gringe

Looks great! I'll try to get it in the game using the instructions posted earlier.

Ok for graphics, let's see... -Of course there's the subtitle on the title screen. We can try to make it a little bit bigger to fit in "The" but it shouldn't need to be THAT much bigger. -The blue "Fire Emblem" in the upper right corner can probably just be deleted, so I guess you don't really need to do anything for that. -I'd be okay with just importing the opening text from FE7 -There is another opening scroll once you start a new game. I'm not sure if this is a graphic or just text that isn't in the text editor for some reason. In either case, I rewrote it a bit so there shouldn't be paragraph breaks in the middle of sentences. This scroll says a lot of the same things the opening "cinematic" says so I already took some cues from FE7's opening. -"Possession Item" to just "Items" -On the menu screen, "Extra" can probably be made into "Extras", and maybe centered a little better. -Within "Extras", the "Tutorial" option looks a little messy and "Sound Room" should probably be moved to the left a little bit. -Then there's the opening class role, but that'll take a while. Aside from class names, "Usable of the weapon" should probably be changed to "Usable weapon", "Equip" or maybe even just deleted. I wonder if that could all be imported from FE7? Aside from "Manakete" which could maybe be imported from FE8, assuming the fonts match up, and assuming it's listed in that game's class scroll (I forgot). -I think the graphic text at the very end of the game needs to be translated and inserted. I can do a translation if I see the text. -I'm okay with having the ellipses at the "Nintendo Presents" screen, but they should probably be moved down a little bit and maybe stuck closer together. That's everything off the top of my head but there might be a couple other things. Graphics aren't my top concern at this moment though.

Cool, thanks for the tip. If that's the case though, I wonder if we SHOULD make the graphic a tad bigger to fit in "The"

That actually looks quite nice. We don't have to worry about this just this moment but something like this would be great I think.

Syaoran: It looks serviceable, but if you'll pardon me for saying so, it's rather plain. (Though, so is the original patch's subtitle) This isn't final by any means, but what about something like this? That is, spread out a little more and with a curve to reflect the curving paper.

Well, chapter titles require graphic edits, so I can't do it myself. But if anyone can help insert that, I agree with that change. There are a few other graphic edits I wouldn't mind making either. There's the silly FIRE EMBLEM FIRE EMBLEM title screen, not to mention the title of Sword of Seals itself, which should probably be changed to The Binding Blade. And also a few messy looking options on the main menu screen. And maybe someday we can change "Possession Item" to "Items" and completely do the class scroll.

FE7's epilogue, for internal consistency in the GBA games.

Haven't gotten to all those yet, but will probably use the more mythologically accurate spellings.

It's what FE7 used, so of course. Haven't made the change yet, but I will. And thanks! Will try to post more soon.

Sorry, it's decided.

Well, okay. Fair enough then.

This thread was supposed to be for "discussion" but now that Milady's settled and everything else has been explained, I don't think there's much else to discuss really. Most people seem accepting of the other changes.

All right, I guess chapter 8 deserves a fuller progress report. Have finished Chapter 8x and started on 9 as well, but don't have screens yet.

All right. After thinking about it. Just this once, I'll cave. The only reason I didn't want to use Milady is because I thought it would be confusing in-script. After thinking on it though, I don't think it'll be that bad because she's first introduced with a title, and by the time characters start calling her by her first name frequently the player will know it's her name. In other words, I'll use Milady, the intended name.

The Lunar games had a reason to use pop culture references. The Japanese game is full of puns and little jokes, but puns aren't used in English as they are in Japanese. References like that would be very out of place in Fire Emblem. I'm only trying to stay accurate to the GBA games, and how well that's done can only be judged by the script itself, not the names. There are only a few names I've changed, and it's only the spelling, so gosh, what's the big deal? I haven't made any crazy changes out of nowhere and all are accurate to the way they're written in Japanese. Most are for consistency or because we realized that a lot of those "crazy official Japanese spellings" weren't so crazy after all. and lol wut? When did I "admit" that "Klein" is "cooler than" "Klain"? Both are real names, but the latter is more accurate to the name as portrayed in the original. The former is pronounced with a completely different vowel. Christicles, names are a very small part of what I'm doing. Look at the script itself before you criticize me like that.

Pretty cool. Most of them are simple changes which is basically what I wanted too. Would you like a copy of my script when I'm finished? It seems like we have pretty similar goals in mind. It would save you a lot of work, and I'm all for updating the game a little bit as a whole. In the end, I really would rather not be in competition to update the script.

I LIKE IT! The Japanese "official" spelling in Hellsing is "Arucard" but since he's Dracula they "changed" it for English versions. That series is full of bizarre renderings. "リゼネーター" (I think?) is "regenerator" for example, even though it's missing a syllable.

Oh boy. Celice: I don't think I need to tell you that philosophy translation is very different from entertainment media translation. For translations that influenced me, look at the Lunar games on Sega CD and PS1. Also, French is already very closely related to English so translating directly is more practical in that case; techniques that may be relevant to you are not relevant to translations of Japanese to English. In a game where at least half of the dialogue is purely exposition, author intent isn't even an issue. We're talking about Fire Emblem, not Marquis de Sade. Again, wow, this isn't literature. It's Fire Emblem. I'm not rewriting as I see fit. Enjoyability and accessibility are always the primary goals of entertainment translation. I'm only rewriting to make it easier to read and to fill in holes created by inconsistencies between FE7 and the original fan translation of FE6. I thought that's what everybody wanted. Regardless, it's what I want, so that's what I'll continue to work for. The names decided by FireLizard (or whoever) often contradict the official spellings which reference mythology or are real names. My goal with the name changes is to repair the damage done by the original translation. Again, Milady's the only one who's really an issue anyway. Nobody seems to have any serious problems with the others, aside from the fact that they're not what they're used to. My real problem with what you're saying is this: How is what I'M doing any more damaging to the characters or script than what FireLizard already did? The first translation isn't necessarily infallible. There exist multiple translations of the bible for a reason. (lulz@comparing Fire Emblem to the bible) Also, if that's the case, I suppose that English-speaking players got only the author's fiction of FE7 by Ruthea being changed to Lucius and Ruth being changed to Rath. Actually I didn't particularly agree with that point. I agreed her name could be exploited in script. Were SHE the one being served I think it would be valid, but that's not the case. Additionally, the reference to the character loses all meaning when you consider that Milady de Winter is the primary antagonist of her story, using seduction and deception to get her way. Not at all like Milady from this game, who's honorable and true to her duties. WERE Alucard clearly the intent, I'd be all for it. As it is though, it's nothing more than a silly pop culture reference that I'd rather avoid inserting. For people defending the Alucard spelling, consider these three points: 1. There is no official spelling of his name (that I'm aware of) 2. The katakana is rendered differently than Alucard in Castlevania and Hellsing (アルカルド in Fire Emblem vs. アルカード in Castlevania... and アーカード in Hellsing) 3. This is the big one, but the Fire Emblem Wiki was wrong. In-game as is, it's rendered as Arcard, making this entire debate about his name meaningless.

The "point" of the dialogue is clear to anyone who can read. If staying 100% "accurate" mattered, then all translations would be incredibly boring and stiff. I'm curious: have you ever translated anything before? It's easy to say "translation should be this way" but in practice liberties must be taken to render it naturally. I'm not referring directly to the Japanese text but I've played through the game in Japanese before. I feel like I'm tootin' my own horn here, but as I've said, I'm not inexperienced in translation. I've done manga translations for around 8 years, experimenting a lot here and there, discussing with other translators, and trying to improve myself over the years. Directly translating the text makes for very boring dialogue and rendering it naturally doesn't change the ultimate purpose or meaning. Author intent has to be interpreted, but let's face it, this isn't a great work of literature. It's a video game. It's really not that complicated or nuanced. Even if they intended to reference Alucard, Arcardo and Arcard are not uncommon names so in an English rendering it's more appropriate to lose the pop culture reference which players will associate with vampires. If all you want is absolute "accuracy," then I recommend sticking with the patch as it is. It's necessary to alter renderings to make it read naturally in English.

Well, honestly, it's a solution to something I don't really consider a problem. It's not a bad idea or anything, but I'm going with Priest and Cleric for consistency with the other GBA games. And for a slight progress report... Pretty much done with chapter 8, but there's nothing interesting so far to show really. I'll post some more screenies later and release a patch soon so you can try it for yourself. Barth sure hates walls.

It's Dracula backwards, first used in the film Son of Dracula and used since then in Castlevania and the manga/anime series Hellsing in direct reference to Dracula. Since he's not a vampire...

Well, I meant power in the church itself, but yeah, whatever.

That's fine. I said nothing about his English ability or intended to insult him. Translation, however, is a completely different field from language knowledge. I don't even really "blame" him (or anybody, really) for the state of the script. He was just translating the script accurately without attempting to adapt anything so I don't hold it against him. Then again, I wasn't the one who brought him up. You're right. Milady's the only main character I'm less than 100% positive on anyway.

I really don't think it needs any more explanation than I've already given. If you can't accept it then sorry. No. All I'll say is that he/she doesn't (or didn't) know how to translate into English very well. Language ability and translation ability are two entirely different things.

I need to account for certain things. At this point it's either Milady and maintain the original reference with some kind of explanation, or Milledi as is.