The Witcher - 20% of the original English script cut

[Sae]

Final question is, can I get to play the game with English interface, original Polish VO and proper English subtitles?

Here's a thread on getting the Polish voices in the English version: http://www.thewitcher.com/forum/index.php?topic=6925.0

Still waiting on someone to figure out how to convert to the proper subs.

 

[aboyd]

On the other hand, it has by now been confirmed by several independent sources that the original script is on the game disc. The file dialog00.bif that contains all three versions of the script has been unpacked and we can now make direct comparisons.

A: original script
B: improved script
C: cut script

A. Don't make me laugh, Geralt. Simplicity suits you like a fist fits a nose, and sentimentality suits you even less. You can't deny that. You're too smart. Apart from that, who do you want to defend? Folest? A monarch who has more sins on his conscience than Phed has long words in his vocabulary?
B. Don't make me laugh, Geralt. Simplicity suits you like a fist in a nose and sentimentality suits you even less. You can't deny that. You're too smart. Besides, who do you want to defend? Foltest? A monarch with more sins on his conscience than Professor has long words in his vocabulary
C. Who are you fighting for? Foltest? A monarch with more sins on his conscience than Professor has words in his vocabulary?

Good Lord. I like the original English (A) even better than the improved English (B), and BOTH of them trounce the cut English that Atari foisted on us. Man, it is terrible. I'm with Twinfalls -- I may just hold off for a while until fans get that full English text to us. I don't need voice acting. I just want script A.

Edit: I just really cannot believe this. I mean, it was one thing when we couldn't compare scripts. The woman responsible for the cut English translation was downplaying people's complaints and well, we had no real proof or objective standard to compare. But this... why did we even need her to do a translation? The CD Projekt team already did one that is superior to what this woman created. It seems that her only role was to retardify the script for kiddies.

I'm really kinda frustrated with Atari right now. It seems like they still do not realize that the average age of video game players has risen to 28 years old. FOURTEEN YEAR-OLDS ARE NOT YOUR BIGGEST MARKET ANYMORE! Wake up Atari! Damn.

 

[Lethal Weapon]

The funny thing is that CDP weren't satisfied with the original translation and they went on to make minuscule adjustments. 'fists fit a nose' wasn't good enough and had to be changed into 'fist in a nose'. And then the phrase is omitted alltogether. I wonder how much this has to do with Atari's decision to release multilingual versions in certain countries; disc space becomes really important then.

I tried playing the English version with the Polish voiceovers and it's really irritating. You keep hearing the voices after the speech animations have ended.

 

[MasPingon]

I tried playing the English version with the Polish voiceovers and it's really irritating. You keep hearing the voices after the speech animations have ended.

The truth is that polish sentences are much longer then english in overall. I'm playing NWN 2 now, with english dubs and polish voiceovers, and there is the same thing. I agree TW english translation is terrible tho

 

[Sae]

I tried playing the English version with the Polish voiceovers and it's really irritating. You keep hearing the voices after the speech animations have ended.

Any thoughts on how one could import the polish animations into the English version? Or maybe import the English menus/origional subs(when we get them of course) into the Polish version?

 

[The Internets]

Fucking suits. Save money they say, and in doing so brow beat the translators into making absolutely ridiculous, unnecessary changes. Like they'd get in trouble if every last piece of dialog wasn't molestered in some way.

A. Cherry vodka for Dandelion, rose wine for me... and something for you.
C. Cherry vodka, rose wine... and something for you.

What a sham, an abysmal travshamockery to be sure.

Oh wait, let me shorten that last sentence to save the codex bandwidth:

Me no like.

 

[aboyd]

Yeah, that particular example is worse than most, because it has actually cut so much that some of the meaning is lost.

 

[1eyedking]

This cut's pretty hilarious. It happens in the prologue right after you learn the Aard sign:

Butchered script
Leo: Success?
Geralt: Smash it.
Leo: I knew it would work!
Geralt: Back up top before Lambert kills the Frightener himself…

Original script
Leo: You're awake! That was a long trance. I managed to get to Vesemir and the rest and come back.
Geralt: How much time passed?
Leo: At least an hour. No time to talk. We need to get to the courtyard. Triss and Vesemir are already there.
Geralt: Let's go.

 

[The Internets]

Contrary to what I said 2 hours ago, I'm actually pissed that they didn't cut even more from the original script. Surly such cuts would have prevented this:
http://nwn2.warcry.com/news/view/79113-NWN-2-Publisher-Atari-in-Deep-Financial-Trouble

Similarly, google: Atari + Financial + Disaster + Anus

 

[aboyd]

Wow, that's about the most instant karma I've ever seen. I complain about their butchering of the script, and they declare that bankruptcy (or liquidation!) is a near certainty.

w00t. Let's try to do more. Here's my next statment: I'm very frustrated with Bethesda for making each new game progressively closer to pablum.

/me taps fingers

...I'm waiting...

 

[KazikluBey]

That news post is from "20 Nov 2007 00:12", Aboyd. Come again a few weeks after Bethesda files bankruptcy.

Anyway, if I have understood things correctly Sande Chen/Writer's Cabal made the first and/or second version and worked with CDPR, not with Atari.. She said something along the lines of "Oh, I'm used to having my writing cut down or altered to fit the constraints of the product, it's normal." at the official Witcher forums.

 

[MasPingon]

Butchered script
Leo: Success?
Geralt: Smash it.
Leo: I knew it would work!
Geralt: Back up top before Lambert kills the Frightener himself…

Original script
Leo: You're awake! That was a long trance. I managed to get to Vesemir and the rest and come back.
Geralt: How much time passed?
Leo: At least an hour. No time to talk. We need to get to the courtyard. Triss and Vesemir are already there.
Geralt: Let's go.

What. The. Fuck. The polish dialog looks exactly like english "butchered script". I always had a feeling polish dialogs also have been cut in some places.

 

[Lethal Weapon]

Anyway, if I have understood things correctly Sande Chen/Writer's Cabal made the first and/or second version and worked with CDPRit t, not with Atari

You understand incorrectly. The original English adaptation was done internally by CDP (as was repeatedly stated by CDP during development), then the script was handed over. In her deleted post,

My writing partner and I worked on the English adaptation of the script (based on the translation from the Polish script)

Sande Chen is Writer's Cabal which is a company of two people. If I were to take a guess, I would say that she and her partner were given a limited timeframe to cut down the script and they did their best considering. The fact that a full translation had already been made means that the original intent was to publish the full version and that cutting down the script was only done in the latest stage of development, hence the hurry. The fact that Sande Chen subsequently altered her posts making them ambiguous only means to me that she is under heavy pressure from Atari and I fully sympathize with her.