Well, here we go. A new thread for hopefully a new wave of progress for the Tales of Destiny 2 translation. And hopefully this will be a little more informative than the old one.
To get things started quickly, here's a brand new set of files of text files containing most of the menu text found so far:
Download December 17th, 2008 menu text files.
What's new since the last text files update- Various editing.
- Some battle text
- Skit titles
- Translated more arte names?
- Probably a little more but I can't remember.
How you can helpSimply download the latest text file package at the top of this post. Extract it and go through portions that interest you. You can use the progress table below to learn the status of a file and see a description of what each file contains.
If you're a translator, feel free to attack the stuff that's not yet translated. I also encourage the checking of existing translations to make sure they aren't completely wrong. Some things may have intentional differences though.
If you're an editor, go for anything you feel like looking over. Try to clean up any English writing to sound more natural and concise. If something seems unintentionally dull, try to spice it up.
To contribute, post your translations/edits in an existing thread on the subject you're working on, or create one. Your submissions will be reviewed, discussed, possibly approved and added to the project files. Don't edit the text files themselves... I'll deal with them.
I also start threads here that focus on oustanding issues and point out untranslated stuff. You can also contribute in these threads.
NOTE: If you are an experienced translator that wants to help, but think this whole open community effort setup is confusing and sucks, I'd be more than happy to end it and let you continue with the files alone. The whole reason we started this was because we couldn't find a dedicated translator to handle it.
Things to note1) Less is more. If you find a clever way of shortening something without any significant loss of detail, by all means post it.
2) This project is considered a localization. It's okay to make changes that cause things to work or sound better in English. Notes of changes are a good thing though. Cultural notes and such can be very handy for an editor.
3) In most cases, we aim to conform to the official naming conventions set by Namco / Namco-Bandai USA. This is to keep most things largely consistent, transparent, and familiar. In some cases, we differ, and we usually have a good reason to in those cases.
4) I have a fairly low tolerance of things which sound "Engrishy."
File ProgressFile progress uses a five-level system:
Level 1: Untouched / Completely untranslated
Level 2: Partially translated
Level 3: Mostly translated
Level 4: Fully translated, may have rough spots that really need some editing to naturalize the writing
Level 5: Fully translated, editing
seems satisfactory
Don't completely ignore level 5 files if you're working as either an editor and/or support translator! It's very possible you may still yet find a mistake or find something you think can be further improved. Likewise, support translators should not ignore Level 4 files either.
File Progress Table:
| Filename | Description | Status |
| 0018.1.txt | Battle text | Level 2 |
| 0018.3.txt | World map zones | Level 1 |
| 6818.txt | Artes menu | Level 5 |
| 6819.txt | Items menu | Level 5 |
| 6820.txt | Equipment menu | Level 4 |
| 6821.txt | Strategy menu | Level 5 |
| 6822.txt | Refine menu | Level 5 |
| 6823.txt | Shop menu | Level 5 |
| 6824.txt | Enchant menu | Level 5 |
| 6825.txt | Save/Load menu | Level 4 |
| 6826.txt | Sound Test menu | Level 3 |
| 6827.txt | Cooking menu | Level 4 |
| 6828.txt | Customize menu | Level 4 |
| 6829.txt | Status menu | Level 5 |
| 6830.txt | Name Entry menu | Level 5 |
| 6831.txt | Battle Items menu | Level 5 |
| 6832.txt | World Map menu | Level 5 |
| 6833.txt | Monster Book menu | Level 5 |
| 6834.txt | Collector's Book | Level 5 |
| 6835.txt | Startup text | Level 5 |
| 6836.txt | Grade Shop menu | Level 4 |
| monsterlist-e.txt | Monster name list | Level 5 |
| mysticarte.txt | Mystic Arte / Hiougi list | Level 1 |
| ToD2Block00.txt | Clear Data text | Level 4 |
| ToD2Block01.txt | Unknown / Weird / Probably unused | Level 1 |
| ToD2Block02.txt | Huge block containing most generics | Level 3* |
| ToD2Block03.txt | Unknown / "TIME LIMIT" text | Level 5 |
| ToD2Block04.txt | "NOTICE" text | Level 5 |
| ToD2Block05.txt | Skit titles | Level 4 |
| ToD2Block06.txt | Location names | Level 3** |
| ToD2Block07.txt | Misc. Enchant-related text | Level 4 |
| ToD2Block08.txt | Misc. Cooking-related text | Level 4 |
| ToD2Block09.txt | Equip stat names, and other misc. | Level 5 |
| ToD2Block10.txt | "Level-up bonus" text | Level 5 |
| ToD2Block11.txt | Artes/Enchant menu generics | Level 5 |
| ToD2Block12.txt | "Exit the menu?" prompt | Level 5 |
| ToD2Block13.txt | Main menu text labels | Level 5 |
| ToD2Block14.txt | Scroll arrows and a message | Level 4 |
| ToD2BlockSCED.txt | Generic map messages | Level 3 |
*ToD2Block02.txt is larger than all the other files combined. It has numerous sections of text dedicated to different things. Check the file itself for the Status Level of individual sections contained within.
**ToD2Block06.txt contains a list of locations names I've never seen used in-game. I want to know if any experienced players have ever seen them or not. If not, it may be debug text, or not used at all. The English text requires more space than the original Japanese, and we need to be sure this text isn't required anywhere. The space it occupies will be very useful for fitting the overflow.
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