Text Differences

This is a sub-page of Proto:Cadash (Arcade).

'...But does it make sense?' The translations on this page need to be proofread. If you are fluent enough in this language, please make any corrections necessary!

The location test version of Cadash uses a completely different translation than the final game. This translation uses the same dialogue handler as the Japanese sets, which effectively limits each dialogue box to a maximum of three or four lines of text. As a result, each block of text, especially NPC dialogue, had to be cut down to squeeze into the available space.

The final game had the dialogue boxes reprogrammed for non-Japanese sets to allow a greater amount of text to fit in each window; the greatest factor of this was dialogue going from double-spaced to single-spaced formatting. The location test's heavily truncated translation was thrown out in favor of a new translation that could take full advantage of the additional space.

General#

Character Select#

Both the Japanese and English text describe the Ninja as a character with average ability, which isn't really accurate to the Ninja's stat spread. By the final game, the Japanese description was rewritten to instead mention his ability to throw projectiles. However, the English translation was never updated. The text for the character select screen is stored separately from everything else, so it might have been overlooked when the game was retranslated.

Battle#

The level up and death messages both use incorrect grammar in the prototype, while the resurrection message fails to include the player's name.

The prototype strings are more accurate to what's happening (The enemy didn't take damage from a physical or magical attack), though the pronoun used would be inaccurate for enemies like the Harpy and the giant eyeballs in Round 1. The final game corrects the pronoun, but the way the physical defense message is worded makes it sound like the problem is with the player's weapon malfunctioning instead of it being guarded against.

The prototype has six copies for the "learned new spell" message, enough to accommodate all of the spells that the Mage and Priest can learn at this point. The reason there are multiple copies in the first place is due to the Japanese script actually stating what spell the player learns on level up. Neither the prototype nor the final game due this, so there's only copy of this string in the final version.

The prototype gives no feedback on failing to cast a spell; the final game adds a message box telling the player that they don't have enough MP to cast it.

• The format for obtaining an item in the field changed to remove the redundant "item" in the string.
• The Magic Bell (which would later become the Hourglass) has a special obtainment message in the prototype.
• The item the player gets from the Mermaid was changed from a single scale to multiple scales to match the Mermaid's dialogue.

• Instead of stating that hit points were "recaptured" after using a healing item, the prototype used the much more intuitive "healed".
• The Antidote message is missing from the prototype.
• Incorrect tense in the worm's thread, which is referred to as worm's string in the prototype.
• The prototype has the player drinking the flower directly...somehow, instead of drinking a potion made of the flower.

More incorrect usage of "is" instead of "has". The Kraken's name is improperly romanized as Kuraken in the prototype.

Shops#

• In the prototype script, the innkeeper mentions that the place the player entered, the building with the big "INN" sign out front, is, in fact, an inn.
• In a common problem for printed variables in the prototype, the amount of Gold that the inn costs can only display up to 4 digits. This is fine for the World set, which maxes out at 5,000 Gold, but not the US Set, which maxes out at 30,000.
• Incorrect pronoun usage is also a common error in the earlier script. Here, the innkeeper thinks that they themselves don't have enough money, when they should be referencing the player's empty pockets.

• The early script translates どうぐ as "hardware" which, given the consumable goods that the shop sells, is incorrect. "Tools" is more accurate.
• The tools shop has a duplicate "you can't carry this" message. This message is used in the final game when trying to purchase a piece of equipment for an incompatible class . Since no class-exclusive tools were ever implemented, the message was removed.
• Trying to buy something without enough money gives a message that's near-identical to the inn's message in the prototype. It was replaced by a unique message in the final script.
• Trying to buy more of a consumable than the player can carry or trying to buy a piece of equipment that the player already has will both give the same error message.

:*The prototype message always says "you", even if one player is trying to purchase an item for another player. The final script fixes this by using the player's name.

:*The prototype looks up the item name from a special table that's only used for this error message. The final game doesn't use this table and just says "item" to avoid pluralization errors with consumable items.

:*However, even in the final game, the game will give the error "<p> ALREADY HAS THE ITEM" when trying to purchase more of a consumable item than the player can hold which, when the player is already holding multiple of that item, comes off as a tad nonsensical. They probably should have written an additional error message for non-Japanese scripts.

• The Medical Herb and Magic Bell/Hourglass descriptions are less clear on what they do in the prototype script.
• The prototype has a description for the Elixir. When the item was removed from the game's tool shops, the description was deleted as well.
• All equipment descriptions follow the same format. One would think that the developers would use a single string for this and then look up the item's name from the aforementioned item name table, but they'd be wrong. Instead, every single piece of equipment has its own description, with the item's name being written out in full for each one.

Four names were changed between sets. The Silver Shield and 3-Way Cutter were corrected in the final script, while the Silver Tiara and Leather Suit, which were correctly translated in the earlier script, have spelling and pluralization mistakes in the final translation.

Round 1#

Deerzar Castle#

• Balrog is consistently translated as Barlog in the earlier translation. It's still closer than the final translation's Baarogue.
• The king fails to mention the country's name in the earlier script.
• The princess is named Cerina in the prototype. This is not a translation issue; the same name appears in katakana (セリナ) in an unused string, though a better romanization might be Selina. This might have been changed because the 1987 game Romancia also had a Princess Selina.

The dialogue for a two-player game is obviously copy/pasted from the one-player introduction in the prototype. The final game properly pluralizes "men" in the first block of text and rewrites the second block so that it no longer refers to a single person.

The king has a different default message that tells the player how much experience they need to get the next level. This is the only that players can view this information in the prototype. However, the text can only show up to four digits, so it will be inaccurate at higher levels.

In the prototype, the king only addresses a single player. The final game adds another string for two-player games.

The prototype dialogue was written before the planned snow world was cut from the game, which is why the guard mentions six continents instead of five.

The gates between worlds are inconsistently named in the prototype, while in the final version they're consistently referred to as Gates of Departure.

One of the palace wizard's dialogue was changed to mention newly added treasure chests in the throne room.

The rest of the NPC text in the castle is largely the same. One interesting note, though, is that the early script uses the American English "Armors" while the final script uses the British English "Armours".

This dialogue is used when 3P and 4P venture to Deerzar Castle and talk to the king.

Deerzar#

There were originally tool and weapon shops in Deerzar. One NPC originally suggested picking up an elixir at the shop; this was rewritten to give general advice on shops. Obviously the last two NPCs had to be removed when the shops were removed, otherwise they'd sound like crazy people.

• ディルザール is romanized as Deilzar in the prototype and Deerzar in the final script.
• The early script mentions the floating skull that appears when the player runs out of time in the final game, even though it hasn't been implemented by this point.
• The way the final script trails off at the end of the fourth NPC's dialogue makes it seem like there's an actual giant in the cave. Both the Japanese script and the early translation make it clear that it's a giant monster.

La Heim Castle#

• ラーハイム is romanized as Larheim in the early translation and La Heim in the final translation.
• The King of La Heim gets confused in the last block and thinks the players are from Deilzar.

Same changes as the one player game text.

This two player-exclusive message is identical to the one in Deerzar in the prototype, while in the final script it's substantially different.

Here's the equivalent message for 1P and 2P visiting La Heim.

La Heim#

• La Heim's palace guard's text went through the same change as Deerzard's guard, though a period is used instead of an exclamation point.
• While the gates are called "Tour Gates" in Deerzar, they're named "Journey Gates" in La Heim. The final script fixes this discrepancy by calling them "Gates of Depature" in both countries.

Cave of Stones#

The monster this guard is talking about is in the next room, so saying that it's "out their" would be pretty weird even it was grammatically correct.

Aside from specifying that he's been waiting "for a long time", the prototype script manages to fit all of the details of the gatekeeper's speech in eight lines.

This is the gatekeeper's message for one group in a three or four-player game trying to rush ahead without the other group. The last block of text is a bit more clear on what the player has to do to proceed in the earlier translation.

This message, which appears in a three or four-player game when one group is alive and the other had perished, is much better written in the final translation.

Pronoun problems with the gatekeeper; the player's mission is far from over.

Round 2#

Marinade#

The prototype script romanizes マリネード as Marinaid. The final version changes this to Marinade.

Due to a lack of available space, the early draft fails to mention how often young women are sacrificed and where the old woman's house is.

• The second NPC only mentions the scales being a rumor in the Japanese script and final draft.
• The word used for the mermaid's habitat, いずみ / 泉, can be translated as either fountain or spring. The early translation uses the former, and the final translation corrects it to the latter.

The person who makes the keys in the gnome's village is described as a keymaker in the early draft, while in the final script they're a craftsman who also happens to make keys. The Japanese script uses the word しょくにん , so the later script is correct...but the person running the tool shop is a woman, so a synonym probably should have been used.

The early draft has to omit a lot of details from the old woman's story to fit everything: The young girl stating she doesn't have any parents, the old woman raising the girl as her child, and the young girl being a diligent worker are all missing from the old woman's tale.

• More pronoun trouble with the child in the inn after beating the Kraken. That kid didn't help at all!
• The old woman has extra dialogue after beating the Kraken that reveals that she knew the young woman's true identity all along. This dialogue isn't in any other version of the game.

Tunnels of Brick#

The mermaid uses the word おばあさん in Japanese, which can mean either an actual grandmother or an elderly woman.

Spring of Wonders#

Like the old woman's dialogue, the mermaid's speech had a few tidbits (Longing for human society, the extent of the old woman's love) that had to be cut in the earlier compressed translation.

Round 3#

Grove of the Gnomes#

• The NPC in the early script directs the player to the gnome's hiding place, while in the final game he directs them to a specific gnome named Chovin.
• An NPC was added near the forest's edge that reminds the player that the Silver Key can be found in this area.

• The third gnome just states the forest is strange, while the final game names it the "Forest of Labyrinth". This is yet another translation of the ubiquitous 迷いの森. The final draft also really punctuates just how long people stay lost in the forest.
• The fourth gnome's dialogue is so abbreviated that he no longer mentions where the Flower of Maiya grows.

There's a single residence in this town. In the prototype it's empty, but in the final game there's a woman that gives backstory on the next continent.

The first NPC in the Tool Shop had his tenses mangled at some point between scripts.

The NPC next to the gate of departure was originally a woman who told the player that the princess had returned, setting a flag that leads to the prototype's ending. After the rest of the game was developed, the NPC was changed to a wizard with a general warning of danger.

Gnomes' Hiding Place#

Two NPCs were added to the cave's entrance in the final game. One just tells the player where they are, while the other tells them where Chovin is.

• The prototype translation mentions that the thread's strength, but the final draft goes into greater detail on just how strong it is.
• While the final translation is more useful in pointing out where the worm is, the early script is the only one -- including the final Japanese script -- that mentions that the Worm is poisonous.

This unnamed gnome in the prototype only seems to know that a secret path exists. He was replaced by Chovin, who's a bit more helpful in telling the player where that path might be.

There are no chicken-horses in the prototype cave.

Unused#

At two points in the ROM are test messages for the game's dialogue system. This text comes from an earlier point in development and is no longer referenced in the code. Besides the test heading and the use of the Princess' old name, Selina (セリナ), the two messages are identical.

This is the original Japanese text for the king's prototype-only experience point message.

The last bit of untranslated text is identical to the final Japanese script.

This would be said to 1P/2P either by someone in the Cave of Stones or in La Heim.

This is grouped together with the rest of the dialogue in the Gnomes' hiding place. Since poison hadn't been implemented yet, the NPC associated with this text was removed. There's no equivalent message in the final game.

A third message for Deerzar Castle in ending mode.

Originally in the prototype's ending, the king would tell the player that the game was unfinished, then ask the player if they'd play the final version of the game with a Yes/No prompt.

If the player chose "Yes", the king would say this, then go into the rest of his ending dialogue.

IF the player chose "No", the king would chide the player and then apologize.