I think that Alba should redirect to Aljiba, not Aldra. Someone in Veros says "Clues to Dracula's Riddle are in the Town of Alba". It seems that she was referring to Aljiba, which does have clues to Dracula's riddle. Aldra does not have any clues.
Just out of curiosity, how do people know for sure the names of the towns in the game? The only semi-official source that I know of is the Nintendo power map. Jova, Veros, Aljiba, and Aldra are all fairly obvious from the context of the game. The remaining towns are labled on the Nintendo Power map as Ondol, Dona, and Yomi. However, other people sometimes have different names for those towns: Andole (or Oldon), Doina, and Fetra. Where did people get those names from? And, how do we know which names are correct?
Also, why is Rover Mansion sometimes referred to as Lauber Mansion? I don't think the name Lauber is ever used in the game.
name sources[]
Here's what I think happenned. In the original Japanese manual, there is a map that the Nintendo Power map was based on. The game was designed to be used with the map. This map didn't make it into the English manual, forcing you to buy a Nintendo Power or the NES Game Atlas, otherwise, you wouldn't know what areas are what. I'm guessing that the Nintendo Power and NES Game Atlas maps translated the map according to the original Japanese map and didn't go by the names used in the English version of Simon's Quest game itself, which had changed the names of things as it saw fit.--Reinhart77 00:53, 3 March 2008 (UTC)
Response to name sources[]
The English version of Simon's Quest never mentioned the names Ondol, Doina, or Yomi (nor Andole, Oldon, Fetra, or Ghoulash). What names were used for those towns on the map that came with the Japanese version of the game? And, how can you even translate a town name (a proper noun) into another language anyway? Assuming the Nintendo Power map used the names from the Japanese version like you said, and assuming those names were Ondol, Doina, and Yomi, where did the alternate names Andole, Oldon, Fetra, and Ghoulash come from? They are used on many internet sites, but did not appear in the game, nor did they appear on the Nintendo Power map.
Also, since I often read that the translation of the clues into English was bad: is there anywhere that has the original Japanese text, translated into proper English?
Official Name Sources[]
I would like to try and set this confusion about all the town names straight. The official sources I've found are as follows:
- an English language map found in the NES Game Atlas (I believe there was also a map with the exact same place names used in Nintendo Power)
- a Japanese map which I imagine appeared in the Japanese manual
The town names are as follows:
| Japanese Manual | NES Game Atlas |
|---|---|
| ヨーバ Yōba | Jova |
| ベロス Berosu | Veros |
| オルジバ Orujiba | Aljiba |
| アルドラ Arudora | Alba |
| オンドル Ondoru | Ondol |
| ドイナ Doina | Doina |
| ヨミ Yomi | Yomi |
Additionally, while the hint in Veros in the English version says, "Clues to Dracula's Riddle are in the town of Alba," the Japanese version of this dialogue is, "ドラキュラノ ナゾヲトク ブンケンガオルジバノマチニネムルトツタエラレテイル" which means, "It is said that there is a document in Aljiba that can solve Dracula's riddle." My guess is that the translator screwed up and left the "ji" out of Aljiba and we were left with Alba.
My theory as to why Aldra appears in the NES Game Atlas/Nintendo Power as Alba:
In Veros there's a hint about the town of Aljiba, and another hint about the town of Alba. Likely the Nintendo Power editors already had a list of the town names provided to them from the Japanese version's manual. The problem was that the town of Alba did not appear on their list of town names. They probably decided that Alba must refer to Aldra, since the name Alba sounds much more similar to Aldra than it does to Ondol, Doina or Yomi. They probably chose the name Alba over Aldra when labelling the map because Alba actually appears in-game and thus would be more useful for people playing the game (not realizing of course that it was simply a translation error). Anyway, what this means is that Alba can refer to both Aljiba and Aldra, depending on which source you consult.
The last issue though, is the alternate names Oldon/Andole, Fetra, and Ghulash. Unless someone can point to some official source anywhere at all, in any language, referring to these names, Ondol, Yomi and Doina should be used as the official names on this wiki, since they appear in both official sources, and Oldon/Andole, Fetra and Ghulash should be redirects.
Does anyone have any opinions on this? Lee Wilson 14:55, October 22, 2009 (UTC)