The Translation Patch

NWR: Have you worked on similar translation projects in the past?

Colin: No, this is the first such translation project I've ever worked on. This is also the first game I've ever worked on in terms of hacking.

Clayton: I've never worked on a translation project before (my non-English language skills are rudimentary at best). However, I have done other projects that had similar technical aspects - such as mapping unknown data files. So, it wasn't a completely new experience.

Aaron: While I've been a part of a number of game modification projects in the past, like Clayton, I hadn't worked on a translation project before.

NWR: Did you have to create a lot of new art for your Fatal Frame 4 patch?

Colin: I personally created 204 images for the game. Besides that, we had another 30 or so images contributed by the community, including the custom costumes. Outside of the game, I created several dozen images for use in 300 dpi print media or on our website, which are available for download in Photoshop format from our website. Compared to the total art assets a game requires, this was just a drop in the bucket. Fatal Frame 4 in particular has 8 610 images, though I suspect approximately 3/5ths of those are duplicates or near duplicates for widescreen.

NWR: What was the process of finding capable translators?

Colin: There was less of a process and more of general uprising. The internet is the best collaborative tool ever created - I simply posted the game script to a website and allowed anyone to translate as they pleased. As people saw me decoding more and more things from the game, they also began to contribute as they could. Eventually, due to quality control issues with people using google translator, we were forced to make the translation site private access. However, making the initial translation open attracted many competent and dedicated members who helped me finish up and polish the last 20% of the game script once we had to restrict the site.

NWR: How were the tasks of translating, patching, testing, etc. broken down?

Colin: Well, originally it was just me. Soon, Yoshiya (i.e. Rob Roberts, fellow member of the team) offered to help. At that point we were just trying to extract the data from the game. Games aren't like word documents, they're pretty complicated to find stuff in! In the end, I handled most of the translation (along with the community help), editing, testing, community direction and PR, and the rebuilding of the game files. Yoshiya, Clayton and I were doing all the ripping of the original game assets. Clayton made the tools for automating most of the work, and Aaron did the patching method to which in the end I contributed very little. The patching method was complicated! I went through a lot of work on it and in the end most of the stuff I did got scrapped for one reason or another. Thank goodness for Aaron.

Clayton: When I joined up they had already made some key discoveries as to how the data files worked (such as the location of the game dialog) but the underlying file structure and content was still a huge mystery (we knew where the game text was, but not how to read it). So the three of us (Colin, Yoshiya, and myself) basically just poured over the raw bytes looking for patterns. We would exchange theories and every-so-often one of us would have a 'eureka!' moment that would shed some light on what we were actually looking at. All the while, I was using our growing understanding to write a little tool that would extract the necessary text and images from the data files. Once we understood enough to get the raw text extracted I moved on to adding the ability to rebuild entire files with translated data while Colin and the team of very talented volunteer translators collaborated on the actual translation.

Aaron: I was mainly working on the patch method on my own, doing most of the testing with Super Smash Bros. Brawl character replacements. Occasionally I would give a test build to Colin and a few others, but mainstream testing of the method didn't really start until the beginning of January. That round of testing became irritating when issues would pop up that I could never reproduce on my own Wii, but it was all taken care of fairly quickly and in the end we released everything sooner than I'd expected.

NWR: How much effort was it to make sure that all of the text was translated? How long did it take?

Colin: It was a lot of effort, and took a few months. Each revision of the script was almost as time consuming as the original, and we went through the whole thing three times. The total translation comprises 1,351 separate, unique scripts totalling 422 pages, 19,354 lines, 70,315 significant words and 477,336 characters. It is easily a publishable novel-length work.

NWR: How difficult was it to maintain what you felt was the "tone" of the text in localizing it?

Colin: This was actually easier than you'd expect. As part of my editing, I went over every file myself, and rewrote all the parts that weren't fitting. After that, a competent, involved and active subsection of community went through it and offered suggestions and corrections. After that, myself and two other experienced proofers went over it again, making sure to at least double up on all sections of the text. After going through the text so many times, I felt I had a good grasp of the tone and context.

NWR: Do you expect patches for other languages to be developed?

Colin: Yes. I've had these up for a while now based off the beta revision of the script. The Spanish translation is just waiting for tools and testing, and the French, German, Italian and Portuguese translations are also well along. Interested people can visit the Beyond the Camera's Lens forums for more information.

NWR: How have the fans received these translations? Do you think your patch has had an effect on import sales of Fatal Frame 4?

Colin: As of the time of this writing, fans have purchased every copy on eBay for almost every country, and bought out the entire stock of several major importers, including PlayAsia, HMV, and YesAsia. Over 5,000 copies of the patch have been downloaded, which means that there should be around that many import copies floating around.

NWR: How is this localizing process different from past fan translations, like the English patch for Mother 3?

Colin: Translating games isn't like translating a book. Every game studio goes to great lengths to preserve their methods of making quality games to ensure that they can keep ahead of their competition.

Besides this, programmers aren't terribly social and usually have a bit of an ego, so they don't really get around to sharing their formats and techniques with others. This means that besides the protections built in to a console to stop pirates, interested translators have to dig into what are often completely undocumented and often protected file formats. This is always the tough part. Once you've got a foothold, though, things always get easier and it's mostly a matter of putting in some time and rallying enough interested people from the community to work on the things you don't have the skills to do yourself. Having a strong team is always the most important part of any large project, and keeping them informed, connected and encouraged the thing which sees projects through to the end.

NWR: What advice would you have for others that might be thinking of a fan localization of a game?

Colin: Just dig in. Use the internet, get some help, but most importantly, use your head. Through the course of this project, I learnt how to program, improved my Japanese skills several times, and developed a lot of valuable connections.

Clayton: I think it is very important to enjoy the project for the challenge and experience it provides - especially in the early stages.

Figuring out what to put in the game (meaning the translated text) relies on your dedication and understanding of the language(s).

Figuring out HOW to put it in the game is something you have to work out for yourself. It's a giant puzzle you have to crack one piece at a time. It can be very frustrating when you get stuck - but when you do make progress it can be extremely rewarding.

NWR: How is the redubbing project coming along? Do you have any timeframe? Are you looking for voice actors?

Colin: I'm not specifically in charge of that project, actually, though I am supporting them whenever requested. Currently, I believe they are about 5-10% done the audio tracks. They are not specifically looking for voice actors, since the directors have (wisely) decided to only use voice actors who they can meet with in person and thus direct in person, in real time, over multiple recording sessions. As for time frame, on the internet, the rule of thumb is "It's done when it's done".

NWR: Why is the patch so large?

Colin: The game designers have for whatever reason decided to split the game into several thousand tiny archives containing several other tiny files each. That would be fine, except that each script file comes with it's own font containing only the letters used in that specific script. As there are over 2,400 script files (many of which are duplicates for widescreen), this means that the amount of disc space used by the font is enormous compared to the normal size of a font. The several hundred megabytes of font and the images we redid make up a good 90% of the patch data.

NWR: How much experience do you have with the rest of the series?

Colin: I have played Fatal Frame 1, 2, and 3 at least once on every console they were released on. My girlfriend is a collector.

Clayton: I'm a huge fan of the series and have played through each of the games as well.