Seriously, people putting words in our mouths, and not bothering to listen to a single thing we’ve said, but instead choose to spread their own version of the truth about it. So how about I put it all out in the open, and in a place where it can’t even be questioned whether or not one of us is actually saying this? This is what you get when you want transparency, I suppose.
Yes, a patch did go out. No, this was not our patch. So if you think comparing us to what happened with Felghana is actually accurate, try again. This patch was a super early version of the translation that was being worked on by zerog way back in the day, and it was from before he actually locked everything down to be completely private for his project. We did not actually start working on this until December 2016.
What are we mad about? We are mad that someone (not on 4chan before you anons get up in arms) came to our faces to basically tell us that our work isn’t worth it at his rate. Work that we’ve put into this, pushing other personal projects to the side over.
“Why don’t you make a percentage?”
Since this keeps being asked about, let me cover this subject.
1) Because we don’t want to. We are already feeling the ‘soul draining’ aspect of this that also led Jess to cut her hair when working on FC’s script. This script is so massive, that each change we make isn’t even a tenth of a percent of the whole script. It’s already demoralizing to be told that our work isn’t worth it. We don’t want something like this demoralizing us more either. This is not a job. We’re doing this on the side from everything else we all normally do anyway.
2) Because our formatting isn’t going to make it easy. We’re working over ten spreadsheets, one of which has about 80-100 workbooks, at least. Now, I can easily make a formula to create a percentage based off of work from a specific column in a spreadsheet, but just today, we had to move stuff around in one of the workbooks because it was formatted funny, and didn’t have allowances for our edits in it yet. That would have broken our percentage recording, and the formula would have to be rebuilt.
3) The monster table is in very strict character counts. If this is the PSP version, we can’t break 22 characters per line. Percentages would be difficult to accomodate for lines that aren’t edited to fit in the 22 character limit. The PC version won’t have this problem, so it needs to be figured out if this table will work as is, or if it’ll look better to do something different with it with the higher PC resolution and more character count allowance due to our font selection.
Those Amazing E-celeb Points
If you guys think we’re doing this for the Internet E-Celeb Points, I have to ask, ‘are you daft?’ Have you seen what professional translators and publishers in the game industry go through on a daily basis? I feel it’s completely thankless and frustrating to deal with people on this aspect.
If I want e-celeb points, I’m doing the wrong thing, without fail. If I wanted e-celeb points, I’d make this post out to be more than it is now, even. But I won’t do that either. All I’m doing is telling you the truth about this project. It’s your choice to believe me or not.
Real Life and Endless History
This past week has been frustrating, on top of everything I’ve been doing for Endless History. Out of a desire to not let the outside influences of this translation project affect me, I’m temporarily stepping away from it. This could be a month to two months. I don’t know for sure yet, but I need to focus on Endless History and Anime Expo at the start of July, and the reaction over this whole thing has been enough to make me reconsider plans regarding that.
And to be fair, I don’t want that. I already put something in motion for AX that I want to see through (the fan appreciation box), and I need to step away. Seeing things said elsewhere is one thing- but having them brought up to our faces is something else entirely.
I can’t say anything about Guan and the others, though. This is just me.
What About the Translation?
It’s still going. We’ve made a change to make things a little faster, because the speed at which it’s going is already frustrating to us. (See the percentage aspect of things)
Translating, for me, has some aspects similar to website development (my actual line of work)- when you have a massive backlog of things that need to be done, it becomes difficult to keep yourself motivated when it feels like no progress is being made. If you want to completely devastate your progress in something like this, give yourself a percentage. That’s a sure fire way to make you realize how large and unending a project seems.
Guan’s Progress Update
Guan posted on neogaf yesterday with some updated info. I want to give a heads up, that our latest build for the PC patch can’t even render text right now (we’re changing font display in it), so it’s kind of difficult for us to show screenshots. Especially as, as I’ve said repeatedly, 95% of our work is going to be in these spreadsheets, which aren’t very exciting to show.
However, he did show a screenshot of what he was working on, along with one of our font tests for the PC version of the game.
In Closing
As I said before, all I want is respect- not to be told that my work is pointless, etc etc- and patience from people. I was reluctant to do this at the very start when people suggested I reach out to Zerog way back in the day. I straight up told him that I didn’t want to work 100% on the script. Yet, here I am.
Don’t get me wrong. I sound negative and frustrated, which I am- but the end result is people getting to play the first game of what, I believe, is the best arc of the Kiseki series. An editing job isn’t just a ‘check the line and move on.’ Many of these lines, as I said in the previous post, are requiring rewrites. The monster table, which is my baby, is kind of broken, because most of the entries actually break the character count. So those rewrites rely on me figuring out what does and doesn’t stay, and how much do I sacrifice to make it fit?
I believe fan translation is one of the most thankless things out there, but the end result of this is positive.
Oh, and one more thing, since I feel it needs to be reiterated, despite the times I’ve said how big this script it: Zero and Ao no Kiseki are the biggest games of the series. On top of this, the script itself isn’t linear. It’s mostly broken up by the region of Crossbell. So it’s likely that we can be working on one thing, then the sheet jumps to dialogue two chapters later.
More than anything, I just ask for patience. If you want to play the leaked patch, then by all means, go for it. But I’d like to think that what we can provide will be far superior in terms of editing.
I just ask that you respect us, and don’t do things like certain idiots have- and that’s come to us directly via twitter or discord or whathaveyou, and basically tell us that what we’re doing is worth jack and that we should stop. That’s when it gets rude, and that’s really what we’re upset about. Not the fact that people are playing with the early zerog patch.
Just go at your own pace, there should be no rush to this. Fans should just be grateful that its actually happening. I’ve already caved in and started playing the Evo games because my understanding of voiced Japanese is fairly decent. I can tell how much work this must be. Keep up the good work, I’m rooting for ya.
Hey, you’re doing great work. Don’t get demoralized because of a couple of ignorant idiots! The rest of us know how great this project is. I’ve played the games myself in Japanese (and am in the middle of playing them again), and they are without a doubt my favourite games in the series, so I just really want to be able to share them with a larger English speaking audience. Anyway, keep up the good work!
take your time! we will keep waiting!
The fact that boorish louts (most likely monolingual themselves) have the audacity to make comments like that simply infuriates me. I know I’m just one person, but I’m fairly certain that I speak for many more when I say just how grateful I am that you, Guan, and whoever else is involved were willing to step up to the plate to tackle this project.
Thank you again for everything you guys have done up to this point.
-A diehard, non-Japanese speaking Kiseki Fanboy
It’s unfortunate that this drama is happening, but the thing is that the negative voices are always louder while not necessarily more numerous. I really believe that the majority of the fans appreciate your efforts and are eagerly looking forward to play your version of the translation, regardless if there’s a leaked (unedited) version out there. And I bet many people won’t even touch this leaked translation.
Please don’t lose faith on the community and don’t think people do not care about/respect the work you guys put on this project. The supporting fans are more silent (and that’s our mistake!) but we’re here and we’re surely not just a few.
Also, as you said in this post, “the end result of this is positive”, so keep going!
And perhaps after this is done, you’ll consider tackling Ao too? Or maybe it will inspire some new translator and give a good groundwork for them to take the job? …a fan can hope 🙂
Good luck!
Sorry to hear that you guys are getting a lot of undeserved flak when all you’re doing is making sacrifices for the sake of everyone else. : ( Please go at your own pace and pay no heed to these impatient haters who don’t understand the amount of work that this takes.
Just ignore those people. They’re probably the kind of people who whine and trash talk everywhere.
I’m glad you guys picked up this project. Just work at your own pace 🙂
So apparently a full Ao no Kiseki script in english was released, Um does anyone know anything about it?
Source? Unless you already tracked it down
Don’t worry, most people with common sense know that you guys are doing this as a favor to the western trails fanbase and your work not something that anyone is entitled to. I think this is an obvious fact to the majority but for some reason is lost on some people. This was a fun read though, it’s important to relieve some stress every now and then when doing this kind of work so I don’t mind the negativity in this post. I see this project as a gift to the fanbase so I have no right to complain, go at the pace most comfortable to you and take as many breaks as you want, I’ll wait patiently for the project to complete for as long as needed. Never forget to enjoy life, I’m sure the project will suffer as well if you do.
Much love from India! I wish you guys the best in everything you do.
We’re all behind you dood! You don’t have to worry about getting respect from everyone here because we know the hardships that fan translators get everyday from assholes who doesn’t have anything else to do than make other people feel miserable!
What you’re doing is already something that deserves the utmost respect since this is NOT just another half baked partial translation project, this is a full transaltion of Zero no effing Kiseki godamnit!
So if anybody gets in your face telling what you guys are doing is worthless, rest assured that whoever these people are they’re a 100 times more worthless and they know it!
More power to you guys! And just keep up the good work! We’ll be right here waiting for your return!
Don’t pay attention to dooche bags like that Floofy, instant gratification a-holes like that who only care about what they can get don’t deserve to be bothered or listened to. I’ve appreciated all your advice on youtube and I appreciate all you’re doing now, and will happily and patiently wait for your version of the English Translation when it comes out, there’s no rush on the matter given where things currently stand with the Crossbell Arc and just know the hard work you’ve taken on and are putting into this has NOT gone unnoticed.
You and the rest of the translation team are doing something the Trails fanbase cannot thank you enough for. I can’t get through a week without checking for an update on this site. Please don’t let some toxic twats and the release of that patch make you think your work is any less meaningful. I’m waiting for quality, and that’s something you don’t rush. I wish there was a way to support you guys and make it seem less like a thankless job, but as far as I know donations are a no go, so all I can say is hang in there! I just finished Trails in the Sky the 3rd yesterday, and considering how many trails games we got the past 2 years, I think it’s safe to say we could stand to wait a few years for the next one.
Hi guys! A big fan of Kiseki series here 😀 Can I ask something? Do you have plans to translate Ao no Kiseki after Zero no Kiseki? Because we all know that without AnK, the story will be incomplete since AnK has the biggest script among the series just like what you said and it’s the climax of the game already. Hopefully, you will translate it because I really want to see Ao no Kiseki in English. I don’t care if it will take years, what’s important is for you to translate it. I can wait longer. But wait, do you already have an estimated date for the Zero no Kiseki and Ao no Kiseki english translation release? Hopefully, ZnK will be released within this year and about AnK, I’m hoping that it will be released next year but I know that will be impossible for you to do it since you also need to rest from translating and considering that AnK has the biggest script ever so I’m just hoping that it will be released in 2019. Thank you for your wonderful answer! 😀 Looking forward to your future projects and other posts. 🙂
Although it’s my favourite game in the series, I won’t be working on Ao no Kiseki myself. The translator that originally translated Zero is currently working on Ao, so it is being translated. His current progress is 38% according to his blog. I’m confident someone will work on polishing the script afterwards.
We currently have no estimated release date for the Zero script.
Awwww 😢 That’s sad to hear knowing that Ao No Kiseki is the continuation of the story of Zero No Kiseki. *sigh* hopefully those group who are doing the translation of Ao No Kiseki will finish the translation this year so that fans/I can proceed directly to play Ao No Kiseki. 🙏 Anyways, can we expect the Zero No Kiseki English Patch within this year? And, is there already a progress for the ZnK patch? If so, how many percent? Thanks again for your answer! 😄
Did you read the post you’re commenting on? There’s no progress percentage and they explained why.
Oh yeah, I saw their post about their percentage hehe sorry about that. I just can’t wait about their English Patch because the leaked version has some grammatical errors which is hard for me or even fans to understand. Anyways, I’ll just wait for it to be released. 😀 I’m just wondering if the ZnK English Patch can expect to release this year. Hopefully, it is.
@gu4n why do you block me on twitter? i never even say anything, i just want to follow CS3 update… is it because my name? its my name cause i dont wanna meddle real life stuff and internet gaming stuff. pls unblock.
I am TRULY sorry about the negative people you have had to deal with. I respect what your doing here and I truly look forward to it! I can only really edit the english translation to your work, but I would be happy to help out in that regard if you and your team ever needed it.
I don’t know why some people feel the need to be toxic about other projects, but I have seen this in Korean, Japanese, and German translation projects. Anime subtitling groups are well known for the fights they get over even one line of text. I suspect it is a combination of love and hubris and fundamental to humans as a whole.
What you and your team is doing is primarily a labor of love. Your desire not only to bring this project to the light but to do the project itself justice. I can not begin to tell you how jealous and thankful I am that you are doing this. Thankyou for your time!! Thankyou for your work!! Thankyou!!
I appreciate the work you have put in and will continue to cheer you on and wait! I am currently playing the evo games with my mid-level japanese, but I will replay them whenever you guys finish because kiseki is such an intricate series that my understanding is probably going to do i ta disservice.
Don’t let the bullies who know nothing get to you. You guys are doing a great job. Slow and steady, don’t rush. Thanks for taking the time to do this.
You’re the best guys! In the midst of your busy days, you guys still want to take some time off to do this translation project. Don’t worry guys, when your project is finished, hundreds of thousands of people around the world will thank you guys for it (those bullies included).
I can definitely empathize. I’ve done a fair amount of translation work, both fan-translation and professional translation, and fan translation really is one hell of a shit show. Yes, many fans are nice and supportive. But then there are all the complete nutballs out there who have nothing but vitriol. There’s just something about fan translation that makes a certain group of people manufacture all kinds of DRAMA.
It can be a fucking nightmare.
You are absolutely making the right choice. Step away from the project, focus on other things. Come back to it later, once all the unpleasantness has been filtered from your mind.
Thank you for the clarification and keep up the good work !
I can’t wait to try your “version” of Zero no Kiseki ;-).
The font looks simple and clean.
Please be at ease, no one wants to rush you or the team and i wholefully respect that. There are always toxic people that whine about everything and taken others’ works for granted. Just go at your own pace, I have waited this long, another 1 or 3 years wont make a difference
Hi,
just wanted to give you a message of support from an anon playing and loving LoH series. I understand -or try to at least- what you feel by the way you put it.
I think the majority of people are aware of the difficulties of this project and even though we want to play this game with your work on it we ll have as much patience as it needs. Stupid people do exist unfortunately and I m mad to them right now(or at least the one who talked to you that way) since he gave you that attitude.
Anyway, just wanted to thank you for your hard work and if you think you need to step back for a while, well, do it. Once again we ll wait, no worries.
Thanks again to you and all the members of the team and keep up the hard work. It is thanks to you that extraordinary games become available to everyone in the end.
Hi, guys.
Don’t let scums reach you, they don’t do anything of their lifes, except of being scums. Unfortunately those guys exist everywhere, but c’est la vie. The best you can do is ignoring them.
And do forget there also are a lot of people supporting you, thanking you and respecting you for all your hard work.
Anyway, you shouldn’t feel any pressure from all that. You don’t owe us anything, you just work to offer something to us, to spread your passion about Kiseki, to let us experience a great game. So take your time, guys. Do it at your pace. We’ll be waiting. (:
You guys are the best!
I can’t properly explain how much I appreciate that you guys are even doing this to begin with. I always just assumed that a fan translation of these games could never happen, due to the massive scope of a project like that. From what you’ve showed us, you’ve already made massive improvements over the original script, and don’t let any idiot who doesn’t know anything tell you otherwise.
I’ve been staying away from the leaked patch because I want my first experience with the game to be with a high quality translation. It seems like that’s what you’ll be delivering, and so I don’t care how long it takes. Take your time. Again, I have so much appreciation for you and this project. I know the internet can be frustrating, but in the end, it will be worth it.
@gu4n why do you block me on twitter? i never even say anything, i just want to follow CS3 update… is it because my name? its my name cause i dont wanna meddle real life stuff and internet gaming stuff. pls unblock.
No idea, but I can assure you I don’t block people for no reason. I also found out I’d unfollowed a friend earlier this week, so I blame Twitter’s inner workings for. I removed the block!
Just ignore the haters. No matter what, there is often a small, but loud, minority that can be very annoying or can cause despair. Hope you do well and don’t work yourself to death.
Hi, guys, I just recently finished Trails of Cold Steel 1 and did read that Cold Steel has huge spoilers on the Crossbell arc. So, I’m really excited to see that the translation of Zero no Kiseki is still going. And more, Gu4n said there’s work being done already in Ao no Kiseki, even though it’s another group. I don’t know what some people told you, but try not to let it get to you. There’ll allways be complains no matter what you do, it isn’t possible to please everyone.
I really thank you guys for your effort. You gave me back my hope of playing the Crossbell arc before going to Cold Steel 2.
Take your time, guys! been a long time lurker on the project. Translation is one of the hardest things out there. I know I can’t speak for everyone, but I personally appreciate the dedication you’re all putting in to bring this to people like my in the future. Sorry to hear not everyone is as complimentary or patient. Thanks so much for all of your time, and I look forward to seeing the finished project!
I started playing the raw translation version but then I was like… (oh no….). The dialogue didn’t really make sense a lot of times. So I’m just gonna wait for the better quality stuff you guys are doing. I started learning Japanese because of this lol since I’m pretty sure Ao no Kiseki would take forever for a proper English translation.
By the way you mentioned about a PC version? How did you guys get a PC version of the game?
I have been following this translation progress since last year when zero_g_monkey still responsible for the translation, even when the whole ruckus in the legend of heroes forum went on.
What I want to say is :
Take your time, don’t stress yourself.
We all know you’re doing this for free and still doing everyday work on top of that. I’ve played the trails in the sky trilogy and I know how much text to be translated. Hell, people thought it would be like translating a single book, that’s why you see a lot of complainer out there. They don’t know how much dialogues on the game including side and alternate dialog. Each character you put in your party member will deliver different dialogues on most events, story wise and side-quest wise.
Zero and Ao also has that kind of thing in an even bigger form, so I know how hard your work is.
So in conclusion, don’t listen to all the negative feedbacks. Work on your own pace, we will wait patiently.
Ps: I have just finished the leaked zerog patch, and the grammar was a complete garbage. Looking at your progress report, your version are far way more superior.
I was wondering if this translation is also for psp?
We’re planning to have our patch work both on the PC and PSP versions of the game.
is the PC version the Chinese one? from what I heard it’s not really easy to get a PC copy since you need like a Chinese bank account or something, correct me if I’m wrong.
First on the Chinese one- I got mine through a third party that bought it for me via Taobao- but that’s for the physical version.
Regardless, I think we’re going to be working with the Japanese release of the PC version. Falcom released it a few years back without the DRM. You can order it physically from there, as they do international orders.
Otherwise, I think you can buy it digitally from DLSite, as well.
Awesome! that’s great news. I just checked and it’s around 4,000 yen which is like 30 something dollars, I’m gonna get the PC version then. Thanks for the info!
You guys are really awesome for taking precious time in your lives to do this translation, so you should just do this at your own pace and don’t stress.
I just recently finished trails in the sky the 3rd then I saw that Trails of Cold Steel was coming to PC, so I got excited, and then I found out about Zero/Ao no Kiseki and decided I’m gonna hold off on Cold Steel until I finish the Crossbell arc, and I don’t really care how long it takes because the trails series is very precious to me and experiencing these games reminded me of a lost and nostalgic feeling I had before when I played my first JRPG (Grandia). So I have a feeling any Trails fan would understand and be able to wait for however long. Thanks again.
By the looks of it, the project has gotten a recent B12 injection. I join the growing crowd rooting for you guys in seeing this through.
The Trails series is about not giving up, even when things look bleak and hopeless and that there are many others willing to give their support when confronted by cynics and naysayers.
I applaud you for not giving in and to keep doing what you love doing, and your goal in sharing this series with the English speaking public.