02.05.08

Sweet Mother of Squiggle!

Posted in Super Robot Wars, Translation at 9:25 pm by Suzaku

Good news on the Super Robot Wars front. Red Comet has successfully found and extracted the font. At this point, the characters need identified so that a table can be made. Then the script can be dumped. Normally identification isn’t too bad–RC is quite competent in the kana, which leaves only kanji, and there usually aren’t more than a couple hundred of those to worry about. Not so in this case.

There around 2100 kanji that need to be identified before we can move on. Work has begun on that thanks to the awesome folks at Romhacking.net. There’s an identification topic over there and the community is stepping up and really helping out with this massive load. Kanji identification is a difficult and tedious task because you have to look at the pixelized characters and figure out what each one is, then type it out. Often a given character doesn’t look exactly like its written counterpart because there simply aren’t enough pixels in a tile to get every stroke just right.

At any rate, progress is being made. There isn’t much more to be done on the project until the kanji are all identified (if you can help with that part, pop on over to the RHDN topic linked above!), but we are moving forward. I’m really hoping that one table will be used for all three games on the disc so that we won’t have to deal with this again until we get to F and FF, but we’ll see.

Once the ID phase is complete I’ll breathe a happy sigh of relief. And possibly even dance for joy, but nobody really wants to see that. When I get a viable script dump, I’ll let you know. There won’t be any screenshots for quite some time, as there is a lot that needs to be done before then. This is pretty much the earliest stage I can get involved in, and there’s a long way to go to a finished hack. As always, this is where I’ll post any news I have that’s fit for public consumption. Stay tuned!

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01.12.08

Happy New Year!

Posted in Translation at 11:35 am by Suzaku

Now that we’re into 2008, methinks it’s time for an update. A laying out of the gameplan, as it were. Of course, nothing you may read here regarding scheduling for the future should be taken as concrete, but at least you’ll have a rough idea of where things stand right now.

Progress is continuing to be made on the Chrono Trigger retranslation. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to gauge an actual completion number because of the way the script is laid out. The lists are pretty much done–stuff like age names, location names, equipment, and the like. I’m reasonably certain I have all of those, so I’d call it somewhere around 80%. I haven’t done much with descriptions yet, as those are different files.

The script is where it really gets dicey. The actual script dump for the game (through absolutely no fault of DarknessSavior) is divided into something over a dozen files. Each list and set of descriptions is likewise its own file. And then there are the random menu bits that are in still more files. There are something like 60 files of text here. To top it all off, each script file contains a bunch of script from the same era in the game, and a bunch from other eras. NPC dialogue is jumbled in with PC or story dialogue. I’m also not completely sure that I have the entire thing. What I do have is right around 600k. Of text. Random guesstimate: 20% complete with the script. Maybe more, maybe less.

I have no clue about a release date yet, however. DSis working on a couple of other games first–honing his skills as it were. After those are done, we’ll see what he can do with CT. Even if I were to finish up the script files in the next month or two, it could easily be over a year before release. In other words, it’s too soon to tell.

Now on to other news. Super Robot Wars. No, I haven’t forgotten about it. I lost a goodly chunk of my work on SRWA from a power surge. That occurred a couple weeks after I had a hard drive die. A hard drive that had no translation stuff on it. Now that’s irony. Anyway. Red Comet and I were discussing the direction for the project to take, since it’s pretty much going to be a fresh start from a translation standpoint. I pointed out that the Complete Box contains three separate games, each of which is generally a bit smaller than one of the GBA ones, and can theoretically be done independently of the other two on the disc. The current roadmap looks something like this: SRW2 -> SRW3 -> SRWEX -> SRWF -> SRWF Final. That, folks, is the entirety of the main canonical series. Excepting SRW1, which has already been translated and has not been remade. The GBA games may be done after, or interspersed as we feel like hitting them. Same with Neo. The GBA games will go in the order of A -> R -> D -> J when they happen.

There are a few merits to doing things this way. First off, it lets us work from easier to more complex, in terms of gameplay and conventions. And script size. Let’s not forget script size. It allows for developing the project as the series develops. Trust me when I say it will also lead to better translation and localization–particularly by keeping the characters true to themselves and maintaining their own voices. It also keeps terminology static so we don’t have the basically same thing called by different names in different games. Consistency, consistency, consistency. Being able to follow the evolution of the series from beginning to end is huge–and not something nearly enough translators (professional or otherwise) have the chance to do. Since we do have that chance, I don’t want to lose it.

Just as the first pro is for my end, the second is for RC’s end. There is a good chance that once the hacking is done on one of the games, the rest will be simpler. This will likely be moreso on the Complete Box than for F and F Final, but the lessons learned will likely be very applicable. And the job will go much, much faster if he doesn’t have to keep relearning how to hack one of the games because we went and did something else for a while. Over the course of the project, this could conceivably shorten completion time by, well, over a year.

The third bonus is for the community as a whole. As these are on the Playstation, there isn’t a ton of documentation (or even experience) floating around. By punching out the PSX SRW games, we basically double or triple the amount of knowledge out there, leading to more people being able to translate PSX games in general. Which in turn means that you all will likely see more PSX translations coming down the pipe. And there are some GOOD games out there just waiting for it.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any script dumps to kick off this plan of attack, so no progress is being made on my end. RC still has some pending (as in, almost completed) projects that he really wants to get out the door. Once those are done, and his plate clear, we can both dive in without the distraction of other projects. As always, there is no time estimate on that–school, work, and life in general preclude it. There will be an update when I get the script in my hands. Asking for a timeline will be futile, since it’s something that’s completely out of my control, and only partially in RC’s.

Anyway, that’s where we stand right now. As always, updates will follow when there’s something to actually report.

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09.04.07

On project status and updates

Posted in Translation at 5:49 pm by Suzaku

There have been several people lately, both on this site and off, who have asked when the announced projects will be completed. The answer to that is “when they’re done.” These aren’t small projects–either in script size or in hacking complexity. The average SRW script is around three times as large as those found in, say, Chrono Trigger or some of the SNES Final Fantasy games. And then there’s the fact that Banpresto has a nasty habit of producing somewhat evil, cracked-out code.

I can tell you that the projects are still continuing onward, and progress is being made. I cannot tell you exactly how much progress. When there is something newsworthy to post, it will be posted. Until then, questions aimed at the progress or completion of the projects are pointless, and won’t receive a reply. This is a HOBBY. We do this stuff in our

spare time. We do not get paid for it–we do it because we want to. We do it because we love these games and want to bring them to an English-speaking audience.

Remember, folks. This kind of thing is a lot of work. There’s more to it than tossing some English lines at a Japanese game. Even the translation itself entails more than just grabbing a dictionary and plugging through. None of this is easy, so it takes time. Periodically, someone gets burned out and walks away for a week or a month. Then they come back and start working again. The reason this team functions as well as it does is because we understand this, and know that even if someone takes a break, he or she will return eventually. Sometimes it’s life that gets in the way; sometimes it’s just plain having to do something else for a bit. That’s just something you have to deal with on a project like this, because none of us are being paid to work on it. We have our own jobs, or schooling, or whatever.

Please, show some respect and restraint. We know there isn’t much to show on these yet, and we know that it’s hard waiting for a video or demo or what have you on a project you really want to see done. We know you don’t have much to talk about regarding these projects. Have some patience, and you might just get to see them through to completion. Badgering, harassment, and snide remarks are far more likely to result in the team walking away from a project than it is to make us work harder on it.

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04.10.07

New Super Robot Wars Translations Announced!

Posted in Translation at 7:16 pm by Suzaku

Well, after much discussion, RedComet over at Twilight Translations (the man who brought you the V Gundam hack, as well as the one I’m working with on the GBA Super Robot Wars Games) has conceded. I somehow managed so badger him into picking up four more SRW games–this time all for the Playstation.

The Super Robot Wars Complete Box yields remakes of Super Robot Wars 2, 3, and EX. These three games were originally released on the NES (SRW2) and the SNES (SRW3 and EX). The mechanics have been updated to F/FF revisions, the graphics have been upped (moreso with SRW2), and the music is much improved. Also, vocals are sweet. Complete Box additionally includes a brief tutorial mode to bring new players up to speed.

Super Robot Wars F and Super Robot Wars F Final together make a single game–in fact, FF picks up right where F leaves off. The two games together replace the PSX remake of SRW4 in continuity, which in turn replaced the SNES version of SRW4. The graphics are sharp, though there isn’t a ton of animation, the music is solid, and the vocals are clear. F and FF were also released for the Saturn, but the PSX versions are purportedly better.

Neo Super Robot Wars was a landmark for the series–for the first time the robots are presented in realistic proportions instead of SD. The downshot is that there aren’t a whole lot of series (or mechs, for that matter) represented, but what is there looks GOOD. Wing Gundam is particular shiny. Neo also has a wonderful karaoke sound test mode, complete with text lyrics to scenes of the robots from the relevant series kicking ass.

The two remaining games you see listed aren’t actually games at all, but bonus discs. The Neo Super Robot Wars Special Disc has bonus content for that game. The History of Super Robot Wars disc has scenario charts for all three games, a versus mode, and a scenario editor. And a history of the series to that point. As companion discs go, they’re both rather spiffy.

And, really, it wasn’t badgering much at all. Red Comet is quite the SRW fan so it didn’t take much arm twisting. His fandom also means that the hacking will be of top quality. Having him on board means these are going to be some top-quality hacks.

Things are going slowly now, but once we get one SRW out the door the pacing will increase a bit. From a translation standpoint, the research on the existing characters and such will be done, and with the few additions generally made between versions the new ones won’t be nearly as difficult. I can’t speak much to the hacking end, but hopefully Bandai will have done things similarly between the games on each platform.

As always, any news will be posted here.

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04.09.07

New (Re)Translation - Chrono Trigger Redux

Posted in Translation at 10:40 pm by Suzaku

Yeah, yeah, first update in a while.

Anyway, DarknessSavior over at Romhacking.net proposed a project a while back–a retranslation and general fixing-up of the classic SNES game Chrono Trigger. I jumped at it. Let me make one thing clear right now: I am in no way saying that Ted Woolsey is a shitty translator. Quite the opposite, in fact. The more I delve into CT’s script, the more impressed I am at what he managed to do with the limits Nintendo and Square placed on him.

CT has several issues, all of which detract from the product it could have been. Woolsey was rushed through the translation, and Nintendo’s censoring policies of the time forced some changes that otherwise might not have happened. There was no hacking to increase the amount of text the game was able to display–not in text boxes, and not in menus. This caused still more pointless changes, as neither proper item, equipment, and tech names, nor the script itself could fit without massive amounts of jury-rigging.

In this hack there are neither time restraints nor censoring requirements. The most massive change planned is the implementation of a VWF (Variable-Width Font) for both the dialogue and menus. This allows us to fit more characters in there, which in turn means a larger, more complete script and accurate item names and descriptions. As a translator, space for the words is my main concern, so I actually haven’t thought about much other than that.

Yes, I know there are two other CT retranslation projects going on, though I only knew of one of them before undertaking this one. RPGone is doing one that seems to be lost in some sort of limbo. The Chrono Compendium also has one going. Both are going for a very literal translation, keeping as close as possible to the original with little to no regard for the target language. This works for the audiences those projects are aimed at, but it doesn’t work for us. Ours is an attempt to make a more normal translation that is actually acceptable to mainstream fans. Obviosly we are trying to keep as close to the original Japanese as possible, but not to the point of maintaing unintelligible sentence structure or pointless Japanisms that don’t fit the game or setting, and could easily be translated or dropped (name suffixes, I’m looking at you). Basically, you’re getting something as close to the original Japanese game as possible, but you’ll be able to understand it without needing to decipher it. The goal is to NOT make knowledge of the Japanese language and culture a prerequisite for enjoying the game. If you want lots of Japanese grammar and romanized words, go check out one of the other projects.

Also, progress is still being made on the Super Robot Wars A translation, and the Super Robot Wars Alpha script edit. I’ve actually spent some time with the Super Robot Taisen Original Generation games to nail down official translations for all the original characters and mechs included in the other games. Unless something is really off, I’ll be using the official translations ATLUS has come up with in these translations. Also, Angelg is a pretty sweet mech.

Okay, that’s about it for this time around. It’s late and I have to work tomorrow. As always, questions and comments are welcome. If you want to join a rousing Chrono Trigger discussion, head on over to RHDN and poke the Chrono Trigger Redux thread in the Translation Hacking forum.

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02.26.07

Hello, world! And also, /moo

Posted in Translation at 6:37 pm by Suzaku

So, the Studio Llama blog is up and running. In theory this is the thing that we (the staff) will use to keep you (the visitors) apprised of just what the hell it is we do (or from time to time don’t do) around here. Translation updates, new project announcements, general randomness, etc. will all be posted here. Think if this as your Studio Llama news source. The awesome thing about using a blog for this as opposed to a news page is that we can get feedback from you. It sort of gives us some direction, if you will. Maybe makes you feel involved. That, and I hear that blogs are all the rage. Or something >.>

Anyway, the point of this post is (mostly) to make sure I didn’t screw something up horribly in the setup of this thing. And also to inform the masses (all two of you) that we’re not really dead. Progress is continuing on Super Robot Wars A, and I’m also working on editing the Super Robot Wars Alpha script for Gideon Zhi over at Aeon Genesis. There are also a couple of other video game projects in the works, but they aren’t ready to be revealed just yet. The two SRW titles are the current hot projects, so nothing much has been happening with the manga. Yeah, I really gotta at least finish chapter 2 of Cross Bone.

But hey, there’s an easily-updated blog so maybe we’ll say something more than once every few months. One can hope, at least.

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Llama Crossing