Original_Name wrote:This is my supreme ignorance about coding, but I've always wondered what else would go into the process of editing dialogue than re-typing the characters -- do they have to type a bunch of code between every word or letter or something, then some other stuff for spacing and the like, or is it something even more complicated than that?
Simply put, the problems with game translations don't often arise from the translating of one language to another, but rather adapting one alphabet to another. Kanji is used predominantly in Japanese games, especially for dialogue. This creates all kinds of issues when trying to fit the English equivalent into an identical dialogue bubble. Kanji and the Latin alphabet bear no resemblances and function very differently. The Japanese developers naturally design their games with Kanji in mind, which doesn't always leave any thought for English translations. Right from the start, the game needs to be decrypted, since games are compressed. Then a font needs to be implemented into the game, which is where many of the hacking issues come from. The game wasn't designed with an English font in mind, so many glitches and errors can pop up. Kanji can represent an entire word with a single character, so the space and size differences are issues as well. All this stuff involves coding and coding gets complicated very quickly. It can take a while to track down issues and it can take even longer to solve them.
It's also worth reinforcing that even the translation itself is no cake walk. It's not just standing on the shoulders of someone who translated the game for a walkthrough, regurgitating the same text into the game, and calling it a day. Any good translation should involve an original translation, first and foremost. That translation has to be done and redone multiple times to ensure accuracy is kept and mistakes are minimized. Then third parties need to review the same script to see it with a new pair of eyes. And that's just for the primary script. Every item, every object, and every character needs to be identified for translation. Not a single word can be left untranslated. Everything then needs to be proofread, checked for errors, grammar, and even for cultural differences (especially present with anything regarding humor). Segagaga will be particularly hard to translate in that sense, as it has countless amounts of nuances and subtleties that the translator will have to be aware of to properly translate for an English speaking audience.
Translations are no simple affair.
On a different note, in the 9/9/09 update, a comment was made just a few days ago confirming that they're still chugging along. It seems they're trying to go minimalist on updates, which is probably a good thing because game fans are pretty damn pushy, but hopefully they'll release an updated snapshot once in a while.
