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Bock wrote

Maxim wrote

I don't know if a (C) copyright sign is appropriate for SMS Power collective. Maybe "Retranslation by SMS Power!" ?

Well, the retranslation IS automatically copyrighted. This post you're reading right now is (c) 2005 Frank Cifaldi. Copyrights apply automatically as soon as something is created, at least in the United States. I'm "working for" Maxim, and he's dubbed this translation a SMS Power production, so my script rewrite would, technically, be (c) 2005 SMS Power, as would anyone else's work on this project.

Not that any of this matters in the real world, but technically, there's nothing wrong with claiming that the retranslation is copyrighted to SMS Power.

Anyway, enough of that. I approve of adding appropriate names to the credits, go for it!

Hi everyone,

Here's a quick update on my progress in translating the Japanese manual. So far, I've translated pages 1-13 (including the Story), and 23-25. I think I've gotten through all the difficult parts now, so I should be able to get through the rest of the manual pretty quickly.

Once I've finished translating the text, I'll create a mock-up of the translated manual. Anybody who wants to proofread and/or attempt a rewrite of my translation is more than welcome to do so. Also, the screenshots in the manual will need to be replaced, butI guess we'll have to wait for the final version of the ROM translation to do that.

-- Paul

If you (or someone else) can do the box text I've got a "photoshopped" version ready to have text filled in.

Not sure if it'll save anyone's time, but I typed the box text some time ago:

G-1341 ファンタシースター
―――――――――――――――
平和な暮らしが突然奪われた。
巨大な悪を倒すため、少女アリさは仲間と共に宇宙へ旅立つ。
広大なＳＦファンタジーの世界を、アリサといっしょ体験しよう！

Pictures:
１．街の人々と話をしよう。旅で役立つ情報を集めることができるよ。
２．３Ｄ迷路でモンスターと対決！闘うにつれ、アリサは強くなる。

Notes:
このカートリッジは、バックアップ機能によりゲームをセーブしたり、ロードしたりできます。

FM:　
このゲームソフトはFM音源対応です。

(I also typed a few others, in a process of trying to start having them stored somewhere)

Just a little post to say how incredible excited I am about this : )

Also a welcome to TheRedEye from http://theredeye.net/ ^ ^
Hm, it seems your site is down ?! I hope it'll be back soon, it's already been missed...

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Sorry, I'm kinda bitter about the whole thing. Hell, I even think Alisa sounds stupid. And did anyone REALLY think that it was necessary to change Dr. Ivo Robotnick, the bad guy I grew up fighting, into "Dr. Eggman?" Come on, now.

I have to agree with Maxim: Odin is a German/Nordic Nazi religion. WTF is that doing in a translation of PS ? Lutz however is a common German name tho, keep it in.

"Ivo Robotnik" is one thing SOA really screwed up. I've read about that and therefor knew about that since I first played Sonic and that racist stereotype / anti-kommunist bullshit always annoyed me since then. I wonder why nobody slapped the ones responsible for that "localization" in their face when they came up with that.

Anyway, back on topic ^ ^

Why don't we have Alex Kidd playing a SMS in one of the houses? Or someone from one of the later PS games.

Retranslating a game directly from the original text is magnificent!!! I don't like games "politically correct" (video-games is not just for kids), like the US version of Grandia for PSX (for example, changing Sake by Coffee, urgh!!).

Now, one thing that will be great is translate all Phantasy Star Collection for Saturn. ;)

Hey... And about a portuguese translation from this retranslation? Phantasy Star was the first console game translated for portuguese in Brazil for a console game. :)

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Retranslating a game directly from the original text is magnificent!!! I don't like games "politically correct" (video-games is not just for kids), like the US version of Grandia for PSX (for example, changing Sake by Coffee, urgh!!).

Actually, there's nothing in PS1J that would be considered politically incorrrect*. I unintentionally went a little overboard with the first version of my retranslation, adding bad language and things due to my lack of experience with Japanese.

*The only exception I can think of would be the churches in the game (and the resurrections they perform, for example), and references in the manual to LaShiec and the high nobles of Palma becoming heathens/heretics. On the other hand, I've heard a lot of people say that it's common for Japanese people to "mysticize" Western religion, (ironically?) much like many Westerners mysticize Eastern religion/culture (e.g. Westerners who practice Eastern medicine and Feng Shui because of their "spiritual" benefits or whatever, and who always talk about their "chi"). So, from that perspective anyway, an apparently Christian priest resurrecting someone isn't really politically incorrect. But I digress.

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Now, one thing that will be great is translate all Phantasy Star Collection for Saturn. ;)

As far as I know, PSC uses the original game ROMs, although I think that the Megadrive PSes might be modified a bit (something to do with walking speed and extra save slots, if i remember correctly). But anyway, I think it might be just as simple as replacing the ROMs on the CD with differrent ones. Has anybody tried this?

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Hey... And about a portuguese translation from this retranslation? Phantasy Star was the first console game translated for portuguese in Brazil for a console game. :)

That would be cool. I don't imagine that it would be too difficult as far as the actual translation goes, but I don't know whether the current tools can handle the special symbols used in Portuguese. I guess Maxim or somebody else would be able to handle this question better than me, though.

-- Paul

So Paul, are you going to work on the script a little more, or should I start getting to work?

If you're changing a lot of the script (I'm sad to hear the swearing's going, I thought it was cool to have it in a "kid's game") then it'll complicate matters. Hopefully you can edit it in the translation instead of in the big retranslation script document because it's a nightmare to merge the two otherwise.

I'll be off PS coding duty for a while, lots of Real Life for a week or two.

I swear like a goddam sailor in real life, but I see no reason for profanity in Phantasy Star, unless it REALLY works well for dramatic effect. Which I really doubt.

I don't understand what you mean, Maxim. You want me to type over the text in the documents you emailed me, right?

TheRedEye,

I'd still like to quickly revise the script once I've finished translating the manual. It looks like the mystery coder used an old version of my retranslation, so at the very least, I'd like to make sure that the text is in synch with the latest version I have.

I only have a few pages of the manual left to translate, so I should be finished with that in the next 24 hours or so. I can probably run through the script before the end of this week. I'll post here as soon as I have a better idea of how long it will take.

But since I'll most likely have the manual ready by tomorrow, you're welcome to check it out and see if a rewrite is in order.

-- Paul

That was directed at Paul actually. He mentions that his original retranslation has a fair number of mistakes due to his lack of experience at the time; since the rest of us are using that script right now, we need to have our documents updated with his changes, and it'll be a lot easier if he's editing the script1.txt and script2.txt instead of his version of the script where everything's in one unindexed file in a non-machine-readable non-indexed format.

The only real profanity was the "don't f*** with me" but I quote liked it. Bizarrely, I never swear in real life.

So the current status is: waiting on Paul with his script changes.
Next stage: Paul on manual/box translation, TheRedEye on script editing, me on fixing those damn bugs in the Z80 code.

I'm uploading a backup to the secret place now, just in case.

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That was directed at Paul actually. He mentions that his original retranslation has a fair number of mistakes due to his lack of experience at the time; since the rest of us are using that script right now, we need to have our documents updated with his changes, and it'll be a lot easier if he's editing the script1.txt and script2.txt instead of his version of the script where everything's in one unindexed file in a non-machine-readable non-indexed format.

Basically, I'll be going through the script dump that you sent me a long time ago, and then I'll be copy-and-pasting revisions into script1.txt and script2.txt.

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The only real profanity was the "don't f*** with me" but I quote liked it. Bizarrely, I never swear in real life.

That one is actually more-or-less accurate, but it could just as easily be "don't mess/fool/jack around/etc. with me". IMO, it would be a mistake to drop an F-bomb in an otherwise PG-rated game. In fact, I never actually put the whole F-word into my retranslation; it was added by the mysterious hacker (for clarity's sake?).

-- Paul

Actually, I think that was me. We don't have an * character anyway.

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Actually, I think that was me. We don't have an * character anyway.

Oh. Heh heh. :)

-- Paul

Hi everyone,

I just finished a translating the instruction manual. IMO, most of it is fine as is, but some parts might need some revision.

Some notes:
1. I use "tentative" because a lot of the names of items, spells, and things used in the manual don't match up with the translation in its current state. These might need to be changed according to the names in the ROM, or vice versa.
2. I plan to use the gender-neutral "they" for the third-person pronoun instead of "he or she". While a lot of people consider "they" to be gramatically incorrect, it's a lot less awkward than using "he or she". Plus, I have a degree in Linguistics, so I can assert authority here. ;)

Things to do:
1. Create a mockup of the manual's layout, so that whoever creates the final version will know where all the text is supposed to go. Also, people interested in revising the text -- or simply reading the manual -- will get the context of the manual in addition to the text itself.
2. Replace the screenshots in the manual with screenshots from the retranslated ROM.
3. Other miscellaneous stuff that I can't think of right now.

I hope to have the mockup done by this weekend. As for the rest, I suppose we'll have to wait until the ROM is ready.

Also, I have a few theories about some of the spell names in the game:
1. "Doheal" might mean something like 'super heal'. In Japanse, "do" is sort of a slang prefix for 'extreme, ultra, etc.'. Compare "aho" (roughly, 'jerk') with "do-aho" ('super jerk'). I don't think it's 'double heal', because "double" in Japanese is usually "daburu" (i.e. the vowel in the first syllable is /a/ as in "father", not /o/ as in "open".).
2. "Mu", used in "Muwalla" and "Muoode", seems to be a prefix meaning 'magic'. Compare "Walla", which creates a barrier against physical attacks, with "Muwalla", which creates a barrier that also protects against magical attacks. "Mu" doesn't seem to be actual Japanese, but is probably part of a "mini-language" created for the game.
3. "Muoode" might mean something like 'spread one's arms, with magical abilities' (no kidding). Assuming that "mu" is just a prefix, the word "oode" can mean 'to open one's arms wide'. So, picture Lutz opening a magically-sealed door by dramatically spreading his arms apart to get an idea of what I mean here.
4. "Hewn" (actually, "hyuu", but close enough) is the sound of gusting wind.
5. "Tandle" might be better read "Tandoray" (which I personally don't like, but...)
6. "Rakusuta" might mean something like 'easy escape'. "Raku" means 'comfort, ease', and "sutasuta" is sound-symbolic for 'quickly running'.
7. "Raputto" is probably something like "Rapt". The spell detects and disarms traps; "trap" in Japanese is "torappu". Therefore, "raputto" is simply "torappu" all jumbled up. The double consonant is even in the same place. The spell basically "messes up" traps, so the name of the spell makes sense if you think about it.
8. "Peyaraku" might be a play on the words "perapera" ('fluent') and "yaku" ('translation'), created by taking the word "perayaku" ('fluent/perfect translation') and switching the second and third syllables. Similar to "Rapt", this also makes sense if you consider that the spell allows you to talk to certain monsters. Also, since the name of the spell isn't a perfect rendering of "peyaraku", it makes sense that the spell doesn't work on all monsters. But maybe I'm looking too much into it. :)
9. I still don't quite know what to make of "Toruupa". :)

I don't think it'll be possible to incorporate the above into the game, so unless somebody can come up with some good ideas, we might just want to include a list of translation notes with the ROM and manual.

-- Paul

You wanna send me the text-only version of your manual translation, when it's ready?

Hi everyone,

I've finished the mockup of the English version of the instruction manual. I'll post it on my Web site later today in JPG format (total of about 5 MB). I also have it in Photoshop format (with layers and everything), if that'll make it easier for whoever (Bock?) is going to create the final, high-quality version. The files are pretty huge, though.

My Web site:
http://www.emulationzone.org/projects/gym2mid/
(I'll post a link to it on the main page)

To TheRedEye: I'll send you a text file of the translated manual if you give me your e-mail address.

-- Paul

TheRedEye -> Profile -> Email -> edit to make valid

Hi everyone,

I've posted the manual. You can find it here.

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TheRedEye -> Profile -> Email -> edit to make valid

His e-mail address shows up as "hidden" for me.

-- Paul

Sorry! fcifaldi AT gmail DOT com

Page 4, Palma the third planet... Dezolis the third planet.

Hi Paul.

I don't have PS 1 Jap ROM (nor any jap rom :/// ) and that's why I will question that:

How are "coded" the japanese characters in rom?? Have you figured out?
Is there only hiragana and katakana? Or is there also kanji? It must be a huge space from every kanji in the game (if there is some), uh?

I'm just questionin' this cause i'm fascinating with japanese language (although i don't know it very well, bu I like it very much).

Just more one thing: do you have a romaji version of the script??? It would be very welcome.

Best regards, folks.

Sorry 4 my english. I'm brazilian, you know.

Hey, Paul Jensen... One thing about the manual translation... In page 04, there's two "third" planets and no "first" planet? :P

Let's help to fix any misses to make this translation "memorial". :)

To probert:

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How are "coded" the japanese characters in rom?? Have you figured out?
Is there only hiragana and katakana? Or is there also kanji? It must be a huge space from every kanji in the game (if there is some), uh?

All of the text in the game is rendered in katakana, except for a few kanji in the game's intro. The script is made up of a bunch of 8-bit numbers, with each value matching up to a single katakana symbol (1 = ア, 2 = イ, 3 = ウ, etc.).

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Just more one thing: do you have a romaji version of the script??? It would be very welcome.

All I have right now is an old version of the retranslation that I made using Microsoft Word. It has romaji side-by-side with the translation. It's in DOC format, but I can send you a PDF version if that's easier. Send me a Private Message with you e-mail address and I'll send it to you.

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Sorry 4 my english. I'm brazilian, you know.

No problem. ;)

To rouken:

Thanks for pointing out the typo. It'll be fixed when we release the final version.

-- Paul

It's been a while since there was any news on this; hopefully those involved (Paul?) can let us know their situation/progress.

Personally, I've worked through almost all the problems and bugs I've seen; however, there is still work to be done and I will not have any time for it at all for at least a month. If there is a talented SMS hacker (Heliophobe, Chris, Martin, others) who'd be able to take a look at some specific bugs that could be very useful. I'd still be available for questions by email. Is anyone able to commit to that?

I just sent TheRedEye an updated translation of the manual, so I suppose he'll be working on a rewrite. Now that my work on the manual is basically done, I want to get back to the script and check it for translation errors before TheRedEye does a rewrite on that.

I've got about a month of vacation time left, so I'll have at least some time to work on this.

Maxim wrote

If there is a talented SMS hacker (Heliophobe, Chris, Martin, others) who'd be able to take a look at some specific bugs that could be very useful. I'd still be available for questions by email. Is anyone able to commit to that?

Well I know better than to commit to anything but I could take a look.

Hi everyone,

I'm about 90% through the script right now. That is, I've gone through 90% of the dialogue in the game (NPC dialogues, cinema text, etc.) cleaning it up and fixing errors. All that's left at this point are the system messages ('<player> dodged <monster>'s attack', etc.), shop dialogues, and a few other things. Hopefully I can have this done in a week or so. I'd planned to get it done earlier, but I've been busier than usual with work.

TheRedEye: I'll likely send you the game dialogue sometime this weekend.

-- Paul

The interaction/shop dialogues were mostly translated by satsu, who is an experienced game translator and so is probably used to translating that kind of dialogue. It'll also differ from your translation of those parts so it might be a bit easier than reretranslating.

I've fixed up the last known bug in the text renderer and I'm mostly ready for the script now.

Well, I spoke too soon... I found and fixed at least two unwired text pointers yesterday, fixed a windowing bug in hospitals/churches and fixed up some more enemy and item names. I also extended the interaction dialogues back to 4 lines (it might now need the auto-scrolling delay to be increased). It's looking pretty good:

There are some strange things that I'm not sure of, though. I spent ages yesterday tryng to figure out why using a Compass when not in a dungeon gives you "It doesn't seem to be particularly broken"... until I figured out that the original game and the original translation both say that too. Several other items give similarly strange responses in some situations. Do you think these should be kept for authenticity, or "fixed" to make more sense?

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The interaction/shop dialogues were mostly translated by satsu, who is an experienced game translator and so is probably used to translating that kind of dialogue. It'll also differ from your translation of those parts so it might be a bit easier than reretranslating.

So I should leave that part of the script as is? If so, no problem.

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...I also extended the interaction dialogues back to 4 lines (it might now need the auto-scrolling delay to be increased).

Four lines of text seems to work well. Since Japanese is often more "compressed" than English, having four lines will allow for about the same amount of equivalent English text. Does that make any sense?

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There are some strange things that I'm not sure of, though. I spent ages yesterday tryng to figure out why using a Compass when not in a dungeon gives you "It doesn't seem to be particularly broken"... until I figured out that the original game and the original translation both say that too. Several other items give similarly strange responses in some situations. Do you think these should be kept for authenticity, or "fixed" to make more sense?

Would it be possible to make it say something else? I'm all for faithfulness to the original dialogue (which is why I retranslated the text in the first place), but this line seems inappropriate, even in Japanese. I seem to recall there being a line somewhere in the script that says 'you don't need to use this right now' or something along those lines. Maybe that would be a better line to use?

Paul

Paul Jensen wrote

So I should leave that part of the script as is? If so, no problem.

No, just that you may want to treat it differently. There's certainly a lot of problems in that dialogue due to what I presume is a lack of personal pronouns in Japanese - for example, when using Laerma berries in the wrong place you get something vaguely like "not being hungry therefore put thing back" (I'm guessing) which satsu made something like "you're not hungry so you put it back" and the original translation is roughly "Myau is not hungry so Alisa put them back". It needs a lot of playtesting really to get it working right.

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Would it be possible to make it say something else?

Yes, although not exactly easy since the translation tools are mostly about keeping the structure and changing the text. The text it refers to is used many times, but the pointer in question is definitely part of the compass usage routines, so editing it should not affect anything else. In which case, we need to compile a list of these strange text cases... there seem to be quite a few.

I think the pointer indices were kept in even numbers. So you should be able to insert a text string at an odd boundary, provided that you insert another pointer into that monster list and recompile.

I remember doing this twice -- 1AA-2 (1AB) about selling the GasClears and the other line in the village with the liars. But I had to create another string code for the last one to work (tech docs somewhere).

You're really polishing that translation!

I had some problems recently because I ran out of space for the credits when I added TheRedEye (although a bit of shuffling fixed it, and re-coding it could make it take less space for its data). But this morning, it occurred to me that what we really ought to be doing anyway is thinking up late 80s Sega nicknames so our names better match the existing credits. There are a few ways to make these:

1. One syllable out of your surname, eg. Tokuhiko Uwabo -> Bo
2. Some semi-descriptive word followed by the first syllable of your first or second name, eg. Rieko Kodame -> Phoenix Rie, Akinori Nishiyama -> Works Nishi
3. Something just plain weird, eg. Yuji Naka -> Muuuu Yuji, Kotaro Hayashida -> Ossale Kohta

The retranslation will include full credits in its documentation, including the real names of all the original staff we know of (some typos on that page), so proper readable credits, websites, emails etc can be included there anyway.

Any ideas?

Hi! I'm new around these parts, and I've recently become interested in SMS programming. Anyway, I spotted this thread and as a long-time fan of the Phantasy Star series I thought I'd take a look. It seems like you're about ready to release the ROM, so I look forward to playing it!

I don't know if anyone is still interested, but I noticed that Paul Jensen had a few unsure points he mentioned several posts ago. While his Japanese is clearly better than mine, I might be able to shed some light on a couple of them.

"Mu" prefixes: Mu is the name of a fabled lost civilisation, somewhat similar to Atlantis. It doesn't seem to be very well known in the west, but the name pops up like a weed in Japanese CRPGs, associated with ancient magic and/or technology. While this is probably the original inspiration for "mu-" = "magic-" in the original script, Paul's "mini-language" rationale seems to cover it.

"Rakusuta": My Japanese is appallingly rusty (and I never had a great vocabulary to start with), but can't "suta" mean something like "preparation", "drink", or even (in this context) "potion"? Of course, I'm assuming it's an item; if it's a spell or menu option, I've obviously got the wrong end of the stick :)

"Raputto" and "Peyaraku": I'd say you've hit the nail on the head; I feel sure that I saw exactly the same transposition device used in the English version of PSO, although I can't recall a specific example.

"Toruupa": I've got no context, but might it be "trooper"? Or am I missing a joke here? :)

Nezuji :)

Nezuji wrote

"Mu" prefixes: Mu is the name of a fabled lost civilisation, somewhat similar to Atlantis. It doesn't seem to be very well known in the west, but the name pops up like a weed in Japanese CRPGs, associated with ancient magic and/or technology.

Ah yes, GBA Astro Boy was based around it for an example of a western-released game with it featured prominently.

The items Paul mentioned are all spells, by the way, hence the problem with "trooper".

Since I'm still waiting for the final translation, I thought I'd make myself useful and work on some art for...something. I don't know, maybe I'll go with that one guy's suggestion and make a website about this. Here are some basic character shots that I scanned from the American manual and retouched. They're very simple 16-color GIFs, I think they look pretty damned good.

I experimented with coloring them in too, but I'm not so sure I like the way these look:

Bock, can you re-scan a few images in REALLY high res for me, particularly the picture with all four characters hovering over a planet? These were the only decent shots in the American manual, the Japanese one has a lot better art.

The other two:

The color ends up killing a lot of the finer detail, but it doesn't look TOO bad.

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. Long story short, I've been busy with unexpected (yet pleasant) real-life stuff for the last few weeks.

I've got some free time the next few days, as well as next week, so I plan to finish revising the script very soon.

Paul

9 days later... any news?

Sorry for the delays, everybody. I had some more personal stuff come up, combined with back-to-school errands and the like.

Update: I've gone through the entire script now. Everything has been translated, including dialogues and system messages. As far as I know, all that's left to do now is to have TheRedEye check the script for possible rewrites.

To Maxim: should I insert the text into script1.txt and script2.txt and send those to TheRedEye, or should I just send him what I have now (the katakana dump of the script that you sent me ages ago, along with translation)?

Paul

Putting it in script1.txt and script2.txt is the best way - they're script dumps too, but in a format the retranslation software likes, so they should be in the same order.

Did I send you the item lists too?

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Putting it in script1.txt and script2.txt is the best way - they're script dumps too, but in a format the retranslation software likes, so they should be in the same order.

OK. I'll get on it right away.

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Did I send you the item lists too?

I'm not sure. Which directory would they be in?

Speaking of which, I guess it might be a good idea for you to send me a copy of the latest version, so I'm working off the most current build. I guess it won't matter much for my pruposes, but it would be nice to do some playtesting of my own.

Send it to me at pejcs at pacbell dot net.

Paul

Things are moving along nicely, the script is rerereretranslated again (still some issues with spell names though) and we're waiting for TheRedEye to get to work.

I did a bit of "photoshopping" on the box cover. Can anyone give me a translation of the blue text I've pointed out?

I'm not happy with the grammar on a few of those sentences; I copied the text from Paul's version.

Maxim wrote

I'm not happy with the grammar on a few of those sentences; I copied the text from Paul's version.

Company SEGA Enterprise

GB wrote

Maxim wrote

I'm not happy with the grammar on a few of those sentences; I copied the text from Paul's version.

Company SEGA Enterprise

Nitpicking:
Company SEGA Enterprises

OK, I took a little liberty with it to make it "SEGA Enterprises Inc.". I'm not 100% happy with the way the screenshot turned out, getting the warping right with the tools I have isn't easy.

To lay out the translated manual, we really need to do it in vector-based software with proper text handling, and my copy of CorelDRAW 3 isn't really up to that. I might have a play in Illustrator (if I can *cough* obtain a copy) but someone with experience would be welcome.

Maxim wrote

OK, I took a little liberty with it to make it "SEGA Enterprises Inc.".

Shouldn't it be Sega Enterprises, co. ltd.?

Author	Message
TheRedEye Joined: 20 Sep 2000 Posts: 149	Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 8:00 pm
TheRedEye Joined: 20 Sep 2000 Posts: 149	Bock wrote Maxim wrote I don't know if a (C) copyright sign is appropriate for SMS Power collective. Maybe "Retranslation by SMS Power!" ? Well, the retranslation IS automatically copyrighted. This post you're reading right now is (c) 2005 Frank Cifaldi. Copyrights apply automatically as soon as something is created, at least in the United States. I'm "working for" Maxim, and he's dubbed this translation a SMS Power production, so my script rewrite would, technically, be (c) 2005 SMS Power, as would anyone else's work on this project. Not that any of this matters in the real world, but technically, there's nothing wrong with claiming that the retranslation is copyrighted to SMS Power. Anyway, enough of that. I approve of adding appropriate names to the credits, go for it!

Paul Jensen Joined: 29 Jun 1999 Posts: 254 Location: California, USA; Hiroshima, Japan	Update on current progress Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2005 3:47 am
	Hi everyone, Here's a quick update on my progress in translating the Japanese manual. So far, I've translated pages 1-13 (including the Story), and 23-25. I think I've gotten through all the difficult parts now, so I should be able to get through the rest of the manual pretty quickly. Once I've finished translating the text, I'll create a mock-up of the translated manual. Anybody who wants to proofread and/or attempt a rewrite of my translation is more than welcome to do so. Also, the screenshots in the manual will need to be replaced, butI guess we'll have to wait for the final version of the ROM translation to do that. -- Paul

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14728 Location: London	Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2005 9:09 am
	If you (or someone else) can do the box text I've got a "photoshopped" version ready to have text filled in.

Bock Site Admin Joined: 08 Jul 2001 Posts: 8648 Location: Paris, France	Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2005 10:45 am
	Not sure if it'll save anyone's time, but I typed the box text some time ago: G-1341 ファンタシースター ――――――――――――――― 平和な暮らしが突然奪われた。巨大な悪を倒すため、少女アリさは仲間と共に宇宙へ旅立つ。広大なＳＦファンタジーの世界を、アリサといっしょ体験しよう！ Pictures: １．街の人々と話をしよう。旅で役立つ情報を集めることができるよ。２．３Ｄ迷路でモンスターと対決！闘うにつれ、アリサは強くなる。 Notes: このカートリッジは、バックアップ機能によりゲームをセーブしたり、ロードしたりできます。 FM:　このゲームソフトはFM音源対応です。 (I also typed a few others, in a process of trying to start having them stored somewhere)

Christuserloeser Joined: 26 Dec 2004 Posts: 295 Location: Pangea	Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 8:13 pm
	Just a little post to say how incredible excited I am about this : ) Also a welcome to TheRedEye from http://theredeye.net/ ^ ^ Hm, it seems your site is down ?! I hope it'll be back soon, it's already been missed... Quote Sorry, I'm kinda bitter about the whole thing. Hell, I even think Alisa sounds stupid. And did anyone REALLY think that it was necessary to change Dr. Ivo Robotnick, the bad guy I grew up fighting, into "Dr. Eggman?" Come on, now. I have to agree with Maxim: Odin is a German/Nordic Nazi religion. WTF is that doing in a translation of PS ? Lutz however is a common German name tho, keep it in. "Ivo Robotnik" is one thing SOA really screwed up. I've read about that and therefor knew about that since I first played Sonic and that racist stereotype / anti-kommunist bullshit always annoyed me since then. I wonder why nobody slapped the ones responsible for that "localization" in their face when they came up with that. Anyway, back on topic ^ ^

furanku Joined: 10 Dec 2000 Posts: 592 Location: Australia and Japan	Cameo's Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 9:52 am
	Why don't we have Alex Kidd playing a SMS in one of the houses? Or someone from one of the later PS games.

rouken Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 248 Location: Aracruz - ES, Brazil	Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 12:27 pm
	Retranslating a game directly from the original text is magnificent!!! I don't like games "politically correct" (video-games is not just for kids), like the US version of Grandia for PSX (for example, changing Sake by Coffee, urgh!!). Now, one thing that will be great is translate all Phantasy Star Collection for Saturn. ;) Hey... And about a portuguese translation from this retranslation? Phantasy Star was the first console game translated for portuguese in Brazil for a console game. :)

Paul Jensen Joined: 29 Jun 1999 Posts: 254 Location: California, USA; Hiroshima, Japan	Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 7:45 pm
	Quote Retranslating a game directly from the original text is magnificent!!! I don't like games "politically correct" (video-games is not just for kids), like the US version of Grandia for PSX (for example, changing Sake by Coffee, urgh!!). Actually, there's nothing in PS1J that would be considered politically incorrrect. I unintentionally went a little overboard with the first version of my retranslation, adding bad language and things due to my lack of experience with Japanese. The only exception I can think of would be the churches in the game (and the resurrections they perform, for example), and references in the manual to LaShiec and the high nobles of Palma becoming heathens/heretics. On the other hand, I've heard a lot of people say that it's common for Japanese people to "mysticize" Western religion, (ironically?) much like many Westerners mysticize Eastern religion/culture (e.g. Westerners who practice Eastern medicine and Feng Shui because of their "spiritual" benefits or whatever, and who always talk about their "chi"). So, from that perspective anyway, an apparently Christian priest resurrecting someone isn't really politically incorrect. But I digress. Quote Now, one thing that will be great is translate all Phantasy Star Collection for Saturn. ;) As far as I know, PSC uses the original game ROMs, although I think that the Megadrive PSes might be modified a bit (something to do with walking speed and extra save slots, if i remember correctly). But anyway, I think it might be just as simple as replacing the ROMs on the CD with differrent ones. Has anybody tried this? Quote Hey... And about a portuguese translation from this retranslation? Phantasy Star was the first console game translated for portuguese in Brazil for a console game. :) That would be cool. I don't imagine that it would be too difficult as far as the actual translation goes, but I don't know whether the current tools can handle the special symbols used in Portuguese. I guess Maxim or somebody else would be able to handle this question better than me, though. -- Paul

TheRedEye Joined: 20 Sep 2000 Posts: 149	Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 6:23 pm
TheRedEye Joined: 20 Sep 2000 Posts: 149	So Paul, are you going to work on the script a little more, or should I start getting to work?

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14728 Location: London	Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 7:24 pm
	If you're changing a lot of the script (I'm sad to hear the swearing's going, I thought it was cool to have it in a "kid's game") then it'll complicate matters. Hopefully you can edit it in the translation instead of in the big retranslation script document because it's a nightmare to merge the two otherwise. I'll be off PS coding duty for a while, lots of Real Life for a week or two.

TheRedEye Joined: 20 Sep 2000 Posts: 149	Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 7:32 pm
TheRedEye Joined: 20 Sep 2000 Posts: 149	I swear like a goddam sailor in real life, but I see no reason for profanity in Phantasy Star, unless it REALLY works well for dramatic effect. Which I really doubt. I don't understand what you mean, Maxim. You want me to type over the text in the documents you emailed me, right?

Paul Jensen Joined: 29 Jun 1999 Posts: 254 Location: California, USA; Hiroshima, Japan	The script Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:05 pm
	TheRedEye, I'd still like to quickly revise the script once I've finished translating the manual. It looks like the mystery coder used an old version of my retranslation, so at the very least, I'd like to make sure that the text is in synch with the latest version I have. I only have a few pages of the manual left to translate, so I should be finished with that in the next 24 hours or so. I can probably run through the script before the end of this week. I'll post here as soon as I have a better idea of how long it will take. But since I'll most likely have the manual ready by tomorrow, you're welcome to check it out and see if a rewrite is in order. -- Paul

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14728 Location: London	Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:06 pm
	That was directed at Paul actually. He mentions that his original retranslation has a fair number of mistakes due to his lack of experience at the time; since the rest of us are using that script right now, we need to have our documents updated with his changes, and it'll be a lot easier if he's editing the script1.txt and script2.txt instead of his version of the script where everything's in one unindexed file in a non-machine-readable non-indexed format. The only real profanity was the "don't f*** with me" but I quote liked it. Bizarrely, I never swear in real life. So the current status is: waiting on Paul with his script changes. Next stage: Paul on manual/box translation, TheRedEye on script editing, me on fixing those damn bugs in the Z80 code. I'm uploading a backup to the secret place now, just in case.

Paul Jensen Joined: 29 Jun 1999 Posts: 254 Location: California, USA; Hiroshima, Japan	Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 11:52 pm
	Quote That was directed at Paul actually. He mentions that his original retranslation has a fair number of mistakes due to his lack of experience at the time; since the rest of us are using that script right now, we need to have our documents updated with his changes, and it'll be a lot easier if he's editing the script1.txt and script2.txt instead of his version of the script where everything's in one unindexed file in a non-machine-readable non-indexed format. Basically, I'll be going through the script dump that you sent me a long time ago, and then I'll be copy-and-pasting revisions into script1.txt and script2.txt. Quote The only real profanity was the "don't f*** with me" but I quote liked it. Bizarrely, I never swear in real life. That one is actually more-or-less accurate, but it could just as easily be "don't mess/fool/jack around/etc. with me". IMO, it would be a mistake to drop an F-bomb in an otherwise PG-rated game. In fact, I never actually put the whole F-word into my retranslation; it was added by the mysterious hacker (for clarity's sake?). -- Paul

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14728 Location: London	Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 5:27 pm
	Actually, I think that was me. We don't have an * character anyway.

Paul Jensen Joined: 29 Jun 1999 Posts: 254 Location: California, USA; Hiroshima, Japan	Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 6:59 pm
	Quote Actually, I think that was me. We don't have an * character anyway. Oh. Heh heh. :) -- Paul

Paul Jensen Joined: 29 Jun 1999 Posts: 254 Location: California, USA; Hiroshima, Japan	Instruction manual (tenatively) translated (plus spell name theories) Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 8:13 am
	Hi everyone, I just finished a translating the instruction manual. IMO, most of it is fine as is, but some parts might need some revision. Some notes: 1. I use "tentative" because a lot of the names of items, spells, and things used in the manual don't match up with the translation in its current state. These might need to be changed according to the names in the ROM, or vice versa. 2. I plan to use the gender-neutral "they" for the third-person pronoun instead of "he or she". While a lot of people consider "they" to be gramatically incorrect, it's a lot less awkward than using "he or she". Plus, I have a degree in Linguistics, so I can assert authority here. ;) Things to do: 1. Create a mockup of the manual's layout, so that whoever creates the final version will know where all the text is supposed to go. Also, people interested in revising the text -- or simply reading the manual -- will get the context of the manual in addition to the text itself. 2. Replace the screenshots in the manual with screenshots from the retranslated ROM. 3. Other miscellaneous stuff that I can't think of right now. I hope to have the mockup done by this weekend. As for the rest, I suppose we'll have to wait until the ROM is ready. Also, I have a few theories about some of the spell names in the game: 1. "Doheal" might mean something like 'super heal'. In Japanse, "do" is sort of a slang prefix for 'extreme, ultra, etc.'. Compare "aho" (roughly, 'jerk') with "do-aho" ('super jerk'). I don't think it's 'double heal', because "double" in Japanese is usually "daburu" (i.e. the vowel in the first syllable is /a/ as in "father", not /o/ as in "open".). 2. "Mu", used in "Muwalla" and "Muoode", seems to be a prefix meaning 'magic'. Compare "Walla", which creates a barrier against physical attacks, with "Muwalla", which creates a barrier that also protects against magical attacks. "Mu" doesn't seem to be actual Japanese, but is probably part of a "mini-language" created for the game. 3. "Muoode" might mean something like 'spread one's arms, with magical abilities' (no kidding). Assuming that "mu" is just a prefix, the word "oode" can mean 'to open one's arms wide'. So, picture Lutz opening a magically-sealed door by dramatically spreading his arms apart to get an idea of what I mean here. 4. "Hewn" (actually, "hyuu", but close enough) is the sound of gusting wind. 5. "Tandle" might be better read "Tandoray" (which I personally don't like, but...) 6. "Rakusuta" might mean something like 'easy escape'. "Raku" means 'comfort, ease', and "sutasuta" is sound-symbolic for 'quickly running'. 7. "Raputto" is probably something like "Rapt". The spell detects and disarms traps; "trap" in Japanese is "torappu". Therefore, "raputto" is simply "torappu" all jumbled up. The double consonant is even in the same place. The spell basically "messes up" traps, so the name of the spell makes sense if you think about it. 8. "Peyaraku" might be a play on the words "perapera" ('fluent') and "yaku" ('translation'), created by taking the word "perayaku" ('fluent/perfect translation') and switching the second and third syllables. Similar to "Rapt", this also makes sense if you consider that the spell allows you to talk to certain monsters. Also, since the name of the spell isn't a perfect rendering of "peyaraku", it makes sense that the spell doesn't work on all monsters. But maybe I'm looking too much into it. :) 9. I still don't quite know what to make of "Toruupa". :) I don't think it'll be possible to incorporate the above into the game, so unless somebody can come up with some good ideas, we might just want to include a list of translation notes with the ROM and manual. -- Paul

TheRedEye Joined: 20 Sep 2000 Posts: 149	Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 10:58 pm
TheRedEye Joined: 20 Sep 2000 Posts: 149	You wanna send me the text-only version of your manual translation, when it's ready?

Paul Jensen Joined: 29 Jun 1999 Posts: 254 Location: California, USA; Hiroshima, Japan	Instruction Manual Mockup Ready Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 12:23 am
	Hi everyone, I've finished the mockup of the English version of the instruction manual. I'll post it on my Web site later today in JPG format (total of about 5 MB). I also have it in Photoshop format (with layers and everything), if that'll make it easier for whoever (Bock?) is going to create the final, high-quality version. The files are pretty huge, though. My Web site: http://www.emulationzone.org/projects/gym2mid/ (I'll post a link to it on the main page) To TheRedEye: I'll send you a text file of the translated manual if you give me your e-mail address. -- Paul

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14728 Location: London	Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 7:47 am
	TheRedEye -> Profile -> Email -> edit to make valid

Paul Jensen Joined: 29 Jun 1999 Posts: 254 Location: California, USA; Hiroshima, Japan	Instruction Manual Translation Posted Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 8:20 am
	Hi everyone, I've posted the manual. You can find it here. Quote TheRedEye -> Profile -> Email -> edit to make valid His e-mail address shows up as "hidden" for me. -- Paul

TheRedEye Joined: 20 Sep 2000 Posts: 149	Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:28 am
TheRedEye Joined: 20 Sep 2000 Posts: 149	Sorry! fcifaldi AT gmail DOT com

FluBBa Joined: 21 Jul 2005 Posts: 412 Location: GBG	Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 10:16 am
FluBBa Joined: 21 Jul 2005 Posts: 412 Location: GBG	Page 4, Palma the third planet... Dezolis the third planet.

probert Joined: 24 Jul 2005 Posts: 57 Location: São Luís/MA - Brazil	Kanji, kana... and so on Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 12:26 pm
	Hi Paul. I don't have PS 1 Jap ROM (nor any jap rom :/// ) and that's why I will question that: How are "coded" the japanese characters in rom?? Have you figured out? Is there only hiragana and katakana? Or is there also kanji? It must be a huge space from every kanji in the game (if there is some), uh? I'm just questionin' this cause i'm fascinating with japanese language (although i don't know it very well, bu I like it very much). Just more one thing: do you have a romaji version of the script??? It would be very welcome. Best regards, folks. Sorry 4 my english. I'm brazilian, you know.

rouken Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 248 Location: Aracruz - ES, Brazil	Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 8:47 pm
	Hey, Paul Jensen... One thing about the manual translation... In page 04, there's two "third" planets and no "first" planet? :P Let's help to fix any misses to make this translation "memorial". :)

Paul Jensen Joined: 29 Jun 1999 Posts: 254 Location: California, USA; Hiroshima, Japan	Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2005 12:35 am
	To probert: Quote How are "coded" the japanese characters in rom?? Have you figured out? Is there only hiragana and katakana? Or is there also kanji? It must be a huge space from every kanji in the game (if there is some), uh? All of the text in the game is rendered in katakana, except for a few kanji in the game's intro. The script is made up of a bunch of 8-bit numbers, with each value matching up to a single katakana symbol (1 = ア, 2 = イ, 3 = ウ, etc.). Quote Just more one thing: do you have a romaji version of the script??? It would be very welcome. All I have right now is an old version of the retranslation that I made using Microsoft Word. It has romaji side-by-side with the translation. It's in DOC format, but I can send you a PDF version if that's easier. Send me a Private Message with you e-mail address and I'll send it to you. Quote Sorry 4 my english. I'm brazilian, you know. No problem. ;) To rouken: Thanks for pointing out the typo. It'll be fixed when we release the final version. -- Paul

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14728 Location: London	Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 9:06 pm
	It's been a while since there was any news on this; hopefully those involved (Paul?) can let us know their situation/progress. Personally, I've worked through almost all the problems and bugs I've seen; however, there is still work to be done and I will not have any time for it at all for at least a month. If there is a talented SMS hacker (Heliophobe, Chris, Martin, others) who'd be able to take a look at some specific bugs that could be very useful. I'd still be available for questions by email. Is anyone able to commit to that?

Paul Jensen Joined: 29 Jun 1999 Posts: 254 Location: California, USA; Hiroshima, Japan	Update Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2005 12:10 am
	I just sent TheRedEye an updated translation of the manual, so I suppose he'll be working on a rewrite. Now that my work on the manual is basically done, I want to get back to the script and check it for translation errors before TheRedEye does a rewrite on that. I've got about a month of vacation time left, so I'll have at least some time to work on this.

Heliophobe Site Admin Joined: 25 Oct 1999 Posts: 2029 Location: Monterey, California	Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2005 6:56 pm
	Maxim wrote If there is a talented SMS hacker (Heliophobe, Chris, Martin, others) who'd be able to take a look at some specific bugs that could be very useful. I'd still be available for questions by email. Is anyone able to commit to that? Well I know better than to commit to anything but I could take a look.

Paul Jensen Joined: 29 Jun 1999 Posts: 254 Location: California, USA; Hiroshima, Japan	Update Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2005 1:35 am
	Hi everyone, I'm about 90% through the script right now. That is, I've gone through 90% of the dialogue in the game (NPC dialogues, cinema text, etc.) cleaning it up and fixing errors. All that's left at this point are the system messages ('<player> dodged <monster>'s attack', etc.), shop dialogues, and a few other things. Hopefully I can have this done in a week or so. I'd planned to get it done earlier, but I've been busier than usual with work. TheRedEye: I'll likely send you the game dialogue sometime this weekend. -- Paul

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14728 Location: London	Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2005 8:57 am
	The interaction/shop dialogues were mostly translated by satsu, who is an experienced game translator and so is probably used to translating that kind of dialogue. It'll also differ from your translation of those parts so it might be a bit easier than reretranslating. I've fixed up the last known bug in the text renderer and I'm mostly ready for the script now.

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14728 Location: London	Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 8:05 am
	Well, I spoke too soon... I found and fixed at least two unwired text pointers yesterday, fixed a windowing bug in hospitals/churches and fixed up some more enemy and item names. I also extended the interaction dialogues back to 4 lines (it might now need the auto-scrolling delay to be increased). It's looking pretty good: There are some strange things that I'm not sure of, though. I spent ages yesterday tryng to figure out why using a Compass when not in a dungeon gives you "It doesn't seem to be particularly broken"... until I figured out that the original game and the original translation both say that too. Several other items give similarly strange responses in some situations. Do you think these should be kept for authenticity, or "fixed" to make more sense?

Paul Jensen Joined: 29 Jun 1999 Posts: 254 Location: California, USA; Hiroshima, Japan	Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 6:54 pm
	Quote The interaction/shop dialogues were mostly translated by satsu, who is an experienced game translator and so is probably used to translating that kind of dialogue. It'll also differ from your translation of those parts so it might be a bit easier than reretranslating. So I should leave that part of the script as is? If so, no problem. Quote ...I also extended the interaction dialogues back to 4 lines (it might now need the auto-scrolling delay to be increased). Four lines of text seems to work well. Since Japanese is often more "compressed" than English, having four lines will allow for about the same amount of equivalent English text. Does that make any sense? Quote There are some strange things that I'm not sure of, though. I spent ages yesterday tryng to figure out why using a Compass when not in a dungeon gives you "It doesn't seem to be particularly broken"... until I figured out that the original game and the original translation both say that too. Several other items give similarly strange responses in some situations. Do you think these should be kept for authenticity, or "fixed" to make more sense? Would it be possible to make it say something else? I'm all for faithfulness to the original dialogue (which is why I retranslated the text in the first place), but this line seems inappropriate, even in Japanese. I seem to recall there being a line somewhere in the script that says 'you don't need to use this right now' or something along those lines. Maybe that would be a better line to use? Paul

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14728 Location: London	Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 8:50 pm
	Paul Jensen wrote So I should leave that part of the script as is? If so, no problem. No, just that you may want to treat it differently. There's certainly a lot of problems in that dialogue due to what I presume is a lack of personal pronouns in Japanese - for example, when using Laerma berries in the wrong place you get something vaguely like "not being hungry therefore put thing back" (I'm guessing) which satsu made something like "you're not hungry so you put it back" and the original translation is roughly "Myau is not hungry so Alisa put them back". It needs a lot of playtesting really to get it working right. Quote Would it be possible to make it say something else? Yes, although not exactly easy since the translation tools are mostly about keeping the structure and changing the text. The text it refers to is used many times, but the pointer in question is definitely part of the compass usage routines, so editing it should not affect anything else. In which case, we need to compile a list of these strange text cases... there seem to be quite a few.

g8z Guest	tools Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2005 7:13 pm
g8z Guest	I think the pointer indices were kept in even numbers. So you should be able to insert a text string at an odd boundary, provided that you insert another pointer into that monster list and recompile. I remember doing this twice -- 1AA-2 (1AB) about selling the GasClears and the other line in the village with the liars. But I had to create another string code for the last one to work (tech docs somewhere). You're really polishing that translation!

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14728 Location: London	Highly important retranslation issue Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2005 9:06 am
	I had some problems recently because I ran out of space for the credits when I added TheRedEye (although a bit of shuffling fixed it, and re-coding it could make it take less space for its data). But this morning, it occurred to me that what we really ought to be doing anyway is thinking up late 80s Sega nicknames so our names better match the existing credits. There are a few ways to make these: 1. One syllable out of your surname, eg. Tokuhiko Uwabo -> Bo 2. Some semi-descriptive word followed by the first syllable of your first or second name, eg. Rieko Kodame -> Phoenix Rie, Akinori Nishiyama -> Works Nishi 3. Something just plain weird, eg. Yuji Naka -> Muuuu Yuji, Kotaro Hayashida -> Ossale Kohta The retranslation will include full credits in its documentation, including the real names of all the original staff we know of (some typos on that page), so proper readable credits, websites, emails etc can be included there anyway. Any ideas?

Nezuji Joined: 01 Sep 2005 Posts: 28 Location: Melbourne, Australia	Re: Instruction manual (tenatively) translated (plus spell name theories) Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2005 9:48 am
	Hi! I'm new around these parts, and I've recently become interested in SMS programming. Anyway, I spotted this thread and as a long-time fan of the Phantasy Star series I thought I'd take a look. It seems like you're about ready to release the ROM, so I look forward to playing it! I don't know if anyone is still interested, but I noticed that Paul Jensen had a few unsure points he mentioned several posts ago. While his Japanese is clearly better than mine, I might be able to shed some light on a couple of them. "Mu" prefixes: Mu is the name of a fabled lost civilisation, somewhat similar to Atlantis. It doesn't seem to be very well known in the west, but the name pops up like a weed in Japanese CRPGs, associated with ancient magic and/or technology. While this is probably the original inspiration for "mu-" = "magic-" in the original script, Paul's "mini-language" rationale seems to cover it. "Rakusuta": My Japanese is appallingly rusty (and I never had a great vocabulary to start with), but can't "suta" mean something like "preparation", "drink", or even (in this context) "potion"? Of course, I'm assuming it's an item; if it's a spell or menu option, I've obviously got the wrong end of the stick :) "Raputto" and "Peyaraku": I'd say you've hit the nail on the head; I feel sure that I saw exactly the same transposition device used in the English version of PSO, although I can't recall a specific example. "Toruupa": I've got no context, but might it be "trooper"? Or am I missing a joke here? :) Nezuji :)

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14728 Location: London	Re: Instruction manual (tenatively) translated (plus spell name theories) Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2005 10:00 am
	Nezuji wrote "Mu" prefixes: Mu is the name of a fabled lost civilisation, somewhat similar to Atlantis. It doesn't seem to be very well known in the west, but the name pops up like a weed in Japanese CRPGs, associated with ancient magic and/or technology. Ah yes, GBA Astro Boy was based around it for an example of a western-released game with it featured prominently. The items Paul mentioned are all spells, by the way, hence the problem with "trooper".

TheRedEye Joined: 20 Sep 2000 Posts: 149	Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 3:32 am
TheRedEye Joined: 20 Sep 2000 Posts: 149	Since I'm still waiting for the final translation, I thought I'd make myself useful and work on some art for...something. I don't know, maybe I'll go with that one guy's suggestion and make a website about this. Here are some basic character shots that I scanned from the American manual and retouched. They're very simple 16-color GIFs, I think they look pretty damned good. I experimented with coloring them in too, but I'm not so sure I like the way these look: Bock, can you re-scan a few images in REALLY high res for me, particularly the picture with all four characters hovering over a planet? These were the only decent shots in the American manual, the Japanese one has a lot better art.

TheRedEye Joined: 20 Sep 2000 Posts: 149	Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 4:07 am
TheRedEye Joined: 20 Sep 2000 Posts: 149	The other two: The color ends up killing a lot of the finer detail, but it doesn't look TOO bad.

Paul Jensen Joined: 29 Jun 1999 Posts: 254 Location: California, USA; Hiroshima, Japan	Update Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 5:54 pm
	Hi everyone, Sorry for the lack of updates recently. Long story short, I've been busy with unexpected (yet pleasant) real-life stuff for the last few weeks. I've got some free time the next few days, as well as next week, so I plan to finish revising the script very soon. Paul

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14728 Location: London	Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 9:48 am
	9 days later... any news?

Paul Jensen Joined: 29 Jun 1999 Posts: 254 Location: California, USA; Hiroshima, Japan	Update Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 8:05 pm
	Sorry for the delays, everybody. I had some more personal stuff come up, combined with back-to-school errands and the like. Update: I've gone through the entire script now. Everything has been translated, including dialogues and system messages. As far as I know, all that's left to do now is to have TheRedEye check the script for possible rewrites. To Maxim: should I insert the text into script1.txt and script2.txt and send those to TheRedEye, or should I just send him what I have now (the katakana dump of the script that you sent me ages ago, along with translation)? Paul

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14728 Location: London	Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 8:54 pm
	Putting it in script1.txt and script2.txt is the best way - they're script dumps too, but in a format the retranslation software likes, so they should be in the same order. Did I send you the item lists too?

Paul Jensen Joined: 29 Jun 1999 Posts: 254 Location: California, USA; Hiroshima, Japan	Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 12:16 am
	Quote Putting it in script1.txt and script2.txt is the best way - they're script dumps too, but in a format the retranslation software likes, so they should be in the same order. OK. I'll get on it right away. Quote Did I send you the item lists too? I'm not sure. Which directory would they be in? Speaking of which, I guess it might be a good idea for you to send me a copy of the latest version, so I'm working off the most current build. I guess it won't matter much for my pruposes, but it would be nice to do some playtesting of my own. Send it to me at pejcs at pacbell dot net. Paul

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14728 Location: London	An update Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2005 11:32 pm
	Things are moving along nicely, the script is rerereretranslated again (still some issues with spell names though) and we're waiting for TheRedEye to get to work. I did a bit of "photoshopping" on the box cover. Can anyone give me a translation of the blue text I've pointed out? I'm not happy with the grammar on a few of those sentences; I copied the text from Paul's version.

GB Guest	Re: An update Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 3:54 am
GB Guest	Maxim wrote I'm not happy with the grammar on a few of those sentences; I copied the text from Paul's version. Company SEGA Enterprise

Bock Site Admin Joined: 08 Jul 2001 Posts: 8648 Location: Paris, France	Re: An update Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 11:43 am
	GB wrote Maxim wrote I'm not happy with the grammar on a few of those sentences; I copied the text from Paul's version. Company SEGA Enterprise Nitpicking: Company SEGA Enterprises

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14728 Location: London	Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 12:06 pm
	OK, I took a little liberty with it to make it "SEGA Enterprises Inc.". I'm not 100% happy with the way the screenshot turned out, getting the warping right with the tools I have isn't easy. To lay out the translated manual, we really need to do it in vector-based software with proper text handling, and my copy of CorelDRAW 3 isn't really up to that. I might have a play in Illustrator (if I can cough obtain a copy) but someone with experience would be welcome.

idrougge Joined: 01 Jan 2005 Posts: 360 Location: Stockholm, Sweden	Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 2:15 pm
	Maxim wrote OK, I took a little liberty with it to make it "SEGA Enterprises Inc.". Shouldn't it be Sega Enterprises, co. ltd.?

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