Tomoyo After Status Update

Greetings, Doki Legion.

I am contacting you to provide you with a status update regarding Doki’s Tomoyo After Translation Patch. Dispite the best efforts of the VN Team, the coding for Tomoyo After RPG minigame Dungeons & Takafumis (D&T) is taking longer than expected, meaning the patch will need to be delayed. This problem is due to the minigame not following the same code structure as the main game’s scenes. Furthermore, an error was discovered during the Beta-Test period which causes the game to crash at specific points during gameplay. While the VN Team feels as though we could release the patch on time, the consensus is that we do not wish to do so until these problems are fixed. Fortunately, the team’s coders have a good idea of how to solve these errors; unfortunately, the work is tedious and will require considerable amounts of trial and error to get right.

I want to make it clear that this delay is not indefinite, and that there’s no reason why the game shouldn’t be released within a reasonable amount of time. Though Doki has remained quiet about the status of the project until now, it is only fair that updates provided to you from this point forward. As usual, I will be responding to comments made for those who have questions about the VN Team’s status.

Our current status (as of July 17th) for Tomoyo After ~It’s a Wonderful Life~ is as follows:

Game Translation: 100% Complete

Game Translation Check: 100% Complete

Image Edits (1,005): 100% Complete

Beta Test Text Error Fixes: 90% Complete

Coding Fixes: 50% Complete

These statistics are somewhat misleading. By far the most time consuming and visible parts of the project are the combined translation & image edits. The code that needs to be fixed is only a small fraction of the size of the game text. Yet, this is what is causing the holdup.

While the patch’s code is being adjusted, the editors & translators have agreed to do one final consistency check to catch any errors that may have been missed during the beta test period. This includes a play through of the game with Doki’s most recent internal patch to make sure that the changes to the patch’s text and code were successful. Again, though this is time consuming, we feel it is necessary to provide Key fans with the patch they deserve. The last thing we want to do is release an unfinished or buggy product as a way of keeping an arbitrary time scale.

While this is understandably disappointing, I do have some good news to provide. Doki has recently acquired the ability to create a patch for the consumer safe (that is, hentai free) Memorial Edition of Tomoyo After. As you may be aware, the Memorial Edition of Tomoyo After has a differing storyline from the original and contains substantially more text than the aforementioned hentai version. The VN Division will pursue this release in addition to the original edition previously promised; in this way, we hope to provide fans with different options to better suit their preferences. Additional information will be provided once the final consistency check of TA is complete.

I understand the decision to delay the release of the Tomoyo After patch will not be a popular one and that naysayers will just use this as ammunition to discredit Doki as a quality fansub group. This is to be expected, though such an assertions are ill-founded. Please understand that the delay is not being caused by a lack of interest or influx of laziness but rather due to unexpected coding errors which were not present in other Key visual novels. Your continued patience and support is appreciated.

Switch your watches to ‘Valve Time’ for a short while. We’re very, very close to the finish line.

July 30 EDIT: To send questions or comments about the VN, either check out the forums to send a private message or go HERE. This is a way of consolidating the number of posts needed to be checked on a daily basis.