ROM Hack Summer Game Translation

[rml93]

Hi.

I've been trawling the pits of the internet desperately searching for any worthwhile translation efforts and have started tracking progress of a great many of them only to end up disappointed when they eventually get a poor Google translate patch, halt due to legal action or just lose momentum and fizzle out.

What I am setting out to do is translate and release patches for video games that never made their way to English speaking territories.

Now about me! I'm a busy guy. I understand what I'm looking to do will be a heavy undertaking but I won't be letting this consume me. If I find myself with any free time over this summer I will be devoting it what I can spare of it to this end but I refuse to release anything as a rush job.

I would like to start off with some earlier games so we can all enjoy them before they're too far in the rear view to be of any consequence. If you can recommend any resources to help me with my eventual efforts, please don't be shy. I'll take all the help I can get. And while you're at it, feel free to give me the title of a game or two that you'd like to play in English.

-rml93

P.S. Please do not ask for anything released within the last year, with ongoing translation projects elsewhere or games that are just plain bad. And just a note, you may see a similar post of mine in PSP Games and Content forum, feel free to suggest a title there as well!

 

[RikuCrafter]

Not sure if there is a project already, but I'd definitely be interested in seeing one for the Ni no Kuni ds game!

 

[rml93]

Sounds good to me! After a cursory internet search it looks like translation efforts were abandoned when Kotaku falsely reported the game would be released alongside the PS3 version. Also there seems to be some kind of project going where the lead is hoping to translate the game into English after it has been translated into Spanish which just sounds messy. I'll do some more research on this when I get a chance, if the game needs the book included in the Japanese retail release to be played properly I simply won't be able to do this without a copy of it. However, if the book isn't needed I'll begin working on this in May or earlier given the opportunity. I'll keep you updated but I will need more information before I begin so don't hold your breath!

 

[GHANMI]

I'm involved in the Ni no Kuni project, and we're indeed stalled because of zero translators available/interested at the moment. the reason we're stalled is that we indeed refuse to use Google translator at all, or even do a Japanese>Spanish>English translation. I really appreciate you're interested in this game.
You can check the link in my signature for a complete text dump. PM me a gmail adress if interested so that you can edit the files.

The game might sound scary because it requires the physical book, but it's only used in select points. For now we would translate it as a self-sufficient DS rom (the solutions/hints included in-game, or maybe a readme file).
The Spanish project did indeed translate both the book and the game, but they undertook that heavy task only after finishing most of the game text actually.
And the in-game text is already enough (it's too different from the PS3 version, too)

 

[rml93]

I clicked translate in Google chrome just to see how it would read and it is unreal how unintelligible that is! It's a good thing you're going about this the right way! I'm not all too proficient with Japanese but I'll do everything I can to help you get a polished final product on this.

 

[GHANMI]

Slightly off-topic, a proof of concept screenshot (since everyone love screenshots).
The technical side is basically finished. Our only problem right now with Ni no Kuni DS is finding translators.
But this is a predicament important enough to stall the progress.
Any help would be appreciated

*: this is actually a straightforward translation by yours faithfully (the sentence was easy enough with the help of the Nintendo DS dictionnary, and hajimemashite (begin) is one of the few verbs I know actually)... to be honest I replaced the "Ohoho" Japanese lady laugh because it doesn't sound quite lady-like in English. I'm not that fluent.

 

[DarthNemesis]

*: this is actually a straightforward translation by yours faithfully (the sentence was easy enough with the help of the Nintendo DS dictionnary, and hajimemashite (begin) is one of the few verbs I know actually)

"hajimemashite" means "pleased to meet you" though...

 

[GHANMI]

My bad. You're right. It's not hajimaru

It's "ohoho.. dewa, [kanji for synthesis/combination] wo hajimemashite".
The global meaning is close enough but that doesn't make it less of a mistranslation. I guess this was self-demonstrating as for why someone not fluent shouldn't try doing the translation work.

 

[Mracy]

Auryn has been musing about doing Ni no Kuni.
But only if he can retain the entirety of the staff of the Ace Attorney Investigations 2 project.
Maybe you can contact him for possible cooperation.

EDIT: Here's the post he made on the court-records forums
http://z11.invisionfree.com/court_records/index.php?showtopic=84281

 

[Sora de Eclaune]

I actually would enjoy playing Okaeri! Chibi-Robo: Happy Richie Osouji! in English, if Ni no Kuni's already taken full up. I've been pushing some people I know who have been studying Japanese to find a group to translate with, but they haven't done anything at all, so...

I wouldn't mind if the English wasn't perfect, either. I just kind of want to know my objective for certain areas of the game that require certain stuff to be done and know what certain things do that have a non-obvious function, at the least.

 

[neoxdonut]

Blood of Bahamut - A Japanese action RPG.

 

[Reploid]

Blood of Bahamut - A Japanese action RPG.

I have seen eng rom somewhere, but maybe project is halfdone. This game sux anyway since, you know... Toriyama made it. Also I heard that Marvelous was gonna translate it, but Square didn't let them, to save themselves from shame.

 

[neoxdonut]

I have seen eng rom somewhere, but maybe project is halfdone. This game sux anyway since, you know... Toriyama made it. Also I heard that Marvelous was gonna translate it, but Square didn't let them, to save themselves from shame.

I need to go search for that patch then to try it out. Thanks for the info.

 

[Oath]

Iron Feather. Cool RPG from Konami.

 

[GHANMI]

Iron Feather. Cool RPG from Konami.

Blood of Bahamut - A Japanese action RPG.

Well, this is a translator who can only translate the text but not actually reinsert it back in the game.
Not someone who can hack the rom / iso.
He can't really grant your wishes, unless...
If you are making these suggestions, I assume you can contribute with something yourselves, aka hack the game yourselves to re-insert the text back and possibly expand it and do various graphical editing.

... Or am I wrong?
If you are just asking without wanting to contribute actually with the hacking part, your requests fall within the scope of a sticky request thread where you can request for translation projects. Here: http://gbatemp.net/threads/clean-official-translation-requests-topic.288635/

You may be also interested to know Densetsu (he can hack stuff, and he already has translators helping) already picked up Blood of Bahamut and has already worked quite a bit on it, and said he'll finish it whenever he can.
Are you requesting for that game without doing your research first?

And please take a look at this thread: http://gbatemp.net/threads/translator-available.293437/
He're it's repeating the exact same pattern, and if it goes on further, I'm afraid it will meet the same conclusion.

 

[neoxdonut]

Reploid already stated that game had someone working on a translation and had done some work on it already a few days ago.

Thanks.

 

[Auryn]

I don't know Densetzu personally but somebody told me that he will continue The Blood of Bahamooth project after finishing the study but from what i know, he is studing medicine so it could take a while before he can continue.

 

[StorMyu]

Just what Auryn said.

 

[greator]

Idolmaster Dearly Stars.

Lots of text, the gameplay is easy no need english to understand them. But without English story, you'll never understand the whole game.
People want this in English, since Xbox360 and PS3 version are impossible to translate. The PSP version is only 90% translated. ANd The only English version of Idolmaster is in iOS.

 

[GHANMI]

Idolmaster Dearly Stars.

Can you read the posts above?

Quoting raulpica (a moderator) and his opinion on the subject from a very similar topic:

Guys, I'm pretty sure he's looking for somebody with the hacking skills that needs a translator.​

​

While in the homebrew field we may think of translators doing all the jobs (which is why it's so rare), in the professional field they usually have the translators separate from the programmers.​

​

He's not looking for suggestions because a suggestion alone doesn't do anything. He's looking for something he can actually help and do.​

THIS. Any other request I see in this thread, and I'm gonna send out warns.

Just link him to CURRENTLY ACTIVE projects which need a translator.

Do not ask for the games you'd like to get translated, or otherwise you'll get warned.

You can post your request in the sticky thread linked to above. And nowhere else.
Unless you are actually able to insert the text and hack the game yourself aka contribute with something.