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Here in the United States, we’ll be spending Thursday the way The Lord God intended: eating our weight in meat, potatoes, and gravy, then farting ourselves to sleep on our uncles’ living room couches. Those of you from other countries have good reason to be jealous; there’s no slumber quite as deep or blissful as the post-Thanksgiving coma. But guess what, my forlorn foreign friends? This year, you’re in luck. That’s right — I’ve decided to write another image editing post. With any luck, this’ll put you to sleep faster than the second season of The Walking Dead. I know. Those are lofty claims, but I’m ready to deliver a Thanksgiving miracle. You’re welcome. Insomniacs of the World, Good Night. So at the tail end of image editing on a yet-to-be-released otome translation, I got a care package from the TL team with an additional set of graphics that needed retouching. Most of it was straightforward stuff — modal UI elements, chapter title screens, etc. — but one folder in particular seemed to emanate waves of pure evil. You know that feeling you get when your phone rings at 7 o’clock on a Sunday morning? And you can see it’s your boss calling? And every hung-over bone in your body screams at you not to answer, but you know you have to? Yeah, kind of like that. So I opened it. Inside were 13 different full-screen maps, all very similar to the one above, showing the in-game route from one castle to another. I could already see it was going to be a relatively painful retouching job — lots of smallish text set against an intricately illustrated and heavily weathered map. Complicating matters was the fact that the same map was then repeated 12 more times with slight variations, each image representing the path traveled by the characters over the course of a particular chapter. Ouch. Image editing is all about measuring twice and cutting once. The more you mess with an image, the more room there is for errors and inconsistencies to creep in — and the more time you waste. So in this case, my first job was to see how much each map actually differed from the next. With any luck, I could create a base map template that contained 90% of the heavy retouching — those elements that were common to all maps — then paste the individual elements for all the other maps on top of that. In Photoshop, the easiest way to do this is layering one image over another, then applying the Difference blending mode. (For you programmers out there, you can think of this as running a diff command on two text files.) The result looks something like this: The black pixels represent areas where the two images are identical; the non-black pixels show where they differ. In this case, after doing this with all the images, I could see there were two main points of difference between the maps. First, the inset box on the lower right, which shows the characters’ origin, destination, and the direction of travel, along with thumbnail pictures of each location. Second, the path indicator along the road, with a highlighted road marker showing the characters’ final destination. With this info in hand, I could now start tackling the retouching itself, while setting the Photoshop file up for maximum efficiency and flexibility. The first step in building a map template was to remove the Japanese text from the image: Tedious stuff, but fairly standard. You might notice that I only removed the text from one of the orange road marker “capsules.” There were a couple reasons for that. For one, there weren’t a lot of similar patches of texture to pull from for cloning, so retouching them all would be a pain in the ass and produce uneven results. Moreover, it would be inefficient, since other than the weathering, they all look more or less identical. So in this case, I drew a selection path around the one retouched capsule, turned it into a smart object, then duped it about 20 times for all the other markers along the road: Better, but not quite there yet. It’s painfully obvious that all the capsules are identical, and they stick out like sore thumbs; they’re crisp and clean while the rest of the map looks beat up and worn. So my next step was to blend them into the map and add an element of irregularity by duplicating the original map image, floating it up to the top, then applying the Lighter Color blending mode. This mode compares the two images pixel by pixel, and whichever pixel is lighter gets displayed in the final image. Since the capsules were comparatively dark, this effectively lets me pick up the weathered areas of the map where the lighter parchment shows through and apply it only to the capsules. Much better. They look baked into the map now. As a final touch, I also added the slightest bit of canvas texture as an FX layer set to Color Burn to bring back some level of darker noise to the capsules. Not too much, though; since we have to be able to read 4-9 small English letters as opposed to a couple large kanji characters, we need to allow for some increased contrast. Done and done. I was finally in a position where I could start adding the translated text to the map. And that’s where I decided to break one of my cardinal rules: never set English type in vertical stacks. Every rule has its exception, though, and this was one right here. The lettering in older, hand-drawn maps was often a loosey-goosey affair, with cartographers squeezing in type wherever they could, however they could. Horizontal, vertical, curved — whatever it took to cram words into the space available. English vertical type would have been right at home on a document like this. Since most of the place names on this map were short, and the space available to me was largely vertical blocks, I decided to go for it. I picked a Western font I thought captured the feel of the original map lettering, then re-set all the type. With the base map template finished, I could quickly set about outputting those other 12 map variants. This basically involved creating a dozen layer group overlays for the inset box in the lower right, each one holding updated text and location images copy/pasted from the original maps, along with UI indicators as needed — the blue swirl indicating current location, and the hand-drawn arrow indicating direction of travel. Then I created another set of overlays for the red path line drawn over the map itself. Since the capsules were all smart objects, I could easily highlight individual ones as needed by selectively applying a light orange Color Overlay FX with a Soft Light blending mode. Think that bright red line and arrow on the road looks shockingly bad? Me too, especially considering how well art directed the rest of the VN is. It’s almost like the devs had an intern add it in Windows Paint at the last second or something. Oy vey. Anyway, everything else came together quickly after that. In short order, all the maps were exported and the new files were back in the hands of the team. Asleep yet? All told, the project took about 90 minutes for 13 images, with the first half an hour or so spent reviewing the maps and coming up with a plan of attack. Had I not “wasted” that time up front, I could have easily spent 2-3X longer trying to get things done in less efficient ways — if not more. So what have we learned today? When it comes to image editing, always measure twice and cut once. Plan ahead, especially on more complex projects.Always be willing to break, or at least bend, your own rules if a situation demands it.I will be made up of approximately 93% pumpkin pie by this time tomorrow.#3 is a very conservative estimate.

Yes, but keep in mind that this might not work if the person who called you an idiot has had sex with her.

Does Japanese properly pluralize English loanwords? If so, then I'll happily return the favor. If not, go pound sand.

Here's a few quotes that makes Grisaia so great for me... cause I was laughing my ass off while reading them.

Was it this? Though it's not about plurals.

I'm just here to read and laugh at all the comments

It's actually animaymays

You figured it out, I guess.

Even better: Add an option to display Japanese dialogue instead of English dialogue and leave everything untranslated. There's no better translation than no translation!

We at Retro Sumus are currently developing Ameba, a detective adventure in the form of a western-made, western-set visual novel. The story takes place in Madrid, Spain, as the main character is a veteran senior officer from the Policía Nacional. Here is the teaser trailer for the project: And here is our first interview with SegaZine last year showing some character sketches... http://retrosumus.com/2014/11/our-first-interview-character-designs-revealed/ ...and our second interview, with the Dreamcast Junkyard, where we showed the first screenshots of both Ameba and Xenocider, our 3D on-rails shooter also in development (nothing to do with VN's at all). http://retrosumus.com/2015/06/ameba-xenocider-screenshots-interview-dc-junkyard/ We have been sharing our progress (on both projects currently in development) in a series of videos we call the Dev Diaries: Also, we showed our first very early demo a few days ago at RetroBarcelona, the biggest indie/retro event here in Spain. Not a great video but, for now... So, why the Dreamcast, a 15+ year old console? Well, we're developing the game for PC as well as Dreamcast and Saturn This is my second thread here so I hope I'm doing this right! You can follow us on: http://facebook.com/retrosumus http://twitter.com/retrosumus http://youtube.com/retrosumus http://soundcloud.com/retrosumus

That's probably as close to a woman as I'll ever be, thank you Eclipsed, I can die happy now.

At least something good came from this event \ /

Cats aren't as useless as everyone says.

No I wont admit it because I am the one who watches those. Name me an ecchi show that is on the level of anime like Cowboy Bebop or Fullmetal Alchemist. I think asking for an anime that's about fanservice to be on the same scale on what some would consider some of the greatest masterpieces of anime might be setting your scales a bit too high. It's a pretty unrealistic expectation to be frank. The Monogatari series is a good example of a great anime with a good story and ecchi elements, though I know some wouldn't consider it an ecchi series (MAL doesn't have an ecchi tag for it) it certainly has it's moments of fanservice. Edit: But overall fanservice in anime does send a really mixed message to a lot of western audiences. The west are such prudes.

I was a little bit sad that I couldn't find myself in this picture, and then I saw it and the person who is opposite to me.

Elfen Lied is slightly less garbage than the Sakura series. Slightly.

I refuse and will continue to use animays!

The best translations are works that remain true to the characters and to the dialogue and story lines. The translator is not the artist. The translator is the vehicle for the original artist to be voiced in a new language. Cutting out dialogues or changing stories and characters is absurd and amateurish. Since MG was brought up I've been looking at some of the descriptions and character profiles of the games and VNs. Some are great but many are dreadful. They make no sense in English. Pst... "Fuwa Elite" is a title and not a username. I'm new.

Pst... "Fuwa Elite" is a title and not a username.

It's unknown and that data isn't very reliable. You have to give it more than a day or two to get a complete picture.

Yes! Finally, this lowly peasant has been graced by Flutterz-sama's legendary moe greeting. My life is complete.

Hi One of the translators on the project here. We decided to leave the desu in the English version for a couple of reasons. 1. To generate this discussion and see what people have to say. Obviously desugate has really picked up steam. Which is great. Debate shows passion for the art and loving or hating it is a much better response than no response at all. Yes, it is a marketing test. Thank you for participating. 2. Its not so much a verbal tick as it is a mental tick that reveals itself verbally. Lycorice is an interesting and fun character. The desu appears only a short number of times. We present it when she herself repeats it. She says desu once just about all the time. Whats interesting for us is why she says it twice. She is confirming her answer to who she is speaking to. She is confirming to them she understands what they are saying to her but maybe more importantly, she is confirming her response to herself. Yes, there should probably be a footnote about it or have it mentioned in her character profile. She's a couple of beers short of a 6 pack that is true. I see a lot of Japanese work that completely gets the life sucked out of it by poor translators, translators in a hurry or translators who are not qualified at a cultural and or language level for the work. I think Western audiences deserve better. About us. We've worked in translation for literary, film, music and television projects both in Japan and in Hollywood. We've been translating for almost 20 years. We are native Japanese and English speakers. We live and work in Tokyo and love Japan. Desu. KumaDog, desu.

Filthy cute animals with their perverted definitions of happiness. Leave me alone!

Confession: It was delicious.

the cookie lied to you

Hidden Content

Coming Soon - the second bail OriginalRen out of poverty flash sale!

The wedding dress Nana will be like the others, so probably around 9,000 yen. As for the Envy, well, she was $234 (28,700 yen).

When VNs have so many choices they cover the CG

Throw some dirt on it. Walk it off.

No I wont admit it because I am the one who watches those. Name me an ecchi show that is on the level of anime like Cowboy Bebop or Fullmetal Alchemist. You think that I have watched those two? It's just a matter of opinion. I'm looking for stress relieve and you are looking for a story (maybe). I don't want to continue this conversation here.

There is a Raichu on my shoulder. And that is adorable. Happy Turkey Murder Day!

Confession: I got downvoted on reddit and one user even went as far as to call me an "idiot". Who is going to help me? Should I tell my mom?

Thank you so much for letting me know! I am not used to this sort of thing, so I'm sorry for mentioning a taboo! I've edited my post. Thank you for the welcomes everyone. I cannot think of any VNs that are my favorite at the moment, because it has been several years. I do see Hakuoki sitting below my TV though, and I remember really enjoying the historical aspects of it. I moved on from VNs to choice based video games, so it's difficult not to get those out of my head. I remember playing The Second Reproduction and If My Heart Had Wings. I know I played others, but my memory is so bad. XD Also, I am not sure how I stumbled upon VNs in the first place. I remember being a little girl and playing those frilly flash games with cliche stories. So maybe that's it haha.

Welcome to the forums! Hope you enjoy your stay! How did you find out about VNs? Have a moe:

*See's solidbatman wrote review* *Scrolls down to the score ignoring the text* "solidbatman YOU SON OF A BITCH... oh wait" *Reads review* You too can read my Clannad review here

Welcome to the forums. What you'll probably find is different responses depending on what section of the community people come from. /a/ fans, or fans immersed deep in Japanese culture are fine with the inclusion of Japanese words randomly through the script, but these sorts of people and this sort of practice has a bad reputation almost everywhere else. On the other side of the spectrum, over-localisation has a bad reputation inside this exclusive Japanese fanbase, but is usually considered fine in the mainstream. There's really no way you'd appease all fans, you'd know this, so you'd just have to pick a path and make it as palatable to others as possible. I should point out that excluding translation notes in a translation which is contains foreign words is not the way to make it palatable to others, it kinda ticks people off. Maybe I'll translate a story from Egyptian, then litter the work with meaningful Egyptian words and see what sort of impression you take away from this? See, that doesn't come across at all. It's an interesting character trait, but it fails to be interesting when people can't share in it (like the majority of the English speaking audience.) So if it's not explained it ceases to be a mental or verbal tick, and just becomes 'a meaningless foreign thing.' So yeah, please footnote it or localise it. I drop stories immediately when I encounter random foreign words which are not widely known and not translated, because it's almost always a sign of people who don't know what they're doing. In fact, this is probably the only instance I've known of qualified people who have tried to do it. Enjoy your stay, ignore the rabbidness and good luck with the future kickstarter

I never knew that I wanted to be a vampire cat princess before now, but the idea is growing in my head at a terrifying rate of knots. The main site doesn't have any downloads on them anymore, and the posting of links to downloads is pretty frowned upon - which may explain the difficulty you're having in finding the old download pages! But anyway, welcome to the forums! Any favourite VNs?

Welcome to the forums~

Another suggestion: why not use "indeed" where she uses "desu"? I love you, indeed. She is crazy, indeed. Etc.

I think there is only one way for visual novels in the West to be saved. You need leadership in this market, you need somebody to step up to the plate and say "NO! THIS IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH!". People need to realise that we can do better than this, that supporting these titles just for a couple of lulz really isn't worth it. Imagine what you could do if you had actual trained writers who studied literature in college and could use their skills to craft a masterful visual novel. Imagine a world where people value games that take time to build rather than pointless shovelware that feels like it's been put together by a couple of monkeys on LSD. Imagine a beautiful place where studios like AJTilley don't exist. Think about the power you and your wallet have and how you can shift the course of history. The world of visual novels is but an oyster, waiting to be pried open at any moment and show its true value. Indeed we have strayed away from the right path. But not all hope is lost, visual novels can still thrive and build a wonderful market. What we need is a guiding light, and fear not, because we have one already, we just can't see it yet... And that's because in this entire world, only one individual is capable of achieving this feat... AND HIS NAME IS JOHN CENA! ???????????????

My favorite part is the third screenshot on the Highschool Possession page where whoever drew the penis somehow drew it upside down. I anticipate this being a top seller on release.

Our old and new sprite for The Letter

any anime where the protagonist doesnt get anywhere with the girl and they are hovering within the friend zone for an eternity. So pretty much 95% of all animes. VNs for the f***ing win.

Clannad Licensed by Sekai Project Clannad is a Japanese Visual Novel created by the company Key which is known for its other titles such as Air and Kanon. Clannad, unlike its predecessors, does not contain any adult content but instead, focuses on the relationships between the characters. Story Clannad's story revolves around Tomoya Okazaki, a third year high school student who dislikes his life. Tomoya's mother (Atsuko) died when Tomoya was young, leaving his father (Naoyuki) to raise him. After the accident, Tomoya's father turned to alcohol and gambling, and held frequent fights with his son. One day, Naoyuki, again arguing with his son, slammed Tomoya against the wall, dislocating Tomoya's shoulder. Ever since then, his father has treated Tomoya nicely, but distantly, as if Tomoya and he were strangers rather than a family. This hurts Tomoya more than his previous relationship with his father, and the awkwardness of returning home leads Tomoya constantly to stay out all night. Additionally, the injury disables Tomoya from participating in his basketball club, and pushes him to distance himself from his school and other activities. Thus his delinquent life begins. Tomoya's good friend Youhei Sunohara, who got thrown out of the soccer club for a dispute, is also a delinquent and often hangs out in his dorm room with Tomoya doing nothing much. Suggested Walkthrough Order!! Ending Guide The '*' marked choices are the essential ones. For any other choice you can choose what you want for different dialogues. The number inside the square brackets "[]" tells you the number of the choice (So [2] would be choice 2). ***School Life Routes*** Sagara Misae: Sakagami Tomoyo: Miyazawa Yukine Fujibayashi Ryou Fujibayashi Kyou Hiiragi Kappei Sunohara Siblings Ichinose Kotomi Ibuki Fuko Toshio Koumura Furukawa Nagisa After Story ************************************************************ A Guide to the Minigames within Clannad Yukine's storage room curse In Yukine's route there are 'spell games' that you can play on the 23rd and 24th of April. There are many different variations to the storage curse. Here is the list of Characters you can have fun with!! Furukawa Nagisa Furukawa Akio! Sakagami Tomoyo Fubayashi Kyou Sagare Misae Ibuki Fuko Doki Doki High School Sometimes you are prompt to read manga or play a ‘Doki Doki High School’ mini game. Check here for guide!! Possibilities for Sunohara's Girlfriend In Mei Sunohara's route you'll have to find Sunohara a girlfriend. You'll end up with Sanae in the end no matter what but here are some other fun options. Prank list for Fuko Throughout the Ibuki Fuko route you can play pranks on Fuko but here are some things you'll have to pay attention to. 3v3 Basketball Partners During Nagisa and Toshio's route, there is a 3v3 Basketball Minigame where you can select your teammates. You can have different partners other than Tomoyo and Kyou. Here's a detailed walkthrough for how to get each character: Attention: Fubayashi Ryou, Ibuki Yukine and Furukawa Nagisa as partner will result in a loss, giving you the Bad End. Sagare Misae Yoshio Yusuke Furukawa Akio! Fubayashi Ryou Fubuki Fuko Miyazawa Yukine Furukawa Nagisa Baseball Fun This is a fun route with Akio and other characters! It is possible to see the laser tag game with other options, but if you don't meet the criteria for the baseball scene, you will get a bad end immediately after the tag game. There are multiple outcomes to the baseball game, but these choices result in winning. Jet Saito There is a way you can cause Jet Saito to appear in two different places. The first few choices are the same, and split off once you decide where you want to see him. It's a one line cameo, but this is about the most random thing you'll ever see. Scenes to Replay Some scenes have various versions to it that you can play it again and find new items! Things include This walkthrough is taken from the Animesuki Forum and the 300 hour Clannad Guide, with minor changes/improvements added by me.