Hirameki gone

[bloodywyvern]

While I think Hirameki make an admirable pursuit, I never said I supported them fully (I don't think) Just that it's sad to see another publisher which tried so hard to bring a new medium in was hone. I personally prefer to see the more literal fan translations if anything, I'd pay for most of those.

I understand when they make things easier to read, since literal translations are sometimes rather rough for publishing but...when you mess with dialogue, it's a fine and difficult art. I can't stand by any company which tends to upset the balance within a characters culture, instead of just the language of the novel itself. I mean, the character is not English nor Russian...but bleh, I'm just ranting now. I understand what your saying nonetheless.

[papillon]

Unfortunately, so far my attempts to get in touch with a doujn circle, even using a professional translator to try and get my messages across, have been met with dead silence.

I'm completely willing to pay cash up front for source code and graphics to rewrite their game entirely myself, so that they don't have to do anything but take the money, and I still can't get people to talk to me

[Vatina]

Papillion >>> Hmm that's odd Is it really this generally hard to make the japanese reply to your inquiries? I know that some have succeeded when translating the free doujin games, maybe they have a trick of some sort? (Or maybe it's just the people making money that don't want to reply :/ )

[bloodywyvern]

Well depending on what kind of projects your attempting to contact...if they are making a decent, steady stream of income from it then it;s entirely possible they either A.) Don't want to give up the rights to translate it themselves in the future, B.) Don't want someone else possibly screwing with their work, C.) Don't see you as a legitimate company/person to work on their stuff, or D.) Your not offering enough $$$ XD

If it's for free stuff though, people are usually pretty fast to respond considering they usually never expect for too many people to be interested in the first place. That's the whole reason they made it free, most of the time.

[papillon]

Since I can't get them to say boo to me, I have no idea, and can only suspect that they don't want someone possibly screwing with their work. The likelihood of a japanese doujin circle attempting to translate and release their own non-hentai game in english is extremely slim. Not impossible, but not very likely. And they're already at work on their next (japanese) project.

[Vatina]

That's annoying... If only they would reply and say "no" and perhaps why, then maybe a solution could be reached <_<;;

[rioka]

Have you tried doing follow-ups? If you're persistent enough, they at least know you're very interested and it may get them to respond.

[papillon]

I attempted to contact them more than once, yes. I haven't kept nagging them about it because another contract that's been hanging in limbo needs my attention right now. If everything on that front follows through, I will have $huge_pile_of_money and will try to get my friend in Japan to chase after them some more in a couple of months... perhaps informal approaches from someone in the country will get more response than formal ones from a foreigner? Or perhaps I should pick a different target, but I don't have the time to research more options right now.

[rioka]

Person-to-person talks would be good, I think. Knowing someone who can introduce you to one of the people involved in the game would be better but I that'll be hard if you don't have connections.

How about Princess Maker?! I'd love to get my hot paws on any of them (properly translated into English, of course)! I-It'd be like a dream come true! :O

[bloodywyvern]

Is it just me or do the Koreans seem to be able to translate anything twice as fast, and with triple the success rate? English translations seem to fail miserably, maybe that's why people won't respond to those willing to do it?

[GLACIER]

English translations seem to fail miserably, maybe that's why people won't respond to those willing to do it?

I don't think that's an issue. Where freeware is concerned, many creators have been enthusiastic about English translations.

However, business negotiations are another matter. Doujin circles aren't really commercial entities, so they might be inclined to shy away from overseas offers.

Is it just me or do the Koreans seem to be able to translate anything twice as fast, and with triple the success rate?

Aside from the Key titles, I'm not sure how prolific Korean translators are. However, I'd guess that the scene benefits from the involvement of a larger number of people (both fans and translators).

Supposedly, Chinese/Korean translators aren't as conscious of quality (so far, most English translation groups have been perfectionists, which makes for slow progress. However, that's beginning to change) or piracy either, which could have huge effects on their work.

[bloodywyvern]

I don't think that's an issue. Where freeware is concerned, many creators have been enthusiastic about English translations.

However, business negotiations are another matter. Doujin circles aren't really commercial entities, so they might be inclined to shy away from overseas offers.

Well yeah, from that angle it seems they do move away from letting it go overseas. What I mean though, is English translators maybe due to the smaller size of the circle seem to give up a lot easier compared to other groups.

Aside from the Key titles, I'm not sure how prolific Korean translators are. However, I'd guess that the scene benefits from the involvement of a larger number of people (both fans and translators).

Supposedly, Chinese/Korean translators aren't as conscious of quality (so far, most English translation groups have been perfectionists, which makes for slow progress. However, that's beginning to change) or piracy either, which could have huge effects on their work.

Well that's adding in a variable I didn't really consider, the fact of quality. The point is they still finish a lot more commercial translations then we do. To the point many English translators are using them to make theirs. I hate when this happens, because the more times you translate down the more you lose. Take Kagetsu Tohya for example, I do believe they used either the Chinese or Korean version to make theirs. I still played it, but with distaste and with a grain of salt on the meanings.

[papillon]

I have money. I should be able to pay more than enough for the rights to any doujin game. But Princess Maker? No wai. Don't look at me for anything involving a big company.

Even if they were willing to accept an offer of everything I could scrape together for the rights, I wouldn't be able to exploit the property sufficiently to make a profit. That would take a lot more than just one person.

The game I'm trying to get the rights to was carefully chosen for size of game (length AND filesize), amount of text, readability of code, market that I *know* will buy at least X copies of it, price in Japan... The fact that it's not yet a hot property within the US fangirl market is also a plus for me because it means less trouble with nitpickers complaining about the accuracy of the translation. (No matter how accurate you try to be, people WILL complain about their favorite nuance! And I admit that I am more concerned with producing a good, fun English product than an accurate-to-the-last-detail translation of the Japanese product.)

Basically, there's a whole lot of data I can't share with you that means that this particular item is something I can expect to succeed, based on my business experience to date. If I could just get them to talk to me.

[bloodywyvern]

Basically, there's a whole lot of data I can't share with you that means that this particular item is something I can expect to succeed, based on my business experience to date. If I could just get them to talk to me.

How many different ways exactly have you approached them? There are way too many things that could possibly turn them off. Just the way things are worded can more often than not give off a red flag to the makers.

Also you might try offering to let them take a look at the final product to be sure of the quality before you release, I can see people being worried about giving up their rights without any right to see it later. Another thing to consider is if they might want to see samples of finished work, and not just someone deciding to take a crack at it. You might want to ask some of the professionals out there, like insani. They got rights to translate Narcissu and others, though that was a free pursuit. Things change dramatically when considering commercial aspects. However they might be able to tell you what people like to hear when considering translations.

[mikey]

I think the personal contact approach is best if you can do that, even though I think the general unwillingness to engage in a potentially paperwork-heavy venture that GLACIER mentioned is one of the key factors - and as for professionalism actually papillon has a good commercial track record (fan translators / makers may have at best a good completion record, but a commercial record means your business partner knows how to handle taxes and has advertising connections, which is far more important than a nitpick-proof translation). Also, I heavily assume the game in question isn't really a VN, so involving the VN translation community which is often controversial because of ethics and the association with hentai, isn't the best idea.
EDIT: ... which isn't to say that people who have worked with doujin makers and translated their works (with permission) will not have good tips as to the mentality and ethics of the makers, how to approach them and so on.