A community translation patch for MBTL
Credits to Petrikow, Comun, Fumei and Lianru
- Download the latest release from Github
- Unpack the contents of the 'mbtools' folder into the main Melty Blood directory.
- Play the game.
There are certain things that are standardized across the project.
There are a lot of things you can, and cannot do in the game as it is currently coded. The MBTL box uses a special custom font that can be found in the file-system. It doesn't have a very long character set, so the amount of characters permitted is highly limited.
That said, there are some techniques to get around these limitations. Characters that can be rendered in the Japanese character set is long and extensive. For example, because a normal colon is a type of scripting indicator for the dialogue, it cannot be used normally, but if the encoding of the file is swapped to Shift-JIS, you can insert the Japanese character set colon instead. Other than that, the game has a bad case of mono-spacing, meaning that apostrophes and commas look a bit unusually large.
Semicolons appears to work perfectly fine. Quotation marks, both simple and double work fine. However, these are not facing quotation marks, but rather the generic kind. There is a way to use them, but it requires a special Unicode combination (see BossRush file 2 for an example). Em-dashes appear to either become mojibake or crash the game outright. There are no italics. In general I've chosen to use CAPS when I want to use the same kind of emphasis as one would with ordinary italics.
There are also some considerations for exactly how each file works:
The chat-box for the story-mode scripts and the win-quotes function the same. The amount of characters possible to be parsed in a single line before overflowing is around 60-70 (the actual amount depends on difference in character width, hence the variability). Going over this amount will cause the text to clip outside the frame. The chat-box supports 3 lines. However, the 3rd line needs to be shorter than the first 2. This is because otherwise it clips into the "click to read next" button. Try to keep it within 40-50 characters. In general, it is recommended to keep each line within 40-50 so they line up neatly with the 3rd line.
The command list is fairly simple. There is however still a character limit to adhere to. An approximate character limit is around 40-45, but keeping it under 40 is recommended.
The file marks the beginning and start of the battle voice strings with commas, so in order to use commas in the middle of text, that text must first be wrapped in quote ("") marks. The amount of characters supported by the battle voice format is remarkably long, easily over 100 characters. Realistically speaking, it should be able to contain most translations without any problems.
Japanese names are currently all in western order.
No honorifics or other Japanese familiarity terms.
Spelling is generally American (Archetype Earth spells differently).
For individual characters.
Casual speak. Cheerful, innocent. Sometimes changes her tone when serious to be a bit less casual.
Calls everyone by their first name.
Very formal, uses polite expressions. However, her speech is otherwise brief and to the point. Sometimes has a dead-pan silly mode.
Calls men "Mister x" and women "Miss x" (-様). Calls Shiki "Master Shiki", and Akiha "Lady Akiha".
Formal and uses polite expressions. Can be very eloquent. Can both show her hostility directly and indirectly. Sometimes liable to use sarcasm.
Calls people by their first name or title.
Casual speak. Direct and to the point, even more so when he's upset (glasses-off).
Calls people by their first name.
Casual speak with polite expressions. Especially liable to speak casually to Hisui. Can be quite silly.
Calls Akiha "Lady Akiha", but refers to Shiki by his first name. Refers to most other people by their first name.
Speaks fairly neutrally. Has a very technical and expansive vocabulary. Exudes a lot of smugness, and will take to creative means in order to rile people up.
Calls people by their last-name, or titles.
Has a curt and stiff way of speaking. Doesn't show much emotion. Uses a lot of Buddhist terminology, rendered from Japanese to their Sanskrit equivalent.
Usually calls people by monikers.
See Hisui and Kohaku
Has a very casual register, unless she's trying to suck up to people. Uses youthful slang, despite being in her late 20s. Sometimes can get quite crude when shes worked up.
Calls people by their first name. Calls Mario "Acting Presbyter" (his rank). Calls non-humans without using their name, calling Arcueid "that True Ancestor" and the like.
Has a formal yet direct way of speaking. His speech is drawling and slow, which is often represent by ... being interspersed in his sentences (just 、in Japanese).
Refers to people by monikers. Refers to Zaria (his vampire sire) as "my liege" (ご当主様). Refers to Roa as "vile Serpent" (蛇め).
Very close to Arcueid, but more emotional and worked up.
Speaks fairly neutrally. Changes her tone a lot depending on who she's talking to. Is friendly and approachable to humans, but cold and curt towards non-humans. Doesn't know which one of these to use against Arcueid (unless its Warc, in which case she's more cold)
Calls people by their first names. Calls Mario by his rank, "Acting Presbyter" (司祭代行).
Speaks very formally and to the point. Has a regal bearing.
Calls people by monikers.
Speaks childishly and with a poor vocabulary. Uses cliche kung fu phrases.
Calls people by their first name. Refers to her panda-trainer as "Master".
Speaks casually and slightly crudely. Will refer to herself in aggrandizing terms, and others in demeaning terms.
Calls people by their first name.
Speaks casually and lightheartedly. Has a jovial yet straight-forward tone.
Calls people by their titles or first names.
Has a very stiff and formal way of speaking. Will use mission-briefing style speech-patterns ("Target confirmed. Commencing attack", etc).
Calls people by their titles or last names.
Has an incredibly rude way of speaking. Swears a lot. His speech is full of vulgar expressions. Uses shortened speech (gotta, aboutta, lil, 'em (instead of "them"), etc). Uses a lot of implied pronouns. Sometimes speaks more normally when he's thinking or reminiscing.
Calls people by demeaning nicknames. Calls Noel "fatass" (ﾌﾞﾀ).
Annoying cat (placeholder)
Reserved but assertive kouhai (placeholder)
Speaks in archaic English (approx, Victorian English). Uses antiquated grammatical expressions alongside old pronouns.
For words that appear repeatedly and need to be kept consistent
In general, terminology is left uncapitalized unless it intersects with another meaning of the word.
For example: Executor (an agent of the Holy Church) as a term is kept capitalized as to differentiate it from executor (someone who executes) as a word. Likewise a Dead Apostle (type of vampire) is not just a dead apostle (an apostle that is dead). In contrast, magecraft only ever refers to the term, and as such is not liable to be misconstrued as anything else.
In addition, some things are capitalized by virtue of being names of organizations, places or titles.
| Japanese | English | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| 原理 | Principle | Ability gained by vampires that live long. |
| 原理血戒 | Idea Blood | Ability possessed by the 27 Ancestors. |
| 使徒 | Dead Apostle | Common type of vampire. |
| 二十七祖 | 27 Ancestor(s) | Most powerful type of Dead Apostle. |
| 真祖 | True Ancestor | Rare type of vampire. |
| 吸血種 | bloodsucker | Any species that sucks blood. |
| 吸血鬼 | vampire | Type of bloodsucker (includes DA and TA) |
| 吸血衝動 | vampiric urges | Urge to suck blood. Strong among TAs. |
| 魔術 | magecraft | Ability to reproduce Mystery. |
| 魔術回路 | Magic Circuit(s) | Organ used for magecraft. |
| 魔術師 | mage(s) | People who use magecraft. |
| 魔術教会 | (the) Mages Association | Organization that practices magecraft. |
| 神秘 | (the) Arcane, Arcana, Arcanum | Supernatural phenomena. |
| 魔法 | Magic | Peak of magecraft. There are only 5. |
| 魔法使い | Magician | Someone who can use magic. |
| 魔力 | magical energy | Energy used for all kinds of Mystery. |
| 魔眼 | Mystic Eyes | Supernatural eyes. |
| 直死の魔眼 | Mystic Eyes of Death Perception | Shiki's Mystic Eyes. |
| 死者 | the Dead (p)/Dead(s) | Undead familiars created by Dead Apostles. |
| 聖堂教会 | (the) Holy Church | Organization dedicated to killing vampires |
| 代行者 | Executor | Church agent who kills vampires. |
| 埋葬機関 | Burial Agency | Special unit within the Church. |
| 司祭 | Presbyter | Rank within the Church. |
| 司祭代行 | Acting Presbyter | Mario's title. |
| 人形使い | Puppetmaster | Mario's first nickname. |
| 人間使い | Peoplemaster | Mario's second nickname. |
| 混血 | Mixblood | Human who has intermixed with non-humans |
| 鬼 | Oni | Type of Japanese non-human. |
| 独角 | Lone-Horn | Kouma Kishima's martial art style. |
| 北海 | northern seas | Where Vlov comes from. Not the North Sea. |
| 星の内海 | (the) Planet's Inner-sea | Reverse side of Earth. |
| チャイナ | China-girl | Neco-Arc's nickname for Miyako |
| メガネ | glasses-boy | Neco-Arc's nickname for Shiki |
| 親(元) | sire | Vampire 'parent'. Only for vampires. |
| 子 | offspring | Vampire 'child'. Only for vampires. |
| 七つの死因 | Seven Causes of Death | The concept of the Seventh Scripture. |
| 転生無限者 | (the) Infinite Reincarnator | Roa's first nickname |
| アカシャの蛇 | The Serpent of Akasha | Roa's second nickname |
| 幻想獣 | Phantasmal Beast | Mythological creatures |
| 腑海林 | Gutwood | One of Forest of Einnashe's titles |
| Character | Status |
|---|---|
| Arcueid (000) | Editing complete (Light) |
| Arcueid B (000) | N/A |
| Hisui (001) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Akiha (002) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Shiki (003) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Kohaku (004) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Roa (005) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Kouma (006) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Maids (007) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Noel (008) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| BossRush B(008) | N/A |
| Vlov (009) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Warc (010) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Ciel (011) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| CielB (011) | N/A |
| Saber (012) | Editing complete (Light) |
| Miyako (013) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| BossRush (013) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| DA Noel (014) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Aoko (015) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| P. Ciel (016) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Mario (017) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Neco-Arc (019) | Translation complete (Petri) |
| Mash (020) | Translation complete (Petri) |
| Mash B (020) | Translation complete (Petri) |
| Character | Status |
|---|---|
| Arcueid (000) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Hisui (001) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Akiha (002) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Shiki (003) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Kohaku (004) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Roa (005) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Kouma (006) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Maids (007) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Noel (008) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Vlov (009) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Warc (010) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Ciel (011) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Saber (012) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Miyako (013) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| DA Noel (014) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Aoko (015) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| P. Ciel (016) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Mario (017) | Play-testing adjustments (Petri) |
| Neco-Arc (019) | Translation complete (Petri) |
| Mash (020) | Translation complete (Petri) |
| Subset | Status |
|---|---|
| Command List (cmddef.ini) | Finalized (Petri) |
| Battlevoice (stringfile_battlevoice.csv) | Proofread (Lian) |