thpatch.net's LoLK page contains links to everything translatable in the game, including a fully translated music room. Quick glances indicate that everything has an English translation, at least, so I'd go for it. Imo there's no reason to hold back for a better version later because there will always be a better version later.
Excellent, If everything is translated then it looks like I can finally go ahead and add LoLK to my Touhou folder. Thanks Shockdude for the heads up... and thank you to all the translators who made it happen!
Out of curiosity, why do you plan to do away with the auto updating file? I personally don't see any gains from its deletion.
Nostalgia for the Static patch days ~ :derp: <3
Seriously though, auto-updating patches for games that can be altered openly by anyone at anytime by accessing and editing a simple website are just screaming to be open to abuse by trolls. I would hate to open up one of my Touhou games one day looking to do some 1CC masochism and am greeted by all the text in the game saying "TOUHOU HIJACK LOL" or something similarly annoying. If something like that happens, you then have to wait for someone to fix all of that vandalism for the English text to be restored to its proper state. Why bother with all that when you can just disable the always online portion of the patch and be confident in knowing that that will never be a problem?
TL;DR: Wiki vandalism is a thing and I must protect myself from that.
Also, disabling the always online portion of the patch means that I can effectively archive a working copy of the English patch and not have to worry with one day finding out that the patch is no longer being supported by Touhou Patch Center for whatever reason. Touhou Patch Center one day might not be around for many number of reasons such as the owners of the domain might not be able to pay for the site maintenance anymore and the website simply ceases to exist and all the text in the patch disappears along with it. That's a worse case scenario but a possibility none the less.
Also, with corporate power grabs such as the Trans Pacific Partnership and other pushes to censor and control the internet, who is to say that video game modders will not be hit with bullshit such as copyright claims that force them to cease and desist their maintenance and development of support mods for games?... even if the owner of the copyright has no means to want to enforce copyright law? ZUN is such a great guy that he would not do that to his fans but if something like the TPP comes into enforcement, enforcers will come after you without the copyright owners consent or knowledge.
Having an offline English patch means that you can keep your copy of the patch and nobody can come after you and take it away from you (as long as they don't know you have a copy of anything they want to confiscate). Trust me, the push by evil people to dominate free speech, censor the internet and take away our freedoms and liberties is one that is ever present and we must defend ourselves from it in case they one day actually succeed in their agenda.
TL;DR: I like to archive my digital data so that nobody can take my stuff away from me from the digital source. When nobody else can get an English patch.... I will have one.
Seriously though, if something like the TPP comes into law, the maintenance of our online Touhou English patches is going to be the least of our problems. Oppose that traitorous bill at all costs!
Of course it would be nice if thpatch offered a "stable version" of their translation
I fully agree. Something that can be improved with the Touhou Patch Center is communication with its community. If they make announcements such as "the LoLK English patch is complete and has been checked for accuracy" then I would know that its time to download that patch. When they have "Languages with >95% coverage" on the front page... sure, its covered, but has it been covered *well* and Japanese speakers agree that the translation is accurate? I would recommend a voting system for authentication of translation or at least reviews or cross references by different Japanese speakers.
Yes, I am aware of translation arguments such as labeling Sukuna a Kobito, an inchling or a dwarf but when such arguments over translation arise, a simple vote for which label is preferable should be the best cause of action.
On a side note, thpatch's parody 4kids-style localization is disturbingly funny.
I admire the parody that the 4Kids localization group is doing, but honestly, the less I am reminded of that xenophobic, close minded and western ideology worshiping company, the better. Seriously, 4kids think they have to shield young children from other cultures as if they are some sort of bad influence! Other cultures should be explored and celebrated to young children to help their developing mind grow and nurture tolerance and understanding of other ways of life. Not just have a label of "Murica, Fuck Yeah!" stuck over anything non-American.
Are 4kids still around? I hope 4kids and everything they stand for burn to the ground!
I think that the idea of 4Kids Touhou would probably work better as a doujin manga where the western influence could be explored better and characters such as "Melissa" could be fleshed out more without the confines of having it all centered on the games stories. Much more freedom for parody could come from that but still, its their project.