at all possible, to expidite the editing process.
This “deputizing” would occur after the game’s release, correct? I don’t know…not to be rude, but the idea sounds kind of fishy to me. It sounds like making the players the company’s beta testers. Actually, this seems to be the growing trend nowadays, but that doesn’t mean I condone it.
Hmm…I suppose it comes down to this: Correcting small errors that players report, in itself, is a good thing. However, depending on the players to “finish” the translation is not. The CD I get in the mail should stand alone as a finished product. This isn’t just about personal opinion, either. There’s plenty of people out there that will pick the game up and plop the CD in their computer without even thinking of visiting the website. And those people will judge what the CD spins out, not some fix available on the Internet that they never thought to get.
Aww… I leave for Vegas for three nights and look what happens, I miss posting a stupid comment early in a Great and Powerful Peter Payne thread. Though it probably won’t matter to voice my opinion now, I’ll do so anyway. I feel that people have waited over two years for this game, I lost track exactly how many years it’s been, what’s a few more months? It’s like buying a 2,000 dollar TV and paying an extra hundred for a cool surround system. It’s like, you’re already paying 2,000 dollars, what’s another hundred? …Trust me, it makes sense.
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精神 の 神
Peter, ok now I kind of understand what you’re looking for. Anyway, I’ll still volunteer to help however I can.
Well if it’s only grammatical errors and stuff I don’t see a problem with us regulars just creating a thread with the errors we find so the PP staff can make patches for it. It’s done all the time in games. Must note though I have a high threshold for grammatical errors before I even notice
Wow, I’ve been away for a while. Well anyways, I agree with the people who want a good translation. I’ve been waiting for this game for a long, long time and I can stand to wait a bit longer. It’s like the Matrix movies, fans were waiting 4 years for the second movie to come out and it was good (although the guys sold out and didn’t stick to the original story just for the sake of sales in video games and comics etc.). In a game like this, I’d probably want perfection. As someone said, if those people who’ve been waiting for it for so long finally buy it and its short of what they were expecting, they’re going to be a tad bit upset.
Also, Peter how much harddrive space is this going to take up when the final version is released? Is it going to be like in DVD format like X-Change 3(i think its in DVD format)? Or is it going to be like Trabulance style with the install disk and the game disk. And really? has it been two years people have been waiting for this game? I know I’ve been waiting for it since last summer but I didn’t know it was that long.