Not really- I think it's plenty fine, albeit somewhat heavy-handed at times. This is just a different "more literal" take for those that might prefer it or have interest in it.
The devs rely a lot on puns for example, which aren't easy to bring over between languages- in many cases they either don't bother or they go a completely different direction (sometimes creating puns where there weren't any originally). Other times it's 'terms' or 'turns of phrase' that are different. In a few other cases, it's more about cultural references or understanding (for example: someone who's not Japanese may not know much about the Japanese film "Matango" - an enemy name that makes reference to events in that movie won't make sense to a Western player).
This mod simply tries to bring the original meaning back as closely as possible. Sometimes that means reworking the puns or removing them altogether. Same with phrasing, etc. Names are closer to their original counterparts, even if they may not fit Western knowledge or naming conventions as well.
Bottom line: this mod is not about anything deemed 'wrong' with the localization, just about providing a different perspective and possibly greater understanding for those that really enjoy the game. I certainly wouldn't have known some of these Japanese names/quirks without having worked on this mod.
Every time I see ' nuffin' or 'crikey' I cringe my ass off, anything is better than that cockney exaggerated idiocy, they all sound like drunk hooligans...
Is this project still alive in 2024? What are you currently working on, and what is the scope planned to be? Are the screenshots for this mod up-to-date, or are they outdated? If they are outdated, could you delete them and upload some new screenshots of the current version of the mod so that there's no confusion as to content of the mod? (For instance, I don't understand if the names are still abbreviated, or if the changed character models and menus shown in the screenshots are included with this mod.)
The mods I work on vary wildly in terms of both popularity and effort. And they do not correlate by and large. Some mods i've put lots of effort into do not reach a fraction of the popularity of some mods i've been able to throw together in half an hour.
This mod was a very high effort affair. It was never going to amass the level of interest I'd hoped, but I got it to a point I was reasonably happy with, with quite a bit of the game's terms and script re-worked. I learned a good bit while working on this project, which I am grateful to put forth toward other efforts. The documentation is openly available to anyone willing to use them and the permissions are open for anything to be reused provided credit is given where appropriate*.
It doesn't look like you've downloaded the mod:
Downloading and installing the mod is risk-free, it takes maybe a few minutes, and it would probably answer quite a lot of your questions in very short order.
Yes, some of the screenshots are out of date (many of them are from 2020 and even the "updated" ones are from like v0.2.1 released in 2021). If you would like to take and submit your own screenshots, it would be much appreciated and would spare me a fair bit of extra time I can use to work on other things.
*The #1 thing that I would work on, if someone were to pick up where I left off... would be to revise the cutscene dialogue, followed by the general dialogue. Some revisions have been made by community contributors as late as 2022, but these revisions only go so far as the first part of the game as far as i'm aware- maybe up to the Door of Departure sequence, if that.
Unfortunately, I can't try the mod out, because I don't actually have the PC version of this game at this time, though if this mod were complete or mostly complete, I'd definitely pick it up as soon as I could. I mostly play on consoles, and get games on PC mainly if there are mods I want to play with. I'm not particularly fond of the creative liberties Dragon Quest takes with its official translations, so a mod that offers something a bit closer to the original Japanese script would make getting the PC version of DQ11 a top priority for me.
From the way you phrased your reply though, it sounds like you're not working on this project anymore? That's a real shame. Retranslating such a big game is quite the task, and I can understand if you just got burnt out. If I could read Japanese or knew anything about how to mod/hack games, I'd try to help, but alas. I truly hope that somebody picks this project up someday. Thanks for taking the time to reply to me, and I wish you the best.
I see. Well, I would definitely still encourage you to consider getting the game on PC. But not just for this mod.
There are quite a number of mods out there (and many great ones buried well beneath the front page of Nexus!).
While this one is serviceable, it definitely isn't a top regarded mod, but there are so many others including: Retro Music Mod, Act 4 Collection (Ultimate Equipment, More Battles, Higher Levels), Seamless Cutscenes, Tension System, Better Monster AI... that add so much replay value to the game and several hours worth of additional content. Those are the ones worth grabbing the game again for.
When it comes on discount, I highly recommend checking out Epic Games Store. Last Christmas, the PC version was available for $16 there.
I think $16 for 200+ mods (of which, I bet you'll quite like 20-25 at a minimum) is a solid deal. You can wishlist the game on Steam to get an email when DQXI-S comes on discount. Then go and grab it on EGS to get the cheapest price.
Edit: Speak of the devil. It looks like the game is back on sale for $24 on Steam (until Feb 12th!). Doesn't appear to be discounted on EGS.
I noticed that there were still instances in the game's dialogue where they still used the localized character names.
Also, do you have any plans on de-localizing the character names in Tickington? For some reason, the character names revert to their localized counterparts there.
Is this project still being worked on? How complete is it? I'd love to play this game someday, but I want to do so with an accurate translation free of cockney accents and Simpsons references.
I'm not sure why but using 0.2.1 or DLON's renames doesn't affect nametags in the dialogues. There's still renames in the dialogues, but not in the nametag. How is this fixed? No other mods are affecting text in any way.
Sorry for the strange question but for some reason no matter what I do, I cannot change the spell names. I've tried installing multiple mods to change spell names and they do not work. The other parts of this mod works but I want to know if there's anything I can do. I've tried reinstalling DQ11S as well as reinstalling the mods.
Particularly anything that would touch the localization files (L10N). Anything that adds spells, abilities, etc... to the game. Since those spells need a name, they modify the same file, therefore might cause a conflict.
Good work, although i was hoping that this will help me to get rid of "crickey" the girl is saying. What does that even mean? What is she actually saying? Nvm i read through all posts. Dialogue trans might take a while. Heaving names , towns transl is bit off when everyone is in text is calling it differently. If i can help somehow, let me know.
It looked like Catssuragi was doing some nice work on the spreadsheets for the main and cutscene dialogue. Last I saw they had just updated a huge chunk of it maybe a month or so back (maybe even more recent since I last checked too).
At some point I'd like to go through, see how much has changed and integrate some of these changes back to the mod.
I'm very open to adding more contributors, if someone is willing and dedicated. However, I don't necessarily want to add too many cooks to the kitchen so to speak. We have a specific set of goals in mind with the retranslation and you might think it's just "make it more like the original Japanese" but there's a lot of nuance there with different terms and meanings that don't translate directly over.
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With your other comments...i'm almost wondering if another mod is overriding this one's text for you. A lot of mods rely on the same localization files that this one does (for example to add names for new items, locations, etc) and typically those will override it.
I unpacked and checked all mods. None are touching text files. Its not really that, but town name in map and quest says one name , while talk to npc, party uses different name. Or when referring to a person. Its easy to get lost when things refer to different names. I tried "full" translation, but as u stated it can be "fun" at times. Not for a full run. I'm not good at text translation mainly because i have only basic knowledge of JP language and that applies only to voice not reading. And thats not good enough for actual translation work. But i am good at regex , editing in general etc.
One big thing that I object to with this mod: The title screen says 'Dragon Warrior XI' instead of 'Dragon Quest XI'. If this is supposed to be a faithful translation to the original, then shouldn't it use the Japanese title (Dragon Quest) instead of the previous localized title that not even the current localizers use anymore (Dragon Warrior)?
I am and will always be a Dragon Warrior Not a Dragon ~~Quester~~
In short: Dragon Warrior is for OG gigachads who've been playing since the early 90s. Those that remember the rivalry with Final Fantasy (Square) and the early days of RPGs.
While Dragon Quest is for all the new fans that hopped on board since 2005 (aka the Square and Enix merger), the death of the rivalry, and all the modern additions to the series.
IMO, Warrior is just a better name, and i'll never let ~~Quest~~ slip out of my mouth lest people think i'm one of those limp-wristed newcomers. (Before anyone gets up in arms, just know that I'm being entirely facetious and don't actually care what you call the series. It's just what I named the mod.)
Yep -- their current API pricing is a flat $5.49 + $25 per 1 million characters.
DQXI's cutscene + dialogue text (so, not counting various item / enemy /etc names, which are usually best translated manually based on source material) is about 10 million characters altogether. It's about $255 for a game of this size, which isn't bad.
(You'd still be best off going back over and making manual revisions afterword)
Thinking about using it for Elden Ring Scrolls: the Soulsborne of All Time™?
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It's easier to appreciate some of what the localization does when you go back and translate the original Japanese, which is why we created documentation on it:
https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonquestxi/articles/7
https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonquestxi/articles/8
https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonquestxi/articles/12
https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonquestxi/articles/6
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sZGZkhIbp4saRpaHzsfmuDcbxrKgfS-xyUVnDFoi3uo/view
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QEsDkfFBLGZtDkybJefVQZ35wSFewPCNfTBJRpyMR5Y
The devs rely a lot on puns for example, which aren't easy to bring over between languages- in many cases they either don't bother or they go a completely different direction (sometimes creating puns where there weren't any originally). Other times it's 'terms' or 'turns of phrase' that are different. In a few other cases, it's more about cultural references or understanding (for example: someone who's not Japanese may not know much about the Japanese film "Matango" - an enemy name that makes reference to events in that movie won't make sense to a Western player).
This mod simply tries to bring the original meaning back as closely as possible. Sometimes that means reworking the puns or removing them altogether. Same with phrasing, etc. Names are closer to their original counterparts, even if they may not fit Western knowledge or naming conventions as well.
Bottom line: this mod is not about anything deemed 'wrong' with the localization, just about providing a different perspective and possibly greater understanding for those that really enjoy the game. I certainly wouldn't have known some of these Japanese names/quirks without having worked on this mod.
The mods I work on vary wildly in terms of both popularity and effort. And they do not correlate by and large. Some mods i've put lots of effort into do not reach a fraction of the popularity of some mods i've been able to throw together in half an hour.
This mod was a very high effort affair. It was never going to amass the level of interest I'd hoped, but I got it to a point I was reasonably happy with, with quite a bit of the game's terms and script re-worked. I learned a good bit while working on this project, which I am grateful to put forth toward other efforts. The documentation is openly available to anyone willing to use them and the permissions are open for anything to be reused provided credit is given where appropriate*.
It doesn't look like you've downloaded the mod:
Downloading and installing the mod is risk-free, it takes maybe a few minutes, and it would probably answer quite a lot of your questions in very short order.
Yes, some of the screenshots are out of date (many of them are from 2020 and even the "updated" ones are from like v0.2.1 released in 2021). If you would like to take and submit your own screenshots, it would be much appreciated and would spare me a fair bit of extra time I can use to work on other things.
*The #1 thing that I would work on, if someone were to pick up where I left off... would be to revise the cutscene dialogue, followed by the general dialogue. Some revisions have been made by community contributors as late as 2022, but these revisions only go so far as the first part of the game as far as i'm aware- maybe up to the Door of Departure sequence, if that.
From the way you phrased your reply though, it sounds like you're not working on this project anymore? That's a real shame. Retranslating such a big game is quite the task, and I can understand if you just got burnt out. If I could read Japanese or knew anything about how to mod/hack games, I'd try to help, but alas. I truly hope that somebody picks this project up someday. Thanks for taking the time to reply to me, and I wish you the best.
There are quite a number of mods out there (and many great ones buried well beneath the front page of Nexus!).
While this one is serviceable, it definitely isn't a top regarded mod, but there are so many others including: Retro Music Mod, Act 4 Collection (Ultimate Equipment, More Battles, Higher Levels), Seamless Cutscenes, Tension System, Better Monster AI... that add so much replay value to the game and several hours worth of additional content. Those are the ones worth grabbing the game again for.
When it comes on discount, I highly recommend checking out Epic Games Store. Last Christmas, the PC version was available for $16 there.
I think $16 for 200+ mods (of which, I bet you'll quite like 20-25 at a minimum) is a solid deal. You can wishlist the game on Steam to get an email when DQXI-S comes on discount. Then go and grab it on EGS to get the cheapest price.
Edit: Speak of the devil. It looks like the game is back on sale for $24 on Steam (until Feb 12th!). Doesn't appear to be discounted on EGS.
Also, do you have any plans on de-localizing the character names in Tickington? For some reason, the character names revert to their localized counterparts there.
Particularly anything that would touch the localization files (L10N). Anything that adds spells, abilities, etc... to the game. Since those spells need a name, they modify the same file, therefore might cause a conflict.
Good work, although i was hoping that this will help me to get rid of "crickey" the girl is saying.What does that even mean? What is she actually saying?
Nvm i read through all posts. Dialogue trans might take a while. Heaving names , towns transl is bit off when everyone is in text is calling it differently.If i can help somehow, let me know.
At some point I'd like to go through, see how much has changed and integrate some of these changes back to the mod.
I'm very open to adding more contributors, if someone is willing and dedicated. However, I don't necessarily want to add too many cooks to the kitchen so to speak. We have a specific set of goals in mind with the retranslation and you might think it's just "make it more like the original Japanese" but there's a lot of nuance there with different terms and meanings that don't translate directly over.
--------------------
With your other comments...i'm almost wondering if another mod is overriding this one's text for you. A lot of mods rely on the same localization files that this one does (for example to add names for new items, locations, etc) and typically those will override it.
I tried "full" translation, but as u stated it can be "fun" at times. Not for a full run.
I'm not good at text translation mainly because i have only basic knowledge of JP language and that applies only to voice not reading. And thats not good enough for actual translation work.
But i am good at regex , editing in general etc.
In short: Dragon Warrior is for OG gigachads who've been playing since the early 90s. Those that remember the rivalry with Final Fantasy (Square) and the early days of RPGs.
While Dragon Quest is for all the new fans that hopped on board since 2005 (aka the Square and Enix merger), the death of the rivalry, and all the modern additions to the series.
IMO, Warrior is just a better name, and i'll never let ~~Quest~~ slip out of my mouth lest people think i'm one of those limp-wristed newcomers.
(Before anyone gets up in arms, just know that I'm being entirely facetious and don't actually care what you call the series. It's just what I named the mod.)
DQXI's cutscene + dialogue text (so, not counting various item / enemy /etc names, which are usually best translated manually based on source material) is about 10 million characters altogether. It's about $255 for a game of this size, which isn't bad.
(You'd still be best off going back over and making manual revisions afterword)
Thinking about using it for Elden Ring Scrolls: the Soulsborne of All Time™?