I got some questions about buying VN that have not official English release.

[Nekolover]

Where is the best place to buy VN? 

Is there some sort of guide for installing the English patch? 

OK so let say I buy a VN Japan version only and after installing the game. Will installing the English patch be simple or complicated? 

Or is just buy the VN and install it and install the English patch? Be done with it?  

[Arcadeotic]

Well, I'm not that big on physical releases, so I just use getchu

Usually, there is a Readme file or instructions on the website where you get the patch. Instructions vary from patch to patch.

Depends hugely on the type of patch. Some are .exes, some are automatically unpacking programs, and some are files with rarer file types (.pack, .xp3, etc.). Usually, it's easy if you just follow the instructions.

It's usually just that: Just install the game, apply the patch, play game. If there are some problems, 5 minutes of Googling will usually solve all of your issues.

Also, I'm obligated to link this here:

[Dergonu]

So if you are looking for Japanese VNs, there are several sites that works.

Like in the guide Arc linked above, you can buy them from Gyutto. (I've put in pictures and information to make it doable for people who doesn't speak Japanese.)

There is DLsite, which has an English version with a limited selection.

There is amiami, which often imports a few copies of the newest physical releases, so if it's a fairly new title you might be able to get it there.

You can also use like tenso as a third party shipping partner to get games from Amazon.jp etc sent over to the west, though for all physical games, keep in mind that importing eroge CAN be a legal greyzone depending on the country you live in.

 

For the patches, there is usually a readme / guide somewhere, like Arc said. Some games simply need you to put a patch file in the main game, where as others require you to install custom fonts and have several steps, like ikikoi.

 

Generally though, if you do buy the Japanese VN, you will be able to simply install the English patch after, yes.

[Deep Blue]

If you follow the guide that dergonu made you can use it for pretty much any download site in japanese, all of them are pretty much the same in terms of how you pick the novel, payment process, etc.
I can recommend you dlsite and getchu too, both of them great places to buy novels from and dlsite even sells some in their  english website (very limited compared to the japanese one)

Installing the patches is really simple, most of the time you either replace a file or just install the program that applies the patch for you, even so before buying the novel you should ask if it's going to work with that exact version, most of the time they do work but there are some rare cases where you need an special version of the game or the patch wont work.

[Fred the Barber]

On the occasion that you do hit problems, typically someone has already worked through them. Problems do happen sometimes, but more often they're errors with old games and new operating systems, rather than problems with the patch itself. The "Voluntary Technical Support" forum is full of a lot of history of certain issues, so usually you can find whatever problem you're hitting there, or if you can't find a solution, post there, someone will in all likelihood remember it, and they can point you in the right direction.

[tymmur]

8 hours ago, Arcadeotic said:

It's usually just that: Just install the game, apply the patch, play game. If there are some problems, 5 minutes of Googling will usually solve all of your issues.

That is correct most of the time and it is usually strait forward. However do read the patch readme/install instructions. I have once come across a fairly complex installer, which meant the translation patch included a translated installer. I can't remember if it was a VN specifically, but the concept exist meaning it is something we might encounter eventually.

 

The big problem regarding a guide for installing translation patches is that it more or less requires a guide for each VN engine or perhaps even each VN. The engines aren't really designed with unofficial translations in mind and injecting one anyway mean the translation would have to adapt to whatever funny ideas the engine might come up with. Most of the time those differences are dealt with inside the patch installer, but not always. There are also the issue that the translation patch might be kept small and then have an optional big addon, like a decensor patch. How to handle something like that also varies from engine to engine and you would have to read the readme.

[Nekolover]

Thanks for all the information guys. If you guys got any more info even if is minor I appreciate it.