Funnerific

Saya no Uta?

I'm not sure it really applies to Koiken Otome, but...

Edit: That's like you're eating fish and being like, "Yeah I haven’t tasted chicken before, but this totally tastes like it!"

What a coincidence, I was just on the phone with a VN developer located in Asia, Africa, Australia and Antarctica. They had this amazing concept about a VN featuring a Black protagonist.
But I unfortunately had to tell them, that this guy called Nenor5VB only wanted something like this from a European or American developer. So they obliged and cancelled the whole project.

Hey man. I actually worked on this game's translation for a while before real life fucked me. 
Was actually curious because someone actually completing the game appeared, and I wanted to see what's up.
After looking into stuff for a bit though I'm left with no choice but to make a post.
You claim that you translated the entire base game and the fandisk "in a matter of weeks" working for 16 hours a day each day. Sorry, but this is impossible. No one, and I say no one, can work for 16 hours straight in translation for several days and not deliver a below par result. Also, honestly I can't believe that between the time you asked for the tools in another thread saying that "you were looking forward to translate this" exactly 2 months ago before releasing this https://forums.fuwanovel.net/topic/24092-help-working-with-a-bgi-game/ you were able to translate over 2 Million characters and over 100k lines of text.
So yeah, I'm sorry to whoever was excited for this, but this 100% completion is entirely either machine translated or god knows fucking what. 
As a last word, before anyone claims that idk what I'm talking about, I tried to fan translate this some years ago, one year of approximately daily 1.5-2h of work ended up with me having done only 20k lines out of the 80k lines of the MAIN GAME. I'm slower than your average fan translator, but I just simply can't believe someone is able to translate just the main game in less than a year, let alone in 2 months. No matter the amount of time you sink in each day. Take my words however you want, since I assume you'll want to release your stuff anyway. 
 
PS: The main game has roughly 80k lines, fandisk no clue but definitely more than 20k. No one, I repeat, NO ONE, is able to even remotely come close to do more than 100k lines equivalent to what this game has in 2 months. We're talking about more than 1.5 MILLION CHARACTERS for just the first game ALONE. The fastest guy I know can pull off 1 M charas in a year btw, and he no lifes it 6-8 hours a day because he has infinite time.
 
Take this as you will. Have a nice day.

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1 yen per 1 character (depending on experience). Crediting as the translator of the product. Access to the original version of the products you are asked to translate. 0.9 cents per character, wonderful offer innit? Actually worse than sol press. Well maybe they actually pay

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Required skills/experience ・ English: native with excellent writing and proofreading skills ・ Japanese: fluent (preferably JLPT N1 or equivalent) ・ Photoshop nice standards, but who would actually do the work for you at this skill level? Anyway I doubt they actually demand this for real, I've seen some dlsite translations...

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Successful applicants will be required to submit a certificate of residency from the country they live in. This does not apply for applicants residing in Japan.
Why is this needed lol that's way too mendou, trying to filter for conscientiousness or what?

Darbury presents Darbury’s Old Visual Novels for Old People Named Darbury
Will anybody care about this TL other than me? Probably not. So let’s just agree to call it a micro-niche release, okay?
Anyway, there’s this doujin VN called Hitokata. It’s old. Came out 20 years ago, in fact. A one-person labor of love released at the turn of the century. It’s also well-regarded in the Japanese freeware VN community. Start poking around people’s top 10 lists of free VNs and you’ll be surprised how often it turns up. I mean, not Narcissu often… but enough.
Why? Nostalgia maybe. Back in the day, a 100% free VN that clocked in at 10+ hours was something of a rarity. And one that was sorta good? Doubly so. The game was also surprisingly influential, picking up the time-loop ball from YU-NO and running with it before that trope became a total cliche. Even now, you’ll often see Hitokata referenced in reviews and discussions of doujin VNs with timey-wimey narratives.
Great. So what the hell is it about, Darbury?
Glad you asked. Here’s a little write-up:
Ancient demons, teenage angst, fresh fish… What more could you want, right?
Hitokata never made it to the West for a variety of reasons: a graphically bare-bones first release; an over-reliance on repetition; and an odd mix of cornball humor and existential dread. (Plus, if I’m being honest, the narrative can be slightly clunky at times.) It was popular enough in Japan, however, to merit a commercial remake for mobile — first for feature phones, then Android/iOS. And with that came a whole new generation of fans.

A very stupid localization
Everyone had a COVID hobby to keep them sane over the past year, and working on Hitokata was one of mine. It started as a simple translation of the NScripter original, but when I was done, I was visited by a series of increasingly stupid thoughts:
Stupid Thought #1: Hey, this VN isn’t very pretty. Maybe I can just add the backgrounds from the mobile release. Stupid Thought #2: Heyy, now that I’ve added the backgrounds, it probably won’t be much more work to add the sprites. Stupid Thought #3: Heyyy, now that I’ve added the sprites, it probably won’t be much more work to add the sounds and music. Stupid Thought #4: Heyyyy, now that I’ve added the sounds and music, it probably won’t be much more work to add the UI. Stupid Thought #5: Heyyyyy, now that I’ve added the UI, why don’t I just port this whole thing to Ponscripter. By the time the stupidity stopped, I’d more or less done a ground-up rebuild of the game. Whoops! On the bright side, it means there are now two distinct versions of the TL patch: Hitokata Classic, a straight TL of the original game; and Hitokata Enhanced, with all the added bells and whistles. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of an early screen to show how those two versions stack up.
Screenshots:
CLASSIC | ENHANCED
So, if your name is Darbury and you like old doujin VNs, you can find more info on the patch here. (You're also incredibly handsome. Good on ya.) If you’re anyone else, just go play Musicus! already.

1) I have no hard feelings about this either way, as long as it's consistent throughout the translation of the work. So if the TLer decided to keep honorifics, they better stay there till the end.
2) Same opinion as with the honorifics. No hard feelings either way, as long as it's consistent and matches the tone of the character who's speaking it.
3) Depends on context. In some works, you can get creative about this. I guess "tsundere" would be fine to keep, but where does one draw the line? At "mayadere"? "Coodere"? Luckily, I don't think I've seen these rarer ones appear in dialogue or narration of some VN, but personally, I'm not sure I'd keep these if I worked on a VN where they appear. Some of these "dere" variants aren't as well known as "tsundere".
4) I prefer western order, for reasons.
5) Definitely something that doesn't need to be always TLed literally, except in cases where it makes sense for the character to speak that way (which rarely happens, really). Not saying one can't use "it can't be helped" for it, but I usually rewrite around it if I see it.
6) Same as with "shouganai/shikata ga nai".
7) Definitely 100% liberal. And it's the number one reason I hate puns in Japanese. They're the hardest to carry over in translation. You really need to find something in English that would work in a similar way. I'm not a fan of TL notes, so I'd rather see an English pun here instead.

https://vndb.org/v13892

ef, although it may not be so obvious in the first route.
Symphonic Rain
Aster
Himanatsu (the lightest of the bunch but not quite moege)
Koinaku
Shinikiss
Yosuga no Sora (similar to Natsu no Ame since same director and related brand)
 
Not sure about suspending disbelief though, some of these have a few supernatural elements.

Reading Lost:Smile reminded me of this thread. I think Meguru fits your criteria pretty well.

Hoshi Ori Yume Mirai
Yume Miru Kusuri
Caucasus ~Nanatsuki no Nie~

Haruka Kanata (my kewl review)
Ojou-sama Kumikyoku (my less kewl review)
 
Also seconding Zaka's Mahou Shoujo rec.

Wdym =0?
https://vndb.org/c/all?q=&fil=gender-f.trait_inc-74~1192.tagspoil-0.role-primary
https://vndb.org/c/all?q=&fil=gender-f.trait_inc-74~1307.tagspoil-0.role-primary
https://vndb.org/c/all?q=&fil=gender-f.trait_inc-74~1504.tagspoil-0.role-primary
https://vndb.org/c/all?q=&fil=gender-f.trait_inc-74~1683.tagspoil-0.role-primary
 
And in response to your last question, if I understand you correctly and you want a heroine who is treated by the game as MC and has a lot of parts from her PoV and choices, https://vndb.org/v5746

Yeah, I got a bad batch of gas station sushi and ended up in a medically induced coma for the past four years. Just woke up this morning. Anything interesting happen while I was out? Can’t wait to finally see how Game of Thrones ends...
@NSAID: I totally get the low/no budget dilemma. Been there, done that, got the off-brand t-shirt. Maybe just tack it on your v2.0 to-do list? 😀 

There are two categories:
1. random moege n4-kun translator joining a project with 4 other people without even having finished the game in Japanese and somehow the project eventually finishes with everyone firmly hating the game
these are pretty bad at picking their game
2. Chad picking what they WANT to translate
these are good at picking their game if they finish

"However, if you were to show it to a real adventurer...
They would shout in anger about how naive and convenient this story is."

You rode through a great journey. The emotional high stays with you throughout the day, and maybe the next, slowly phasing out. Sometimes you think back to just how good it was and reminisce in fond memories. You start another visual novel. You hope it'll be as good as the last.
.
You read an unpolished gem. You found some interesting parts, narrative patterns, or thoughts in the novel that you enjoyed. While parts of it may have dragged or been unpolished, there's a certain charm to it all. You want to shill it to all your friends so they can enjoy it too, and start to think about whom it would be good to recommend it to. You look up other works by the author...
.
You read something you ultimately didn't find amazing, but think will be interesting to discuss with people. You don't feel like you wasted your time, exactly; maybe you used it suboptimally, but how could you know? You know more about the medium and can draw more parallels with other works when talking to other people deeply into the medium.
.
You read something pretty garbage. You find solidarity with other people in talking about just what makes it such trash. It lets you see how storycraft can go wrong, and improves your pattern recognition to help you avoid something so disappointing again. You know the medium better, have better picking skills, and have something new to meme about.
.
You read a Fuwanovel forum post by a fifteen year old trying but failing to sound profound, and cringe. You contemplate suicide, but eventually decide that it is not worth it, even though something tells you you have just contracted a painful form of malignant cancer. You write a forum post in reply

I wish someone wrote this same basic rant about how every single AC/DC song is the same.

Man, Madosoft is one big joke (haha same as the title of the thread). Honestly, I never realised I would be invested in one singular company that pumps out visual novels, and it bugs me that I still occasionally check their website for any updates on their projects. But let's start from the beginning. There's a lot to cover here, so be prepared for a wall of text.   Madosoft (jap. まどそふと Madosofuto) is a Japanese company that specialises in developing adult games, mainly eroge/galge/visual novels. Not a lot is known about them in grave detail other than the info I provided. So far, they only developed 5 games (one being a fandisc), which are as follows: Namaiki Delation (2013), Yakimochi Stream (2014), the very well-known cult classic Wagamama High Spec (2016), Wagamama High Spec OC (2017, the fandisc I mentioned earlier) and Raspberry Cube (2018). Everything sounds pretty good so far, and as far as plots for each games go, they're mediocre at best, but some are pretty intriguing. I, for one, am the most familiar with WagaHigh, a game that'll forever be in my heart and inspired me to write more, and much better than these guys.
Not saying they were necessarily bad writers, but from the English version which we got in 2017 by Sekai Project and Denpasoft, a lot of the dialogue is kinda, unironically, cringe. The real kicker will come soon.   Though, keep in mind this colour palette: black, gold, red, white. You will need it to understand this a lot better.   Let's talk about Namaiki Delation first. Its plot is as follows:   Shinjuurou managed to avoid supplementary lessons by passing the make-up test. However, his joy was fleeting, as he was tricked by his teacher to be a member of the cultural festival committee. Since there was no one else there, he had to find other members to join as well… but why are all those joined so cheeky?   Heroines in Namaiki Delation consist of (pictures for reference, left to right): - Nishimura Shiori (the childhood friend of the main character, clingy towards him, used to be shy but has gained confidence over the years and became a lot sweeter, and is trusted by the students and the staff; RED) - Natsushima Misaki (the little sister, cool, serious, scolds the protagonist often to hide her true feelings towards him (you know where this is going, right?); WHITE) - Shinkai Nagisa (I can't believe she shares a surname with the well-known Japanese director! MC's kouhai, she's the violent one and is treated as a delinquent but is actually sweet, also she's into karate; BLACK) - Meia Kreutzerung Hakuhou (a genius inventor, looks like an elementary schooler but is actually a high schooler due to skipping grades, childish but very smart, goes to school just to experience what high school is like; GOLD).   Variety between the heroines is wide. Not as wide when compared to games made by another company, but wide enough that I can call "original." Now, what about the main character? Self-insert, donkan, no face, no voice. Standard shit that I've grown tired of. Lemme be a voice actor, damn it!   Next game is Yakimochi Stream. Dominant theme is jealousy, naturally. The plot revolves around Takumi, the once-again self-insert main character, who leaves England because his little sister sent him a telegram telling him to come home immediately. Under the impression she was attacked, he comes back home to find that his little sister, Sana, became a shut-in and blames England for taking him away (she literally cusses at the country, what did it do to deserve this treatment?). Takumi decides to halt his studies abroad and transfer to a school in Japan, and ends up meeting his other female friends.   Speaking of which, there are four of them and yes, all four are the heroines. Pay attention to this: - Ibuki Kohane (the protagonist's childhood friend, she promised to be beautiful by the time she comes back, and so it does happen, she's the tsundere one; jealousy index: 80%, chest class: Southern Alps; RED) - Yukikura Mutsuki (childhood friend No. 2??? because she knew Takumi even before he transferred to the school in Japan; jealousy index: 100%, chest class: Kilimanjaro; WHITE) - Kirishima Sana (little sister of the main character, a serious brocon that's, imo, beyond saving, and she's also quite an academic chick; jealousy index: idk% (technically 120%), chest class: Mount Fuji; BLACK) - Tania Helvellyn (that's right, transfer student, foreigner, she's an athlete, just like everyone else for some reason, follows the MC back home to be with him; jealousy index: 70%, chest class: Mont Blanc; GOLD).   So you starting to see a pattern here? If not, I got you covered, keep on reading. The MC is the same, except a lot denser. All the girls also have giant boobies, which I don't really mind but it's overkill imo. As a wise Steam user once said, "I like my heroines how I like my fruit basket, assorted." And they're right - assorted heroines allow for an easier pick. Not everyone likes them big.   Pinnacle of the company everyone! Wagamama High Spec is up, and this one may or may not need any explanation. You know it, I know it, bless Sekai and Denpa for bringing home the bacon! Ahem. WagaHigh is centered around a guy named Narumi Kouki who attends an academy which used to be for girls only. He goes by the name of Potato Salad for his manga series, Deredere Scramble, and works with Mr Deer. He joins the student council after an encounter with the student council president, Rokuonji Kaoruko (BEST GIRL ALERT), who also happens to be Mr Deer. After joining, he's placed in a trial since Sakuragi R. Ashe (the vice president) is skeptical of his skills.   The heroines (pay attention once again): - Miyase Mihiro (the childhood friend of the main character, likes to tease him a lot, is actually sweet, best friends with Toa, owns a family restaurant; RED) - Narumi Toa (MC's little sister, lazy, but also a programmer, plays video games, skips school, cold towards the MC but likes him a lot, earns money because of apps that predict the lottery...; WHITE) - Rokuonji Kaoruko (The aforementioned best girl imo, fite me! Smart, beautiful, student council president that is also a secret artist named Mr Deer, has a bad sense of humour, lives in a strict family; BLACK) - Sakuragi Rooflet Ashe (Yet another foreigner, vice president, the classic tsundere character, pianist with a pinch of composer, has a large appetite, her character is too strong; GOLD).   While I definitely appreciate the enthusiasm that this visual novel has, something still doesn't quite add up. The protag is a bit better I guess, but he's still the generic old, self-insert kind. At some point, I decided to rewrite the entirety of the visual novel by skimming over some unneeded plots, and it ended up being just as mediocre. I guess I'm not that good at writing fanfics. But Kaoruko was the focus, because she really needs more love... She's completely overshadowed by Toa due to her immense popularity, Ashe due to her route being highly praised, and Mihiro for just being the comedic relief and also having the largest rack.   Ahem. My bad. Back to the topic.   ... At this point, you should have started noticing that something was going off. I'm skipping over WagaHigh OC because it's technically the game above. Moving over swiftly, here's Raspberry Hexahedron- I mean Raspberry Cube. The plot... The MC, Satoru, regrets being a delinquent and decides to have a change of heart. He goes back to his hometown to help out a few people who he ends up befriending, three being the heroines: he saved Mikoto from thugs, helped Minato with her garden and helped Yuu with her military shop. However, Ruri, the student council president, seemed to have had some grudge against him because he found himself in a pathetic state after falling in a pit trying to chase her down. She also refused to help him out and took a picture of him instead...   Damn, reality truly is harsh nowadays, and I'm getting real tired already.   ... Well anyway, the heroines... Here we go again... Try and guess... - Kanou Minato (the only member of the gardening club, takes care of it every day while trying to gather new members, sweet, hard-working, lives in an agricultural family, has a lot of friends (translating this from the official website because there's literally no info about this game)) - Sakuraba Victoria Ruri (the student council president that has a grudge against the protagonist, IS the student council, claiming that she can do stuff by herself, actually a troublesome person, ice beauty) - Kaidou Mikoto (MC's far-away relative, does chores, lives in an apartment that isn't doing well financially, a gentle person, but very much worried about debt) - Yuzuki Yuu (not only a tsundere but also a gal, runs a military store, likes coffee, swears... I'm sorry, I have nothing to say, my Japanese is very rusty, check the website for yourself).   Haah... haa... Damn, I think that's about it... 5/10, needs more raspberries. Please explain the significance of that title.   Noticed it yet? Yes? No? Well, either way, this is it...   Here comes the kicker.   The characters.   The fucking characters of each of these games.   Madosoft is "notorious" (quotation marks because nobody cares tbh) for reusing colour palettes for the four heroines for all the games they ever made, and will make in the future. Taking that into perspective, this makes Namaiki Delation, their very first game, look like the, wait for it, Citizen Kane of visual novels. The more you notice it, the more grating it becomes! This is something even I didn't quite notice until a certain accident happened and I decided to do some research... Turns out, they really don't work with different colour palettes.   This will (in a comedic way) explain how Madosoft's heroines have (d)evolved throughout the years. Heck, Hamidashi Creative, their newest installment, suffers from the same problems!!   I would like this problem to be dubbed the "Madosoft Syndrome" (unless there's another company that has the same practice as them).   This is the major problem with this company. Before the conclusion, I would like to let you know a few facts, and maybe some ways you could research along.   Madosoft also organised two Madosoft Live events: one in 2017 and one in 2018. I think this was just to promote their products further which wasn't necessarily bad but I can't say much about it because there's no way to find any other info about it. The official websites for both of these are still open, so feel free to check it out: http://madosoft.net/madolive2017/ http://madosoft.net/madolive2018/   Merchandise is literally all over Japan. Body pillows, tiddy mouse pads, stickers, prints, tapestries, stationery... And even with all this, it's difficult to get a hold of any of these unless you're rich, lucky, or rich AND lucky. Well, there's Comicket, so if you happen to come by and see a Madosoft stand, you know what to do.   Cafes are also often themed by Madosoft products. I think this is just being a sell-out. I understand you want your products to sell and I see nothing wrong with that, but this is just going completely overboard. You can disagree with me if you want, tbh I did see other companies do that, too.   Raspberry Cube also has a Nintendo Switch port. What's in it? Ask God. Obviously the base game is there, but is there any bonus content? I doubt it. Plus it's like 8,000+ Yen.   ... Wagamama High Spec will also be ported to the Switch. How do I know this? Well today... THEY FUCKING ANNOUNCED IT ON THEIR WEBSITE. WHY. JUST WHY. I would understand if you were to add content that I can't see in my PC version of the game, but otherwise... WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY-   ... What's next, Yakimochi Stream? Is anybody gonna talk about Namaiki? That game is gone, nobody remembers it anymore.   "I'm gonna cry. I'm seriously gonna cry. Waaaaaah!"   ...   .......   ...............................   I just had a breakdown, didn't I?   Well anyway, that about sums it up. In conclusion, Madosoft is one big joke. OK plots, OK characters even, just BAD practices. Case closed.   Lemme know if I missed anything, or if you agree or disagree with my opinion on this company. Thanks you for reading this far, I appreciate it, really! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here's a joke for you:   Q: What's the difference between Madosoft and a printer?  

sure thing buddy sure thing 
 
1. AMASSING CAPITAL - As with the vast majority of businesses, you're going to need some startup capital. Because the general profitability of English language visual novel translations is approximately 0, you will likely have a difficult time finding investors unless they have two or more health conditions that inhibit their brain function. You will most likely have to self-fund. Flip those cushions, ransack your old man's attic for some forgotten stock certificates, you know the deal. The bare minimum, I'd say, is somewhere around $50,000. NOTE that you can increase your (probably non-existent because VN) profit margins by performing a work role in the company, translating, editing, etc; instead of just being the translation sweatshop overseer.
OK and PLEASE don't go into debt over such a pants-on-head business idea. Please don't. 
2. ESTABLISH THE COMPANY - Search for how to establish a company in your jurisdiction, it should be the same for a localization business as most other businesses. Come up with some sick name and branding, get a fancy graphic artist to do some of it, maybe get an anime girl mascot since zoomers seem to love that shit these days.
OK you have money to burn and company branding that hopefully doesn't look like a kindergarten art project, not bad let's get started down that slope that ends in 'we are, regrettably, going to be phasing out of visual novel publishing'.
3. ACQUIRE LICENSES - This is where my man Kokoro, my 4th favourite person on Fuwanovel, 's advice comes in. Haul ass over to Japan — you DO speak Japanese, right? Perhaps consider enlisting the services of a business consultant with experience in Japan so as to not make a fool of yourself and make use of their connections so you are not cold calling. Otherwise, cold call, flash your sick branding, and attempt to get a meeting with a representative one of the last vestiges of a dying industry. In a pinch, you could try virtual meetings, but in general it is better to have boots on the ground when performing international business. 
BONUS STEP - Wait for COVID-19 to settle down.
BONUS BONUS STEP - Consider working with Chinese companies as well so you perhaps stand a chance at financial success. Practise drinking baijiu and sake before you leave in order to sharpen your abilities in shitfaced negotiation.
4. ACQUIRE STAFF - Assuming you made it this far by the grace of God, you will need staff members to work on the license you have acquired. A translator, an editor, and a QA (preferably a GOOD one they're important) is probably the bare minimum, along with the unfortunate bastard that will have to handle the technical side of things with the engine. Probably attempt to pay them around the sweet spot between 'this would be a decent wage in 1820' and 'this would be a decent wage in 2020'. You have to keep those expenses down but if the sweatshop workers take up arms then the game is all over, commissar.
5. WORK ON THE THING - Do the translating and the editing and the QA-ing. Try to stick to the deadlines you impose and share, that alone would probably set you apart.
6. ADVERTISE THE THING AND DO SOCIAL MEDIA THINGS - Again use that sick branding to form an online presence. Do it yourself if you are personable and responsible, otherwise find somebody else to do it. 
7. SELL THE THING - Contact storefronts, the classics, Steam, JAST USA, all that great stuff we know and love, get it listed places where people can buy it, maybe start your own web store if your web design person lives in an economically depressed region. 
8. GO BANKRUPT - Ok nah just kidding but probably.
 
Then you just repeat from 3, possibly skipping 4 if you are a benevolent overlord. Best of luck to you!

tae kim

Kotori is pretty unique, so it's a really hard request...
I think my best suggestion would be https://vndb.org/c11642
Not energetic/cheerful, but should fit the other criteria. Sorry if I missed the mark.