Translations

Discussion in 'Uber Entertainment Discussion' started by TheBigOne, April 9, 2009.

  1. TheBigOne

    TheBigOne New Member

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    In case you guys plan to have localized versions of your game, don't hire guys who mess it up. I can only speak for german translations, 80% of those are bad. I am just working together with a few others on all the tooltips, items, abilities, button names etc. of Demigod to improve at least the most severe mistakes the translators made. Makes me really angry that they got money for such a gibberish. Its not only that you can easily see the translators probably never played the game but they translate stuff literally disregarding rules how words are formed in german , mess up the grammar and interpunktation, use words which sound odd and feel out of place in the given context, translate words you better don't translate because they are latin and commonly used and understood in german...

    What I want to say is that a Community Translation or at least a Community Quality Assurance when it comes to things like Tooltips, Item Names, Menu Buttons , in effect all the non-story stuff leads to a better translation than what all but the best translators can do. Blizzard Translations are really good, wouldn't surprised if they have inhouse translators though.
    Firaxis was smart enough to adopt the community translation in one of their patchs.
  2. neutrino

    neutrino low mass particle Uber Employee

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    We'll make sure to run it by you then!

    We aren't sure exactly who is going to do the localization yet but we will keep this in mind.
  3. Col_Jessep

    Col_Jessep Moderator Alumni

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    It would also be great if you could make the English original available. I like to install all my software in English. Even if you have perfectly translated texts theres a good chance the German voice actors will mess it up for you. Ive seen a lot of games were the voice actors sounded lack-luster, bored or demonstrated that they clearly had no idea what it was all about.

    Maybe you can ask the publishers to hire the German voice actors of US movie actors? You could have a 'Hollywood star' as a main character, like Robert de Niro. If the publisher points out that it would be too expensive, remind them they can print it on the box and it would probably sell more copies.

    Just think of the Oblivion tutorial, how Patick Steward voiced the Emperor. Thats instant win right there. Now hiring Patrick Steward might be rather expensive but his German voice actor will cost a lot less... Just putting the idea out there. :D
  4. neutrino

    neutrino low mass particle Uber Employee

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    Whenever I've looked into using mainstream hollywood talent it's always been incredibly expensive (like 50-100k PER DAY). Our game doesn't have that giant of a budget ;)
  5. nyx

    nyx Moderator Alumni

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    Patrick Stewart FTW!

    Morgan Freeman would be nice too :D
  6. BulletMagnet

    BulletMagnet Post Master General

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    oh hell yes!
  7. Sorian

    Sorian Official PA

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  8. Pawz

    Pawz Active Member

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    Hah. I'm personally more a fan of no voice overs at all unless it's really required. I hate .. *HATE* unit sound voiceovers.

    Of course, that doesn't apply if you're making a storyline based FPS, but still. Voice-over translation seems overkill somehow. I mean, I watch japanese anime with subtitles and it's my preference over an english dubbed version...

    But with a limited budget, I definitely want more game less famous actor talking :)
  9. Col_Jessep

    Col_Jessep Moderator Alumni

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    Hmm, I guess that explains why all the kids want to become actors today, doh. You could probably get Angelina Jolie if you would promise her your firstborn... :mrgreen:

    I wonder what Colbert would take. He would probably advertise the game for half a year on his show too.

    [​IMG]

    PS: I see him in the role of the President, giving a speech: "Nation, I'm angry. Actually I'm furious..."
  10. eetmorsqrls

    eetmorsqrls New Member

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    omg, you should totally try to get colbert, even if it's just one line somewhere, would be hilarious XD
  11. neutrino

    neutrino low mass particle Uber Employee

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    It would be interesting to see what he would charge (if he would even do it at all). Then again I'm not sure what exactly we'd be using him for....
  12. Col_Jessep

    Col_Jessep Moderator Alumni

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    O yes, he would! IIRC Marvel comics have him in one of their comi..., sorry, graphic novels. I think they made him president. And Colbert is open to all kinds of new ideas. Think of the 'Wriststrong bracelet' or the ISS space node.

    (For those who dont follow his show: He broke his wrist during a show and invented the 'Wriststrong bracelet'. It is a pinkish rubber bracelt and the idea was to have as many celebrities as possible wear it. And he mobilized his fanbase and collected over 400,000 votes to have NASA name a space node after him. Also shame on you for missing the best political comedy on the planet! :) )

    Its pretty hard to make suggestions for a possible role in a game if we are not even allowed to know which genre it will be.
    A few things come to mind though:
    Max Payne 2: Easteregg like, pictures and short TV fragments are visible during gameplay. (Happy Easter BTW!)
    Marvel approach: Make him some VIP in your game universe, president, CEO of a large futur corporation, something like that.
    Oblivion: Short tutorial mission, he could give you the first mission briefing or quest.
    Fallout 3: He could be on a radio or TV show and you would meet him in 'person' later in the game.

    You can watch a lot of videos of his show here: http://www.colbertnation.com/home
    Maybe the video clips give you an idea.
  13. gnats3

    gnats3 Member

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    Colbert would probably work in any role :D
  14. eetmorsqrls

    eetmorsqrls New Member

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    sounds hot... wonder what he would charge me...

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