Progress report

[kWhazit]

Well, the only major obstacle we have still pending are QVDATAE files. I've been working in them so far, but given the large volume, I'd be very glad to have some help in checking and retranslating them. For reference, in up to file 11/359.

That's the one with NPC and other floating text, right? Send me a download link and I'll take a look... maybe starting from 200 and going up from there.

[aquagon]

Ok, here you go: http://metafalica.metalbat.com/void/edited_qvdatae/
That's where void told me to get the files, which already had minor checking passes to fix the most notorious errors.

[void]

Honestly I wouldn't go overboard with retranslating them, given they're bits of background text available for a fraction of the game which most players may never see. Just a quick check they haven't been hideously mistranslated really should suffice, and it may be a better use of both of your time reviewing the story text.

16 seems like the most important of the qvdatae files, since that contains the guess the Luca/Cloche Deathlandia trial lines, and I'd love to know if the original text provided a better indication of which clone was real than NISA's. Similarly the catchphrase "If you have love for me" said by Luca/Cloche's NPC in each trial sounds clunky to me, and it would be nice if we found a better phrasing. 15 also has some named character text in, for when everyone's about to climb the tower.

As for me, I've been really busy as well so I've yet to take a look at the shopkeeper slus file. Sorry!

[kWhazit]

. . . I'd love to know if the original text provided a better indication of which clone was real than NISA's.

I remember finding the lines for those on a Japanese site a while ago. Most were more a matter of how they spoke than what they said, which doesn't always translate well (especially gender differences and minor variations in formality), but it was much clearer in my opinion. Most of the wrong ones I could even peg as imitating a specific character... especially when they're mimicking each other. Luca's Cloche sounds haughty and unnaturally stiff, while Cloche's Luca sounds like a spastic ditz, as I recall.

[aquagon]

Actually, that particular trial is divided in two files: 16 for Luca and 17 for Cloche, and it's kinda interesting to see how the particular quirks that would allow anyone to single out the fakes were lost in the "localization". For example, Luca imitating Cocona's characteristic "Boo! Boo that!"

EDIT: Okay, I've finished with all files up to 18, which from the look of things, it's the last file for the conversations with the NPCs. The rest seem to be the overheard conversations.

[kWhazit]

Okay, that went pretty quickly. Files 200 through 354 are up at http://metafalica.metalbat.com/kwhazit/qvdatae/ . I can't remember there being anything particularly important in there, but I did notice one minor thing with the Pepens. Of the ones in Pastalia, at least, only Pepen B (from a different region, based on 344) says "pen" all the time. The others use "jan", which I've rendered as "ya" pending review.

[aquagon]

Okay, that went pretty quickly. Files 200 through 354 are up at http://metafalica.metalbat.com/kwhazit/qvdatae/ . I can't remember there being anything particularly important in there, but I did notice one minor thing with the Pepens. Of the ones in Pastalia, at least, only Pepen B (from a different region, based on 344) says "pen" all the time. The others use "jan", which I've rendered as "ya" pending review.

Ok, just finished checking them up, and it looks perfect so far. The only thing I saw that needs an small fix is the reference to Viena in file 320, line 3.

[void]

I've looked over qvdatae 6-18 (I think we did 1-5 already?) and made a few edits - the files can be found in my edited_qvdatae folder.

The most common mistake was incorrect contractions being used as questions. For example in 8.txt line 83, 9.txt on line 70, and a few other places.

About the Luca/Cloche NPC lines for the Deathlandia trials, I'm wondering if "If you actually love me" instead of "if you have love for me" is a bit forceful. Whatever we decide on will also need updating in mkdata 34 and 40. Also kWhazit, would you mind taking a look over the lines the Luca/Cloche clones say in the latest files 16 and 17 and giving your take on them? Since getting these lines right is important to making the trial less frustrating, I think the more people look over them the better.

[aquagon]

I haven't gotten time to go over the edits yet, but...

I've finished translated my share of the qvdatae files, so in other words... I guess this means the translation phase has at long last finished!
Next, it would be doing the reviewing and doing a second edit pass to everything, correct?

[void]

Wow, well done for translating all of those!

I already did a second edit pass over the evd files and the talk topics some time ago, so I'm pretty happy with how they read - though I would have been wise to write down exactly what I did, since I can't remember if I finished mixmess or not... I'll probably still need to go over hkdata and the slus files again after taking a look at file 19+ of qvdatae.

There's probably a few outstanding decisions remaining - a couple of song magic and item names, as well as graphic edits to accompany those. Other than that, I guess it is reviewing as you say, consistency checks, and also playtesting - though depending on what is being reviewed in some cases they could be combined.

Speaking of which, while I have been pretty quiet on here recently, something I have been doing at odd intervals is (selflessly!) playing through the game with all our current changes applied on the real PS2 hardware - and I have to say that seeing all the team has accomplished really is impressive! I met a bit of a technical hitch at the start, where it emerged that the last bug I fixed in my erx repacker to make qvdatae work could actually result in the other erx files breaking in such a way that didn't break the emulator, but after correcting that it's all been fine!

[aquagon]

Ok, then we should get to finalize these item and song names as soon as possible, and thanks for having taking the time to begin playtesting everything we all have done so far, too.
After we finish with the qvdatae I'll go on with checking up the evds, although I've already done a pass to some of the ones corresponding to Phase 1.

And while these comments would be better in the edits topic, here are my commentaries on files 6-18 of the qvdatae, although the number of actual comments is rather low, as it's mostly about the thingy with the suffixes used by the Pepens (*sigh* Why they couldn't just have made them all use "pen"?) :

Spoiler:  [ Open ]

6

- Line 91: Hmm, the "naturally" seems kinda off to me...

- Line 96: The "her" at the end should be capitalized, as that refers to the Goddess.

7

- Line 6: There's a space missing.

- Line 40: This is the Pepen that ends its sentences in "yan".

- Line 43: Same as 40.

- Line 77: Same as 40.

- Line 96: Same as 40.

- Line 97: Same as 40.

8

- Line 1: It should end in a question mark.

- Line 5: This Pepen ends its sentences in "yan".

- Line 6: Same as 5.

- Line 7: Same as 5.

- Line 14: Same as 5.

- Line 15: Same as 5.

- Line 16: Same as 5.

- Line 23: Same as 5.

- Line 24: Same as 5.

- Line 25: Same as 5. (In other words, it would be something like "yan-yan-yaan!")

- Line 31: Same as 5.

- Line 32: Same as 5.

- Line 33: Same as 5. (Hmm, in that case we'll have to change these "man" to "yan" in the evds too. What a bother the Pepens are...)

- Line 38: Same as 5.

- Line 39: Same as 5.

- Line 40: Same as 5.

- Line 41: Same as 5.

- Line 42: Same as 5.

9

- Line 5: Hmm, maybe reverting "phantasmal" to "legendary" would be a good idea for consistency.

- Line 11: This Pepen ends its sentences in "yan".

- Line 13: Same as 11.

- Line 54: Same as 5.

- Line 65: Should we change the "Lord" to "Prince"?

- Line 81: Same as 5.

- Line 83: Same as 5.

- Line 86: Most likely it's a poetic form of saying they're the saviors of the world, coming from beyond the Sea of Death. However, I'd also chalk that up to mere arrogance.

10

- Line 17: This Pepen ends its sentences in "yan".

- Line 19: Same as 17.

- Line 28: I guess so.

- Line 52: Same as 17.

- Line 72: Same as 17.

- Line 73: Same as 17.

- Line 80: The latter.

- Line 88: Basically, that his popularity went downhill in the worst possible manner.

11

- Line 25: This Pepen ends its sentences in "yan".

- Line 27: Same as 25.

- Line 82: There's a space missing.

- Line 98: Same as 25.

12

- Line 0: This Pepen ends its sentences in "yan".

- Line 69: same as 0.

13

- Line 17: Basically, the same thing you put in a much more clear and succint way in your replacement.

- Line 20: Same as 9:5.

- Line 59: Same as 17.

- Line 60: Should we capitalize "guardian"?

- Line 64: This Pepen ends its sentences in "yan". In other words: "Yan'yan!"

14


- Line 49: This Pepen ends its sentences in "yan".

- Line 50: Same as 49

- Line 87: Or we could reinterpret this to mean that he will make a city comparable to Rakshek in Metafalica.

15

- Line 17: This Pepen ends its sentences in "yan".

- Line 19: Same as 17

- Line 73: Same as 17

16

- Line 87: Same as 17

17:

All the pepens from lines 20 to 24 use "yan" to close their sentences.

18:

- Line 46: This Pepen ends its sentences in "yan".

- Line 47: Same as 46

- Line 53: Same as 46

- Line 57: Same as 46

- Line 63: Same as 46

- Line 64: Same as 46

- Line 67: Same as 46

- Line 68: Funnily enough, it's the German equivalent for that same word. However, you're right in that it'll look like a typo if we leave it like that.

- Lines 75 to 78: Same as 46.

- Line 98: We could also drop the innuendo and just put something like "Your pockets are so empty."

[void]

I have to question, at this stage is it really worth faithfully transliterating those "ya"/"yan"s where we currently have "pen"?

It was a nightmare of a job changing all the "effendi"s by hand in the first place, and to do so again would mean revising all of the qvdatae files, plus the evd and slus files. If some of the pepens go "pen" and some go "yan", then it's not something an automated script can do easily either, though given how spanning these changes are, I'd be hesitant to let a script run wild doing it in the first place.

Personally I think it's fine giving all the pepens just one consistent verbal tic that's at least somewhat meaningful due to being tied into their name. While this nuance of pepen society may remain lost to the English speaking audience, I can't help but wonder if it would be recognisable as such anyway, or whether it would look like inconsistency. Our current exception of Penpepe in Deathlandia should possibly be changed to using "pen" as well if we do follow this approach.

For the non-pepen comments in those files:

Spoiler:  [ Open ]

6:91: Hmm, the "naturally" seems kinda off to me...

Oh dear, yes, I missed that one from NISA, it should be "natural".

8:1: It should end in a question mark.

The existing text wasn't really phrased as a question. I've changed it to "Wasn't Metafalica supposed to be a Song which would make everyone happy?"

9:5: Hmm, maybe reverting "phantasmal" to "legendary" would be a good idea for consistency.

I've changed it to "I hear guardians emerge from the rumored Lift 0. It's so scary!" to try and keep both meanings.

9:65: Should we change the "Lord" to "Prince"?

Good spot.

13:20: Same as 9:5.

I think this is OK here, since it sounds like the speaker isn't sure if it exists or not.

13:59: Same as 17.

I changed the first sentence to "Supposedly Lift 0 can be found in some ruins."

13:60: Should we capitalize "guardian"?

I've mainly been using lower case where I've encountered it, since the usage isn't nearly so common as At1's (Tower) Guardians. I don't mind cahning it to be capitalised if you'd prefer though. Either way, I'll add it to my list of words to consistency check.

14:87: Or we could reinterpret this to mean that he will make a city comparable to Rakshek in Metafalica.

I did consider this, but wasn't sure if that was the intention of the original line. It makes sense though, so let's go with it. I've used "I'll create a city as great as Rakshek on Metafalica!"

18:98: We could also drop the innuendo and just put something like "Your pockets are so empty."

Sounds good to me.

[fetjuel]

Hi friends!

Congratulations on reaching the end of translation! It's thrilling that the project has come this far, and I'm proud to have played some small part.

I wish I could be more help, and could have spent more time here, but work, grad school, and home life have been so hectic. (And now I am writing a book, as if all the rest wasn't enough!)

If there is anything I can do in what scraps of free time I can muster, please let me know!

Be well~

[void]

Hey fetjuel! If you do have any time to spare it would be great if you could review the edited version of Cloche's Cosmosphere (525-630 from my edited folder on the FTP), just to see if you agree with any edits I made a while back. It's been a while, but I don't think it needed that much alteration.

[kWhazit]

It's wonderful to see that the translation phase is finally done. What I've seen of the graphics and other edits have been impressive too.

. . . Also kWhazit, would you mind taking a look over the lines the Luca/Cloche clones say in the latest files 16 and 17 and giving your take on them? Since getting these lines right is important to making the trial less frustrating, I think the more people look over them the better.

I'll look over those. And it looks like I'm going to have a bit more free time coming up, so I'd be glad to check over anything else that could benefit from verification, review, or proofreading.

[void]

I think you checked my edits to Luca's Cosmosphere and the Infelsphere as soon as I made them, didn't you? Other than that, whatever takes your fancy or you think are the most important scenes I guess. Anything you've got the time to do would be appreciated!

[Mithos]

It's been a while so I thought I'd ask, is there a release date in sight?
2012?

[Lunatic Drache]

I'm not part of the project, but since no one has answered yet...

I'm quite excited myself so I know how you feel, but the thing about asking for a date is that if they give one, it's likely to be delayed. Life gets in the way of projects such as this. As it went with Duke Nukem Forever, it'll surely release "when it's done". (Please don't take 15 years, you guys. )

Though, personally, my guess is that it'll be done next year.

Ah, yes, it's been a while since I used Hymmnos, but I decided to try:

Was waa ra knawa cest akata metafalica
(I'll be happy to learn the true story of Metafalica)

[Len]

Well, I'm also not on the translation team. All we can do now is wait for an update. And hope it doesn't take too long.

[Mithos]

Lol, Len, Drache, you guys crack me up.

It's very obvious that all we can do is be patient and wait for an update, however seeing as the last post in this thread was made in August, I feel it was not uncalled-for, in the slightest, to ask for an update from the developers.
So please don't take it the wrong way, but non-project-developer replies of "be patient" really don't help or contribute.

There is activity in some of the editting threads every few weeks, so I know they're still going at it when they can.