Hoshizora no Memoria Eternal Hearts starting up again by Steve. [forums.fuwanovel.org]

Because previously there was a project at ehtranslation.wordpress.com which closed down (VNTLS said 23%, which was wrong I think). Then Secchan translated all of Asuho route (minus h-scenes) for his friend… and now they’ve managed to scavenge what was left off by the previous team. Total progress is roughly 10%. So they’re now looking for more translators.

The situation is as follows.
Mare After Story: prologue translated, ~200 lines from route, currently on hold till July
Yume After Story: prologue translated, currently stalled, original TL doing manga work
Asuho Short Story: ~90% translated by Secchan, – 1% edited
Remaining 4 Short Stories: untouched
estimated total progress is about 10%

The old team:
Oli: will resume in July for Mare, moving to Japan
TheDefend: currently doing manga TL, might come back later and resume Yume
Staircase assistant: will make patch once the scripts are done
3 QC

New additions:
Secchan: Asuho TL (promised to complete Asuho route later, will not work on other scripts)
Shcboomer: full editor – currently editing and inserting the lines from Seccan’s excel sheet
Steve: PR, communication, recruitment – currently giving work to other people (also contacting all parties involved in the translation and writing this topic but that might as well count as not doing anything xD)

Needed positions:
Full Translators – preferably to help resume the current progress on Mare and Yume routes (maybe help the current translators with TL and ask them to only do TLC until they have more time), the short stories can be done later.
Editor - only if the translation progress kicks in so there is something to edit.

If anyone interested, please reply in the thread, or email Steve at:

The reason why the project leader should not ideally be the main translator, is because main translators burn out or they get KO’d by real life. And then if the main TL drops, your project is fucked. No one sticks around to replace him/her. Clephas’ idea is that it is much better for the manager to not also be the translator so he can spend time to replace those that drop. It also takes a load off the TLers plate.

Anime adaptation of otome game called Juuzaengi ~Engetsu Sangokuden~ which is like the otome version of the Sangoku story? The above trailer is actually for the upcoming sequel (anime announcement is at the end). VNDB entry for the first game here: [VNDB.org] By the way, there is a Boy’s Love visual novel called NO, THANK YOU!!! getting an anime adaptation that was announced last week.

^ Love the name lol.

Dysfunctional Systems by dischan.org is trying to get Steam Greenlight: [steamcommunity.com] So this is just episode 01. I reckon it will get through. Please visit this link and then click YES (I will buy) button. I don’t know very much about the game but I heard it’s good. On VNDB it is mostly 8’s.

Delayed to September 27th….. nooooooooo!  [Getchu.com]

Chiisana Kanojo no Serenade is upcoming game by feng [VNDB.org] Feng are the people who made Akane Iro ni Somaru Saka (with Hirano Aya voiced Minato) and Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi (anime aired in 2011). This game is not drawn by Ryohka, instead they use several in-house people & 1 new person. but it still looks very good!

Some Screenshots:

Uploaded Genso Suikogaiden Vol. 1 Harumonia no Kenshi. [see Suikogaiden (PSOne) VN Translation Project Complete! – 5 years in the making] This is a PSOne game and you play it on an emulator called ePSXe which Kendjin has included in the torrent. 
Download Game: [fuwanovel.org]

Translation team: Project Leader: rin_uzuki Game Ripper: Shu Xion - Translators – rin_uzuki (Chapter 1 – 3) Niahak (Chapter 4) Pelto (additional translation) Sage (additional translation) - Translation Checkers – Raww Le Klueze Magi arkady18

- Tech Team – Rufas David Holmes Pokeytax - Image Editors – Raww Le Klueze Scarlet

You might have heard of this kickstarter project?

The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers by John Szczepaniak
Tantei contacted me about some of the visual novel developers that they want to get on board for interviews.

[17:30] <Aaeru> but can u explain to me what exactly will be VN related in this book?
[17:32] <tantei> currently we plan to get jun maeda (key), ryu07 (when they cry), and Kotaro Uchikoshi, along with the people behind hakuoki
[17:32] <tantei> possibly also type moon and others
[17:33] <tantei> to cover in terms of current stuff
[17:33] <tantei> they will also spend a good portion on the history and start of visual and sound novels
[17:33] <tantei> including 
[17:34] <tantei> a major one is going to be
[17:34] <tantei> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamaitachi_no_Yoru
[17:35] <tantei> which popularized sound novels

[18:46] <Aaeru> how do we know if they will definitely be in the book?
[18:47] <tantei> ryu will be in there
[18:47] <tantei> that I can promise
[18:48] <tantei> and most likely ever 17 will be in there talking about visual novels and pepsiman
[18:49] <tantei> and someone from key should be in there if not Jun

^ Jun Maeda (Kanon, Clannad, Air, Little Busters, Angel Beats)
So from the way I understand it, those listed are planned to be included. But of course whether they can get everyone is dependent on how far the funding lets them go (i.e. the more the better). Currently they are holding back on contacting more people until the book is funded.

^ Ryukishi07 (Higurashi, Umineko, Rewrite, Higanbana, Rose Gun Days)

So I think it’s a good deal. Also, tantei told me they are going to ask the VN devs what do they think about the Western market, so this is a good chance to probe if there could be a viable model for some more western releases. Unfortunately the 120 pound slot which lets you submit a question to a dev is sold out. So you have to go the next tier which is the 500 pound slot (lets you ask 3 questions) but I don’t know if any ONE of us has 500 pounds. Unless. Unless we throw our money together. Visit this Link To Pledge! ty

Zoom909 released english patch for the THIRD and final vocaloid visual novel by Supplement Time called Mirai no Uta to, Tsunagaru Hitomi. [zoom909.blogspot.com.au] That picture above is in Chinese except I promise you, the game is in English! You can download the game here
Download Game: [fuwanovel.org]
English Patch: [bitshare.com/]
DLSite: [dlsite.com]
Forums Thread: [forums.fuwanovel.org]

Staff Credits:
Translator: zoom909
Patcher: Meru-P

”Save” button is the 4th item from the left (M)
”Load button is the 4th item from the left (L)
The last item on the right is Full Screen. (V)

You can also get the 1st and 2nd game in english, here and here. Both of them also translated by zoom909.

Congratz zoom~!

From June 15th Answerman! on Animenewsnetwork

Hi Answerman,… Is there really a market for visual novel adaptions in the West if the concept of a visual novel is largely unknown here? (see full question here which is 14 lines long.)

On Visual Novels themselves, I'll say this: I think the rather incredible reception for Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward in the US has really shown that there is indeed a market for visual novels in the West. Now, the Zero Escape games are a bit of an odd duck compared to most other Visual Novels out there, since the game is part Visual Novel, and part "Escape The Room"-style puzzle games. But the interesting concepts and wacky characters and impressively detailed writing for those games is what made them a success here; just look at how many "Best of 2012" awards Virtue's Last Reward racked up from the Western gaming press.

Unfortunately, that may not exactly trickle down to other types of Visual Novels. So I'll say this: the future of Visual Novels will largely depend on the platform they're released on, and the quality of the game itself. I don't necessarily think that Visual Novels need to rely on their ties with any anime or manga tie-ins. Coincidentally, there's been some chatter coming from Nitroplus about a Western release of the original Steins;Gate game, which would personally thrill me, as that's a game I've been wanting to play for quite a while. But I wouldn't hold my breath to see that game get released on anything other than on iOS devices, or possibly the Playstation Vita. The Western game console market is too wracked and glutted with expensive content and it's difficult for niche genres to break out, considering the costs involved. No way they'd bother trying to find a publisher willing to put out the original Xbox 360 version, for example.

And when I say "quality," I mean that implicitly. The Zero Escape games made a dent in Western gaming fans' eyes because they were basically billed as interesting puzzle games, and to their credit, the puzzle elements of the games actually correspond to, and actually enhance, the narrative. By comparison, Steins;Gate has very little actual "game" elements. I'm a pretty damn huge fan of the Phoenix Wright games also, but even those have a much bigger "video game" function than almost any other Visual Novel you can name.

But I'm optimistic, in general. Up until now, the only Visual Novels we've been seeing are the ones that play less like a Visual Novel and more like a traditional video game. Phoenix Wright and Zero Escape may not be million sellers, but they're series that people with passion for gaming for the most part know about. They were a great Trojan Horse to get Westerners a little taste of what Visual Novels are, so now maybe something like Steins;Gate - a purely Visual Novel with only the barest of game-like interaction - can find its audience.

The timing is right, and there's no shortage of digital platforms that allow self-publishing. (Except the Xbox!) All that matters now is that whoever wants to do it can afford the right time, hire the right translators, and trust that the audience will show up and pay for it.

^ I agree with everything here. I’m also thinking that, in this age you don’t really need mainstream appeal anymore to survive, the core fanbase will keep you alive. And secondly, that translating games that haven’t already been translated by fans means more core fans will be willing to support you.

kyouuuuu: Tons of exiting stuff have been announced at this year’s E3 Expo, one of them being the release of Disorder6 for PS3 & Xbox 360! Here’s the the short teaser that was shown:

Pretty awesome right? Here are some pictures for your enjoyment!
Disorder6 is set to release in Japan on August 22nd, 2013. A Limited Edition version, which includes both the original soundtrack CD and a radio CD, will also be available. For more information, check out the official website.
via [True Achievements]

aaeru: lol i like how they put the trailer out at E3!! maybe theyre trolling the west.

Look at your room. Boring right? Now look at this guy’s room.

No words can describe it…

Ladies & Otakus, welcome to Rayun’s room / ラユンのエロゲ部屋.    

^ lol

This is a really good post by Armonica at Japanator Blogs about Makoto Shinkai (Voices of a Distant Star, 5 Centimeters Per Second). He documents Shinkai’s work on visual novel opening videos with minori. [japanator.com/blogs]

Youtube clips presented in chronological order:

Shinkai: “When I had to look for a job, I had no idea what to do and tried finding work at many different firms. The only one that wanted to hire me was a game company. I loved drawing so I became a graphic designer at the firm, and during my time there the nature of games began to change. For example, you would see rich movie-like images being used during opening sequences.”

After doing that kind of job for the game company, I became really interested in making films. Instead of making image sequences for games, I wanted to make them for their own sake. As I really wanted to make a movie, I started making my own creation at home after work.

Wind -A Breath of Heart- (April 2002)

Comment: This video is actually from the 2004 version, but the opening sequence should be identical.

Haru no Ashioto (August 2004)

ef – a fairy tale of the two (November 2006)

ef – the latter tale (May 2008)

Starting from *eden (2009) Shinkai disappears from Minori’s credits and a couple of new names appear instead.

eden* (August 2009)

supipara (December 2012)

^ armonica: very Shinkai-ish (even though these are not by Shinkai)

Minori is very strange because they forbid anyone else from uploading their game openings and they only provide max 360p versions on their youtube channel (and some only very recently). All others are immediately taken down. In fact, Natsuzora no Perseus OP is not even on there. It’s not on youtube, not on niconico videos. Not ANYWHERE.
Of course you can visit the very very evil site eroyume.com (by Red) to get the video. “Yes. How dare he.”

armonica: I will update this page to fill gaps within the timeline and add additional comments for the various videos. If you know any more about Shinkai’s work on visual novels please let me know. [leave him a comment at original post]

The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers by John Szczepaniak

John posted an update on his kickstarter about the visual novel section:

Visual Novels
John Szczepaniak: I'm pleased someone asked for this as a themed section. As Victor Ireland of localisation publisher Working Designs once said, Visual Novels are the last untapped frontier of Japanese video games. They have been integral to the industry since the early 1980s, and yet almost none of them reach the west. The genre itself is also a fascinating example of fragmentary evolution. In my mind I see a wide reaching net, covering genre labels such as adventure games, sound novels, visual novels, and so on. Everything from Portopia Renzoku Satsujin and Snatcher through to Steins;Gate. The topic is obviously far too large to cover comprehensively in just one chapter, but I hope to speak with those who worked on early examples of the genre (such as Kamaitachi no Yoru and Otogirisou), and also more recent releases. I'm working with my Guest Editor who recommends and is helping me contact Jun Maeda (KEY), Ryukishi07, and Kotaro Uchikoshi. I can't guarantee we'll get them all - but I believe Uchikoshi-san worked on Pepsiman, so there's a double incentive there! With any luck, this chapter will encourage you to track down Visual Novels worth playing and introduce the genre to an English speaking audience. [see Update #14]

So now the minimum 4 pages VN section is absolutely confirmed for the book, so if you were holding back because you weren’t sure if it will be in it, rest assured, it will be in there. [see kickstarter.com]

Tantei is going to try hard to get the named devs they can get (like Jun Maeda & Ryukishi07), and they WILL be asking about their views on a western expansion especially now that kickstarter has become a viable way to monetize pirate-laden Gaijin-territory. I specifically asked if we can see an official localization for angel beats on kickstarter because that one is exceptionally doable. I think this is worth supporting just for the opportunity for a face-to-face.
Click here to pledge.

Yoake partial patch is out. I think this was actually fully translated by Edger some years ago but he had trouble finding editors. So they may have had to release as raw translations but then they found editors (i.e. Sheeta), followed by zoom909 and linkitriforce007 so it’s much thanks to them. (altho not sure who did what).

“This patch only works with the All Ages “Brighter than Dawning Blue”, which is a PC backport of its PS2 version, and not the original 18+ version. This partial patch provides English translation for the common route, as well as Feena, Mia, Mai, Natsuki and Sayaka’s routes.” (i.e. the imouto Mai is in it who was all the rage in otaku-verse all those years ago and crowning her the best imouto in eroge-dom)
“Wreathlit, Midori and Estel’s routes, Feena’s true route, and extra stories will be included in the full translation patch.” 0_0  [Download english patch] [also see Sheeta’s blog]

Quoting Erengy from erengy.com/blog/
Erengy: “It’s been two and a half years since the day I was asked, by a translator, if I had any eroge in mind that I wanted to see translated…

…The translation was finished in a mere seven months, but it took us over a year to find a proper editor. Several people had volunteered, but either bid farewell soon after or just vanished without a trace. Then came Sheeta, saved the world, and everyone lived happily ever after.

But that’s not the whole story. linktriforce007 and Zoom909 made remarkable contributions, cue the applause. In the meantime, I was busy hacking the engine, building tools, checking the scripts, editing images and organizing people. This required a lot time. We had all the time in the world, but it all seemed pointless every now and then. But then again, pretty much everything is pointless unless you’re saving mankind et al. or in the process of understanding the universe, right?

Then let us savor this rather dull moment in history, when our little project have grown so much that it’s almost finished. Let me share this with you, this product of effort and love, this partial translation patch… Everyone, enjoy!“ [original post]

^ pro

If you are having trouble with the games, stop the torrent from seeding, it’s causing the files to lock into read only! Just found this out not long ago \o/.

Other troubleshoot tips:
Set your windows to japanese system locale.
this is mandatory for a lot of Japanese games. Instructions here.

Turn off anti-virus.
sometimes it dislikes the nodvd crack and prevents them from running without you knowing.

Run the .exe in administrator.
to bypass write permission issues.

Your installation directory cannot be more than 128 characters
in some games, the 128 char is an internal restriction of the system. move your installation folder up a few levels. also don’t use funny symbols in your folder names.

Day of Love   (or KoiYoubi)
Company: Princess Soft
Release date: Apr 25, 2000
Rating: All Ages
Genre: Visual Novel
Download: [fuwanovel.org]
Comment: Localized by Hirameki International. don’t mount the .ISO, instead you drag and drop it onto the VLC player window and it should start.

Just saw this in the news, Teatime and Fulltime both going under. The two studios are basically the same company and they specialize at making 3D model eroges. They actually did all-age version of Network Netoraru Kare Machi Kanojo with support for Kinect.In summary it says, “thank you for supporting us since 2001 but because of various reasons, Rabu Death Final will be our last game (which comes out on the 28th June). Tech support for our existing games and Love Death Final will be moved over to Illusion (aka rapelay ppl). We’ve done our very best for our last title so please enjoy. Yours sincerely, teatime staff.”

Below clips from Network Netoraru Kare Machi Kanojo:

Found this post via Dina on her blog: [dinasoliman.wordpress.com]

Dina: “It turns out that it is indeed possible to make visual novel games without having extensive knowledge of programming (something that I really lack, haha!). There are pieces of software called visual novel engines you can install on your computer, learn how to use, and essentially make visual novel games with. I’ve done quite a bit of research on the best engines for beginners already. So far, I found two highly praised engines: Ren’py and Novelty. Other engines include Belle, BASSnovel, WebStory Engine, and StoryEngine. These engines are all in English; however, there are some that are in Japanese only, such as KiriKiri and TyranoScript. I did come across a translation group that was working on producing an English version of the KiriKiri engine, but I don’t know if they stopped working on it or not. (Their website hasn’t been updated recently.)”

Nice list of engines. I didn’t even know half of them.

"The Koichoco project is currently still looking for translators interested in translating Michiru’s route. If you have experience translating and would like to work on Michiru’s route please leave a message in the comments or drop me a mail here. When applying please realize that it’s quite the commitment to translate a full route." – basicvntls

Partially due to the increase in staff members we’ve made slightly more progress: Common/First route (Chisato): 12669/~18398 lines translated.
Translation: 101/397 files
Editing/QC ready: 2/397 files.
Interface: Being worked on.

Some Motivation:

Comes out in 3 days. Date A Live: Rinne Utopia for PS3 Only [Official Site]
Preorder at: [playasia.com]
This game introduces a new heroine named Sonogami Rinne (blonde girl). The only gameplay system is choosing which girl you want to talk to, and the game itself is centered on dating the heroines. Features animated CGs.
^ Click to Enlarge