New english translation of Gates of Skeldal (Brány Skeldalu) available

[CryptRat]

From RPG Watch :

Hello,

I am bringing this thread back to life in case there are still some players, who would be interested in playing this beautiful game in English.

Background:
I decided to translate this game as a fan project back in 2013. Back then, I did some halfway translation, but I never finished it and archived the project. Like many other translators did. But I picked it up again this month and I spent some time to find out how to translate everything, including the interface. Today, I present you the first version.

I'm sure there will be mistakes, and some translation solutions (like the menu buttons) are not ideal as I would like them to be. But I want to see, if there are still players interested in this game today in 2018, and if continued work on the translation makes any sense

The Czech fan site hosts an English translation, which was machine translated by google-translator. I took that one, completely rewrote the horrible google translation for ALL texts in the game, and I translated everything else that wasn't translated before:
- all the stat and item descriptions
- all NPC interactions and descriptions
- all Journal entries (including the poem, ugh..)
- all spells
- interface buttons, options, compass and the main menu
- partially translated the big map (there were some..issues..)

My english isn't perfect, so you will definitely find some weird sentences, and I will fix them if needed.

A couple of screenshots:
https://imgur.com/a/FhsQhlC

And the download link (opens up a directory with files), containing the full game (windows version) in Czech, my English translation and a readme.txt file:
https://mega.nz/#F!AENX1CZa!2zDeRq1CjDQ-XEwiY6nU-A

The only thing that is NOT translated is the game launcher, some programmer would have to rewrite it in English and compile it. The English.zip includes an installation guide and screenshots with translation to help you navigate through it (its easy, only 2 screens).

Enjoy!

 

[bataille]

Hello,

Is this good?

 

[CryptRat]

It's the first time I play the game so I have no idea how it holds in the long run, but it has classic round-based combat mixed with fixed enemies walking and proper interactive environment ala Dungeon Master.

The game is classless, you create 3 characters. There are 4 stats to allocate points to (after rolling and when levelling-up). XP are not divided equally but based on damage or whatever.
Trainers in town can train your weapon skills and more. Weapon skills also automatically increase by using the weapons. You find spells while exploring, I don't know yet if the mage teacher can teach you more spells. Pieces of equipment have stat requirements.

Water and food are a thing, you've got an automap. It seems you can't rest whenever you want but I don't know exactly how it works (if you just rested then you can't rest again right away).
There are several paths from the town, the game may be non-linear but at that point I can't know how much.
So far I am walking back and forth from the town to a goblin lair killing goblins and selling their axes to buy pieces of armor. There are small buttons, teleporters and hidden doors.

The game is beautiful and the music is cool.

 

[Zandig Slaytanic]

Anyone interested in this game should really visit the thread on RPG Watch to get all the updated information and current fixes on the English translation.
I'm posting as Dagar over there. In addition to CryptRat's post above, you will find: the latest patch for the game, an out-of-game translation for the game installer, the fix for apostrophes not showing in-game.

It's a good game of what I have played so far, and the English translation is quite well done. I've just finished the Dryad Forest and am heading into Zenox Pass. Did the Goblin Caves, Enchanted Forest, Pass of Wandering Souls, The White Tower, Dryad Forest, and various other areas. So far, so good.

The game can be quite difficult at times, and you will find that money can be very tight in this game - both of which are a welcomed plus.

 

[Psojed]

Hi there!
Just wanted to let you know that version 0.2 is up. You can get it at the usual place:

https://mega.nz/#F!AENX1CZa!2zDeRq1CjDQ-XEwiY6nU-A

What's new?

v0.2
- Added translated end credits
- New english game manual (manual.html)
- Apostrophe fix (thx Dagar)
- Several spelling fixes (thx Dagar)
- Fixed stat overflow caused by several items
- Labyrinth of Singing Waters first dialogue fix
- Fixed one journal entry

---

About the launcher.. unfortunately the author didn't reply to my email in these two years, so someone would have to take the source code and compile their own version of the launcher.

 

[Nixheb]

Sooooo ! Finally got this little gem installed. Playing it right now.
Is there any guide or walkthrough somewhere (didn't find any) to help with "dafuq am i supposed to do now ?" times ? examples : throne room in goblin cave, ok, where is the secret ? Invisible city : how am I supposed to open some door (like the castle one, surrounded by water) that don't react to mouse (contrary to the others) ?
And how am I supposed to pass the troll (cheated to kick his ass) ? Or disable the amazons traps ? Or pass the teleporters in the "forest of teleporters" ? :D

 

[Darth Canoli]

I downloaded it as well and might try it soon.
What about the combat and combat UI, how good is it?

 

[Nixheb]

Well, average. The charm of the game is elsewhere !

 

[Fluent]

Hey guys. I played this some years back, but only played a very little. It's quite a pretty game, and definitely non-linear in the sense that u have to find the area u are "allowed" to go. There are stronger enemies in the other areas so they are gated at the start in that way. I enjoyed my small playtime with it and want to return someday. Nice to see it's still being worked on, and cheers to those caring peeps who still play this and tinker with it. Cheers!

 

[Nixheb]

Finally found a walkthrough :

https://web.archive.org/web/20070527014218/http://czechgames.badl.org/adventury/brany_skeldalu.php

 

[Fluent]

Thanks, Nixheb !

 

[*-*/\--/\~]

i'm surprised it's still alive... still have the original box somewhere, the only czech game i have liked :D

 

[Nixheb]

i'm surprised it's still alive... still have the original box somewhere, the only czech game i have liked :D

I tried many "obscure" blobbers (just have a look on https://dungeoncrawlers.org/, ho my !) - many are crappy "look ma, I'm making a blobber !" without any soul. Most of the time, just 'a five years old toddler ripped some gfx' with cheesy adventure elements duct-taped. Those "grab some cash things" can disappears without regret (archived, for scholars study, maybe).

But "Brany Skeldalu" is not such one. It have an underlying "spirit", a real "soul" in it. It's far from perfect, buggy and irritating sometimes, amateurish a lot, but it's something *crafted*. I'm really sensitive to "crafted" things. I love when I can sense it on the details, here and there. This game have that ! Thanks napoleon games !

And crafted things don't die. They can be forgotten, but when you lay your hands on them, you want to revive them, put them in the spotlight to share it with the other. Good things are better when they are shared. I'm glad someone did this with this english translation. The game deserves it !

 

[Psojed]

Sooooo ! Finally got this little gem installed. Playing it right now.
Is there any guide or walkthrough somewhere (didn't find any) to help with "dafuq am i supposed to do now ?" times ? examples : throne room in goblin cave, ok, where is the secret ? Invisible city : how am I supposed to open some door (like the castle one, surrounded by water) that don't react to mouse (contrary to the others) ?
And how am I supposed to pass the troll (cheated to kick his ass) ? Or disable the amazons traps ? Or pass the teleporters in the "forest of teleporters" ? :D

Sorry for a very late reply. I don't frequent these forums :D I see you already found a guide, but just in case I'll reply to your questions anyway.

Goblin Caverns, Throne room secret

Spoiler

is the goblin treasure and Roland, a new party member. The path can be opened via a button, which is in the northern part of the caves, behind some water. You need to split your party for two buttons right next to the water to raise a bridge over the water.

Invisible City, castle

Spoiler

there's also a bridge over the water, which is raised by spinning the four big wheels with chain atop the city walls. Entrance to the city walls is in every corner of the map.

Troll can be killed just like any other enemy. The trick is:

Spoiler

his attack drains your mobility and dexterity to zero, but this effect is temporary. You can move in, attack, back away and wait for the effect to wear off. This is most effective with Haste spell, so that your warriors can land 3-5 hits every turn before backing off. Another option is to cheese him from a distance with ranged weapons and magic - the troll won't move forward He drops several diamonds.

Dryad forest - there are four traps.

Spoiler

Hole covered with leaves - find a tree trunk and place it over the hole, now you can walk over it.
Hole coevered with leaves, with lianas on the side - walk up to the hole, turn to face the wall, and click the liana/press Space to interact. The whole party will be moved to the other side of the hole.
Hole that isn't covered - a fake trap, you can actually walk into it, and you appear in another part of the map.
Noose trap - no way to avoid it, but one of the walls is illusory and hides the path forward. Cast True Sight or Automapping (both are Mind spells) if you can't find it

Enchanted Forest teleporters

Spoiler

are actually fixed in certain places, you can mark their positions by writing into your map if you wish. They prevent you from advancing forward until you get the Cross. The Cross item only protects one tile, so try not to split your party too much, or the split members might get teleported. You can obtain the Cross by talking to the bard in the Harborage, a tiny town-like map accessible before you have to go to the Enchanted Forest.

---

I felt like playing Skeldal today, so I decided to load the translation and playtest it. I did several playthroughs in the past, so I'm mostly going off of memory. I'm already past the Invisible City and so far I didn't get stuck anywhere (except the stupid locked door at the square in the Invisible City. Roland had the right tools for the job, I just didn't think about using them and I kept running around :D ). I found one more stat overflow, already fixed that, and after I finish the playthrough, I'll upload a v0.3.

 

[Nikanuur]

R.I.P. Cardhalia 2

Sorry, I had to... I"ve nowhere to go.

 

[mindx2]

This is awesome! I never knew about this game. Hey *-*/\--/\~ you still have that boxed copy...?

 

[*-*/\--/\~]

This is awesome! I never knew about this game. Hey *-*/\--/\~ you still have that boxed copy...?

Probably lying somewhere around my parent's house, haven't seen it in ages.

I'd have to download it again if I wanted another replay, as my PC doesn't have a CD-ROM drive anymore, even if I could find the original CD. :D

 

[mindx2]

This is awesome! I never knew about this game. Hey *-*/\--/\~ you still have that boxed copy...?

Probably lying somewhere around my parent's house, haven't seen it in ages.

I'd have to download it again if I wanted another replay, as my PC doesn't have a CD-ROM drive anymore, even if I could find the original CD. :D

Well if you ever want to unclutter your parents home just keep me in mind. :D

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Hmmmm..... I'll have to dl next library trip.

 

[Psojed]

Version 0.3 is up. You can get it at the usual place:

https://mega.nz/#F!AENX1CZa!2zDeRq1CjDQ-XEwiY6nU-A

v0.3
- Fixed more stat overflow bugs
- Fixed several minor dialogue errors
- Removed an extra character from one global map name

---

I did a full playthrough of the game, so there should be no more gamebreaking things happening.
In my playthrough, I ran into a dialogue error when interacting with Lexicon of Fire, however I was unable to reproduce the error from loading a save afterwards, and the game didn't even crash when it happened, so if it happens to you, just click OK and continue playing :D

I also tested out the "alternative combat system" and "better shields", which are some extra options offered by the game launcher. The description said it was supposed to make combat more streamlined and any stat points spent in Str or Dex should have more value. From my experience:
- It flattens the damage spikes that happen in the original combat system.
- Str and Dex still have barely any bearing on your Attack or Defense :D
- If your Attack is not high enough, it will make you miss a lot of attacks.
- Some monsters got weaker (dragons).
- The differences between Dual Wielding and having a Shield became much more profound.
But the main change was:
- All magic damage was resistable. This also applied to magic weapons.
This made it pretty weird.
In the original combat system, you couldn't completely avoid taking magical damage. Even at high resistance, you took chip damage. It forced you to use healing (or other solutions) against monsters with magical damage.
With this alternative, most chip damage gets resisted completely. There are monks that fire magic missiles, and at 75 fire resistance they become basically an annoying free kill. However, the same thing happens to any of your characters that use magical ranged weapons or weak attack spells

---

Finally, some interesting info.
The game expects you to play with a party of 6 characters. However, characters can die, and if you don't ressurect their corpse and leave the area, you lose them permanently. Luckily, you don't need a full party of 6 to finish the game. If you have already solved the White Tower, you can finish the game with just one character remaining.
If you haven't solved the White Tower, then you need a minimum of 2 characters:

Spoiler

Gralt needs to be present in your party in order to receive the Cross from the bard. Then, a second character is required to solve the puzzles in White Tower.

That being said, the game CAN be completed with just a single character from the start. You will need Teleportation and Automapping, you will have to be very creative with its usage, and you will have to skip the White Tower.

Happy hunting

 

[Zandig Slaytanic]

Version 0.3 is up. You can get it at the usual place:

https://mega.nz/#F!AENX1CZa!2zDeRq1CjDQ-XEwiY6nU-A

v0.3
- Fixed more stat overflow bugs
- Fixed several minor dialogue errors
- Removed an extra character from one global map name

Thanks for the updated patch.
This game is definitely worth a play-through.

 

[Dungeon Lord]

I have this error when clicking the windowed mode option

it is running in full screen but that is not usable

 

[Ganimoth]

It wants you to switch the desktop into 16bit colour mode. You can select 16bit mode in compatibility options and see if that helps.

 

[Psojed]

It's just an info message. Ganimoth is correct - it informs you the game needs 16bit color mode to run the game, and it also says it will attempt to switch to 16bit automatically. I tried doing a fresh install from my repository, I also got this info message, but then it runs in windowed mode just fine.

 

[Dungeon Lord]

It wants you to switch the desktop into 16bit colour mode. You can select 16bit mode in compatibility options and see if that helps.

Thanks, I have to set the 16 bit color in the compatibility options, it cannot change automatically. Windows 10.