Angel Beats! 1st Beat Translation Patch Released

The day is finally here. After months and months of hard work, we at Alka Translations are proud to bring you our completed English translation of Angel Beats! 1st Beat. A lot of fun, love, and definitely some frustration has gone into this project for us. And it’s a momentous occasion for all involved! For us, technically, this is our first actual completed project!

I’d like to first off extend my thanks and express my pride towards the team. Translator the Saitou, for not only taking on this gargantuan project as a lead translator, but for doing so with such enthusiasm and efficiency. I think I speak for the rest of the team AND everyone reading this when I say a May 2020 release was a pipe dream a few months ago, but here we are. Naisu jobbu!

To Log, for coming through in the clutch and rivaling Translator the Saitou ‘s enthusiasm and efficiency right when we needed it most. You’re just as much to thank for this release date as Translator the Saitou is. Naisu jobbu!

To Danshi, for your usual professionalism and attention to detail. I swear, one minute we had 0 translated images and then the next you were telling me they were all done. And without hardly an issue as well! Naisu jobbu!

To Kitaro, for taking up my mantle as Editor with enthusiasm and efficiency. I’m starting to sense a pattern here! Editing & QA is an enormous pain in the ass, but you handled it like a pro despite this being your first gig. I certainly don’t think I have any qualms with you keeping the position for future projects, and I don’t think the rest of the team does either. Naisu jobbu!

To the Alka Testers, dutiful and meticulous! Going by the names of Eagle Eyed Bazett, Dana, Smacko and Austin, there’s no better set of people out there who can absolutely shatter a translator and editor’s senses of self worth and pride like they can. You guys should see the spreadsheets of typos and consistency errors. It’s enough to make you cry. And you don’t want that, you’re already gonna be doing that enough reading Angel Beats as it is. Naisu jobbu!

And lastly to Janson, original lead of Alka Translations and the mastermind behind all this. He’ll be stepping away from the team in the coming weeks, so I’d like to extend a personal note of thanks for not only founding this team, but giving us all the means (and patcher programs) to actually accomplish these goals. We may all be crucial members of these projects but if anyone fits the bill of “we couldn’t do this without you” it is you, my friend. Naisu jobbu!

So now you guys, the people reading this. Thank YOU for your support and enthusiasm as well! It’s no secret among anybody that this project has been desired by many for half a decade. We know full well the expectations that come with not only our reputation, but translating a visual novel such as this one. We hope as you read along that we have met and exceeded those expectations at every turn. We’re very proud of all this, and from the bottom of our hearts, hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed working on it.

Now get on over to the Downloads section! There, you’ll find instructions on how to patch the game, and it is VERY CRUCIAL you follow the steps listed exactly. Not only is the file structure we’ve worked with fickle, but the game itself is fickle as well. Common Route is also a behemoth, as I’ve mentioned here a few times, so we’ll be publishing a guide for the VN here that will tell you how to get onto the character routes, as well as how to get to some of the harder-to-find scenarios in Common, should you wish to just see different things, or try and collect more achievements.

Last but not least, error reports! If you have a Twitter account, follow us @alkatranslation and use the hashtag #ABAlka to share your thoughts, screenshots, reactions and commentary with the community. It’s also a good place to submit any typos or errors you find, as we’ll be keeping a close eye on the hashtag for about a week. Then we’ll update the patch with all the fixes you guys found and it’ll be even better! We’re not the type to just wash our hands of this project the minute we hit the release button, so we hope you’ll help us out!

It’s been a great few months. Enjoy Angel Beats, and you’ll hear from us soon!

87 thoughts on “Angel Beats! 1st Beat Translation Patch Released

  1. Danshi says:

    Thank you for your nice words!
    It was my pleasure to work with everyone on this!

    On to the next project… ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. Mike? says:

    As always, thank you very much. This is much appreciated.
    Now for an important question, will the download version from DLsite work on Windows 7? On the site it says Windows 8.1/10, but I’m thinking that’s only because Microsoft stopped supporting 7 earlier this year, and considering that AB came out a few years ago it might have worked on 7 just fine.

    If anyone can confirm that for me before I buy it, I would really appreciate it.

  3. LB.Addiction! says:

    Will you publish the translation tools that were used for Angel Beats as well?

    (Sorry for keep bothering you with that btw)

  4. Austin says:

    I just want to say thank you so much for mentioning me even though my contributions to the project were minimal. It saddens me as well because I was seriously looking forward to working on this, but due to the effects of the virus I couldn’t do anything until a week before the launch. Honestly I don’t feel I deserve a mention but it warms my heart that you did. You all did fantastic work and I’m so proud of this team.

  5. Hibarign says:

    There’s no words to express How i feel, so i Will Go only with Congratulations and Thank You. Love you guys, i’ll stick around to see the next projects
    Ps: Never let the site be out of the air again, i thought that he was shut down, that’s no good for my heart

  6. Name Required says:

    Thank you very much for releasing this! For some reason, during Episode 3 when Takeyama is about to walk through the door, the game crashes consistently. I was wondering if maybe anyone else had this problem or if this was a bug that needs to be squashed in the update patch. My gut says maybe this is where the OP is, in which case I was wondering if there’s a setting I can change somewhere to disable it. I tried both modes under movie settings.

    • chad says:

      got the same problem too during episode 3 when Takeyama is about to walk through the door, the game crashes consistently.

    • Translator the Saitou says:

      That’s definitely not where the OP is, I’m afraid, and there aren’t any special effects or anything at the point Takeyama walks in, so if I had to hazard a blind guess I’d say the problem might be with his sprite? Definitely never encountered this myself, though, so that’s a blind guess. Our patch shouldn’t be doing anything to said sprite, so I’d suggest reinstalling the game entirely to start (after backing up your saves!).

      If that doesn’t work, would you mind posting the error message that pops up here (assuming there is one)? It may or may not give a clue about what’s going wrong, some of them are more helpful than others.

      • Name Required says:

        I think I figured out the issue. I’m pretty sure it was something with DirectX. Reinstalling the game along with DirectX through the installer and then applying the patch worked for me. It was just a really weird spot for things to fall through, so that’s why I asked. Sorry, I meant to reply sooner (I fixed the issue earlier today), but the website was down at the time. Thank you all for your hard work again!

        • Translator the Saitou says:

          Ha ha ha, oh wow, I DEFINITELY wouldn’t have figured that out. Thanks for posting about it, hopefully it’ll help anyone else who has that problem down the line!

        • Yukki says:

          well, i dont know how you fix it… i’ve tried your solution but still error… i don’t even understand how this happen hahaha…

          and the error was constantly right before Takeyama came in to the operation room, just like what chad said before…

  7. Tennouji Kotarou says:

    otsukaresama deshita ^^
    I was wondering if you will post a complete guide for common route and how to get into specific character’s route.

    Once again thanks a lot for your hard work.

    • Translator the Saitou says:

      There’s a guide posted in the downloads page! It’s not a choice-by-choice guide, though, so I’ll take your comment as the first request for me to translate that one. I’m of the opinion that it’s not a great way to experience the game, but if enough people comment saying that they want it I’ll put it together.

    • Rinny says:

      Something wrong on your end. You could try a different font but I’d suggest a reinstall. Fonts shouldn’t break automated word wrapping

  8. Obi says:

    You are absolute madlads and I love you for doing this.

    A thousand thanks for your hard work and dedication, please take a proper rest now!

    Do you have a ko-fi or something like tis, for people who would wish to send you a small token of gratitude?

    Thanks again!

  9. thewilder says:

    You guys are legend. Taking this project on despite the announcements sekai and Key made years back. Screw SP and screw Key for lying about it. You guys deserve all the respect. I tip my hat to you all.

    • Rinny says:

      I don’t think Sekai Project was involved in the localization of Angel Beats at all, and I don’t think VisualArts “lied” about it. They just haven’t said anything about it.

  10. Tidu says:

    Thank you so much. This seems like so much work just from reading the guide document thingy alone I can imagine, everyone who contributed did a very good job! (also who even wrote that document? That seems very helpful as well with the general tips and the recommended scenes, Ill check that out after experimenting a bit certainly)
    I cant fathom how you guys finished this within a few months only. Wow

  11. Noah says:

    Anyone else getting a font02.tff error? Everything was (mostly) going as planned until I clicked on the icon. Thanks in advance for doing this and any help I get!

    • Rinny says:

      Make sure when you patch the game you’re patching the 1st_beat folder and not the Angel Beats! folder. And if you have the DLSite version of the game, make sure it’s the Data folder you’re patching

      • Noah says:

        When I download the game from DLSite, the folder that appears is titled AngelBeats! 1st beat_DL็‰ˆ Is that the folder I’m looking for? Sorry if this is a dumb question, this is my fifth or sixth time re downloading the game to try again

          • Noah says:

            Alright, and I am so sorry for being such a pain, but now when I try to launch the installer it’s giving me an: NSIS Error, and all it says in the pop up box is that there was an “Error launching installer”

          • Noah says:

            I extracted the RAR files into the data folder using Winrar, then went into the Data folder to try and launch the installer, and that’s when the message pops up. On previous attempts, I’ve tried using the installer from within the RAR right away and it didn’t work in the end.

          • Noah says:

            You beautiful human being it works now! Thank you SO MUCH. I’d totally love to donate some money to you guys via Paypal for making my dream of playing this game for five years come true, and also for so quickly fixing the problem I was having. Again, thank you so much, this means a lot to me!

          • CautiousCushion says:

            I’m also trying to apply the patch to a DLSite digital version of the game, which I just purchased a few minutes ago.

            I was having the same “Error launching installer” error when I tried launching the patch installer from within the “AngelBeats! 1st beat_DL็‰ˆ” data folder. I was able to launch the patch installer from my desktop.

            The problem I’m having is it seems all the patcher does for me is create a new “AngelBeats! 1st beat_DL” (no “็‰ˆ” in the title) with empty folders inside of it. When I open the desktop shortcut generated by the patcher, it can’t find the SigulusEngine and it asks me to manually find the SigulusEngine for it. Because the “AngelBeats! 1st Beat_DL” folders have nothing in them, I directed it to open the SigulusEngine in the original “AngelBeats! 1st beat_DL็‰ˆ” data folder.

            My system then gives me an error with Japanese text with some English text saying “This Game is Japan Only”.

          • CautiousCushion says:

            Yeah, I’d love to donate to you guys too! I’ve been racking up some crazy overtime working at hospital with not too many places to spend at thanks to COVID.

    • Translator the Saitou says:

      There is now! I’ve written out the important choices–anything that isn’t listed here you can PROBABLY do whatever you feel like on. Things in single-quotes (‘like this’) are directly copied choices that I’m pretty sure you absolutely have to make.

      Choices to make in day 1: ‘If you’re here, I’ll make do’ -> ‘Seriously’ -> ‘I do’, accept Hinata’s tour invitation, visit Matsushita and fight fight fight, stare at Hinata
      Choices to make in day 2: Visit Matsushita twice, survive Guild (probably not necessary but might as well)
      Choices to make in day 3: Visit; train with Noda
      Choices to make in day 4: Visit; train with Noda. Check out Hinata when given the chance
      Choices to make in day 5: ‘Get an eyeful’, visit and train with Noda, ‘Embrace him from behind’
      Choices to make in day 6: Visit Noda, say ‘that’s amazing’. ‘And what about me!?’, ‘We should let her join’, ‘Take the front’, ‘Yeah’, ‘A hot-blooded showdown with Noda’, ‘Can I touch your muscles?’, ‘Call him Incredirack anyway’, ‘I love this side of you, too’
      Choices to make in day 7: ‘Cheer Incredirack on’, ‘Lie your way out of it’, ‘What’ll you do now, Hinata?’, ‘Learn the changeup’, ‘Go off on your own’, ‘Stand up for Noda’, ‘Leave it to him’, ‘Call time’, ‘Stop him’, ‘Tell him how you feel’

      And that should do it! You’ll get an achievement if it works out. Let me know if you need more specifics

  12. Mari says:

    Hello ! This is my first time patching in subtitles so Iโ€™m not quite sure how to go about this but…. do I have to buy the game somewhere specifically ? Where can I buy the game online ? Sorry if this is a dumb question but I have no idea where to get it….

      • Mari says:

        Thank youuu ! So I did manage to purchase it off DL and am doing my best to follow the PDF but whenever I try to open the game I get an error…. I’ll get an error launching installer whenever I click AB_EN application and if I try to cllck the SiglusEngine I’ll get something that says “This game is Japan only” and then the rest of the text will be in Japanese besides “Windows”. The PDF also says that you will be able to play assuming the system locale doesn’t inhibit you so, again…. really sorry if this is stupid to ask but how do I change the system locale to be able to play this game ? Do I need to get a VPN or anything ?

        • Translator the Saitou says:

          You mostly likely won’t need to actually change your system locale to get the game running, and you definitely don’t need a VPN, so you’re all good there! Installation can be a bit tricky and it’s hard to figure out exactly what went wrong without asking a bunch of tiresome questions, so instead I’ll link you to a video someone made that shows you how to install the game using a DLsite copy and apply the patch to it, step by step:

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBVq_GCE1eQ&feature=emb_logo

          Let us know if you’re still getting errors after going through that process!

          • Nerazim says:

            Hi, Hallo.
            I hope asking this here isn’t a bother, but i haven’t seen anything at all online with regards to this so i figured if anything y’all might know something.
            I can’t hear Otonashi? like at all? i can hear him in the settings, where the volume options for each character are, but i can’t hear him in game. I’m a little loathe to reinstall at this point, after three days worth of gameplay but if that’s what’s necessary then so be it. However i figured i’d ask if any of your people had encountered a similar issue.

          • Noah says:

            Hi, I’m actually having the same issue with Otonashi’s voice as well. I actually just assumed he didn’t have a voice actor cuz I thought as a visual novel the creators might have wanted him to be a placeholder-esque character for the player , but his voice is definitely still audible in the settings. I’m also a few days into the game so would rather not have to re-do everything but if that’s what it takes, all good.

          • Rinny says:

            He’s temporarily voiced in scenes that take place from another characters perspective. He is not fully voiced, so don’t worry, nothing’s wrong.

          • Rinny says:

            He’s temporarily voiced in scenes that take place from another characters perspective. He is not fully voiced, so don’t worry, nothing’s wrong.

  13. Soulden says:

    Do u know any site to purchase the game beside DLsite? Since my card didnt work on that page. Thanks!

  14. duntalktome says:

    Was trying to read as many lines as possible and found an untranslated line.

    Get “ero-samurai” and be introduced to Sekine/Irie. The line immediately after “koitsu ga atama okashi” by Sekine shows up in moonrunes

    • Translator the Saitou says:

      I’m afraid to report that Yuri doesn’t actually have a route in this game! The characters with their own individual routes are Yui, Iwasawa and Matsushita Godan.

  15. GalDeMo says:

    I was introduced to the anime genre by watching Angel Beats!… Now I wonder whether there would actually be a “Next Beat” any more… Thank you guys for all the hard work though.

  16. henreader says:

    Excuse me, I wanted to install the new patch but the installer gives me an error ‘Error launching installer’.
    I saw a link with an offline patch above but since it’s old I don’t know if it’s the updated version mentioned in twitter.
    Could you confirm if it’s the updated patch? and if it’s not could provide me a link with the updated one? Thanks.

    • Rinny says:

      If there’s an error launching the installer there might be something wrong on your end. Try redownloading it from the site

  17. Marcus says:

    Hey guys, I just finished the Iwasawa route and… I really just want to thank each and every one who participated in this translation from the bottom of my heart. The ending and post credits were one of the most beautiful and touching things I’ve read, and I could only do that because of your excelent job, so thank you very very very much!!!!! Seriously, the final talk post credits with (I won’t give any spoilers haha) just brought me so many tears, what a perfect ending…

  18. Kyle says:

    I am getting the Font02.tff error:
    —————————
    Angel Beats!
    —————————
    [2020/05/24 01:23:13.0474]

    ใƒ•ใ‚ฉใƒณใƒˆใƒ•ใ‚กใ‚คใƒซ font02.ttf ใŒ่ฆ‹ใคใ‹ใ‚Šใพใ›ใ‚“ใงใ—ใŸใ€‚

    [Support Info]
    You can copy this message by pressing Ctrl+C on your keyboard.
    —————————
    OK
    —————————

    I downloaded the files from google drive and followed the instructions and it still does not work. I can’t find any folder that has “1st_beat” as the name even after a search of my entire drive.

    This is the file pathing to the install folder on my computer: C:\Program Files (x86)\Key\AngelBeats!

  19. Eka says:

    I was so happy to find this! but when I start the game, the dialogue text is not showing up, and this message displays:

    “ใ‚ปใƒผใƒ–ใƒ‡ใƒผใ‚ฟใฎไฟๅญ˜ใซๅคฑๆ•—ใ—ใพใ—ใŸใ€‚
    ้–ขๆ•ฐ fopen(“wb”) ใซใŠใ„ใฆใ‚จใƒฉใƒผใŒ็™บ็”Ÿใ—ใพใ—ใŸใ€‚
    ใ‚ขใ‚ฏใ‚ปใ‚นใŒๆ‹’ๅฆใ•ใ‚Œใพใ—ใŸใ€‚

    [Support Info]”

    I’m pretty sure I installed the patch correctly, running as administrator and in Japanese local
    Thanks for the patch and thanks if you can help me ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Translator the Saitou says:

      The error itself is saying that the game wasn’t able to access its save data! That’s the same error that shows up when the game isn’t running in admin mode, so my first guess would be that there’s some peculiarity in that general area.

      My recommendation would be to reinstall the game somewhere totally different that doesn’t require read/write permissions at all! A folder in Documents would do nicely, for instance. That has the potential to solve a number of different access issues that could potentially be causing the error. If that doesn’t work this might be one of the more complicated sort of problems, so feel free to let us know!

    • Translator the Saitou says:

      Whoops, sorry for the late reply!

      I’ve seen the Select.ini error once before, and in that instance the user in question accidentally installed the patch to the wrong folder! It can get confusing sometimes since the folder’s name can vary a bit depending on whether you’re using a physical copy or a digital one from DLSite or somewhere similar.

      The easiest way to get the game working will probably be to first reinstall the game (to make sure you’re starting from a blank slate), then reinstall the patch, making very certain that you’re installing it to the folder that contains folders titled bgm, dat, g00, gan, koe, mov, etc. If all those folders are there, you’re installing it in the right place! Last, once you’ve installed the patch be sure to run the game using the shortcut it creates on your desktop.

      • Arpher says:

        THANK YOUUUUUU!!!!!!! I am almost giving up and going to play the game in the Japanese version and try to translate the game by myself which is going to take forever since I’m a beginner in the Japanese language

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