Translations: Kaze No Densetsu Xanadu II (PCE-CD) - Announced!

[c_s537]

So excited about this! Do you have an idea of when it will be complete?!

[elmer]

Sorry, not really.

We've got to get the dub site finished (waiting on our web volunteer for that), and then it'll be the cattle-call, and casting, and recording and then months afterwards to get everything cleaned-up, 2nd-takes recorded, and approx 70+ minutes of cutscenes lipsynced (it's not an incredibly complex lipsyncing in the game ... but it's mostly code and not data, so I can't just automate it).

I expect at least 3 months of deadly-dull work doing that after the dub is actually recorded.

So, hopefully this year, but definitely not "next month".

[reyvgm]

I wonder what ever happened to this project? Is it still active?

[Tarosuke]

No it's just been on hold for a while. The projects translator SamIAm has recently had 2 children so simply doesn't have the time at the moment. Elmer has previously stated that both games have been translated with mainly just the audio dubs to be reinserted but that'll be a lot of work. The guys have stated over on the Sunteam PC Engine website they are still onboard to see the project through so it'll get there but we just need to be patient!

[barryconvexx]

Very much looking forward to this.

One question I have is about the dub. I usually try and play games (and watch Anime) with the original japanese voices but with english subtitles since I like to hear the original Japanese voice acting.

Given it is the english voice acting that is proving to be difficult in completing I am wondering if it might be a good idea to release a subtitled translated version with the original Japanese voices? Just an idea 

[Baggins]

Ya, I'd be certainly fine with subtitled version myself, just to be able to play the game.

[julayla]

Yeah, a subbed version would have to do for now until a dub version eventually comes out and I can hold out 'til then. That's why I'm also holding out on the Sailor Moon PC Engine game since I'm hoping a dub version will be made.

[cccmar]

Yeah, a subbed version would have to do for now until a dub version eventually comes out and I can hold out 'til then. That's why I'm also holding out on the Sailor Moon PC Engine game since I'm hoping a dub version will be made.

We definitely won't make a dub for the Sailor Moon game - there were no plans for it at all - so it would have to be some other group, but nobody approached Supper about it so far I believe, for the files or anything like that (not enough PCE hackers, I guess). I do seem to recall that with this Xanadu game, on the other hand, subbing cutscenes is pretty much impossible, since the background layers are a problem (and I don't think it's an Arcade Card game, which would make it somewhat easier), so dubbing is likely the only option they have.

[Iceman100x]

Everybody though this thing was dead, but what im wondering is why did they say that the game was going to come out over a year ago? I actually didn't believe this, because when have you known a game like this to be translated exactly when they say it will? and there's two of them which might be bigger than y's I&II...lol. Well there are plenty of translated games i have that are just sitting waiting to be started, so im not worried....take your time.

[TimeCop]

I heard that the actual translation patch is done and it's only the lack of a dub that has prevented it from being released.

[szabo]

Create the subtitles version now and release the dubbing later for those who prefer dubbing.
I prefer subtitles.

[Supper]

While I'm not personally familiar with this game or what specific technical obstacles it has -- though given the platform and the genre alone, I'd guess there are a lot -- I'd like to point out that on the PCE, adding subtitles isn't really "simpler" than dubbing. In fact, considered solely in terms of raw hacking work required, adding subtitles is much more difficult than "just" replacing the audio. Despite what the graphics might make you believe, the PCE is ultimately an 8-bit system from 1987, and it provides exactly one layer of background graphics and one layer of sprites. If you want subtitles, the only viable option in most situations is to add them in as a sprite overlay, which gets complicated very quickly: you have to find space in VRAM to load the graphics for the text, rework the sprite table generator routines so your subtitle sprites show up where needed (and appear on top of everything else in the scene), and try to achieve all this while somehow not disrupting the existing visuals. And keep in mind there's an inviolable limit of 16 sprites per line and 64 sprites total, so there are plenty of situations where you just plain can't add subtitles without destructively editing the scene in some way (e.g. letterboxing).

Of course, producing a quality dub has its own set of complications that make it at least as bad as subtitling, since on top of having to organize and direct a bunch of voice performances, you're going to need to alter the cutscenes to extend the length of certain lines, redo the lip sync, etc. But it's not like you can just magically slap subtitles on instead and call it a day. I don't know what the exact circumstances of this project are, but if a lot of work has already gone into it with the specific goal of producing a dub, trying to switch to subtitles at this point would probably mean starting almost from scratch. It's very unlikely that it would make the translation come out any faster.

I can empathize with anyone trying to put together a translation for this crazy little machine, so best of luck to everyone involved with the project. The world really needs more PCECD translations.

[nanashi89]

Current estimated date of release?

[Cool Dude]

Hi guys! I'm assuming all the fruits of this labour has been thrown in the bin at this point? That's such a waste of a cool thing. How about dumping it out for someone else to complete? I'm sure there'll be volunteers.

[n33k33]

Still very much pumped for that one. Been waiting since the 90s ! ^^