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Topic: Article on translation hacking (Read 1142 times)
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Nightcrawler
Administrator
Hero Member
Gender: 
Posts: 909
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Also,
I'm sure some fan translation groups have taken HUGE liberties on
occasion. Does anyone have, close to hand, a screenshot with a piece of
insane fan-written dialogue, that was added to a game? You know,
something that would work as an example of light relief in the feature.
Most actually don't take very many liberties. But as pointed out, there are some infamous ones such as ToP.
Also...
Examples of fan altered title screens, Russian translated PS1 game
screens, and anything else you guys feel is unique or needs to be shown
would also be great. Otherwise I'll be picking and choosing based on
personal opinion.
I choose to do splash screens in my
projects rather than edit the title screen. This means a newly written
introductory screen that comes up BEFORE the original game such as the
latest one for the Dual Orb 2 release:
http://romhacking.deadbeat-inc.com/scratchpad/do2splash.png
Why
did I choose this over editing the title screen? I simply
preferred the idea of leaving the original screen in tact and
instead a splash screen to say 'Hey, it was me who did this'. Not
to mention, it's a way just a bit more programming talent. Most of real
work in a translation often goes unnoticed. It was nice to make
something noticeable for a change. 
Is
there any specific computer program you use during the translation
process? SInce I'd love to get a screengrab of one in action.
Many of the more advanced hackers use custom utilities. Here's such an example:
http://transcorp.parodius.com/nightmare.jpg
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TransCorp - Home of the Dual Orb 2 SFC/SNES Translation
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byuu
Newbie
Posts: 45
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Ok,
that's absolutely awful. I knew about the boat scene, but that other
one is over the top. I'm not some prune in regards to censorship, but
blatantly making shit up to appease horny twelve year olds is an insult
to the original game creators. I would much rather play the official
ToP GBA over DeJap's translation at this point. Yes, over two scenes.
If they put that in there, what else did they edit that people aren't noticing?
But actually, I'm waiting for Cless' PSX translation, so...
You
should also try and get the DQ5 statue one. I never played far enough
into PT/Dejap's patch to get it myself, but D mentioned it was
something awful. The original text just mentioned how beautiful the
statue looked. I won't quote it because I'm not certain on what exactly
it said.
Still, it was tame compared to ToP.
FFIV by
J2e had a reference to some movie actor. I guess they were trying to
put Working Designs' Wheaties and Clinton jokes to shame. Yes,
apparently on Lunar, they also have a president named Bill Clinton.
Small universe. But important to note that it isn't just fan
translators who can't stick to the script when translating. |
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Ryusui
Jr. Member
Posts: 88
Huzzah!
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Ok,
that's absolutely awful. I knew about the boat scene, but that other
one is over the top. I'm not some prune in regards to censorship, but
blatantly making shit up to appease horny twelve year olds is an insult
to the original game creators. I would much rather play the official
ToP GBA over DeJap's translation at this point. Yes, over two scenes.
If they put that in there, what else did they edit that people aren't noticing?
But actually, I'm waiting for Cless' PSX translation, so...
You
should also try and get the DQ5 statue one. I never played far enough
into PT/Dejap's patch to get it myself, but D mentioned it was
something awful. The original text just mentioned how beautiful the
statue looked. I won't quote it because I'm not certain on what exactly
it said.
Still, it was tame compared to ToP.
FFIV by
J2e had a reference to some movie actor. I guess they were trying to
put Working Designs' Wheaties and Clinton jokes to shame. Yes,
apparently on Lunar, they also have a president named Bill Clinton.
Small universe. But important to note that it isn't just fan
translators who can't stick to the script when translating.
I
fondly recall their translation of Villgust for NES threw the F-word in
for no apparent reason in some scenes and had its victory line as
"(yournamehere) kicked their ass!" or some such. And I also recall
having to bonk some heads in the FFIV boards on GameFAQs over the stuff
that Square supposedly "censored" out of the game, stuff that was
invented by DeJap's translation. (Speaking of which, I saw the
screenshot of the William Shatner reference. I prefer the official
version: "You're about as subtle as a crutch.")
There are three things required for a good translation, IMHO:
1.
A good grasp of both English and Japanese. I find that it's possible to
translate without having a conversational level of Japanese skill, but
if you can't be bothered to use proper capitalization, grammar and
spelling in English, it doesn't matter if you were freakin' raised in
Japan: your translation will look worse than the Engrish slogans
plastered all over the place over there.
2. Respect for the
source material. This is easy to have. In high doses it's called
"fanboyism". DeJap's work is a good example of <i>not</i>
having respect for the source material. Me, I admit Sylvanian Families
is cute enough to rot teeth, but I nonetheless respect the source
material I'm working with. The worst I've probably done is change a
line where the main character is describing a loaf of bread to a slightly
out-of-character quip that "maybe I could take a bite while no one's
looking?". (It does seem to get the point across better, anyhow.)
3.
Respect for the target audience. This is not-so-easy to have, it would
seem. "Respect for the target audience" and "respect for the source
material" are like oil and water: they don't mix unless you beat the
hell out of them with a blender. For example, in some people's minds,
"respect for the source material" means romanizing Japanese directly
and rearranging the words to fit English grammar. This is contrary to
"respect for the target audience": the whole point in translation is
making something playable/watchable/readable by people who speak a
language different from the original, an audience who in all
likelihood will just go "huh?" if you throw words like "onii-chan" or
"lolicon" at them. But more than that, "respect for the target
audience" means producing a translation that isn't groan-worthy. Face
it: a lot of stuff in Japanese comes out hokey, corny, goofy or stilted
in our language and culture. Try my example above: perhaps in Japanese
Sylvania it'd be perfectly within bounds for a little girl to start
waxing poetic over how their bread turned out perfectly, but in
English, the slightly more mischievous reaction better conveys how
surprisingly well the bread turned out. "Respect for the target
audience" is quite possibly the most important part of producing a great
translation: it's a delicate balancing act between the audience and the
source material. Change too little, and you have something resembling
the English dubs of s-CRY-ed and Overman King Gainer (great voice
talent but painfully crappy writing). Change too much, and you have a
different story entirely (or, worse, you have DeJap's work, which
respects neither the source material nor the target audience).
It's possible to write a translation without one or more of these, but it's not possible to write a great translation without all three.
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In Soviet Junkyard, demon eats you!...oh, wait.
Eccentric fan extraordinaire. I'm all over the place if you look.
GOD OF DESTRUCTION? OR CUTE, FUZZY COLLECTIBLE? YOU DECIDE!
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Dragonsbrethren
Romhacking.net Staff
Sr. Member
Gender:
Posts: 294
Location: New Jersey
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Yeah, official translations tend to have stupid pop culture references
too (Real Ultimate Power reference in FF4 Advance, anyone?). |
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Neil
Romhacking.net Staff
Full Member
Gender:
Posts: 223
Circuit Rider
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correction. found the script:
$046884:20:
#1003Older: Hey... what the hell?#1000
The said there was treasure in this#1000
moldy old place, but I don't see shit...#1001
$04689e:40:
#1003Younger: Wow! Look at#1000
these statues! They're so life-like...#1002
#1003Younger: Big brother...#1000
I think we can sell these statues#1000
to someone for a lot of money!#1001
$0468db:40:
#1003Older: Hey, you're right!#1000
Check out the jugs on the girl!#1002
#1003Older: I call dibs on the#1000
statue of the big kitten!#1001
$046904:40:
#1003Older: Come on! Let's go!#1002
#1003Younger: Big brother! Wait!#1001
the original translation is on my other computer somewhere...
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byuu
Newbie
Posts: 45
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Ah, I see D exaggerated when he told me what you had for that scene. That, or my memory is failing me again :/
Still kinda juvenile, but not that bad.
Now
ToP, on the other hand, will remain infamous for good reason... so in
that case, ToP and FF4 are probably the best screens to use for this
article. |
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No, that was not originally in English, heh.
