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 Greetings Doki Legion and members of the worldwide Key Kazoku! Clannad Man here to provide you with a long overdue Visual Novel Division update!
So what’s been going on these past several months? Quite a few things, actually. Around the beginning of Summer, the Team began transitioning our content over to Github. Reorganizing the translation repositories has taken some time but will ultimately streamline how work on the games is conducted. However… I bet you didn’t start reading this article for news like this, did you? Of course not. Onto the games!
Let’s start with the big news. After months of fumbling around attempting to create updated Tomoyo After patches for Mac and Linux, the VN Team has finally been able to do so. Sometime over the next few days, an open-beta period for the v1.1 patches will begin. While it is believed the patch should work correctly for everything outside of unsupported OP video (including the Dungeons & Takafumis minigame), the VN Division would like to clarify that this is the case. To Mac & Linux users, enjoy!
A lot of progress has been made on the technical side for the Tomoyo After’s Memorial Edition. Scripts have been extracted and matched up with the original, leaving only the changes between editions untranslated. While the VN Division is splitting its efforts between Clannad and Little Busters!, the remaining work that needs to be done on the game is relatively straightforward. If any able bodied translators were to volunteer to assist, work on the translation could probably continue in short order… *hint* *hint*.
On to Little Busters! EX/ME: Translation and editing continues with Sasami’s route having been completed and edited. It is currently going through internal testing for quality assurance; perhaps there will be a partial patch release to reflect its completion. Kanata route has a few untranslated pieces on common route, putting that one’s release a bit further along the line. The focus right now is on Saya’s Route and additions to the Common Route. Feel free to follow the VN Team’s progress HERE.
In addition to the lengthy transition that has taken place with Fluffy’s merger into Doki VN, translation progress has been slowed by the stepping down of Claymore_Smiley and the leave of absence taken by dango. The Team is actively looking for additional members to fill in for their vacancies. Again, if there are any capable Japanese to English translators who would be interested in assisting the completion of Little Busters! EX/ME or any of our other VN Translation Projects, please mention your interest in the comments section or on the #doki-recruits channel on IRC.
On the plus side, Kuzu will be transitioning back over to Doki VN at the end of the season to focus on Clannad’s translation checks with NeWbY. Several of the VN Division’s editors have been reviewing the game’s SEENs and will continue working with the game’s translators into the foreseeable future.
So that’s that. Updates all around for everyone. Oh, and the Key15th Project is still underway for you Key fans. We’ll get you all updated on that soon enough. Until next time, ciao!
Various Members of Doki’s North American Staff (& Friends)
Hello again, Doki Legion! Though it has been nearly a month since Anime North has ended, people have continued to ask for a summary of Doki’s presence at the convention as well as footage from the 「key15th」 presentation if it became available.
While TheThing was planning on writing a summary post for Doki, he became busy, so I took the liberty of writing up a convention summary on behalf of Doki’s attendees. Here’s the tl;dr version:
Friday (May 24th): Arrival (12pm) / “Our rooms won’t be ready until 6pm?” / Aimless Wandering / Autographs / Nominoichi
Saturday (May 25th): Morning Brunch / Workout / Maid Café / Various Panels & Photoshoots / Review Notes / Key Panel Time! / 13-Man Dinner
Sunday (May 26th): “You’re kicking us out of our hotel room an hour early?” / AKB0048 Café / Dealers Room Deals / Panel & Rest / Departure
You can find the full convention summary over at the Key15th website.
Regarding the Key presentation, it took awhile to collect and edit various video and audio feeds together to make a full presentation. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Curser656 for capturing the large majority of the presentation; your contribution really added a lot to the recording’s final edit. I’d also like to thank Doki’s Aieon and jakeman95 for their significant contributions as panelists.
While the presentation experience can’t be identically replicated (no surround sound, audience interaction, etc.), you should still get a good idea for what the presentation was like. If you enjoy the presentation, tell us in the comments section here and on our Anime North forum page. Depending on interest/ feedback, we would be interested in holding another presentation (at AN or elsewhere) and may get preferential stage time at Anime North if our feedback on their forums is positive. You can download a copy of our presentation recording and PowerPoint (for educational purposes!) using the link below.
Our group also collected a number of pictures from the convention… several GBs worth! Feel free to peruse the cosplay cornucopia if you’re so inclined.
Edit: Server issues have been resolved. Kudos to Holo for offering torrents!
Anime North Presentation Pack (Video & PPT): Torrent
Anime North Picture Pack: Torrent
Hello again, Doki Legion! Clannad Man here with an update & invitation.
Later this month from May 24th through 26th, anime fans will gather from all over to attend Anime North in Toronto, Canada’s premier anime convention and one of the largest in the Americas. I will be moderating a presentation on Key (the studio responsible for Kanon, Air, Clannad, Little Busters!, Angel Beats!, Rewrite and others), and will be joined by a panel of Kagikko including Doki VN’s very own jakeman95 and Aieon. (Kuzu also wanted to be on the panel, though he won’t be able to attend, so he’d sending a plush Botan in his place.) Several members of Doki’s staff will also be in attendance at the convention, and we’d love to talk with you!
Our page on the Anime North forums can be found HERE.
In case you happen to miss us, don’t worry! We will also be present at the Nominoichi event, where several rare Key collectables will be on display. It will be difficult to miss us.
In other news, submissions to the Key15th Anniversary Letter Project are officially closed. Submissions may still be processed, but there is no longer a guarantee they will appear in the published book. However, there will be a final opportunity to offer submissions personally after the 「key15th」 presentation at Anime North. We hope to see you there!
Greetings, Doki Legion.
I am contacting you to provide you with a status update regarding Doki’s Tomoyo After Translation Patch. Dispite the best efforts of the VN Team, the coding for Tomoyo After RPG minigame Dungeons & Takafumis (D&T) is taking longer than expected, meaning the patch will need to be delayed. This problem is due to the minigame not following the same code structure as the main game’s scenes. Furthermore, an error was discovered during the Beta-Test period which causes the game to crash at specific points during gameplay. While the VN Team feels as though we could release the patch on time, the consensus is that we do not wish to do so until these problems are fixed. Fortunately, the team’s coders have a good idea of how to solve these errors; unfortunately, the work is tedious and will require considerable amounts of trial and error to get right.
I want to make it clear that this delay is not indefinite, and that there’s no reason why the game shouldn’t be released within a reasonable amount of time. Though Doki has remained quiet about the status of the project until now, it is only fair that updates provided to you from this point forward. As usual, I will be responding to comments made for those who have questions about the VN Team’s status.
Our current status (as of July 17th) for Tomoyo After ~It’s a Wonderful Life~ is as follows:
Game Translation: 100% Complete
Game Translation Check: 100% Complete
Image Edits (1,005): 100% Complete
Beta Test Text Error Fixes: 90% Complete
Coding Fixes: 50% Complete
These statistics are somewhat misleading. By far the most time consuming and visible parts of the project are the combined translation & image edits. The code that needs to be fixed is only a small fraction of the size of the game text. Yet, this is what is causing the holdup.
While the patch’s code is being adjusted, the editors & translators have agreed to do one final consistency check to catch any errors that may have been missed during the beta test period. This includes a play through of the game with Doki’s most recent internal patch to make sure that the changes to the patch’s text and code were successful. Again, though this is time consuming, we feel it is necessary to provide Key fans with the patch they deserve. The last thing we want to do is release an unfinished or buggy product as a way of keeping an arbitrary time scale.
While this is understandably disappointing, I do have some good news to provide. Doki has recently acquired the ability to create a patch for the consumer safe (that is, hentai free) Memorial Edition of Tomoyo After. As you may be aware, the Memorial Edition of Tomoyo After has a differing storyline from the original and contains substantially more text than the aforementioned hentai version. The VN Division will pursue this release in addition to the original edition previously promised; in this way, we hope to provide fans with different options to better suit their preferences. Additional information will be provided once the final consistency check of TA is complete.
I understand the decision to delay the release of the Tomoyo After patch will not be a popular one and that naysayers will just use this as ammunition to discredit Doki as a quality fansub group. This is to be expected, though such an assertions are ill-founded. Please understand that the delay is not being caused by a lack of interest or influx of laziness but rather due to unexpected coding errors which were not present in other Key visual novels. Your continued patience and support is appreciated.
Switch your watches to ‘Valve Time’ for a short while. We’re very, very close to the finish line.
July 30 EDIT: To send questions or comments about the VN, either check out the forums to send a private message or go HERE. This is a way of consolidating the number of posts needed to be checked on a daily basis.
UPDATE: Staff votes have been tallied and decisions have been made!
The following users have been selected as having championed the challenge known as ‘The Imagician’: ‘Dan…‘ and ‘Ilmari‘. While the battle was a very close one, the combined Doki Staff appreciated the works of these individuals the most. I congratulate everyone who submitted an entry into the contest; it was fun looking over them all! Keep an eye on the Doki banners, as non-winning submissions may be featured in the near future.
The complete list of submissions can be found here. For those that are wondering, image number 20 was submitted by ‘Irie Naoki’. Please thank him in the C-Box when you have a chance… ( ¬‿¬)
The winner of the challenge ‘The Viral Outbreak’ could have been won by several people, but ultimately I decided to choose the post submitted by ‘Unravel‘. While viewership is likely lower than the others’, his creative approach left me smiling throughout. Nice job!
The winners of ‘The Detective’ challenges are ‘Elliott’ & ‘Shiro’ for being the first to submit links which met the qualifications put forth in said challenges. Who ever knew Google-fu could be so rewarding?
So that’s that. Once again, thank you for everyone who participated. Those that won a beta-testing slot should join #doki on IRC and post their screen names in the comment section of this post. (Don’t worry, I’ll find you!) For those that missed the cut or didn’t participate in the challenges, don’t despair; the final patch is just over a month away! Now is the time to really start getting excited!
Original Text
Once again: Greetings, Doki Legion! Have you had an adequate amount of time to prepare yourselves? I certainly hope so.
Recruitment for Tomoyo After Beta-Testers has now begun. (Lucky you!) The Beta-Testers will be testing Doki’s complete English patch before its official release on July 20th of this year. Very few spots are available through this offer, so when applying, it is important that you meet the following qualifications:
1) Applicants must have a copy of Tomoyo After ~It’s a wonderful life~ (original limited edition) installed on your computer. A digital copy will not be provided to you.
2) Applicants must be able to complete the entire game within a two week timeframe, make notes throughout for presentation at the end of the testing period, and be prepared to answer questions regarding your review process. Accepted applicants who fail to do so will have their status revoked and will NOT be included in the Translation Team credits.
3) Applicants must have a high level of English competency, preferably, but not limited to, native-speaker status.
4) Accepted applicants will not get paid. Herp-Derp.
5) All applicants must complete a challenge listed below.
—That’s right, a challenge! You didn’t think you’d get off the hook by just owning the game and knowing some English, did you? Of course you didn’t. Fortunately, you get to pick your poison:
A) “The Imagician” – In a format similar to that of Doki’s prior banner contests, create a banner image (1,240px × 250px) with Tomoyo as the focus and either ‘Doki’ or ‘Doki VN Department’ also shown. The submitter of the ‘best’ of these (creative, balanced, smooth, etc.) will be briefly interviewed and then selected as a beta-tester.
Achievement Unlocked by ‘Dan…’
Achievement Unlocked by ‘Ilmari’
B) “The Viral Outbreak” – Not much of a drawer/photo editor but still want a unique way to be selected as a beta-tester? Good at getting people’s attention? Then this challenge is for you! Find a way to successfully get the word out that the complete English patch for Tomoyo After will be released on July 20th of this year. How one accomplishes this is up to them. Participants will be judged on both creativity and an entirely arbitrary estimation as to the size of the user base reached. Submissions which appear to be spam or which cause a negative reaction in the target community will be discarded from consideration.
Achievement Unlocked by ‘Unravel’
C) “The Detective” – Not good with images and too timid to advertise the patch release date? So be it; there’s an option for you too. This user must search the expanse of the internet to find a specific Clannad Drama CD, catalog number ‘CLANNAD-0000’, available for sale. The disk can be new or used. Users must link to the page where the item is being sold to be considered, though links to pages where the item is sold out will be ignored. Furthermore, the first person to post a picture of the CD in their possession wins an automatic spot as a beta-tester.
Achievement Unlocked by ‘Elliott’
D) “The Detective II” – That was quick! ^^ Same deal as before, but with catalog number KSLC-0009. BOTH DISKS. ‘Challenge D’ will also be the final addition to this list.
Achievement Unlocked by ‘Shiro’
—Proof of challenge completion must be provided in the comment section of this post. You may complete more than one challenge, though if you choose to do so, prior submissions must be linked to. Though it should be obvious to us, please mention in your comment what challenge you are applying for. Finally, have a little fun with it, and remember what you’re playing for!
Winners will be selected within one week’s time. Possibly Sunday. That being said, good luck, Doki Legion!
To the members of the Doki Legion and the worldwide ‘Key’ Kazoku,
It is my utmost pleasure to officially announce the undertaking of an unprecedented project. At the urging of fans and after careful consideration by the Baka-Tsuki Translation Team led by Polarem, it has been agreed upon that the completion of the CLANNAD Visual Novel English Translation Project, including all remaining translations, editing work, and associated checks, will henceforth be entrusted to Doki’s Visual Novel Division. It is both an honor and a privilege to serve as the anchor to arguably the most noteworthy VN translation project ever undertaken.
As many of you are no doubt aware, the CLANNAD VN English Translation Project has been underway for years, having been started in 2005 as a one man project and eventually evolving to encompass many noteworthy names in fansubbing. The effort put fourth by those comprising the “Drama Club / Dango Daikazoku” （演劇部 ／ だんご大家族） including TheWaffleHouse, Sprocket-Hole Subs, and Baka-Tsuki, has spawned a legion of Clannad fans around the world. Though these groups’ ultimate effect on Clannad fandom cannot be precisely quantified, one would be hard-pressed to find a larger, equally passionate collection of fans than those of the aforementioned series. Such fans deserve a final, properly edited, complete translation patch to satisfy their devotion. That is exactly what they are going to get.
As with Tomoyo After, as well as the prior trustees of the CLANNAD VN Translation Project, the game will not be provided along with the translation patch. The single task of the Doki VN Division is to develop translations of the utmost quality for the games it works on. Due to the zeal exuded by the worldwide community in regard to Japanese culture, precise & picturesque translations of associated works, and of Key works in general, anything less than perfection in regard to this undertaking will be deemed unacceptable. With a highly talented, enthusiastic team in place, and as the final translation project I shall personally oversee, we promise to make every effort to not only produce the preeminent (and first truly complete) Clannad translation patch, but to have it be the gold standard for all such translation projects to follow. Naysayers be warned, you will be eating your words.
Thus far, invitations to work on the project have already been accepted by some specific, talented individuals who have shown an interest in the project’s success. While the size and capabilities of the VN Team are plenty sufficient to complete the work expected of them, they could always use some additional help. Holo encourages anyone able and willing to translate or do editing (text, photoshop, video, quality check) to stop by #doki-recruits and send him a message at holo@doki.co. If you have significant time constraints or feel your work ethic is inadequate to maintain a set schedule, I would suggest that you instead support Doki through your words of thanks. The support received by the community is noted and is a significant driving force for why the VN Team (as well as the rest of Doki’s Staff) contributes their time toward causes they find worthwhile. As always, I personally appreciate your support and thank everyone who has offered encouragement to us.
Be prepared, Clannad fans. Swan songs are always the sweetest.
A special message regarding Tomoyo After
EDIT #1: Hints now being provided. Answer to be revealed in about one hour.
EDIT #2: Official Tomoyo After ~It’s a Wonderful Life~ English Patch release date revealed!
Greetings, Doki Legion!
I come before you today to ask for your assistance. As many of you are no doubt aware, Doki is dealing with a bit of a backlog right now. This backlog is predominantly due to problems that have arisen with the TLs, ranging from medical problems to increasing real life workloads. Though Doki expects these problems to clear up with time, there is also a desire to eliminate the backlog ASAP so that the Staff can concentrate on upcoming seasons as well as on the Visual Novel. Therefore, Doki is beginning its first recruitment drive of 2012.
Currently Doki is recruiting Translators (TLs) and Translation Checkers (TLCs) to supplement the current staff. Though there is no set number of positions available to be filled, native Japanese speakers and those with a clear proficiency in the language will be given preferential treatment in the selection process. If you are unsure of your level of Japanese competency, Doki still encourages you to apply; all applicants will be tested on their translation abilities, so you will be notified if you can help us in some way.
To apply, please send Holo an email at holo@doki.co and join #doki-recruits@irc.rizon.net. In your email, state any info you feel supports your application. Previous experience in fansubbing is not a requirement, though a willingness to learn and a level of dedication is.
Good luck to all applicants. May the force be with you, or something. (o^-‘)b
UPDATE : Thank you to those that have already applied. To those that have not, applications are still being accepted.
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Ecchi na Kanojo – English Patch |
Saturday 24th August 2013 
1:30 PM 
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