October 28, 2013
Patrino
Forward: Approach and technical details
Approach to translating
EarthBound, like most games of its kind, was originally written in Japanese. As such, to translate from English to Esperanto would be to produce a translation of a translation - not necessarily a problem, but a choice to be conscious of. I am fortunate to have access to the Japanese script and the abillity to at least stumble through it, giving me the option to translate from English or Japanese. I've opted for something in between.
EartBound presents the fascinating opportunity to imagine and build a land, a world, in which Esperanto is truly realized as the Internacia Lingvo, in a way it never would be in our world - it is simply the language everyone speaks, and has always spoken. As such, my top priority in translating is to produce natural Esperanto as it would be spoken, even in situations where there is little or no precedent for what this would sound like. To this end, while I am working mostly from the English script, I am swearing absolute fidelity neither to its words nor those of the Japanese original, but drawing fully and simultaneously from both to produce the best possible translation of the game in essence. When the two scripts differ, I choose which line to work from based on which can can be rendered most effectively in Esperanto.
If you're interested in learning more about the differences between EarthBound's English and Japanese script, you should check out the page on Legends of Localization if you haven't already. Indeed, this project, being an analysis of EarthBound in translation, can be expected to overlap significantly with Mandelin's work at Legends of Localization; I hope in this respect it can be seen as an homage of sorts. Mandelin's (or Tomato, as I knew him) work on both analyzing the translation and reverse-engineering the code of EarthBound inspired my development as both a programmer and a translator.
With regard to my own credentials to carry out this project, they are inevitably insufficient. While I'm no stranger to translation or linguistics, with regards to Esperanto there still lies a far longer road ahead than behind. But if I wait until I feel my Esperanto is at the level necessary to do a perfect job, I will never start. Esperanto's youth and its community of almost exclusively non-native speakers present both a challenge and an opportunity to me as a translator. If I produce a novel or questionable turn of phrase, whether by choice or inexperience, there do not exist the generations of standardization present in so-called natural languages to deem me right or wrong; only the collective whims and wisdom of Esperanto's speakers will decide if my words will live or die. As I proceed I will be reading whatever I can get my hands on in Esperanto to expand my language comfort and familiarity, but at the end of the day this project is not an exercise in imitation but a wild experiment in translation and linguistics. Of course, I eagerly welcome feedback at every step of the journey.
Some notes on the notes
As I imagine we could all sit ourselves comfortably around not too large a table, it is not my intention to write these notes only for the interest and reading pleasure of Esperantist EarthBound fans. I must note with some amusement that I began translating this paragraph (the one you're reading now!) from its Esperanto counterpart, only to wonder whom I was writing for - if you're here reading in English, you are probably already familiar with EarthBound, likely even forward, backwards, and inside out. (If however you are here purely by your interest in Esperanto, why not read this in Esperanto instead? You can do it, it'll be fun!) As I often unwittingly assume the reader knows what I'm talking about regarding the source material, you who know EarthBound will likely have no trouble following along and can probably safely skip the chapter introductions, in which I will briefly recount the plot points and characters relevant to the work at hand. Following the introduction, each page is also divided into four sections - home runs, strikes, other notes and images. In the first of these I will remark on moments when the translation seemed to work remarkably well or produced particularly interesting results; in strikes, I look over my doubts and areas for improvement, regarding which I always welcome suggestions. The rest should be self-explanatory, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
The technical challenge
Translating a video game comes with some challenges I would not encounter in any other medium. Not only the script must be extracted, translated, and reinserted into the game, but also menus, logos, graphics and fonts, each with their own formats to be deciphered. (In the image you can see, for example, the character naming screen. Inserting the accented letters, positioning them on the screen, and making them functional each presented their own fun frustrations that kept me busy for longer than I'd care to admit.) The goal is simple (to state): leave no stone unturned, such that nobody would ever know the game wasn't originally in Esperanto.
Fortunately for me, there exists a vast community online dedicated to picking apart and reverse-engineering video games, and the PK Hack community surrounding EarthBound is one of the most dedicated and productive of all. The help of this excellent community has reduced the challenge of gutting EarthBound and resurrecting it in Esperanto such that I almost feel let down by how easy it has been. (Given how young the project is, I expect to eat these words many times over.)
In particular, this project would probably never have gotten off the ground if it weren't for MrTenda, MrAccident, Lyrositor, and AnyoneEB whose utilities have been indispensible. I extend my deepest thanks and appreciation also to Penguin and the other #pkhax regulars for their assistance, Tomato for inspiration on multiple fronts, and the entire PK Hack and starmen.net community for their work, documentations, dedication, and friendship throughout the years.