Taiwanese wuxia game 《HuaXia Chuan》 (developed by the original “Diao Xiong”) has already surpassed 300,000 units in global sales. It recently attracted attention in Japan and even briefly climbed into the top 20 of Japan’s Steam best-seller chart. A community team that produces unofficial Japanese mods was interviewed by Japanese media outlet 《Game Spark》, revealing how they built a workflow for AI and human collaboration using Claude Fable 5.
Alpaca self-funded a subscription to Claude Fable 5; after AI produced initial draft translations, humans fully rewrote them
According to the 《Game Spark》 interview, the workflow created by team leader Alpaca is as follows: Alpaca organizes the full text and identification codes into a cloud spreadsheet to enable translation staff to collaborate on a shared document; he personally funded a subscription to the then-latest Claude Fable 5 premium tier and provided access for team members.
Fable 5 mainly handles generating initial translation drafts and also assists in writing mod code (including an upcoming feature that adds hiragana/furigana markers above Chinese characters). After Fable 5 completes the initial drafts, a professional reviewer performs a quality check, and then humans conduct a full rewrite based on each character’s specific pronouns and tone. The team employs a rolling update strategy and collects translation error reports from players via Discord for real-time corrections.
Alpaca emphasized, “The purpose of using AI tools is to improve productivity, not to completely replace human translation.”
Standardizing catchphrase endings and switching to Ming-style typefaces
According to the report, the Japanese mod team’s localization work mainly includes:
Tangmen motto: The phrase “Fight your motherf—” is localized as “Kenkaku Joto,” a term commonly used by Japanese bōsōzoku gangs; wuxia terms that are difficult to translate directly are adjusted to fit the context.
Character catchphrase endings: A list of character lines and speech habits was created by member Akira Toomura; Tang Wei-yuan’s sentence ending becomes “～っす,” while Yu Zhu’s becomes “～のだ.”
Character nicknames: “Maiden-pants Hero” is changed to the more playful “Naked Hero.”
Font adjustments: The game’s original font was replaced with a Ming-style typeface to improve readability for Japanese players.
《HuaXia Chuan》 300,000 copies sold worldwide; the mod team has no Japanese members
According to the report, 《HuaXia Chuan》’s global sales have exceeded 300,000 units. The game recently went viral in Japan and even reached the top 20 on Japan’s Steam best-seller chart. The composition of the community’s Japanese mod team is surprising: it has no Japanese members at all, including one Taiwanese person, one from Hong Kong, and others from South Korea.
Alpaca said the motivation for creating Japanese mods is, “Because I’m an otaku, I have to target Japan.” Another member, Akira Toomura, was deeply moved after engaging with the storyline involving Ye Yunshang, and hopes “more Japanese players can enjoy this game, and that this feeling can be passed along.”
The mod team initially started development without official authorization, but ultimately received recognition and thanks from the original “Diao Xiong,” and achieved its goal of requesting optimization for the title display system.
FAQ
How does the Japanese mod team for 《HuaXia Chuan》 use Claude Fable 5?
According to the 《Game Spark》 interview, team leader Alpaca personally funded a subscription to the Claude Fable 5 premium tier for team members. Fable 5 mainly generates initial Japanese translation drafts of over 2 million characters and also assists in writing mod code. After a professional reviewer performs a quality check, humans conduct a full rewrite based on each character’s speaking style.
What are the localization features of the Japanese mods for 《HuaXia Chuan》?
According to the report, deep localization includes: translating the Tangmen motto “Fight your motherf—” into “Kenkaku Joto,” standardizing character catchphrase endings (Tang Wei-yuan uses “～っす” and Yu Zhu uses “～のだ”), changing “Maiden-pants Hero” to “Naked Hero,” and switching the game’s font to a Ming-style typeface to improve readability for Japanese players.
Were the Japanese mods for 《HuaXia Chuan》 officially authorized?
According to the report, the Japanese mod team initially developed without official approval (similar to the Korean translation version), but ultimately received recognition and thanks from the game developer “Diao Xiong.” It successfully requested official optimization of the title display system, and the changes were implemented.
