Messages

1

General / Re: Visual Novels & Voices

« on: Apr. 06, 2007, 11:23:57 AM »

However, I notice a clear (and sometimes jarring) difference between a character's voice and the actor's natural voice in any behind-the-scenes footage.  I suppose the best way to get otaku to acknowledge that anime doesn't use real Japanese is to force them to watch these segments (and club them upside the head until they get the point ).

I generally tend to like the notion of clubbing otaku over the head anyway.  Including myself, ten years ago.  But yes, the difference is startling.  Particularly when you hear someone like whatsisname who plays Shingo in KOF and Treize in Gundam Wing (can't remember his name) speaking normally versus the "acting voice."

I have a tendency to favor anime that strays away from tried-and-true formulas

The only anime I've truly liked in the last several years has been Gungrave.  I have to respect a series that isn't afraid to kill off well-developed characters.

Neon Genesis Evangelion

There simply are not enough expletives in the world, in all languages combined, to express my seething hatred of that show.

I guess it's fair to say that the way you view Japanese in anime and the way I view "American" French is the same.

I don't view English as inherently superior.  I take issue with those who regard Japanese voiceovers as better than English simply because they're in Japanese.  It is a viewpoint born solely of ignorance (and quite often, sheer pigheadedness).

2

General / Re: Visual Novels & Voices

« on: Apr. 04, 2007, 03:36:10 PM »

On the other hand, I absolutely hate it when an actor (voice or otherwise) overdoes their part to the point of nausea.

My point is that, in all the anime I've seen in my 20 or so years of watching it, that has uniformly been the case.  Yes, it's deliberate, but that doesn't make it any more tolerable.  It's all done on a grander scale than anything seen in English, with the possible exception of childrens' cartoons.  And unless one is familiar with Japanese on a conversational level, one does not pick up on this, no matter how much one may wish to claim otherwise.

The conventional mindset of the neophyte anime fan generally never strays far from, "I can't understand it, but listen to those intonations! They really must be putting a lot of heart and feeling into it!"  They're not.  It's just melodrama.  They ham it up because it's essentially tradition to do so.  The Japanese like melodrama.  It's just as ludicrous as the claim from the same group that says anime "isn't cliched like American stuff is."  It's just as cliched as anything else... it just has a different set of them.

If you like Japanese voice acting, that's all well and good.  I like it too, up to a point. But don't try to claim it's somehow inherently great, because it isn't.

dub is done so well (making the original sound crappy in comparison).

Cowboy Bebop is like that.  Hate the original voices.  Megumi Hayashibara needs to be shot.  Or just given a tracheotomy.  That'll work.  Maybe it'd improve her range.

Sadly, I cannot include Ys VI on that list (ugh... Terra...).

Let us never speak of that again.  Both sets of Ys VI voices were crap.

3

General / Re: At last....

« on: Apr. 02, 2007, 12:03:46 PM »

There was legal action pursued, actually.  I don't recall all of the particulars, but I know a lot of C&D orders got tossed around.

4

General / Re: Ys Characters for M.U.G.E.N.

« on: Apr. 02, 2007, 12:02:34 PM »

Your best bet would be to find a way to rip the Adol sprites from the PS2 version of Ys III.  I considered exactly this, but my years of MUGEN experience are long behind me, and I doubt I would have made it as well as I might've in my heyday.

5

General / Re: What are YOU watching on youtube at the moment?

« on: Mar. 29, 2007, 05:16:34 PM »

Not on Youtube, but this is awesome:

http://www.jibjab.com/what_we_call_the_news

6

General / Re: Speculation: what is Falcom next project?

« on: Mar. 28, 2007, 04:38:07 PM »

Well, I'm probably alone in this, but I wouldn't mind something a bit higher-poly, with fully-3D characters... kinda like Ys VI for PS2, but with better-quality models... ie. the ones that were actually used to render the sprites.

But to be honest, I'm perfectly content with the engine as it is.  They could make a dozen more games with it and I'd still have fun.

7

General / Re: At last....

« on: Mar. 27, 2007, 10:58:55 AM »

last I checked reverse engineering wasn’t illegal.

In the world of software, it is. Most software licenses specifically forbid reverse-engineering.  Tecmo's especially particular about that... remember the DOA XTreme Beach Volleyball nude patches?

8

General / Re: Speculation: what is Falcom next project?

« on: Mar. 27, 2007, 10:56:20 AM »

Ys I & II don't need to be remade.  Ys IV and V, on the other hand... but I'm not sure if I'd prefer those, or a proper Ys VII.

I still don't see them abandoning the current engine any time soon, though.

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Ys: The Oath In Felghana / Re: Calling Nightwolve, I would like to hopefully clear up a mistake.

« on: Mar. 21, 2007, 05:19:50 PM »

oh, should i remove it, and forget about playing it?

Actually, yes.  The law makes no allowances for age, financial circumstances, etc.  If you are not using an original, purchased copy of a given piece of copyrighted software/movie/music, then you are in violation of the law.  Period.

The whole notion of "fair use" (which is a fairly hazy one, at that) applies solely to backups specifically made by the owner, and for use only by the owner.  Not for giving a copy to a friend as a favor.

Simple rule is: if it's not an original and/or it was not paid for (ie. you bought it or someone bought it for you), then it is theft. 

It's one of the basic tenets of capitalism. You spend money on it, or you do without.  Just because you can get it for free doesn't mean it's okay for you to do so.

10

General / Re: Visual Novel Translations~

« on: Mar. 07, 2007, 08:16:37 PM »

I've always taken the japanese anime/game style as like an opera of sorts; The amount of odd energy that goes into their portrayal of characters, it's so crazy and out there and I've become a sucker for it

That's actually a very good way of putting it.  Personally, I found I couldn't stand it, outside of, say, a fighting game, where it's quite appropriate.

11

General / Re: Visual Novel Translations~

« on: Mar. 07, 2007, 12:19:15 AM »

The only response I can make to that is that, unless you have learned the language and had ample opportunity to compare real Japanese to acted Japanese, you have no idea.  It's easy to denigrate English voice acting because of lousy English dubs (of which there are many)... but there's a lot of great English voice work out there.  Even the stuff which is deliberately overwrought, like the Legacy of Kain series, isn't even remotely on par with the level of hamminess brought forth by pretty much every single piece of Japanese entertainment in existence.

It's not necessarily a knock against the Japanese... it's just the way things are.  If game/anime Japanese were anything like real conversation, most would find it impossible to understand.  They ham it up because they like it over-the-top.  Take your average 80s action flick from the US.  That's about the quality level we're talking about for pretty much any anime or game you can think of.  Everything from Inuyasha to Yuu Yuu Hakusho to Castlevania to Cowboy Bebop to Tenchi Muyou! to Ah! My Goddess to Final Fantasy to etc. etc. etc.  Try to speak like that (even the formal stuff) in actual conversation with a real Japanese speaker, and you'd likely get laughed at, assuming you don't outright insult the listener.

Take it from me: never, ever attempt to learn Japanese from anime and games. You will learn it completely wrong, and it takes years to undo the damage.  I speak from personal experience.

And yes, I used to be a rabid anime fan.  Once I actually learned to understand the subtleties of what I was watching (or more accurately, listening to), I found that I could no longer stomach most of it.

12

General / Re: Visual Novel Translations~

« on: Mar. 06, 2007, 05:41:03 PM »

Normally when you read an English translation you don't expect to have to know random bits of Japanese the 'translator' thought you should, but that's how it seems to work these days.

That's one of the reasons I just tend to avoid anime entirely, anymore.  Aside from the fact that the overwhelming majority of it (as in, 99.9999999% of it) is complete crap, I mean.  Even the licensed translations are frequently rife with amateurish hackwork.  It's bad enough that virtually every show in existence invariably uses some minor variations on the same few lines... ("OMAE DAKE WA YURUSANAI!!!" and the like) but you'd think that the translators would actually want to inject some flavor into the dialogue, so it doesn't read like Babelfish.  Japanese sentence structure simply does not work in English.

And there's also the fact that all Japanese voice acting... all of it... is horrible. Every single line is overpronounced, hammed up and slowed down.  None of it sounds a bit like actual, conversational Japanese.   Most non-native anime fans tend to have this fanciful notion that the Japanese voices are better-acted simply because they're Japanese, which isn't the case... rather, they only seem better-acted because one doesn't actually understand what they're saying.

13

General / Re: Visual Novel Translations~

« on: Mar. 02, 2007, 09:11:29 AM »

I find just from browsing around the internet, usage of -kun, -san, -chan and so on really gets annoying.  Besides being unnecessary, it seems that it makes something not flow as nicely, and more difficult to read.

THANK YOU.  It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who hates that shit.  Japanese honorifics have no place in English, outside of a textbook.

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Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys / Re: Sample Screenshots of a New YsIV:DOY Font

« on: Mar. 01, 2007, 10:12:14 PM »

The new font is an 8x12 edit of one of the 8x16 fonts found in the original Ys Book I & II for TurboGrafx-CD.

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General / Re: Translation Project Questions

« on: Feb. 24, 2007, 09:20:31 AM »

That's the way they all became the Brady Bunch...

16

General / Re: Gurumin on PSP rocks!

« on: Feb. 15, 2007, 02:51:50 PM »

The voices seem okay so far... not spectacular, but I've definitely heard far worse.  I have a few issues with the translation, but oh well.  The camera is annoying as hell, though, but I'll get used to it in time, I'm sure.

17

Ys Origin / Re: Anyone know where to find the illusive Ys origin trainer?

« on: Feb. 13, 2007, 10:58:37 AM »

Why bother?  Just use ArtMoney and you can make your own cheats.

Hello, instant level 60...

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Ys: The Oath In Felghana / Re: OK, this is silly

« on: Feb. 12, 2007, 03:21:02 PM »

Maybe they had him eighty-sixed.

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Ys: The Oath In Felghana / Re: OK, this is silly

« on: Feb. 12, 2007, 11:34:34 AM »

I think nothing sums up my current mood regarding all of this more than these:

 

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Ys: The Oath In Felghana / Re: What's this?

« on: Jan. 31, 2007, 02:34:51 PM »

Nope. It's still all Stretch Armstrong.

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Ys: The Oath In Felghana / Re: Typo

« on: Jan. 31, 2007, 12:37:55 PM »

The intent is more that she's swearing it as she speaks.

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Ys: The Oath In Felghana / Re: What's this?

« on: Jan. 31, 2007, 12:37:01 PM »

I'm not sure what you mean.  There's no way to play the games in true widescreen, unfortunately.  No 16:9 for us.  Not ours.

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Ys: The Oath In Felghana / Re: What's this?

« on: Jan. 31, 2007, 08:27:41 AM »

Someone's playing in "widescreen"...

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Ys Origin / Re: Ys Origin

« on: Jan. 29, 2007, 06:16:03 PM »

No idea.  I've beaten the game with all three characters, and played through Boss Rush on Hard, but still no Adol.

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Ys Origin / Re: Ys Origin

« on: Jan. 29, 2007, 11:02:55 AM »

Falcom apparently removed the ability to unlock Adol by simple file tinkering in version 1.0.0.5.  The current method is unknown, last I heard.

26

General / Re: Calling Deuce, I have a question to ask you.

« on: Jan. 26, 2007, 02:53:11 PM »

Yep, it's me... same as ever.  Slightly older, slightly more cynical, much, much busier. The occasional impulse to tinker with MUGEN for my own personal amusement has always subsided very quickly.  But I'm doing okay, barring a touch of personal life upheaval.  I still keep in touch with some of the old MUGEN crew, but none of us actually talk about it anymore...

27

General / Re: Ys Translation efforts

« on: Jan. 26, 2007, 02:51:00 PM »

As soon as the primary translation work wraps up for Ys V (which I project to finish within one week), I will be leaping straight into the next project... so I hope NW's ready to get me the utilities I need to be able to avoid bugging him throughout said project.

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General / Re: Finally! My first post

« on: Jan. 26, 2007, 02:43:05 PM »

Imaginary Quote:
        "Where there is a wall, there is a way!"
                                                                         -Dogi

Real quote:
        "Where there is a wall, there is a way! *CRUNCH* Holy crap, my hand! Where's Dr. Flair!? I need a healing potion! SOMEONE GET ME A @#$%ING HEALING POTION! AN HERB! ANYTHING! OH GODDESSES THE PAAAAAAIIIII--"*whack*
                                                                         -Dogi (shortly before encountering a shield to the head)

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Ys: The Oath In Felghana / Re: Ys: The Oath in Felghana Translation

« on: Jan. 23, 2007, 07:46:54 PM »

You do know that America has no official national language, right?

That said, the Spanish language is annoying to listen to.  Sounds nice when sung, though.

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Ys: The Oath In Felghana / Re: Typo

« on: Jan. 20, 2007, 10:32:17 PM »

'have had', isn't that redundant? 'had' should be removed, I think.

It's not redundant. The sentence makes no sense without both words.  The alternative would have been to use a contraction ("my husband would've never had this opportunity"), which sounds too informal for a countess.

also, 'repent of his sins' should be 'repent for his sins'.

Not so.  Both are correct, but "repent of" is more common.  "Repent of" is more classic, and the McGuire clan is nothing if not devout.

As for the other... ugh.  It's a technical issue which forces the use of the same line in two very different spots. We've had to settle for a middle ground.  May just change it to "..." or the like.

31

Ys Origin / Re: Ys Origin

« on: Jan. 19, 2007, 09:48:16 PM »

Context-checking won't be so bad, if you give me the script-dumping setup.  I'll translate based on that, then move the results over into the editor.

I've got Photoshop now.  So basically, I just need you to walk me through the procedure once or twice, then I can take over from there. Manual images aside, we'll have a slightly easier time just because there's no diary or monster list this go-round.  So whenever you get things ready, just flag me down one evening.

32

Ys Origin / Re: Ys Origin

« on: Jan. 19, 2007, 11:31:25 AM »

I'm trying to convince NW to let me handle most of the work on the Origin project, since I have more time than he does...

After I finish Ys V, of course. ;P

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Ys: The Oath In Felghana / Re: Perfect timing of the Fan Translator

« on: Jan. 16, 2007, 09:48:33 PM »

Actually, you can now access my website (as of tonight) at its new home: http://legacyofys.classicgaming.gamespy.com/

As for the string, I'll check into it.

34

Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim / Re: Patch for Napishtim

« on: Jan. 16, 2007, 01:59:39 AM »

Say it with me, folks...
There is no apostrophe in Ys.

35

Ys I & II Complete / Re: Just bought Ys

« on: Jan. 11, 2007, 11:10:33 AM »

You'll be happy to know, btw, that the current alternate soundtracks have been updated to use the NSIS patching setup, so no more fiddling.

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Ys I & II Complete / Re: Feedback for the new, finalized Ys II Complete v1.02 Patch.

« on: Jan. 08, 2007, 11:25:17 AM »

The patch looks great as far as I can tell, but the links for the alternate soundtracks don't work anymore :\

That's due to a change in the webserver config.  I'll be fixing that shortly.

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Ys: The Oath In Felghana / Re: Wanna help finish the Felghana patch? I need volunteers for remaining tasks!

« on: Dec. 22, 2006, 12:02:21 AM »

Nah.  There's no need for a definite article in such circumstances... particularly since it's not being used in a sentence.  It's not incorrect, mind you, but it's extraneous.  I'd just as soon leave it as "Redmont" with nothing else.  It's obviously a town, just by looking at it.

"Redmont Town" just looks goofy, and is incorrect besides (as is "Minea Town").

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Ys: The Oath In Felghana / Re: Wanna help finish the Felghana patch? I need volunteers for remaining tasks!

« on: Dec. 21, 2006, 06:23:59 PM »

City of New York???

Precisely.

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Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys / Re: Ys IV: Dawn of Ys Script

« on: Dec. 21, 2006, 02:30:45 PM »

You know, having looked back over the script, and given my current work of rewriting the Mask of the Sun script, Dawn of Ys could really use some editing.  I don't know why I did such a halfassed job on it...

40

Ys: The Oath In Felghana / Re: Wanna help finish the Felghana patch? I need volunteers for remaining tasks!

« on: Dec. 21, 2006, 02:27:06 PM »

I'd just like to state for the record that I am extremely opposed to using "Redmont Town" as opposed to "Town of Redmont."  It's a title, not part of the proper name. It's a bit like saying "Chicago City."

Sounds to me like something a certain you-know-who would've used, had it been up to her...