Translation Hacking

There's been a bit of activity with the translation lately, so I've been working more on the translation tools. Here's real video of the proof-of-concept I posted previously.



I figured it would be a bit rough to use this approach. Unfortunately, anything more than this would multiply the amount of work many times.

I've also discovered there are 34 images on the game discs that don't seem to ever appear in the game. They're not particularly interesting, however.

Java real-time video playback

Much of the easy changes have already been made to jPSXdec. The biggest and hardest change left is implementing real-time playback. To do this in pure Java is tricky. I've spent a month looking at every kind of Java video player out there.

I want to keep jPSXdec as cross-platform and simple-to-use as possible (Just Work™). So while the JMF has Java-only implementations for playback, it needs a separate installation, has far more functionality that I need, and being closed source doesn't help. It's curious that even though the JMF has plenty of documented bugs, and hasn't been updated in years, it's still the de facto Java media standard. Meanwhile, the FMJ library is open source, but it's even bigger than JMF, and uses JNI to wield each platform's native playing capabilities. I've examined various other small libraries, but nothing met my needs: a simple synchronized audio and video player. So I'm stuck trying to figure out how to do it myself.

Initially I thought to duplicate the general design of JMF/FMJ since it seems to work for them. It would also help someone with greater familiarity with those libs to take the next step and properly integrate PSX decoding into them. However, after several days of tearing apart those massive libraries, and seeing I'd only scratched the surface, I dropped that idea.

Finally went back and took a closer look at SurePlayer. It plays mpeg1 movies great with very little processor use. It's fully cross-platform, and is a much more digestible library, so I'll be using that as a guide for implementation. With this clear direction, I can push forward with more jPSXdec development. Maybe in several years when Java 7 is ubiquitous, jPSXdec can be changed to utilize the new JMC.

Also during my searchings I serendipitously ran across a Java library to handle cross-platform raw CD reading! It's not quite as clean as I would like, but it's a pretty good foundation to build upon.

In other news, we've had a couple translators pop out of the woodwork recently. Will they be the salvation this project so desperately needs?

A man can dream.

zOMG psx.lain.pl is down!

And it has been for quite awhile. I thought it was just temporary, but finally learned yesterday that the good fellow that was nice enough to host the page has chosen to close the account. We are grateful for the time we could use the server.

Don't worry, we still have all data and work done so far. Unfortunately we're currently without a host, and the project is still stuck at around 14% completion.

I personally would like to thank everyone that has contributed thus far...

Hikari - Translated dialogs from video sequences to Polish.
phm - Extracted the media with jpsxdec and setup the wiki. Retranslated video sequences dialogs from Polish to English. Advertised for translators, and coordinated with their changes.
MercuryTW - Provided some translations from a translator of his own (Keigo). Edited/corrected translated files.
stalker-kun - Provided hosting for the wiki.
otakufish - Provided some translations.
toruvinn - Provided nice domain.
farhan - Ruthlessly proofread random translations, utilising his qualifications in the field of Applied Pedantry with Grammar Nazism.
fishy - Proofread translations, created the public project page.
arc - Provided some translations.
Jossos - Provided some translations.
utakata - corrected a Japanese transcription.
Najica - Provided some translations.
Quibbage - Created subtitle files for videos.

...and everyone else (sorry if I've missed your name here)--thank you all very much.

jPSXdec development has been pretty quiet as well. I should submit the bug that fails to decode some of the Lain videos, or just commit the fix. The next things to do with jPSXdec require some major changes, and things have been busy (my toon won't hit level 60 by itself ;). I'm still here and interested in the project and related topics. I don't plan on that changing anytime soon.

lain? lain!

The Serial Experiments Lain PSX Game Translation Project is really coming along. A few more wonderful translators have generously offered some help. We have roughly 7% of the game translated already.

Here are some exciting fruits of everyone's efforts so far (actual screenshots).

nihongo niban

Much awesomeness has transpired recently. But first, the dull ramblings of jpsxdec status.

Looked up how to encode uncompressed (RGB) AVI files. It's not too complicated--Microsoft and other sites have usable documentation. Even found a Java class to get me started. Of course if we're gonna write AVI files, we need to know the frame-rate. Just a simple 400 lines of code is all that took. Needed to also change the overall code design to a 'push' architecture with listeners. This had the additional bonus of pulling the actual file writing to the top-level interface--right where it belongs.

Overall things are looking pretty good. For the next release I want to add a new popup window showing the many decoding options.

Also in the future I want to allow for piping out uncompressed AVI to a program like ffmpeg or mencoder. For Windows I'll also include the infamous Video for Windows. Still need to add raw cd reading.

But while merrily carrying on with all this, out of nowhere came a fishy fellow with the powers of language transformation! He generously offered to spend some time with the S.E. Lain game. Sooo... efforts on jpsxdec are delayed as the Serial Experiments Lain PSX Game Translation Project commences (SELPGTP?).

But with 5.5 hours of audio, he has his work cut out for him. Do you share the powers of language transformation? We could really use your help.

On the technical side, we are working on adding the eventual translation into the game. And I present to you an actual screen shot based on an earlier idea.