Japanese Game Translation "Wish List"

What would you like to see done?
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ArcaneAria
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Japanese Game Translation "Wish List"

Post by ArcaneAria » Mon Apr 24, 2017 9:58 pm

With Dr. Hauzer translated successfully, I've been thinking about picking up another 3DO game to translate. I'm not sure which games have the script in plain text on disc, but won't know unless we look! I've briefly looked at Blue Forest Story, which seems to have at least some of the text on disc, but will need to mess with it a bit to see if a translation is possible. Using the Second Edition as well, so that US consoles can boot it.

My question to you: What games do you want to see translated?

I'm not too familiar with the Japanese 3DO exclusives, so post any you have interest in! Seems some of the bigger ones are Blue Forest Story, Moon Cradle, Policenauts (is this different in any way from the PSX version?), and Twinkle Knights.

This wikipedia list of 3DO games seems like it'd be useful: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_3 ... ayer_games

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goldenband
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Re: Japanese Game Translation "Wish List"

Post by goldenband » Tue Apr 25, 2017 1:33 am

Oh, man, this thread is music to my ears. :D Blue Forest Story would be a great choice, and a reasonable top pick if the text on disc is easily accessible.

Grand Chef (Oukoku no Grand Chef) would be another top pick in my book. Theater Wars also seems promising.

Down one tier from that would be games like Dragon Tycoon Edge and Belzerion, both of which have a mix of Japanese and English in their text/UI. Dragon Tycoon Edge looks particularly weird and intriguing; I picked up a copy at one point but haven't really played it yet.

Policenauts seems like less of a priority since the PSX and Saturn versions are already available, unless the existing translation files are available, which would massively save time. The 3DO version's claim to fame is that it apparently has the best FMV framerate of all the versions. It would certainly get a fair bit of attention, but might be very labor-intensive -- though then again, if you get the ball rolling, the game's existing fanbase might pitch in to help.

Another option would be J.B. Harold: Blue Chicago Blues, which would also invite the transplantation of the English-language soundtrack from the LaserActive version. I think there's a playthrough on YouTube that has the whole thing. But maybe the existence of the LaserActive version in English (and a Mac OS version in English too IIRC?) takes the shine off of this option.

Finally, spare a thought for Bonogurashi and Nemurenu Yoru no Chiisana Ohanashi -- both kid-oriented games, but oddly charming in their aesthetics. If their text is easily accessible, it'd be fun to get to play them natively, though IIRC they also have some Japanese audio. Same goes for Hanako-san as well.

Above all, go for whatever you find interesting & deem a worthy project -- anything you do will, by definition, double the number of fan-translated 3DO games in English. :) I wish I knew what titles were low-hanging fruit with plaintext on the disc and no major barrier to starting work!

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Re: Japanese Game Translation "Wish List"

Post by goldenband » Mon Jun 05, 2017 10:51 pm

How on earth am I the only respondent to this topic? Even with the low traffic recently, surely I can't be the only person who would love to see ArcaneAria translate just about any untranslated game? :?

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Re: Japanese Game Translation "Wish List"

Post by Martin III » Tue Jun 06, 2017 9:03 pm

Sorry, I haven't been checking on this part of the forum lately.

I definitely second Grand Chef. I'd also love to see Ghost Hunter Series, though I may be unique in that desire. It's just such a deliciously weird game, and I love my first person dungeon crawlers. Blue Forest Story is not a bad idea either. It's hard for me to tell, seeing as I don't know Japanese, but all three of those games seem to have less dense gameplay than RPGs often have, meaning the only real barrier is the language barrier.

Moon Cradle would be cool, but could it actually be done as a homebrew project? I thought it was loaded with live action FMV.

I agree that Policenauts is less of a priority due to the existing PlayStation and Saturn translations.

Short Warp would be nice to see.

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Re: Japanese Game Translation "Wish List"

Post by ArcaneAria » Thu Jun 08, 2017 3:46 am

Figured I'd give people some time to post, but maybe this part of the board is even more quiet than the rest :P Lots of options here, so I've got a lot of investigating to do!

Grand Chef looks like a lot of fun, but from watching 3dokid's video (https://youtu.be/F0RTForn07U), it looks like it's mostly voiced with no subtitles. I'm not sure I'd be able to do much unless you can turn Japanese subtitles on in the game. If Japanese subtitles are possible, then I could try inserting English there.

Ghost Hunter Series, I'm going to have to check this one out! Looks right up my alley, but for translation may also have the same issue of not having any way to add English subtitles.

Dragon Tycoon Edge looks super weird but doable. Both it and Balzerion seem to have text subtitles, with Balzerion looking like the better game haha.

I played around with Blue Forest Story a bit and got an English word to show up in the script, though it's a bit finicky. It looks like the lines are surrounded by garbage like E#'アトリ@#'#E , but it seems they have meaning. So once I decipher that, it should be easier. Blue Forest Story might be a bit long, so a less dialogue heavy game may be a better start.

I'll look into these and the other ones mentioned in this thread over the next week or two, then hopefully start on something! Maybe I could start simple and try translating the menus for Short Warp, seems like that's all you really need to know.

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Re: Japanese Game Translation "Wish List"

Post by goldenband » Fri Jun 09, 2017 5:41 am

Excellent -- glad to see both of your replies! :D

I agree with Martin III that a game like Short Warp would be nice -- or any game where it's just a matter of replacing a few messages or UI buttons. It might seem minor, but there's a lot of virtue in making a game fully accessible, even if you can sort of fudge your way around without the language.

Another one like that is Insect War aka Insecter Wars. I think it's got a relatively small number of things in need of localization, with a lot of UI elements already in English (see here for a video). It's certainly playable without Japanese, but it'd be nice to be able to navigate the game in full English.

I think Dragon Tycoon Edge may have a lot of voiced Japanese dialogue, so maybe Belzerion is the one to choose of that pair.

One more thought: The Letter that Overcame Time (時を超えた手紙). Very text-heavy, though, but at least it's synced with voiced dialogue (i.e. the text is also displayed onscreen in what looks like a standard text box).

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Re: Japanese Game Translation "Wish List"

Post by Julz » Wed Feb 10, 2021 5:45 pm

I was secretly hoping someone, anyone, had the same idea as me. I would _love_ english versions of Blue Forest Story and Grand Chef.

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Re: Japanese Game Translation "Wish List"

Post by Julz » Fri Feb 12, 2021 9:12 pm

Sorry for double posting. Pls no ban.

I am willing to commission a heavy translation like Blue Forest Story. I don't know what the going rates are but getting a translated, playable copy of a good lookin' JRPG for the 3DO would have an impact I'm sure.

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Re: Japanese Game Translation "Wish List"

Post by Julz » Mon Mar 01, 2021 5:36 pm

TRIPLE COMBO.

This isn't spam, days go between my posts.

I'd like to see a translation of Sangokushi IV (Romance of the 3 Kingdoms IV). The game exists in english on other platforms.

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Re: Japanese Game Translation "Wish List"

Post by goldenband » Thu Mar 18, 2021 7:19 pm

I too would love to see the 3DO version of ROTK IV get translated. Yes, it's on other platforms, but experiencing each console's unique version is definitely worthwhile, as we never know what'll be there until we find out firsthand!

Koei used a standardized approach to their games, and I'm wondering if the versions in English on PS1 and Saturn could provide a template for direct transplantation of the script. If a way can be found to match each Japanese string in the PS1 game with its English equivalent, then you could automate the process for the 3DO. Same with images, though some sort of conversion process would be required (probably comfy for the 3DO with its more flexible color bit depth options?).

BTW I'd love to see Blue Forest Story get translated too, but "commissions" are out of the question. They're frowned upon to begin with when it comes to fan translation, and anything like fair compensation would be $10K minimum, given the time and expertise fan translators and hackers bring to the table. It has to be a labor of love, or it doesn't happen. :)

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Re: Japanese Game Translation "Wish List"

Post by Julz » Tue Mar 23, 2021 9:00 pm

goldenband wrote:
Thu Mar 18, 2021 7:19 pm
I too would love to see the 3DO version of ROTK IV get translated. Yes, it's on other platforms, but experiencing each console's unique version is definitely worthwhile, as we never know what'll be there until we find out firsthand!

Koei used a standardized approach to their games, and I'm wondering if the versions in English on PS1 and Saturn could provide a template for direct transplantation of the script. If a way can be found to match each Japanese string in the PS1 game with its English equivalent, then you could automate the process for the 3DO. Same with images, though some sort of conversion process would be required (probably comfy for the 3DO with its more flexible color bit depth options?).

BTW I'd love to see Blue Forest Story get translated too, but "commissions" are out of the question. They're frowned upon to begin with when it comes to fan translation, and anything like fair compensation would be $10K minimum, given the time and expertise fan translators and hackers bring to the table. It has to be a labor of love, or it doesn't happen. :)
Love doesn't feed a hungry stomach, but I get your point. I had no damn clue what a "fair compensation" would be but 5digits is way out of my range.

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Re: Japanese Game Translation "Wish List"

Post by Austin » Mon Apr 05, 2021 9:09 pm

goldenband wrote:
Thu Mar 18, 2021 7:19 pm
I too would love to see the 3DO version of ROTK IV get translated. Yes, it's on other platforms, but experiencing each console's unique version is definitely worthwhile, as we never know what'll be there until we find out firsthand!
I totally agree. While I can look up a YouTube video for comparisons, it's most enjoyable experiencing them first-hand when available. Having translated versions lets us do this for more than a few minutes (I've never been one to make it far in games like these when they are in a foreign language I don't understand).

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Re: Japanese Game Translation "Wish List"

Post by goldenband » Mon Aug 02, 2021 9:22 pm

Noting here that the Korean game Battle Blues was recently translated, which is pretty awesome.

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