Translate the game into other Languages
DeTeNa
Join Date: 2010-12-18 Member: 75751Members
Join Date: 2010-12-18 Member: 75751Members
Hey guys,
Did you ever think about to translate the hole game into other languages?
For example the command menu and everything else in german or french?
Do you have to write a new code for this? or only to replace the words ,like health/Leben or buy/kaufen (german), in the existing code ?
Because then it would be easy to translate it.....
Greetz
DeTeNa
Did you ever think about to translate the hole game into other languages?
For example the command menu and everything else in german or french?
Do you have to write a new code for this? or only to replace the words ,like health/Leben or buy/kaufen (german), in the existing code ?
Because then it would be easy to translate it.....
Greetz
DeTeNa
Comments
This is planned, but it costs time and ressources - so uwe will likly consider community translations when the time is right. (like they did it in ns1 too)
Did you ever think about to translate the hole game into other languages?
For example the command menu and everything else in german or french?
Do you have to write a new code for this? or only to replace the words ,like health/Leben or buy/kaufen (german), in the existing code ?
Because then it would be easy to translate it.....
Greetz
DeTeNa<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Nothing against this but i guess the game is very simple, okay maybe the updates need some translation but the most words are very easy.
But i would like a system like this, the motherlanguage is always good ^^
@Koruyo
Is that that hard?
In HL 2 its like instead of "buy" you add #buy" which is searched in a simple txt file.
What ever, we will see.
The majority of the modern world speaks English (Approximately 1.5billion or more), it's the third most spoken language after Chinese and Spanish; of which half of Spanish speakers are American/Mexican.
Unless you're appealing to an Asian market, there's no actual foreseeable benefit and gain from doing this. Those people who are going to play it in another language are still almost certain to play it in English.
that's the fact....
and another question: WHY NOT?
There are two parts to translating the game into another language:
A) The translation,
Turning the english text into french/german/russian/spanish/whatever. This can be done by the community, or badly with google translate, whatever.
B) Hooking language text files into the interface.
At present a fair chunk of the ingame interfaces are in flash. While it's possible to read text in from a file to fill in text in a flash interface, it's a bit of a hassle to do. And since UWE are moving away from flash-based interfaces there's little merit in spending time on something that'll be discarded. As time goes on fewer and fewer parts of the interface will be flash-based and eventually everything will be done with LUA. Odds are that all of the text strings used in the game will be in a big 'ole file somewhere and this file will be used to fill the game with text. Once this file exists, part A can happen.
--Scythe--
Translations are planned but probably won't happen for a little while yet.
When building multilingual websites I always have to adjust the layout to be more flexible so it still looks good when the text in a different language is suddenly thrice as long. Same goes for the game interface. Unfortunately it's not just a "stick all text into a variable and replace it with other text" if you want to make it look good.
that's the fact....
and another question: WHY NOT?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
answer: because its a beta
which mean its not important yet, you can only purchase on a english paypal site ;-)
I am sure if its final, they will insert more languages like french, italian, german and many more, the community can help.
@Scythe
Why not in lua?
Just clientside, so if you start the game you can choose at start which language, if you want change it back to other, go into menu.
and they move from flash to lua.
flash is slow and take a lot time to edit.
mmm...
Translation is planed and will be done by the community. I'm waiting for the files to do the translation.
Also, sound files can be translated too if the community can provide good quality sound files (to be released as official). This is hard to do because you need to find good voice actors and make it professionally. Who knows, if things goes perfect even UWE can make them by themselves.
which mean its not important yet, you can only purchase on a english paypal site ;-)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
who said that it should happen now???
i only asked if this will be done sometime!
It's better to say " Has sido asignado al quinto pelotón"
Hire native speakers to do this job, or let this task to ns2 community in every country, if not, odd translates like this one would be innevitable ;)
The majority of the modern world speaks English (Approximately 1.5billion or more), it's the third most spoken language after Chinese and Spanish; of which half of Spanish speakers are American/Mexican.
Unless you're appealing to an Asian market, there's no actual foreseeable benefit and gain from doing this. Those people who are going to play it in another language are still almost certain to play it in English.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Cause this is incorrect and a lot of non-english speakers are very reluctant to buy and play an "advanced" shooter without any translation in their native language.
I'm sure UWE is planning on a community based translation which should be just fine.
Hire native speakers to do this job, or let this task to ns2 community in every country, if not, odd translates like this one would be innevitable ;)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
i care deeply about the understandability of my spanish grammar. vamos and ahora is really all i need to know ;)
Of course, that is true in your own tiny world but not in planet Earth.
Just in case you don't know, with some small exceptions, and Brasil, all central and south america speak spanish, latinamerican flavour (which has differences from Spain). The largest population live in south america.
And if you don't know either, the country with the biggest population that speak english is India (more than 350 million). India has about 26 official languages, that's why they use english as a common language.
Anyway in spanish you need at least 2 versions, one for Spain and one for latinamerica that we call it neutral translation, which is used for tv series, movies, etc.-
Games need translation, at least the subtitles and user interface. I do play most of my games in english but is because of the crappy translation they have, all the jokes lost and out of context. That happens when a big studio pay for the translation to the incorrect people, like all the HL2 series, L4D(2), Portal, Crysis, and many, many others.
Fortunately we can make community translations to be more localized without losing the spirit of the original script.
Just in case you don't know, with some small exceptions, and Brasil, all central and south america speak spanish, latinamerican flavour (which has differences from Spain). The largest population live in south america.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Not in Belize. They speak English.
Of course, and Guyana, French Guyana, Suriman, etc, etc, etc.-
Read, re-read, then write an answer.
Of course, and Guyana, French Guyana, Suriman, etc, etc, etc.-
Read, re-read, then write an answer.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
i can read/not read forums the way i want to, tyvm. you can't tread on my freedom, coke peddler.
Although no, hey, if you say Brazil and India are the main focal points for expanding your game by language PaiSand I'm sure it's correct.
Plus, being in the UK I doubt you know a lot about the need for localizations. Do you know the percentage of English speakers in Spain, for example? We get all our stuff dubbed/translated, in case you didn't know, so I'm gonna give you a hint: It's very low.
Or actually do reply, its quite funny to read, but its hard to take you serious afterwards.
edit: as an interesting fact, there are around 400 million people that have english as their first language
I remember in my old school days we were only 3 students who were interested in learning english..
so
<b>+1 for translation.</b>
But it's a tightrope walk because it sounds awkward if you translate to much, at least in german.
For example:
Skulk = Schleicher
Lerk = Versteckter/Lauerer (freely translated from "lurk")
Fade = Verblasser
Gorge = Schlund
Also it's hard for international matches. Should a Harvester stay a Harvester or should it be translated to "Ernter" (or "Erntekammer" (harvest chamber))?
But what if I go commander on a english server and ask the team to protect the "Ernter"? nobody would understand.
(Other example: Starcraft II. In germany the zealots are called "Berserker" (Berzerks))
But okay, we can rack our brains later about that.
When money is key to your budget, for any company or product, you need to be wise with what costly translations you do. It's pointless spending a lot of money on a translation for say, French when you already know a large proportion of France speaks English, then the smaller French speaking nations have a small population of which would be less likely to buy your game and be accessible to them than another language; where you're potentially more likely to put more money in and get less out.
It's not about saying English only, it's about choosing the right language to maximise sales and player base on the initial output to keep interest in the company and renew interest in the game. Smaller localisations should be put on the back foot for when the money can be free flowing to where you want to improve your support.
Edit: Key translations would be mainly for large populations with booming online, commerce or gaming interest. Russia, China, South Korea, Spanish is a potential too. Although outside of those 4 languages there isn't really a rush to translate, if you're maximising your playerbase and sales figures.
I remember in my old school days we were only 3 students who were interested in learning english..
so
<b>+1 for translation.</b>
But it's a tightrope walk because it sounds awkward if you translate to much, at least in german.
For example:
Skulk = Schleicher
Lerk = Versteckter/Lauerer (freely translated from "lurk")
Fade = Verblasser
Gorge = Schlund
Also it's hard for international matches. Should a Harvester stay a Harvester or should it be translated to "Ernter" (or "Erntekammer" (harvest chamber))?
But what if I go commander on a english server and ask the team to protect the "Ernter"? nobody would understand.
(Other example: Starcraft II. In germany the zealots are called "Berserker" (Berzerks))
But okay, we can rack our brains later about that.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Structures/Lifeforms/Locations and everything that might be needed for communication stay in English, help/tooltips/menus get translated.
+1
skull, fade,gorge = cráneo,desvanecido,cañon ¿ wtf ?
I used to play a lot on brasilian servers, really funny.
Of course the most languages you cover the better.
And I must say the only good spanish translation I can recall for a game was on NS1 (Mendasp, good job).
The problem is money so us, the community, will help on this too.
Korea is a world apart. The gaming community is more focused on professional competitions, not all games made a big difference in there apart of one. NS2 have what is needed to get in that market, and if they adopt NS2 for competitions, then you have a game with a long and prosper life. But to make it you need it in korean language.
Hey don't forget us.
Okay Germany, Austria and the Switzerland are the only german speaking countries but we have a huge online community as well.
Germany is one of the few countries in which are more computergamers then consoleplayers (....yet)
In fact, if I join a random NS2 server in europe, about 1/3 up to 2/3 of the players there are german speakers.
If you don't believe me just join a server and have a look ;-)
Bottom line:
Plz translate in german too. It would be worth it.
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<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->skull, fade,gorge = cráneo,desvanecido,cañon ¿ wtf ?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Judging from the ambiguity of the word "gorge" in german, I suppose "gullet" or "maw" are more appropriate for a translation then gorge itself
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<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Structures/Lifeforms/Locations and everything that might be needed for communication stay in English, help/tooltips/menus get translated.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
+1