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Translator, taking fan projects


Mvp

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Hello fuwanovel community,

For those that have been looking for a translator for their stalled projects, I am willing to help out. PM me with the project information. I have a strong preference for psychological thrillers or comedy, though I'm likely to help out with small projects regardless of content or format.

 

What are the terms?

I don't want to see any game code. I don't want to delve in hex editors or mess around with game files directly. I will not extract scripts or build the translated game for you. You send me the dialogue files in a usable, delimited format. You send me the image files. I send you translated versions back.

Who am I?

A student of English and Linguistics, with previous involvement in multiple fan translations. However, I wish to remain anonymous on this site. I've passed the JLPT N1 with great marks, and grew up in an environment where I was able to be heavily immersed in the Japanese language naturally. I've lived in Japan and converse in Japanese on a day to day basis.

Why are you offering your services?

I enjoy translating and exposing myself to new games and literature. It's also an excellent opportunity to practice the craft of translation.

What can I expect?

You can expect accurate yet well-flowing translations that remain faithful to the original work. Feel free to send me some sample text so you may discern my style for yourself.

Edited by Mvp
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21 minutes ago, Infernoplex said:

There aren't many fan-translations going on at the moment (or at least not all are known publicly). Or you meant that as in older fan-translations?

Yeah, whoops. That refers to past projects. I'm sorry if that was confusing. I'm 100% a free agent. Normally, I pride myself on my ability to empathize with readers to discern how they're likely to interpret lines, but I guess I was a little too excited to post this and contribute to a project as quickly as possible :wahaha:

Edited by Mvp
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11 minutes ago, Mvp said:

Yeah, whoops. That refers to past projects. I'm sorry if that was confusing. I'm 100% a free agent. Normally, I pride myself on my ability to empathize with readers to discern how they're likely to interpret lines, but I guess I was a little too excited to post this and contribute to a project as quickly as possible :wahaha:

No worries, man :) ... I was just curious, because the fan-TL scene nowadays isn't what it used to be back in the day and you don't have many active projects like back then anymore. So that particular sentence stood out for me :)

Edit: By the way, I was wondering something... How come you didn't start a project yourself? I know an N1 JLPT guy, who is doing everything himself, the translation, the editing, etc. and he is actually pretty good.

Edited by Infernoplex
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10 minutes ago, Infernoplex said:

Edit: By the way, I was wondering something... How come you didn't start a project yourself? I know an N1 JLPT guy, who is doing everything himself, the translation, the editing, etc. and he is actually pretty good.

I was actually considering this for quite a while. I can handle every task text-side, but I am really averse to playing around with scripts and files. I'd rather help someone else in need than spend significant time on the 'grind' of hacking a title, as it feels really inefficient for me. I know a handful of people who might be willing to help out, but they're professionals interested only in a very specific niche of games.

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5 minutes ago, Mvp said:

I was actually considering this for quite a while. I can handle every task text-side, but I am really averse to playing around with scripts and files. I'd rather help someone else in need than spend significant time on the 'grind' of hacking a title, as it feels really inefficient for me. I know a handful of people who might be willing to help out, but they're professionals interested only in a very specific niche of games.

So it's mostly the technical stuff that stopped you from going solo? I think that problem is solvable, if you get a good, straightforward tool to work with the scripts (that are in a very convenient format and easy to replace every 5 minutes if needed). In fact, what I saw you talking about earlier:

1 hour ago, Mvp said:

I don't want to delve in hex editors or mess around with game files directly.

I think this is a relic from the past. Many engines didn't have proper tools at the time and hex editing was how things were getting done. Nowadays, good hackers make really straightforward tools, that don't call for anything as annoying as hex editing. Did you ever try looking to see what tools are available out there, for any of the VNs that seem interesting to you?

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I always get a little sceptical when I see posts like these. Translation takes tons of time and effort, especially fan translation, since it's not paid work. It's normally something you do out of pure passion for the game you want to translate.

I'd recommend just finding a game you want to work on. You can get help extracting the scripts for the game on the forum. Alternatively, you can recruit a hacker who can help. You don't need to do that part yourself.

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35 minutes ago, Dergonu said:

I always get a little sceptical when I see posts like these. Translation takes tons of time and effort, especially fan translation, since it's not paid work. It's normally something you do out of pure passion for the game you want to translate.

I'd recommend just finding a game you want to work on. You can get help extracting the scripts for the game on the forum. Alternatively, you can recruit a hacker who can help. You don't need to do that part yourself.

That's a weird mindset to have. Translation is a wonderful and enjoyable creative process for which every line translated is akin to a chess problem elegantly solved. Wanting to help someone else with a minor project, even one that's outside your circle of preference is a great thing. The other party gets the translated product they've longed for, and the translating party gets to experience something completely fresh and new that they might not have been able to read otherwise, while also increasing their experience in translation. I've plunged into projects in the past like this as well. It's not a big deal. Maybe you misread my post, thinking that I'll accept any project. If so, that is not the case.

Though you two have convinced me to restart my search for a coder, and I thank you for this. I think I do have someone in mind I could ask after all, though it'll likely be a 'give and take' sort of situation that I'm not necessarily looking forward to. As for tools, the games I'm looking to as project candidates use their own proprietary engine, so unfortunately the common tools seem like they wouldn't be of much use.

That said, though. My offer in this thread still stands. Especially if it's, say, a short adventure game, feel free to reach out to me.

Edited by Mvp
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1 hour ago, Kawasumi said:

someone should send him the gore screaming show scripts

 

6 minutes ago, Infernoplex said:

I'd give you 100 likes if I could @Kawasumi. @Mvp - Can I recommend you Gore Screaming Show? :D I think that one has "psychological thriller" elements. And the VN uses NScript engine from what I remember and there should be good tools around for it.

I'm out of likes, but damn, you guys know what's good! I'll join the "Translate GSS" bandwagon, weeeee!!!

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1 minute ago, MaggieROBOT said:

I'm out of likes, but damn, you guys know what's good! I'll join the "Translate GSS" bandwagon, weeeee!!!

For what it's worth, I heard the VN doesn't deserve that name (starts kinda boring, like a moege or something) and then turns into a real kamige later, especially on one or two routes, which I really believe is true. Ever since I found that VN and saw some CGs of it, I cannot help it but want to see it in ENG one day, just to see what's all the fuss about.

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2 minutes ago, Infernoplex said:

For what it's worth, I heard the VN doesn't deserve that name (starts kinda boring, like a moege or something) and then turns into a real kamige later, especially on one or two routes, which I really believe is true. Ever since I found that VN and saw some CGs of it, I cannot help it but want to see it in ENG one day, just to see what's all the fuss about.

I know! I read another VN written by the same scenario writer (it also had both horror and slow sol parts) and boy, it was fantastic, one of my favorites. The horror parts in there were really good, so if GSS is on the same level, it must be pretty awesome!!!

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5 minutes ago, MaggieROBOT said:

I know! I read another VN written by the same scenario writer (it also had both horror and slow sol parts) and boy, it was fantastic, one of my favorites. The horror parts in there were really good, so if GSS is on the same level, it must be pretty awesome!!!

Which one did you read by him (or this guy)? xD Are any of these translated, or you read it in JP?

Edited by Infernoplex
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1 minute ago, Infernoplex said:

Which one did you read by him? xD Are any of these translated, or you read it in JP?

This guy only wrote the H-scene :P  This is the right girl. But yeah, I read in japanese. Although my level is still pretty bad, so it took lots of dict flipping and many months for me to finish it.

2 minutes ago, Dreamysyu said:

Which VN?

This one. But since it's BL, it's not that easy to recommend... GSS would be a lot easier.

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2 minutes ago, MaggieROBOT said:

This guy only wrote the H-scene :P  This is the right girl. But yeah, I read in japanese. Although my level is still pretty bad, so it took lots of dict flipping and many months for me to finish it.

This one. But since it's BL, it's not that easy to recommend... GSS would be a lot easier.

Ah, I know that VN. It has been recommended many times on random corners of the net, including here on Fuwa (somebody wrote a review for it, not long ago I think).

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Kusaka is great, also the common route isnt pure sol and actually ties up everything and builds up to the wierd stuff amazingly with pretty good foreshadowing all the way through, its better than 99% of all the common routes i've read so far.

anyway, I know that @CryingWestern has all the tools and scripts out there ripe for the taking so, you can literally just take the scripts and begin

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Hi, first welcome to fuwanovel!

I took a look at the whole thread, and if I may say, going on a translation of GSS would be a waste of your talent. GSS is not that great and since you are N1 (which is pretty great, good job on that) maybe you should pick a harder visual novel that very few translator can put their hand into. I would recommand Devils Devel Concept https://vndb.org/v1308 (someone tried to translate it but got a C and D, but Amaterasu worked on comyu and never got any pbm later), or one light VN like Silverio Vendetta https://vndb.org/v16134 or Vermillion https://vndb.org/v5843 or Zero Infinity https://vndb.org/v9981 (I never read those yet but I think they're kinda hard)

Well, you should probably choose whatever you want to translate, or you might force yourself once you're halfway.

Edited by Kirashi
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6 minutes ago, Kirashi said:

I took a look at the whole thread, and if I may say, going on a translation of GSS would be a waste of your talent.

Blasphemy, I say!!!!! BLASPHEMYYYYYYY!!!!! :D

Anyway, light VNs are good as well, so if he picks up KKK, that would be SUPER AMAZING! :)

Edit:

By the way, I heard GSS isn't that easy to TL at all. And I do believe it's challenging enough for a potential N1 TLer :) ...

Edited by Infernoplex
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