[Bluemail]

Thanks for replying!

Originally Posted by Polarem

Hi Bluemail, there are currently 2 (maybe 3) obstacles:

1) I'm still looking for a way to get the translation tools to understand on the Memorial Edition's (ME's) game interpreter (the program that reads the data files and displays the story). Till then, no English patch can work on the ME. You're right about the similarity though; most of the Japanese data files are identical between FV and ME, and replacing/transferring a few files converts one version to another (if you ignore the FV's digital manual and player review form)

I was afraid this was the case, but I trust some version will be out before long. If not, I'll try to ask for instructions how to do it.

Originally Posted by Polarem

2) The translation quality is still poor, which spoilt the game experience for me. You said "I'd not like the feeling suffer from my language skills", so this issue will probably affect you too. My current (very rough) estimate for the time required to polish everything is 9 months.

It's not like some grammar errors matters to me, it's more about the manual translation process taking more time and prolonging the reading to a point it becomes a bit dull. So the problem is more on my end than the translation people. It's nice of you to do some polishing, I can clearly see the difference of the menus in the pics above. Maybe I could wait those 9 or so months before getting Clannad and waste my time translating Rewrite for myself.
There is a method mixing machine translation and rikaichan which I find promising, so I could use that to read Rewrite, and maybe wait for Clannad to get a satisfying patch.

Originally Posted by Polarem

3) The Memorial Edition introduced a "Japan only" lock that stops non-Japanese versions of WinXP from running the game. Changing your locale doesn't help. However, due to a programming bug, the lock fails on Vista/Win7. This MIGHT affect Rewrite too -- ask around before you buy if you have WinXP.

I have a Windows 7, so okay on that part... But I tried launching the "Chihaya Rolling" stress test of Rewrite's new game engine, and it DOES nag to me about the game being Japan Only. So at least that didn't have the bug or whatever. The real product should probably have the bug fixed, so I'm kind of afraid I won't be able to play it even if I buy it (which is irritating) if I can't find that patch taking care of the OS problem I heard someone talk about. Does a patch like that exist?

Originally Posted by Polarem

I have only played+watched Kanon and Clannad myself, but I can vouch for Key's skills in weaving stories. I'm sure you'll have a great read no matter which product you choose!

That doesn't help me choose, does it?
Well technically I could get Clannad anytime afterwards, while now they have pre-orders for first press edition Rewrite. It is a bit expensive though, and I don't even know what extras it contains. And I fear they might release a better version later again (well, might happen with Clannad too, but Memorial Edition was 2010 already). I am however prepared to pay the same amount for the shipment whichever I choose, as I am going to order some manga volumes along with Clannad if I choose it. Or maybe I should buy both! Goodbye savings...

I'm also interested in other VNs after being struck hard by the atmospheric story of Umineko. Something with a mystery would be nice I guess, so I'd like to try those of Infinity series (Ever17 for example) or Chaos;Head (its anime was badly butchered, wasn't it?). Another VN I heard was good was Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shoujo. The problem is, I can't find PC versions of them anywhere, at least something that ships them to Europe. With somewhat of a reasonable price. Anyone knows an online site where I could buy other VNs for PC? For I don't have a PSP, Playstation or Xbox, and they can't have translation patches can they?

EDIT: I think I heard somewhere that an official English patch for Clannad is in the plans. I might have read it wrong but does anyone have deeper knowledge?