Site Update (December 26th, 2007)

[Cless]

This is (mostly) a copy and paste of the update from main page.

I figure I would make a post congratualating Absolute Zero for their release of an English translation patch for Tales of Phantasia PSX, and about the status of our own, for those who are still with us.

Yes, we were "beaten" to release, but that doesn't mean we are dropping our project. Quite the contrary. Both projects have different goals and intentions, so they should be able to stand on their own merits, and appeal to different crowds. And personally, I'm not going to throw away the thousands of hours I've put into this project off and on over the last 7+ years. Nor do I intend to have wasted the time other people have put into it as well. And we're quite far along. This was also never really a race. All things considered, it wouldn't make sense for us to drop our project.

This was the single best year ever for the project, by far and away, and I'm not disappointed in the slightest about where we are. Nearly all of the many technical hurdles we had are now behind us. The script has gone from 0% to 80% translated. My own skill at hacking assembly language has improved. How can I not be happy with that?

Since the last update, things have in fact slowed down, but stuff is still very much happening. Auto-centering of the skit subtitle lines is nearly finished. Some smaller bits of additional technical polish have been implemented and are being worked on. Other than that, all that remains on the technical front is getting the prologue battle dialogue subtitled, and getting some optimizations done on some existing hacks.

Unfortunately, the status of the script and skit translation hasn't really moved at all. Still stuck at 80%/0%. The translator I had assigned the last 20% and skits is stuck in Real Life Hell and doesn't have the time or motivation to finish it.

So basically, we're in need of a translator to complete the last of this. If you know enough Japanese to translate comfortably, are seriously interested in translating for this project, and have some time on your hands, please download this script sample, and translate it. Write your translations beneath the Japanese text and send them back to me at cless@REMOVETHIStales-cless.org. We have two other potential translators at the moment already, but I'm interested in seeing the work of more before choosing.

[habilain]

Though as an addendum, I just finished the first version of centred subtitles. Missing the update by mere hours.

[throughhim413]

If this doesn't show the good will between our two projects, I don't know what will.  People are so desperate to peg someone as the superior project, but the fact is that nobody has all the information yet.  I encourage people to try both patches when they're available.  Being "faster" doesn't make our project better, but it also doesn't make it worse.  It's up to the player to decide what project best suits their needs, I'm all about choice.  And the whole matter of being "faster" is really a statement that lacks context.  I mean, if you want it in simple terms, Cless was one of the first to experiment with a lot of the PSX hacking stuff that has evolved over the years.  It's not like we started at the same time, Cless had significantly more hurdles to clear from the start.  If you want further context, Cless had already been working on Tales of Phantasia for several years before I even got any formal training in Japanese.

What I'm trying to say is that Cless and I have no desire to fight things out, we both love our project and put tons of effort into them.  We respect each other, and we'd appreciate it if everyone else would respect that.  Just keep that in mind before badmouthing either project.  Cless, I hope you can find a competent translator soon.  With a decent translator, the final (unedited) script would only be weeks away.  Best of luck.

[Carnivol]

I encourage people to try both patches when they're available.  Being "faster" doesn't make our project better, but it also doesn't make it worse.  It's up to the player to decide what project best suits their needs, I'm all about choice.  And the whole matter of being "faster" is really a statement that lacks context.

I agree.
People should indeed try both.

However, I personally would've loved for both projects to have work a bit more side by side up to the point of doing a release somewhat within the same time frame.
About the "faster" thing, I think I somewhat disagree (Out of professional experience within the field).
Ofcourse, one can be lucky and not make any/many mistakes or one can have an incredible "almost on a mental disorder"-type of talent for detail. But in general, if something is done quick, the odds of something being missed out on somehow is much bigger.

By "missed out on", I mean anything that later would somehow either make you (or your fan base) wish for to've been done different.

[Cless]

Though as an addendum, I just finished the first version of centred subtitles. Missing the update by mere hours.

Action shot! Cyllya also sent me a partial translation of the skit script, so this is real-ish dialogue. Might need a bit more editing.

[Kajitani-Eizan]

nice! love the font especially.

"a bandana" --> "bandanas"? not sure.

[Demon000]

Great work!! Habilain 

[Frogacuda]

Seconded on the font. Quite tasty.

[vivify93]

Yes... Looks quite perfect.

Thanks for using my lowercase "k", my "!" and my "?" ideas.

[Cless]

Yes... Looks quite perfect.

Thanks for using my lowercase "k", my "!" and my "?" ideas.

How do you know I used your lowercase K? It's not in any screenshots! ;P

Actually, I did mod the k. I'm not entirely sure if it's exactly the one you made (didn't compare when I was editing it), but once I saw the problem you pointed out with it, I couldn't un-see it.

Come to think, doing this has shown me that the letters J and K are little more rare than I thought. Neither are in the either of the screenshots... and hell, they aren't even this post (except where I point them out)! And I didn't even intentionally leave them out. Weird.

EDIT: Oh. Damn. There is a k in the last paragraph. But only one! ;P

[vivify93]

I'm not entirely sure if it's exactly the one you made (didn't compare when I was editing it), but once I saw the problem you pointed out with it, I couldn't un-see it.

They're all exactly the same as the ones I suggested except the "!", but I honesly think it looks better the way you modded it.