Final Fantasy Tactics Translation Project

If you're here, chances are you love Final Fantasy Tactics. But don't you wish its English translation didn't... well... suck? I know I do.

Something has to be done about it. I don't think I'm the first person to say that, not by a long shot. But, surprisingly, when I searched the web for translation and hacking projects for this game, I found a grand total of one, and that hadn't been updated in years. And it really wasn't even a translation project.

So, I decided to start one.

Goals

Believe me, I realize that what I'm talking about is no small task. But I've already done some investigation and experimentation and I believe that it is fully possible to make meaningful improvements to the game's English text.

Here are the goals of this project:

Immediate goals

Make a PAR2 file of my ISO image to see if it's the same as everyone else's. (PAR2 made.)
Determine the game's character map and create a table for reference. (Ongoing.)
Catalog the locations of strings used in the game. (Ongoing.)
Build this website to demonstrate the feasibility of a translation project. (Ongoing.)

Short-term goals

Get others interested in the project. Figure out how to organize things, share findings, etc.
Fix glaring grammatical and typographical errors.
Fix incorrect information. For example, Blade Grasp's help text says that it does not protect against bow or crossbow attacks.
Fix annoyances such as l-i-t-t-l-e m-o-n-e-y. (Ongoing.)

Medium-term goals

Fix many of the worst stylistic errors that would not require major rewrites.
Fix bad translations of names like Ultimus Bow (should be Artemis), Cocatoris (Cockatrice), etc.
Fix consistency errors. For example: is it Dash or Tackle? Are Red Shoes really magenta as their description states?
Find and catalog the locations of pointers to strings. (Ongoing.)

Long-term goals

Find someone who speaks Japanese and English well and has access to the Japanese version of the game.
Figure out how (or whether) we can increase the lengths of strings. Would it even be possible to fit the enlarged text into the Playstation's RAM?

Ultimate goal

Faithfully re-translate most or all of the game's text from the original Japanese into English. Do it in such a way that others could translate the game into their own languages without much extra work.

About Me

I'm a website developer by trade, so my relevant skills include programming and communication. I've had limited experience with machine and assembly languages, but I wouldn't say I'm good with them. I do not know Japanese, though I know the difference between hiragana, katakana, and kanji.

I have at my disposal a copy of the Greatest Hits version of the Final Fantasy Tactics CD (SCUS-94221), a non-modded PS2, emulation software and utilities, a hex editor, and a website.

I have never participated in an Internet-based collaborative project like this, so it's not something I'm really familiar with, but I do hope to get the support of others who might be interested in helping.

If you're interested in helping or even just sending me some encouragement, by all means, email me!

Progress

Patches

Special Thanks

Special thanks to George Greer for creating various utilities for decoding files on the Final Fantasy Tactics CD. Without his Investigative Project, which got me started on the character map decoding, my job would've been a bit harder.

Legal

You may use any of the information or code here for any purpose you wish. Use at your own risk. No warranty is provided, and the owner(s) of this site are not responsible for any damage or loss caused by the use of the information or code.