Hacking [In-Progress] Fate/Extra CCC Translation Project

[neoxephon]

As far as editing goes, later on I'll be looking for editors to help polish the translations as well as making sure that everything stays true to the lore of the series. We definitely won't be using Capella's translation as-is, without any editing/polishing. There may even be parts that need to be completely re-translated. I'm not sure, I'll leave that up to the translators to decide. But we'll definitely use Capella's work as a base.

 

[neoxephon]

We now have three translators on the team. Welcome, Nification.

 

[thexyz]

Here's the patch to make it run with decrypted PGD:

At offset 0x1071E4 replace F0 FF BD 27 10 04 05 3C with 00 00 02 34 08 00 E0 03
at offset 0x1753DC replace 25 88 22 02 with 00 00 00 00
at offset 0x1753E4 replace 25 88 22 02 with 00 00 00 00

(and while we're at it, thanks to Mugi for answering my questions <3)

 

[macaronron]

Oh, whoever's going to do Casko's events, there's a scene where you get a kudayoke. In other words, a 管避け. It's a charm used to avoid a pipe fox, a familiar used by onmyouji.

Here's the line in Casko's ending that I was talking about that features ruby text:

Spoiler

"To put into concrete terms, I knocked out that stubborn Mooncell with a Tamamo Kick? Something like that? In the end, there's no such thing as a little brother (moon) superior to his older sister (sun)."

And another one from when BB's harassing the student council:

Spoiler

"Is a discussion that doesn't reach a conclusion sweet (fun)? Of course it's sweet (entertaining)! It's obviously sweet (delightful) <3

 

[neoxephon]

Well macaronron if you finish up with your other projects and are interested in helping with this project (since you seem to be a fan of the series), you're more than welcome to join. We do have three other translators on the team, but I think four would be the absolute maximum to have.

thexyz Thanks for the fix, it'll help the project out immensely. I'll check it out on my PSP in a few minutes. And of course, you and Mugi will get a special thanks for your contribution to the project.

 

[macaronron]

Considering the fact that none of your current translators mentioned actually finishing the game, maybe I should join. (I've played through four times, once with each Servant. Got Archer, Saber, and Casko's endings. Got CCC ending with Gil.)

But you really haven't answered my question regarding how you're going to handle the ruby text. Mirror Moon just didn't include them while the current /hollow ataraxia project seems to include them. But this becomes a bigger issue with multiple translators. Do you want them to preserve the ruby text? Do you want them to make personal decisions regarding whether the kanji and the ruby text have enough overlap that they should only keep whichever they think is most appropriate?

 

[neoxephon]

Considering the fact that none of your current translators mentioned actually finishing the game, maybe I should join. (I've played through four times, once with each Servant. Got Archer, Saber, and Casko's endings. Got CCC ending with Gil.)

But you really haven't answered my question regarding how you're going to handle the ruby text. Mirror Moon just didn't include them while the current /hollow ataraxia project seems to include them. But this becomes a bigger issue with multiple translators. Do you want them to preserve the ruby text? Do you want them to make personal decisions regarding whether the kanji and the ruby text have enough overlap that they should only keep whichever they think is most appropriate?

To be quite honest, I'm not super familiar with the Fate series. That's very important for a translator, not nearly as so for a programmer. But I do intend on becoming more familiar with the series when I've reached a point that I don't have a ton of work to do on the project.

I'll admit, my first thoughts when seeing this ruby text was that it was something specific to the Japanese script in the game. Because of that, I assumed it would not be used. However, it is not an issue to use it, it's just a matter of using the control codes for it that my script dumper already includes.

The question is, will using the ruby text improve the overall experience? Is it something considered to be important by the diehard fans? I can always ask for opinions over at Beast's Lair, to get a general consensus. At the moment, I haven't really had a chance to get the translators in the group together and have them make decisions on how they will be doing things (especially concerning consistency). But that is something that needs to happen very soon.

 

[macaronron]

Nasu generally uses ruby text to provide double meanings. Sometimes, it's just fluff, like BB's repeatedly using 'sweet' for words that could roughly be interpreted as the same thing. Sometimes, it's a reference, like Casko referring to the fact that as Amaterasu, a sun goddess, she's naturally superior to the Mooncell, which is a part of the moon. The 'younger brother' part is, of course, a reference to Tsukuyomi. (This same idea of the sun being superior to the moon is brought up again near the end of the game with Karna.)

And sometimes, it's actually important. There's a brief moment in Meltlilith's part of the labyrinth where BB's having a moment, and she says that a) the wall that stands between her and the core of the Mooncell is strong to the point of idiocy (being like Hakuno) and b) that they're the source of BB's energy (what gets in her way).

That's why it's something worth talking about.

 

[Cargodin]

I'm sure that's something the translators are already vividly aware of. (As he mentioned, they're fans of the series and, more likely than not, have already played and gone though any of Nasu's double entandre escapades in some form or other in the original language).

From my understanding, all the neoxephon needs to do is swap out the red word in the Japanese version with the English equivalent that the translator or the editor gives him the final say on, right?

 

[neoxephon]

I'm sure that's something the translators are already vividly aware of.

I'm going to assume they are aware of it, Capella has been translating the story and putting it on their blog for around a year now, I think. Archeia and Nification seemed knowledgeable about what happens at very specific points in the game. However, I haven't had the chance to really discuss things with any of them. They've been somewhat MIA for a little while, probably busy with real life which is to be expected. I'm in the process of setting up new ways for the team to communicate amongst each other, I believe this to be vital for the quality of the project while having more than one translator. The concerns about the ruby text are something I will be running by them.

From my understanding, all the neoxephon needs to do is swap out the red word in the Japanese version with the English equivalent that the translator or the editor gives him the final say on, right?

If you meant the ruby text (which is the green superscript text shown in the screenshots macaronron posted), then yes there is a simple control code that tells the game that specific text should be the ruby text. If you meant all of the text in the game, it's not quite so simple. There are always unforeseen problems.

 

[neoxephon]

U P D A T E
I've ran into a problem with the file that has the text for the Servant select screen. I'm pretty sure that it is having an issue with my increasing the size of the file. This causes the game to crash right before the first of the dialogue in the game appears. But it is strange, because I've enlarged other files and haven't ran into any problems with those as of yet. I'll have to look into it more.

Also, I posted a link to the project forums in the first post.

 

[Cargodin]

If you meant the ruby text (which is the green superscript text shown in the screenshots macaronron posted), then yes there is a simple control code that tells the game that specific text should be the ruby text. If you meant all of the text in the game, it's not quite so simple. There are always unforeseen problems.

Sorry if I made that sound like that that comes for granted(way easier said than done). I was responding to macaronron's concerns about such a thing from the translation side of it, is all. I really have no hacking skills besides basic text dumping and such so I would never try and talk about the hacking side of things as if I did.

 

[macaronron]

I brought up ruby text for one real reason: This project has multiple translators. How they choose to handle ruby text is one of the things that translators differ upon and I was pointing out to neoxephon that he would need to discuss it with his translators to make sure that they handled the ruby text consistently.

I'm also concerned because Capellaaurigae's translation, as seen on their blog, is outright incorrect in some places and leaves out information in others. It's a pretty shaky foundation, translation-wise, and as lead, it's neoxephon's job to hash out details regarding translation guidelines like with ruby text or who has the thankless job of checking the translation.

 

[neoxephon]

I'm also concerned because Capellaaurigae's translation, as seen on their blog, is outright incorrect in some places and leaves out information in others. It's a pretty shaky foundation, translation-wise, and as lead, it's neoxephon's job to hash out details regarding translation guidelines like with ruby text or who has the thankless job of checking the translation.

Well, Capella was very straightforward about their level of skill with the Japanese language. They have told me that they would prefer someone more fluent to verify their work from the blog. As for who on the team will be verifying, that has not been decided. By no means do I plan on taking the quicker route and just using what is there. I definitely want this to be the best quality that it can be.

 

[macaronron]

Well, here's one: Capella misread (misheard?) レンジ as レシピ during BB's 3-Minute Meal segment.

 

[neoxephon]

Well, here's one: Capella misread (misheard?) レンジ as レシピ during BB's 3-Minute Meal segment.

So, in your opinion, does it make sense to use the translation on Capella's blog as a base to build from or to start over from scratch?

 

[macaronron]

In the very least, you want someone more fluent, preferably someone who's finished the game at least once to run a translation check on Capella's stuff. I've already played the game, so it's not like I read Capella's stuff in-depth. I'd really hate to say 'toss it all out,' especially with a game with as much text as CCC, so if you don't want to start from scratch, get someone whose focus, for now at least, is checking of Capella's stuff. Especially since at least of one of their mistakes is a line that's heavy foreshadowing for the CCC route.

 

[Omegadark]

In the very least, you want someone more fluent, preferably someone who's finished the game at least once to run a translation check on Capella's stuff. I've already played the game, so it's not like I read Capella's stuff in-depth. I'd really hate to say 'toss it all out,' especially with a game with as much text as CCC, so if you don't want to start from scratch, get someone whose focus, for now at least, is checking of Capella's stuff. Especially since at least of one of their mistakes is a line that's heavy foreshadowing for the CCC route.

You seem like the perfect candidate for that sir.

 

[Archeia]

I agree! It seems like you know a lot more than we do ;
I'm still on the process of finishing the Fate/Extra CCC game ...

 

[macaronron]

Well, I guess it's unfair for me to stick my nose in and then not help. If you want me, I'll join you.

But I should warn you, after playing this game four times (Dude+Archer, Lady+Saber, Lady+Gil+CCC Ending, Dude+Casko), I'm a bit... what's the word? Burnt out on it? So my progress might be slow.