Have any non-porn games been translated, comercially or by fans? I'm not completely averse to adult content, but it would be interesting to see a story that was more than click-through filler for CG galleries.
Kanon translation is about 60% complete and also works on the all-ages version of the game.
http://www.haeleth.net/kanon.html
Other then that, some groups have translated trial versions of adult games, but with no adult content in the trial versions themselves. I think INSANI is the most prolific but don't recall their site address.
http://www.geocities.com/max3075/tsukihime/walk/index.htm - Detailed synopsis of Tsukihime (all story paths)
http://home.comcast.net/~7hs/kagetsu-tohya.txt - Detailed synopsis of Kagetsu Tohya
These two are adult games but with incredible stories nonetheless.
Tsukihime is being worked on by Mirror-Moon (http://www.mirrormoon.org) at a rather steady pace, and by some very good translators to boot.
Best not to distribute the link though.
I would like to see the Visual Novel done for Digi Charat, as even if I know 0 japanese, I found it rather cute... I guess it would be more fun if I had a clue as to what they were saying :S
What about Sprung for DS?
The entire Hiyori scenario of Mizuiro was translated. The file by itself was non-ecchi and you had to use a patch to see the ecchi scene.
>>7
Did anyone purchase this? Is it any good? $10 seems reasonable but the main character looks kind of strange.
>>8
I purchased planetarian and loved it. There last few chapters seem just a bit rushed--much shorter than the opening chapters--but despite the lack of actual content, a lot of possibilities are implied. It's been two weeks since I finished reading it and I still think about it a lot.
>>9
A review within two hours, good service! I was hesitant to spend money on some story thing, but based on your review I purchased it.
It was, as you said, so excellent. I recommend everyone take this advice and buy the game, even if you don't like ero-games or robots.
The translator had this to say about his choice to release it as a patch and giving detailed instructions on how to purchase it:
> You see, I, too, saw this as an acid test of sorts for the so-called English-speaking bishoujo gaming "community". After all, kineticnovel.jp wouldn't exactly ignore the fact that suddenly, they were receiving a whole bunch of reviews that seemed to be written in English. However, if this was a test, it is obvious to me at this point that the "community" has failed it. Barely five hours after our translation patch went RTM, a fairly popular site posted a torrent of a cracked version of the Retail Edition, with our patch integrated. Now, our own patch has had about 380 downloads ever since we went RTM -- even if I were to be generous and assume a legitimate buy rate of 50% (which is, as we all well know, way too high), that's just 190 legitimate purchases of planetarian. I get the sick feeling -- and yes, it makes me sick -- that the download statistics on that pirate torrent are much higher than the ones that our patch torrent reflects.
His starry-eyed vision of the impact his translation could have reminds me so much of the robot! I sent him a message inviting him over here.
> I get the sick feeling -- and yes, it makes me sick -- that the download statistics on that pirate torrent are much higher than the ones that our patch torrent reflects.
That's awful. I'm unemployed and was still able to afford $10 from my savings. Seriously, I feel that I got a much better story and translation than what I paid for. To think that even such a fine piece can be reduced to just another object to possess, a bargaining chip to be shoved into the forgotten corners of some warez dealer's closet...
I wish I had something positive to say, but there isn't much that can be said without spoiling. Everything connects together so well that, as in life, one person's irrelevant nonsense can be another's touching personal insight.
planetarian～ちいさなほしのゆめ～ is the best kinetic novel ever. Although it's short, it deserves of winning numorous awards. I nearly cried at the end. If you want astonishing storyline with excellent music, you must play this game, especially if you are a visual novel fan. TOTALLY WORTH BUYING IT
I think the most important thing is not just that it was a stellar production by Key, but that it was well translated and a lot of love was put into the English work. When was the last time you saw a fansub with translation of this caliber?
What's the definition of "kinetic novel" vs "visual novel" again?
Anyway, I'll buy it once it works on Mac.
>What's the definition of "kinetic novel" vs "visual novel" again?
Visual novel: some interactivity
Kinetic novel: no interactivity
That's pretty much the only difference.
Did you download Hanihani?
It works on all platforms! :shobon:
insani's website is at http://www.insani.org/
Snatcher.
I just played Until We Meet Again. I liked it alot! I wish more visual amd kinetic novel games were translated into english..
Really big game translations are usually that level of quality, because game translation is in and of itself a thousand times harder than anime fansubbing or manga scanslation. Only really dedicated people are ever going to finish this stuff. And even then, short projects are all that get done nowadays. It's tough work.
I finished Planetarian a few day ago, and it really lives up to the other comments in this thread. It's a fantastic piece of work, and that's probably understating it.
It's a real pity that it's unknown in the English world.
What nice timing to comment on this thread dmpk2k.
You'll probably enjoy these short works translated by insani and some other contributers.
I'm talking about the "al|together 2005" project that was completed yesterday.
There are now seven short games to download.
I've already played "a midsummer day's resonance" which is really nice.
There are also two other kinetic novels on there released a couple of months ago so that's nine games in total.
They are torrents but they download rather fast.
Here is the webpage for it.
http://altogether.insani.org/2005/index.html
Bump for new interest.
A visual novel that wasn't linked here:
Windows - Mac - Linux - Free!
The VIPPERs are apparently working on their own dating sim, My Big Sister is a First-Rate Architect:
Hirameki is surveying fans on what they'd like to see in dating sims. Tell 'em we want the Holy Trinity: Kanon, Air, and Comic Party.
http://community.hirameki-int.com/modules/enqeute0/index.php?id=2
insani's just translated another free visual novel, "Red Shift".
Looks like 4chan's /a/ has taken it upon themselves to make a visual novel based on a single joke illustration (http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/8638/1167954817756bh1.jpg) outlining a hypothetical game about disabled girls.
http://z8.invisionfree.com/Zettai_Shojou
http://bin.4chan.org/a/res/1682861.html
It's doubtfull it'll get anywhere, but still, it's inspiring that a single image could spark such enthusiasm.
Kana Little Sister is a great game. You can buy it from G-Collections.
Not only did they steal the name of the artist of the image, but they also misspelled it. The competence of the people involved is amazing!
>>32
And here you are, bitching them out behind their back! What a brave and principled individual you are!
You people have absolutely no penises
The true ending for Heart de Roommate was so shocking I almost fell off my chair. Also, age.
I just played the demo of Wind, which was just re-rereleased along with the english patch for the full game. Really nice, I like the OP a lot, though I know it for years.
for the list of games being translated, just refer yourself to www.shii.org/translate :o
love hina RPG for GBA?
Here's something interesting. A communal play-through of Crescendo, with screenshots of all the english text. It's a story-heavy game, with the sex playing only a secondary role. So far they've finished 4 of the paths. It's pretty convenient since you can read at your own pace without waiting for the text to pop up, and the comments from the peanut gallery are entertaining. It was also interesting to see many of the reader's perceptions of H-games change from "lol Night Shift Nurses" to "oh god are they all this depressing?". Also surprising is how effective it was at triggering high school nostalgia in several readers.
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2405544
>>40
Quality game, that. I managed to get all the endings without guidance. Except for one inaccurate walkthrough txt for Kaho. But it was somewhat of an acheivement anyway...
Just downloaded Tsukihime, because I hear it's another oh god depressing one, and I like that.
>>41
I think I'm going to have to re-read the Kyoko path after the drama and T_T of the Yuka and Ayame stories.
There's a whole subgenre for these "induce crying"-type games, isn't there?
>There's a whole subgenre for these "induce crying"-type games, isn't there?
According to this page
http://www.renaigames.net/art_mikey3.html
its name is 'nakige' or 'naki gemu'. I'd say it's my favourite subgenre. Want more. How about crying platformers, or crying shootan games? Tear-inducing turn based strategy...?
Does anyone happen to have a copy of the partial Kanon translation patch lying around?
The fag who quit the project for so-called "moral" reasons and then deleted the file from the web site, thought he would also try to erase all discussion regarding obtaining the patch. But AFAIK he can't erase a discussion about it here so... Go!
>>45
Very promising. I've stopped kicking myself for impulse buying now as I feel like I may get use out of the game other than kanji practice (no, I don't mean masturbation. Honest.)
Completed Major Projects:
al|together 2k6 (followup to 2k5, a VN TL festival):
http://at2006.haeleth.net/
Tsukihime Full patch+Fate/stay night Saber route+Melty Blood patch
http://mirrormoon.org/
wind -a breath of heart-
http://nnl1.com/wind/
Gadget Trial (a tactics game.)
http://yu-ri.is.moelicious.be/index.htm
There's an incomplete (but as good as you're going to get) list of translation projects @ http://visualnews.net/ . Break out himeyashop or yahoo auctions for http://visualnews.net/full-downloads/ , but all of these are free: http://visualnews.net/doujin-downloads/ .
And now, a little rant:
>>44
ARGHHHHHH, his reasons for stopping work on the patch should be completely irrelevant to you, as he was doing the work (do you know how much work translating a novel is, anyway?) for free in his spare time. It is simply a "nice thing to do" for YOU, so that YOU don't have to work your ass off studying a complicated language. If you don't like the fact he stopped tling the game, then pick it up YOURSELF.
While I agree that his retraction of the patch and reasons listed conflict with my own ideas, STFU when people are trying to bring you quality work and be glad he finished over 50% of the game for you.
>>46
RadicalR is far from a promising individual. Atm, I don't like him, and all around he doesn't seem to know much of what he's into. I'm taking a wait and see approach before I comment more, because I could very well have some kind of bias towards him, somehow.
But one thing that annoys me just as much as random noobs bitching about things they get as a free byproduct, is people that don't really know what they're doing and picking up projects so that their e-penis grows that much more.
RR, I apologize if you end up capable and do push out a full patch. But at the moment, I am skeptical.
Also, haeleth has alluded to TLing Narcissu 2.
>>47
Yeah, RR seems to have a habit of starting a million translation patch projects, most of which run into some difficulty or other and never amount to much. However, the translator for this one is a hardcore Keytard and seems pretty dedicated to seeing Kanon through. I think he's actually the one who roped RR into helping him. So, I remain optimistic (assuming he doesn't get deployed overseas again with no internet.)
>>47
The way I see it, it ceases to be a "nice thing to do" if the person then removes all the files from their site and tell various web sites that they're not allowed to discuss where to get the translation.
Actually the direction I want to push all my real hate in, is in the direction of the companies in the US who translate all the shit eroge instead of the good ones. I have nothing against paying for a translation, but for some reason the really good stuff never gets picked up by the "professionals."
>>51
Yeah. Just about all the professional eroge translations are games that'll further the stereotype the genre has in the west. I mean, there are games that are a really nice story with ero tacked on, then there are porn scenes with a story tacked on. Then there's just total shit random games that are terrible either way you look at it.
Of course, this is largely up to the original developers though. I'm sure they'd rather be tl'ing a popular series here, like Fate/stay night or (soon) AIR... Even utaware. Something with a licensed anime so that people have -some- kind of exposure to it. Better than TLing random games in their eyes too, as far as cash flow goes...
>>50
Mmm, I do disagree with a lot of things Haeleth did, like retracting the patch entirely. You can easily retract the patch on your site but still let fans enjoy it by just kind of forgetting about the fact it's up on 1,000 different sites as well.
I also disagree with the fact he didn't announce his decision to cease work earlier, but eh, stuff happens.
I still don't find it justifiable to start calling him a fag and hating him + everything around him for it though. What bothers me is, I'm sure the same people that just did that are going to go play and enjoy his narci 2 translation whenever that comes around. Just my two cents.
HelP!! nid a link to download Shuffle! the visual novel... with sounds plz...
>>52
The US companies (that are basically all owned by the Peter Payne fellow now) aren't really that much at fault. They do want to translate decent visual novels; however, the things are very, very difficult to license. Simply put, companies like Key are virtually untouchable because they want million-dollar license fees, and no visual novel is going to sell that well overseas.
It is, however, plain that they ARE TRYING. Have any of you tried out 'Yume Miru Kusuri'? It's a VN by ruf, with some nakige moments, written by Romeo Tanaka (who wrote Cross Channel). In addition, titles like Pulltop's Princess Waltz and D.O's Kazoku Keikaku are in the translation pipeline right now; the latter of which is an especially excellent title. I haven't played the former, but plan on doing so when they release it (to support the industry, mainly). Finally, if you peek at the 'which game to license' forum thread on otakuism (the official JAST/GC/PP message board, you'll see that fantastic story-driven titles such as 'Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashino' and 'Bullet Butlers' made up two of the three titles listed; and the two that got the most votes.
Put simply; they WANT to translate more story stuff, but there's a lot of obstacles in the way.
