It's not quite Friday just yet, but have we caught your attention? This guest piece was bought to you by the amazing luckycloverNB (Twitter, Tumblr) for the start of LGBTQIA+ Pride Month and this development log for the side app, Sleepy Time Jack! We hope that our international fans are excited for this one, but first...

The Queer Games Bundle is now LIVE!

The Queer Games Bundle of 2023 is now live through the month of June! This is a collection of over 450 games, software, and zines from nearly 300 queer artists across itch.io, and SnaccPop Studios is participating this year with Sleepy Time Jack! If you're not a Patron or Kickstarter backer who received a complementary copy of Sleepy Time Jack and haven't picked it up yet, here's your chance to do so while grabbing tons of other cool games (with the added bonus of supporting loads of other small time developers too)! You can pick up the Queer Games Bundle for $60+ or snag the Pay-What-You-Can $10+ edition.

Spanish Translation Progress

Our Spanish translation team, Pierre and Nana, has been working hard to get the lines flowing smoothly in the translation. Here's what they have to say:

Latin Español

La traducción al español hasta el momento ha sido muy divertida, aunque también algo complicada.

Adaptar los diálogos en inglés sabiendo que puede dar otro significado en español es un poco gracioso y algunas veces, un arma de doble filo, principalmente porque se debe dar una adaptación apropiada para que los diálogos tengan la misma esencia que los diálogos originales y no pareciera que fuera una traducción literal sacada de Google.

En lo personal, ayudar a traer el juego en español es algo muy gratificante, ya que muchas novelas visuales no siempre llegan a adaptar su juego en este idioma por consideraciones técnicas, el hecho de que Snacc Pop Studios haya decidido hacerlo, demuestra su compromiso con la comunidad hispanohablante y su deseo de brindar una experiencia completa a estos jugadores.

¡Espero y puedan disfrutar de la traducción de Sleepy Time Jack muy pronto!

English

The Spanish translation so far has been a lot of fun to work with, although is a little bit challenging.

Adapting the English dialogues knowing they can have a different meaning in Spanish is something amusing and sometimes it kinda feels like we're playing with fire, this is mainly because it's necessary to provide an appropriate adaptation so that the dialogues maintain the same essence as the original ones and don't seem like a literal translation made in Google.

Personally, helping bring the game into Spanish is such an honor, because a lot of visual novels can't get their game adapted into this language due to technical considerations, and the fact that Snacc Pop Studios has decided to do it, demonstrates their commitment to the Spanish-speaking community and their desire to provide a great experience for the players.

I hope you can enjoy the translation of Sleepy Time Jack very soon!

Japanese Translation Progress 

Meanwhile, Barb and Eda have started making strides with the Japanese translations as well! Here's what Barb has to say:

Translating into Japanese can be difficult, as any language can be, but even more so when you have to consider tone differences, plain form, and polite forms of words. What might be a perfectly fine statement can come off as cold or detached when using polite forms, but if a character suddenly starts using Plain forms out of nowhere, it could be seen as rude, rather than endearing. It’s a bit of a balancing act, trying to decide what’s an appropriate use of tone over meaning, and visa versa. However, I think that’s also very exciting, given that we have one person on the team with English as their second language, and the other with Japanese, so there are ways to check not only how something sounds translated into the language, but the promise that meaning in English is maintained and balance with the correct tone in Japanese.

Word choice can also be a bit difficult! Japanese isn’t a language that lends itself easily to the same metaphors as English, so saying that something ‘looks’ like something, ‘feels’ like something can become complicated very quickly. It is not impossible by any means, but if it were a direct translation without accounting for the quirks of both English and Japanese language, a sentence like ‘Quick as a hare’ might directly translate to ‘He ran like a rabbit’ and that makes less sense in the context of the phrasing overall. Japanese is regarded as a Highly Context based language, and sometimes, largely complicated sentences in English can be communicated with only one or two phrases, sometimes even just a few words. Ultimately, it’s all a balancing act, but a fun one at that! I’ve yet to meet something that felt as rewarding as a successful translation.

Additionally, those familiar with Japanese will know that there are different personal pronouns and ways to refer to oneself. 私 (watashi) is a general pronoun, and is used by all genders and ages in Japanese. It’s the traditional ‘I’ Pronoun. While mostly used to start a discussion or add agreement, it’s usage can be seen in everyday language, even if it’s not used in every sentence. This would fit well with Jack as not only a character, but as a ‘Children’s Show host’ where the idea is to target learning to the largest range of children possible. So gendered pronouns, while maybe used by other characters on the show or in joking situations, wouldn’t fit as well for Jack in the long run.

僕 (boku), however, is a decidedly Male pronoun. It’s also closely associated with boys, or young men. After hearing Jack consistently referring to himself with what’s considered a neutral pronoun, the hope would be that the sudden switch would be indicated not only by sprite changes, color changes, and differences in visuals, but even in Jack’s language. The perfect time to use this would be when perhaps his grip on things starts to slip. And it would give lines like “That’s not me” or “That’s not who I am” that little bit of extra kick, knowing that something is inherently different about the way he is speaking and interacting with the player.

Here’s to hoping that the translation effort goes smoothly, and that sooner rather than later, you’ll have a Japanese translation for both Sleepy Time and Sunny Day Jack!

"Jacktor" DLC — Development Begins

We know you've all been waiting for news on the development of the elusive "Jacktor" DLC for Sleepy Time Jack, and for a while we weren't able to locate some of the script or audio that was previously made for this mode. Luckily, NaughtyMaus was able to hunt down some pieces a few days ago, so we're now planning to get this show back on the road!

"Jacktor" Mode will be a Patreon-exclusive DLC for $3+ Patrons that adds an alternate character and even more lines to the app so you can get up close and personal with the man behind the clown. We hope you look forward to it!

Regarding Donations & the Current Demo

SnaccPop Studios thanks all of the generous donors who have left tips on the Sunny Day Jack demo throughout the years. We're grateful for each and every one of them, and moving forward we'd like to ask you to direct your financial support towards our Early Access or completed titles. At this time, the only title we have available for purchase would be Sleepy Time Jack. We can assure you that purchases of Sleepy Time Jack will go back into supporting development of the main Sunny Day Jack title.

Additionally, we'd like to take this time to address numerous comments we've received regarding the current demo build of Sunny Day Jack. Basic VN functions such as Save and Skip were removed from the demo due to the instability of the TyranoBuilder engine, and the new demo built in Unity and Naninovel will add those functions back in, along with a variety of other quality-of-life features that you can expect from the standard VN. We will reveal more information regarding the Unity demo when it's ready to be released.

Thank you all for your patience with us at this time, and a Happy Pride Month to our queer community!