How to start translating a game

[akaritan]

Hello! I haven't messaged here in a very long time, and I rarely ever made threads to begin with, so please let me know if anything about this post is inappropriate, or if it's in the wrong place, etc. I've fallen in love with Bara no Ki ni Bara no Hanasaku (https://vndb.org/v3531), and have thought about translating it myself. However, I have absolutely no experience with translating games- how would I actually go about doing this? I would probably need to recruit people to help with technical problems like making a patch, but would this be an appropriate place to do that? If not, where do I get started? I'm not ready to commit myself either (especially as a graduate student, I don't have an abundance of time), but I was reading a rather poorly translated game with a friend, and the thought of the beautiful, delicate text of Baraki someday getting the same treatment really kills me a bit, and I think it deserves to be read in English prose that can capture the charm of the Japanese.

I'm still only thinking about this, but I would really appreciate any information and advice for if I decide I want to go forward.

[Zakamutt]

Hi @akaritan! I think the correct board for this post is Fan Translation Discussion, which I will (try to, I don't think I've ever used this mod tool before... oh well) move it to after finishing this reply.

I do think Fuwanovel is an appropriate place to recruit members, though I would also consider concurrently searching in other places such as aarinfantasy as it's more specialized in BL VNs (full disclosure, I haven't checked aarin out for years). There might also be communities on tumblr that could help, though my knowledge of that realm is basically zero. On Fuwanovel, the board to use would be Translation Projects, specifically a general thread in the top-level forum and a recruiting thread in the Recruitment subforum. To be honest this looks kind of complicated to me, but it's in the guidelines to split into a progress/presentation and a recruitment thread and We The Current Fuwanovel Management haven't really looked at making any changes to that.

Boring administrative stuff over, you do seem to have an idea of the usual process. First, you need to get the text out of the game. Then, you translate in a way that makes it easy to put the text into the game again, optionally getting editing, tl check, etc. Finally, someone needs to put the translation back into the game. Usually, putting things back in again is harder than getting it out; this is good for you, since it's relatively low effort to help you get the project started, and if things don't work out, it's not a big deal. That said, this depends a lot on the engine, but you might be lucky here: vndb indicates that Bara no Ki uses the System-NNN engine, which is covered by an existing tool. That doesn't mean it's guaranteed to work, but if nothing else the tool author might be able to help you with adapting the tool.

You have one big advantage in this: you're the translator. As long as you have some way to get scripts, you can make translation progress. You're also a natural candidate for team leader, and in many ways you don't really need anyone else if you can get past any technical hurdles.

You do also have a disadvantage in the title picked. A thirty-hour title is a massive undertaking, especially for a graduate student. It will likely take several years to complete (though adding more translators to the team can alleviate this somewhat, it also adds communication burdens and compromises quality — finding anyone actually good at both Japanese and English writing that also translates enough to matter can be very difficult). Ultimately, you like what you like, but passion has a tendency to die in the grinding years of work needed to complete a translation. Starting with a shorter title first — maybe five hours or less would be my pick, though I'm influenced by my own total lack of discipline here — is a wise option, as it gives you personal experience of the process, your limits, and your abilities, not to mention translation experience which will help you produce a better product in your next project. Maybe Jisatsu Shigansha Doumei? I never ended up finishing reading it, because I am an absolute executive function wreck, but it's by the same writer as my current long-neglected translation project, and it has that same sensibility Shinimasu does. Or maybe you think it's trash, that's fine too, the point is short = good ong fr.

[akaritan]

Sorry for the late reply. Thank you so much! This is incredibly helpful, and I'll take all of it into account.