Localization of a computer game. Game localization: a translator's point of view Specifics of the work of a localizer translator

It's probably not a secret for anyone that before starting work on a new project, it is necessary to write down, together with the client, the requirements for the translated text in the terms of reference. It may sound boring, but even game texts go through this procedure, without which it is impossible to ensure high quality localization.

At this stage, we will learn about the language of translation (for example, Mexican or European Spanish), what punctuation marks and symbols are supported in the game: herringbone or straight quotes; a dash (en dash or em dash) or a hyphen, referring to the player (to "you" or "you"), and much more.

But if everything is extremely clear in these paragraphs (they just need to be followed), then there are moments that can cause doubts and questions: whether to translate the names of locations, what to do with texts on graphic elements, to transliterate or translate completely different realities encountered in the game, how to deal with wordplay and so on.

We decided to create a document in which we spelled out all the controversial points that arise in the process of translation between the developer and the localizer, where we also provided arguments and illustrative examples that would allow us to speak in detail about any changes in the text.

Typically, such documents are compiled and provided by developers for localizers, but we, frankly, went the other way. We have collected all our desire to build mutual understanding with customers and directed it in the right direction. This is how our first collection of recommendations General Localization Guideline appeared, on which our team worked hard for about a year. In the future, we plan to implement it on all our game projects for various companies.

What is this document?

So, we have covered the following “acute”, in our opinion, moments:

completeness of localization (translation of proper names, names of interface elements, translation of game terms, word play, connection of completeness of localization with scoring);
the influence of untranslated and transliterated words on the understanding of the text;
level of English language proficiency in Russia;
terms of reference for project localization and uniformity of the translated text;
translation of existing realities;
translation of texts on the graphic elements of the game.

From the points above, it can be seen that we have tried to consider the topic of localization completeness from all possible angles, explore issues related to other stages of localization, and even reflect the peculiarities of the Russian gaming community.

So, if we talk about a document that briefly spells out the rules and guidelines that specialists in various fields must follow in their work, then we probably went a little further and created a serious turnkey document. Let's take a look at some of the points in this document.

Completeness of localization

We tried to support each item with the rules and standards described in authoritative reference books for translators. For example, we used the following sources:

IGDA. Best Practices for Game Localization
Milchin A.E., Cheltsova I.K. Directory of publisher and author. Editorial and publishing design of the publication. M.: 2014
GOST 7.36-2006. Unpublished translation. General requirements and registration rules
Heather Maxwell Chandler. The Game Localization Handbook. Hingham, 2005

In these sources, we found confirmation that names and surnames must necessarily be transcribed either “taking into account the prevailing in the language and history. literature of tradition”, or close to a foreign sound.

Geographical names should also remain in the target language, if there are such points on the map.

The same is the case with "speaking" names and nicknames: they must be translated, in extreme cases transliterated:

It's no secret that the game interface and game terms are also of great importance, so buttons, signs, window names, race track names - everything must be in the target language, otherwise the impression of the game may be spoiled.

Wordplay and various references to fictional works is a real creative challenge for a localizer, and it's a real achievement when you manage to convey such moments in the game in the target language. Therefore, when we see the requirement to leave everything in English (which is not so common, but still), we, frankly, get upset. In our experience, and according to the feedback of the players, such moments must be translated and transmitted. Here are some player responses to the question of what good localization is:

"The play on words has been adapted into Russian, as well as various well-established expressions."
"Well-chosen voices for the characters, emotional coloring and puns to the place."
“When translators are “in the know”, translation, puns, cultural references to something (if any in games) are adequately conveyed and adapted for the Russian-speaking player. In voicing, first of all - intonation.
"A well-translated pun or idiom that retains its meaning."

Level of knowledge of English

Another reason why we insist on the full localization of games and talk about it in a separate paragraph in the document is the level of English proficiency in Russia. We have already given the statistics of our poll "What is a good localization?" among the players (link), where they talked about the fact that most of the audience assesses their level of English proficiency as “below average”.

The same data is provided to us by one of the largest rankings in the world, EF EPI, which annually collects and publishes research on English language proficiency among citizens of various countries. Russia is in 36th place among the countries assessed, of which there are 63 in total, and has an index of 50.43, which is assessed as a low level by the standards of this methodology. In general, this level allows the player to understand simple phrases and names in the game, however, it can interfere with catching puns and understanding some complex constructions and references.

And the players themselves write about the impact of untranslated text on understanding and passing the game. What do they usually refer to as signs of poor localization?

"Spelling and punctuation errors, loss (or replacement) of meaning in translation, cut parts of the text, untranslated text and DLC."
"Monotonous reading of the text, strong distortion of phrases, untranslated pieces of text, dialogues of dubious quality."
“The monotony and inexpressiveness of the voices of the actors. Untranslated text. Poor literary style.

Communication with voice acting

Voice acting is another quite obvious reason to translate everything. Players, having heard remarks in which Russian text alternates with untranslated names of locations and achievements, will at best change the voice acting language. There is a relationship between the translation and voice acting of the game, and such a voice acting option can interfere with the player, not to mention that he is unlikely to understand anything from mixing English-Russian phrases. But we also found out in due time that voice acting plays a very important role, and for most players it is a decisive factor when choosing a game.

Translation of realities

The next interesting point that we highlighted is the translation of existing realities. What about car brands, aircraft models, institution names, and many other similar names found in games? This paragraph is perhaps the only one that stands out from the general concept of the document, because in the case of foreign brands in some cases (car brands, musical works) it is allowed to leave such terms without translation.

So, for example, the names of motorcycles in games can remain in the original language:

However, as for Russian realities, they must be left in their native language, which is logical, because these realities appeared in Russia:

As a recommendation to this point, we suggested compiling a full glossary before starting localization (or during the translation of the first texts) in order to write down and discuss such points with the developers and involve experts in the discussion, if necessary.

Translation of graphic elements

Another difficulty lies in the translation of graphic elements. The fact is that often at the development stage, various images containing textual information (for example, maps) are created in a non-editable format, and it is not possible to localize the text. There is still an option with redrawing, but if this stage is not planned in advance, it can be difficult to squeeze this task into the process.

Thus, the only recommendation that we made for the customer at this particular point was to plan for such moments in the early stages of development (creating editable graphic elements or planning a redraw with its inclusion in the game budget).

Conclusion

Someone thinks that the creation of such documents in order to convey to the customer the features of Russian localization is a waste of time. We see this as a huge potential and an opportunity to build the right relationship between the localizer and the developer during the creation of a new game.

As a result, we got a detailed document, in which we covered a wide range of issues related to the completeness of the localization of games. Of course, for the customer, we also gave many examples from specific projects we worked on, thanks to which the document did not turn into another theoretical guide. Fortunately, we were heard by the developers of the company for which the document was created.

The site is launching a series of "Rating of Specialists" materials with selections of translation companies focusing on interesting market segments. The first material is about studios that translate games. The ranking of companies is subjective and based on an assessment of their size and management team.

Studios - narrow specialists

These are translation companies with over 50% share of game localization in revenue. Specialized studios are well aware of the specifics of game translation and can usually provide good personal contact with their clients.

1C (QLOC Studio + Buka)

1C is a leader in publishing and developing not only business software, but also games. At one time, the company's share in the Russian gaming market, according to experts, was more than 50%. In 1999, the 1C group acquired Maddox Games, in 2007 the Sea Dog studio from Akella and INOCO, in 2008 the Buka and Avalon Style companies, in 2009 it merged with SoftKlab, in 2010 - with Snowball Studios.
To date, 1C resources for game localization are concentrated in two companies: the Polish studio QLOC and the Moscow-based Buke. I had a chance to have a short talk with Nikolai Baryshnikov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of QLOC. He is also President of 1C Online Games (Czech Republic).
QLOC has a large team, in which 28 specialists are engaged in the Russian language. But the matter is not limited to them: there are projects for translation into Chinese, FIGS languages, Czech, Polish. QLOC provides engineering services, works with audio and video materials, and redraws graphics.
According to the presentation, the company employs 10 game project managers. Nikolai Baryshnikov did not disclose revenue and other financial indicators. Among the notable QLOC localization projects are AAA titles with a huge amount of content: Skyrim, Shadow of Mordor, Civilization V.

Allcorrect Group started as a broad-based translation agency over 10 years ago and has evolved into a highly specialized game localization firm in the last three or four years thanks to the interests of co-founders Demid Tishin and Denis Khamin. Games currently account for 82% of the company's $2 million order book. Of the major game developers, Allcorrect works with Ubisoft and Gaijin Entertainment, but most of the volume comes from translating mobile games from English and Korean into Russian, as well as from English into world languages.

The main office of the company is located in Samara, and the legal entity and the team are scattered around the world: Dublin, Toronto (where the third co-founder Yuri Petyushin lives), Hong Kong. The company has seven project managers, there is a staff of game editors. The range of services includes localization, work with graphics and audio materials, testing, optimization in the App Store (ASO). The company is managed using deeply automated Google Docs, translations are done in memoQ. Quality is achieved through in-house editors, dedicated AutoQA specialists, and a pass/fail check system.

Moscow localization company founded in 2012. The team consists of 20 people, all with specialized experience in 1C-SoftKlab, Logrus, Snowball, Riot Games, Nival, Gaijin Entertainment, Innova, Afisha. The studio is headed by Vyacheslav Erofeev and Mikhail Bryukhanov.

Five producers and two assistants are responsible for organizing the process. The Most Games translates into Russian and other languages, voices games and accompanying materials. The company's portfolio includes many AAA games for PC and consoles, including The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, League of Legends, Fortnite, Dishonored 2 and Doom. In addition to localization, The Most Games provides engineering services, works with graphics and sound.

For automation, Redmine is used with its own developments, and the main translation memory tool is memoQ. Three programmers in the company develop author's tools for checking texts and files, for working with scripts in the studio, and so on.
The Most Games is located in a historic mansion in the north of Moscow.
According to my estimates, the company can generate about $1 million in revenue per year.

Both ABBYY LS and Treatise translated games before the merger. For both firms, it was rather an experiment, a test of the market.
In the united company, the gaming direction is new and is only gaining momentum. According to ABBYY LS localization manager Maria Fedotova, three project managers are involved in game localization in the department, and a team of tested performers with the participation of native speakers has been trained. For voice acting, a multimedia manager is connected.

There are three main language areas: EFIGS, Russian and the languages of the CIS countries, Chinese and Korean. If necessary, ABBYY LS can form a team to work with more than 60 languages. Projects - mainly games for mobile devices (iOS, Android) and social networks (quests and strategies).

According to rough estimates, game localization brings the company about 10 million rubles a year.

Neotech, a giant of project and oil and gas translation in Russia, has already gained five years of experience in the field of game translation and has several large projects in its portfolio. Nevertheless, the gaming department of the company is still small, and CEO Sergey Sant has recently taken up its development in earnest. A dedicated game localization group appeared in Neotech with two project managers, an account manager, and a separate website was developed. Work is underway to create our own audio studio and expand the network of recording actors.
Currently, the department works mainly on translating games from foreign publishers into Russian and Ukrainian.

In 2016, Neotech translated more than 0.2 million words in games and provided services worth about 10 million rubles.

The localization of games in Russia is also handled by Sergey Gladkov's Logrus Global. The company recently launched its own White Hall studio (pictured). The company's specialists participated in the LocJam game localization competition as judges.

I don't yet have information on the share of Logrus Global's revenue that comes from games, or volumes in man-hours, so I'm displaying it separately from the list.

Among the clients on the site are mainly majors: Ubisoft, Blizzard, Microsoft Studios, Rockstar Games, 2K Games, Kalypso Media, ZeptoLab, my.com, Madfinger Games.

Customer Requirements

Before writing this article, I interviewed localization managers from Blizzard, Warner Brothers Games, and Electronic Arts to understand how professional consumers choose translation companies. For all three customers, the main criterion is the experience of projects, previous games, localized by a translation company. In this regard, it is difficult to compete with the world market leader - the Irish company Keywords, which aggressively buys gaming specialists around the world. However, both Electronic Arts and Blizzard have adopted a multi-vendor model, often hiring a number of smaller teams physically located in the countries into which the translations are made instead of one large general contractor. This allows even small firms (if these firms can interest them) to work with global brands.

Here's what AAA brands are interested in:

A stable team of full-time game translators and editors, ready to learn the terminology of the game and the features of its setting
Responsiveness, level of service
Process for handling small orders (several lines) within a day without a minimum order fee
Additional services (voicing, testing)
Willingness to perform a huge entry test
Legal entity abroad for payment without currency control

In each performer, major brands are looking for a zest, something that distinguishes the chosen company from all the others. As a rule, this is the charisma of leaders and a passion for games. But it could also be higher performance than the competition or an interesting quality assurance technique.

Market segments: console vs mobile games

Today, due to the high standards of graphics, developing games for PC and Xbox is an expensive undertaking, comparable to the filming of a Hollywood blockbuster. The budget of many modern projects exceeds $100 million. This risk is taken primarily by large publishers, and there are very few of them, the market has consolidated. To get a localization project for a console game, a translation company needs to work with top publishers directly or through general contractors like Keywords. Both publishers and general contractors see the Russian translation company primarily as a specialist in the region and will give such a partner not the entire project, but only part of it. Accordingly, studios working with AAA titles, with a high degree of probability, translate only into Russian and, possibly, into a couple of related ones.

Mobile games and games for social networks do not require large investments in graphics, and therefore there are hundreds of publishers of such applications, including in Russia. Many of them are small companies that develop games in Russian, and if the product is successful on the local market, they translate it and start selling it in other countries. It is much easier for translation companies to find clients among the creators and publishers of mobile games, but keep in mind that the latter do not need localization into one or two languages, but a whole package: for example, EFIGS (English, French, Italian, German and Spanish) or 10- 12 languages.

Virtual reality (VR) gaming is an emerging industry. The translation of VR games has not yet taken shape as a market, and there may be many opportunities in this niche, if, of course, such games take root.

What is the difficulty of localizing games

Although games are a fairly large and growing segment, only a few Russian translation companies have learned how to work with them.

First, games have unprecedentedly high requirements for the quality of translation. Thousands of players read texts and listen to game dialogues, clinging to flaws. Once they notice a couple of mistakes, there will be no end to the flow of criticism on the forums. The publisher, of course, monitors feedback on the forums. In other words, the players act as countless cops of the quality of the translation. The films have the same number of reviewers, but they are short and can be translated by one person. In one big game, there can be hundreds and thousands of pages of text, dozens of hours of dialogue. It is translated most often without context, while the game is not open before your eyes. It's easy to miss an error or lose consistency. Localizing a game well is much more difficult than translating a movie.

Secondly, in order to translate major games, we need teams of player-translators who understand game terminology and the realities of the fantasy world. Even if you are proficient in English and Russian, pass "Total Dictation" with 100 points and have literary phraseology at the level of Leo Tolstoy, you will still be baffled by something like AOE CC, termagant brood, Orchid Malevolence and 100kkk. Need gamers.

And few manage to organize gamers into professional teams.

Despite the fact that game localization is a relatively new industry and, accordingly, does not yet have a sufficient theoretical base, as it turned out, there is a lot to be said about it. I propose to briefly review its features and practical difficulties, as well as recall its pioneers and current leaders.

What is localization?

Many people think that game localization is not much different from traditional translation. However, by definition, localizing a game means not only translating its content into another language, but also culturally bringing it closer to the country or region where it will be distributed.

This process can be associated with many different disciplines, such as:

Literature. Depending on the genre, games may include elements of artistic, scientific and technical, everyday and other types of text. Some games, especially the RPG genre, can be compared to stories: they have their own plot and their own circle of characters that inhabit an imaginary world.
Games quite often use elements of cinematography - short video segments that introduce players to the plot. The specificity of their translation is reminiscent of the work of translators who create subtitles and dubbing for movies.
Music. Background music and sound signals related to player actions enhance the realism of the game, and therefore, in some cases, also need to be localized. For example, in one of Atari's driving sims, the original dance soundtrack was changed to rock music in the Japanese version to better suit the tastes of Japanese players.
In addition, localization has much in common with the software translation process: in both of them, traditional translation is intertwined with the technical side - variables and other code elements, and the finished product goes through the QA process at best, which ensures the absence of bugs and errors. The main focus of game localizers is directed
to preserve the overall impression, the so-called. "Look-and-feel" of the original version, while software translators focus on the convenience of the product, depending on the wishes and habits of the target users.

At the beginning, the initiative to create localizations of famous games belonged not to professional translators, but to amateur players.

The specifics of the work of a translator-localizer

Let's move on to the most interesting - to the features and difficulties of the localization process. Depending on the genre, translators may choose different approaches. Genres that use specific terminology (for example, sports and military games) require more precision and vocabulary work, while role-playing and other story-based games, on the contrary, require more creativity. Given that terms and their equivalents are more or less standardized things, it is more interesting (though more difficult) to translate the second type of game elements.

The names of characters, artifacts, locations and other game realities significantly affect the perception of virtual reality by the player and enhance the effect of "immersion", and therefore special attention should be paid to their translation. For example, in games quite often there are eloquent names (i.e. those that, by their sound, reveal certain signs of a character or object).

Various techniques for reproducing such names - transliteration, transcription, literal translation or creating something new - is one of the proofs of the need for good imagination in the work of a game translator.

And it often happens that the native language simply does not give the translator the same freedom as the source language. As a result, there may be problems with the transfer of wordplay, names and distinctive features of the characters' speech, which turn out to be in non-traditional spelling of words, intentionally made mistakes and dialectisms. In such cases, localizers are forced to resort to the method of compensation or completely omit untranslatable units, which sometimes leads to significant loss of content.

Another difficulty with localization is the limited context through which it is often compared to "working in the dark". Phrases are often given without the situation in which they were taken, for which the translator is forced to look for correspondences that would fit into the widest possible context. The most difficult thing is with words and phrases, the meaning of which can change depending on the context and which, accordingly, can be translated in different ways.

Also worth mentioning are the strict restrictions related to the length of the text, which are especially noticeable in the case of the translation of the game interface (menus, pop-ups, help, etc.). For example, developers often use text labels and fixed-size fields without taking into account structural language differences. And given that translation words are often longer than English, translators are often forced to rephrase entire sentences to fit the right words in the right place.

Another problem is variables, or pieces of code that don't have a constant value. They usually denote the characteristics of a character that the player can choose at the time of character creation: name, race, gender, specialty, and the like. In working with analytical languages in which words do not change endings and sounds at the root (for example, English), formulas with variables work quite successfully. But with synthetic languages, this approach often causes errors, because variables can affect the forms of words dependent on them.

Compare, for example, the scheme of the original sentence with the variable "has attacked you" and its translation, "attacked (attacked) you". The first sentence will follow the rules of English grammar regardless of the gender of the player attacking, while the second will either need to be made longer by slashing both options or paraphrased (for example, wrap it in an impersonal construct or move a variable). However, there are no clear recommendations for solving this problem, so translators are most often guided by their own intuition.

It is also important to note that games are characterized by multitextuality, that is, the presence of various types of text - interface, dialogues, game story elements, and the like. One of them is the dialogue text type, in many games it can change depending on the line of action that the players choose. In other words, the player can choose phrases from a list of options and thus influence all further conversations.

When the lines of these conversations come to the translators (usually in the form of a table), they are placed in a random order, often not following the logic of the story. In addition to the problem of the meaning of a word in a certain context and the timing of the incomprehensible connection between questions and answers, such colloquial ramifications lead to another localization challenge - choosing to match the English "you".

In general, despite all the troubles that translators face, game localization is a very interesting task. It is better suited for those who can translate creatively, are not afraid of difficulties and, most importantly, are ready to work not only for their own benefit, but also for the sake of the whole society. It's nice that over time there are more and more such people, and translations are getting better. In any case, there is nowhere to develop, so we hope that this is just the beginning.

We work with game publishers and developers. We localize mobile, desktop, console, browser, and board games into more than 70 languages.

All translations are done by professional translators who are native speakers and have experience working on games.

We provide language testing, voiceover, localization quality assessment, and proofreading services.

Localization of computer games: process

The following is the optimal games localization process:

You create a game localization project on a cloud platform (Crowdin , Transifex, SmartCAT, Oneskyapp) and then upload the string resource files for your game (iOS .strings, Android .xml, .po, .resx, etc. - the platforms support all commonly used formats, including Excel spreadsheets).
If you do not want to work with an online platform yourself, just attach files to the order form. We will use our own Alconost LMS platform or other professional tools for localization;
Then write to us at [email protected] website or submit a preliminary order. Provide a link to your cloud platform project and a link to your game on Google Play or the App Store so that our translators will be able to install and play it so that they can familiarize themselves with it. If you have not yet officially released your game, you can grant others access to your development version for the App Store using Testflight, and you can send the current build for your Google Play app by submitting the .apk file;
Alconost will assign a personal localization project manager to your project. He will ask questions, request that you fill out an questionnaire form, help you make a glossary (if you don't yet have one), calculate the cost, monitor deadlines, and help you throughout the project;
The manager will pick a team consisting of the most suitable translators and invite them to work on your project. Every translator installs the game, becomes familiar with the gameplay, gets a feel for the game's atmosphere, and gains an understanding of what needs to be translated;
String resources are translated into the cloud platform. This tool allows the translator to ask a question about any string if, for example, he doesn't understand the context. The platform is also equipped with a translation memory and a glossary, which ensures that repeated terms and phrases are all translated the same way.
A second translator will proofread the translation for any possible errors and typos and will check the accuracy of the translation.
When the translation is ready, you can download the localized string resources from the platform and compile a build with the localized language versions. By using the CLI (command line interface) on the localization platform, you can automate the compilation of localized versions;
Translators or testers play the localized version of the game, and they check to ensure that the localized strings are displayed correctly. Errors are either corrected immediately, or they are reported directly to developers in the bug tracker.
To ensure rapid communication, we use dedicated channels in Slack or work directly in the developer's project management system.

continuous localization

By using online platforms, you can adopt a localization process whereby your app will be fully localized at the time of release, and all future updates will also be localized when they go live. This works in approximately the following way:

The programmer or game designer adds a new string to the game's resources file.
The updated resources file is sent to the localization platform automatically (using the API or command line utility). The translator will immediately see the new text.
The translator translates the new string.
before the next build is compiled, the updated translations are automatically taken from the platform;
Thus, each time the game is compiled the localizations are 100% ready, and the update process is not held up because you are waiting to receive translated resources.

Alternative game localization scenarios

In reality, the process of localizing computer games may differ from the ideal scenario.

Often the developer may want to use Excel or Google Sheets for handling string resources. A second translator/editor may be unnecessary for projects with a tight budget. Sometimes you may not want to order testing (for example, if the game has not yet been released).

At Alconost we can work with any type of order, format or process. For example, you can simply send us the string resource files (Localizable.strings, Strings.xml, .po, etc.) by e-mail, and we ourselves will upload them to the platform, translate them, and return the localized resources to you by email.

Write to us, describe your situation, and we will help you localize your game.

Localization of small games and translation of updates

If your game contains only a little text, or if you are planning to localize it on your own, have a look at Nitro - an online translation service . You can place an order with Nitro in just a few clicks, whenever it's convenient for you, without the need for a manager.

However, it is easier to submit a price quote request with your attached files, and we will calculate the cost ourselves.

Linguistic testing

We conduct localization testing as follows.

When a localized build is compiled, the localizing translator or the native language tester plays the game for the required amount of time and takes screenshots of problem areas (that have not been translated or where translated strings are too long, where there are incorrect encodings, where the text flows in the wrong direction, contextual interpretation errors, etc.).

The tester creates records for all detected errors in the developer project management system (Jira, Trello, Asana) and makes the necessary changes to the string resources either independently or in cooperation with the developer.

The cost of localization testing is calculated on the basis of the tester's hourly rate and the time needed for testing.

We are able to test games on the following platforms: iOS, Android, Windows, MacOS, Xbox, PlayStation (Ps3, Ps4), and Nintendo (3DS).

Translation memories

The translation memory is a database that stores the source language text of each segment together with its translation. The translation memory allows you to automate the translation of repeated words, phrases, and sentences.

Translation memory allows you to:

Increase the performance of the translation team
Ensure the use of consistent terminology throughout the entire text
Improve the quality of translation
Replace translators partway through the project
Save time translating repetitions

Thus, if your game is released at the same time, for example, on iOS and Android, and string resources that are 90% matches are available for the new strings, then the matching strings will be inserted automatically and you will not have to pay for them.

glossary

A glossary is a special dictionary with definitions, translations and usage examples for terms used in a text. This dictionary can be imported into an automatic translation tool to expedite the translation process and ensure consistency of terminology across one or more texts.

A glossary makes it possible to assign several translators to a project and change translators around during the process if necessary.

If your game does not yet have a glossary, we will help you compile one.

Localization of games, audio and video content, and graphics

At Alconost, we not only create promos and video trailers for games, but we also localize video and audio content. If your project needs voiceovers in a new language, or you need to rerecord the character voices, or you need to localize a video or redraw the graphics—we know exactly how to get it done.

Tools that we use for game translation and localization

CAT Tools - programs that help automate the translation process

MemoQ
Memsource
SDL Trados
SDL Passolo
OmegaT
Sisulizer
Poedit

Cloud platforms for localization:

SmartCAT
WebtranslateIt
Transifex
OneSky
localise.com

project manager

With Alconost, your localization project will be run by a dedicated project manager, who:

Studies your material and the specific features of the text in depth
Agrees on the price, taking repetitions into consideration
Chooses a team of translators and editors with the necessary specialisms;
Controls deadlines;
Takes care of quality, formatting and consistency of the completed translations
Maintains the glossary and translation memory
Organizes linguistic testing
Prepares all the accompanying documents (agreement, invoice, PO) if necessary
Is available practically 24/7 to answer any of your questions

Your Project Manager is your “single point of contact” with whom you can resolve all your questions regarding the project. If your project manager becomes unavailable for some reason, another manager will replace them straight away at the same address.

Appointing translators

We have approximately 300 professional native-speaker translators in our team, with a broad range of specialisms.

We always try to assign one dedicated translator to your project and work specifically with this translator on a continuous basis. This is useful if you have a large project that is periodically updated, you need to use consistent terminology, or you simply like a particular translator"s style. If the translator changes for some reason, they will hand over the glossary and translation memory to the new translator to ensure consistency of terminology and style in future updates.

Crowdin is our recommended translation management platform

Cloud-based translation platform Crowdin allows localization projects to be managed in real time. You can:

Upload string resources in any format (.resx, .po, .strings, etc.) either manually or through the API
Appoint translators and editors
You can monitor the translation or editing of your project in real time
Exchange comments with the translator or editor on any open issues
Create glossaries
Manage what is added to the translation memory and how it is used
Export string resources once the translation is complete

Which languages should you localize your game into first

We have analyzed the number of native speakers who are Internet users, the general volume of online sales, and Google Play revenue in particular by region. As a result, we have obtained the following top 5 languages for localization:

English – United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia
Chinese - China (Simplified Chinese) and Taiwan (Traditional Chinese)
Japanese-Japan
French - France, Canada, and Belgium
German-Germany and Belgium

We offer the following services in addition to the localization of mobile apps:

A judgment on whether the name of your game is appropriate in the target language (as determined by a native speaker)
Creating trailers for app pages on the App Store or Google Play
Preparing a series of short videos in different languages to post on advertising networks
Hiring professional voice actors who are native speakers to provide voiceovers for your game characters

Eleven years ago, a historic event happened: Doka Media for the first time signed an official agreement on the publication in Russia of a couple of games released in the West. However, the history of localizations began earlier, with the activity of pirates... Now almost all significant games are released in Russian, except for some online ones.

However, the result does not always please us. And the player often does not even know how and why certain problems occur - and what a brilliantly executed localization costs the publisher. That's what we'll talk about today.

Contract

If our localization is official, the first thing, of course, is a contract. And already at this stage, various interesting things happen, on which the success of localization depends.

Let's start with the fact that the localization of a large-scale game (for example, a large RPG) takes quite a lot of time, and it is not always possible to get material for translation long before the world release. Therefore - at first glance - it would be good to release the original first. Falling behind is also dangerous because it gives the pirates a chance.

And some companies (for example, Paradox Interactive) give our publisher this opportunity. Some, but not all. The fact is that games in Russia even now, when the characteristic price of a jewel-package has increased from about three to 10-15 "conventional units", are still sold much cheaper than, say, in the USA. And this means that if a part of the circulation gets outside Russia, the Western publisher will suffer big losses. And even if the prices did not differ, there is a different share, and so on. There is no need for a Russian-language game there, except for the "diaspora", but the original ...

Sometimes a foreign company is very worried about the quality of localization and strives to control the process without fail. Usually, this is grief for the result, because she can control very so-so (who doubts - look at the result of the work on the localization of World of Warcraft), and she is excellent at interfering with the process. Control is usually entrusted to a “Russian employee on the spot”, and among them such instances sometimes come across ... There were even comrades who proudly took a transliteration of some kind of obscene language as a pseudonym; I think you can imagine how exquisite taste such "controllers" possessed.

On the other hand, the Western publisher does an excellent job of demanding verification of each step. This, to put it mildly, complicates the technology, prevents timely corrections and reduces the time for useful work. They usually commit atrocities especially when localizing a game based on a movie. Filmmakers who own the rights to the name are more likely to stick spokes in wheels than igrodely.

Sometimes it is stipulated that not everything can be localized; for example, sometimes it is forbidden to change the voice acting (!), the graphic part (and there is such a thing as inscriptions right on the game objects), and so on. True, many people are not eager to work with this anyway, since it is quite difficult, and the tradition of leaving such frames untranslated and dubbing the translation has already become widespread in films.

Well, of course, the contract may include some strange time requirements. This rarely happens, but it does happen. For example, somehow, in my memory, the entire localization had to be completed in ten days, which is about half as much as it was necessary ...

Localization package

The next move is up to the foreign publisher: you need to send localization package.

Most often it consists of:

a file or files in Excel (less often Word), where the pieces of text to be translated are indicated, who says it, perhaps some comments and technical data (where and how to insert the result);

audio tracks and videos to be dubbed;

labels passed in the game through a bitmap.

Please note that the game itself is not included in this set. Sometimes the good will of the publisher is enough to send a version of the game too, but if the English release has not yet taken place, this does not always happen.

As a result, localizers often see the game when their translation has already been added to it. And then it turns out, for example, that some pieces remained untranslated, because their forgot include in the package for localization.

The most common victims at this stage are:

labels on buttons that are not printed, but drawn;

error messages;

installer menu;

"tips" given during the loading of a game or a saved file.

A typical case is when a part of the text to be translated is not taken from any resource files, but is directly embedded in the program. Such lines are almost always forgotten to be included in the package, and then patched for a long, long time. Fortunately, in recent years such incidents are less common than five years ago.

But, in general, anything can be forgotten. Or vice versa - add too much; it is not uncommon for a localization package to include, say, a piece of a previous game in the series through someone's "street magic". Such a modest piece - one and a half megabytes! Perhaps the translator is even in the know and understands perfectly well that these texts come from another game ... but, on the other hand, all this is included in the translation task, which means that it will be paid ... but the deadlines are running out ... but finding out who was arguing nonsense is also not fast ... which means that all that remains is to look at this hocus-pocus with sad eyes and repeat to yourself: "No-no-no-no ..."

In addition, since the package is not made by the publisher, but by the developer, and he is not always experienced in this part, there may be additional overhead due to work done incorrectly. For instance:

ready-made sound files were sent, and not separate background sound and separate speech; in this case, “tails” of the source text can then crawl out from under the voice acting;

the graphics to be translated were sent not divided into layers, but again in finished form - which portends many, many happy hours alone with Photoshop for localizers;

comments are mixed up, in the same row there are texts that need to be translated, and tags that cannot be translated;

sound files come much later than the text part of the package.

The latter I would like to clarify in more detail. Just imagine that your text mentions an episodic character - a certain Elon (fantasy, the name is so stylized ...). Comments about him ... did not happen. In English, verbs and adjectives do not have a gender, and if this character was not accidentally designated by a pronoun somewhere, we have every chance before the arrival of the sound tracks and not find out if this is a man or a woman. And then you are tormented to carry out a "sex change operation." What if there are several?

Or another common case: the hero is broadcasting something strange, but we do not know without intonation - this is pathos or irony. Can suppose, but it's better not to, because if the sound then makes adjustments ... We are looking for an option that suits both here and there. How much easier it would be to see right away ...

Dictionary

And so the work on the translation begins: the localization package arrives in Russia and ends up with a specialist.

Some translators dive straight into the text and get to work. If the game is a little more complicated than Tetris, then at this stage we can already say with confidence: the comrades are preparing to bring into the world something incredibly nasty.

Professionals act differently: first of all, they make game vocabulary. It includes all game terms, names of key characters, names of territories... In the process of this work, the localization package is carefully read, and the names are coordinated with each other. And only after this work in general you can take on the translation. And in no case do not make a dictionary as the translation is being made!

A case from one's life: once pirates translated the game Arx Fatalis and neglected this simple rule. Then they decided that in the role-playing system it would be nice to replace “mind” with “intelligence”. And they carried out, poor fellows, a global replacement. The result of their labors became proverbial: sheets of mysterious material, bintellektags, lay on the shelves. You can find another result of this practice today (though not in translation anymore) if you enter the mysterious word “encyclopedia” in a search engine: the site of a certain “Encyclopedia” tore material from Wikipedia and removed the link to “wiki” from everywhere. As Chapek's hero said: "Yes, sir, you need to steal skillfully!"

Compiling a dictionary is no easy task. It has its own rules, which, alas, are not known to all translators...

It is possible to compile a dictionary only after finding out the whole context. The first commandment of the translator: “The word does not exist no translation out of context.

The most crooked comrades are not aware that different game terms in the vast majority of cases should be read differently in translation. There are exceptions, but few. And meanwhile, there are egregious cases when two different spells were called by the unfortunate localizer the same way. Perhaps he simply skipped the stage of compiling a dictionary ...

Next is the uniformity rule. Let's take the same spells: this titles, which means they must be noun-based phrases. For example, the spell "Flight" is normal, and the spell "Fly" is a product of the life of the layman.

On a note: A translator who is not suitable for his work is most easily identified by the fact that he does not understand the difference between the target language and his native language. For example, in English, a verb is suitable as a name already because there is not much difference between a verb and a noun - from one the other is made without changes (there are no endings, cases ...). Seeing the verb is in the text, the profane without the slightest doubt translates it as “is”, making a tedious tedium out of a literary text.

Finally, the titles are tied to a specific style. For example, some naive comrades believe that you can safely translate the word ranger as "ranger" or even "fighter"; and they're right when it comes to the Texas or Space Rangers, but if it's fantasy or medieval, they break the style by injecting modernity into it. I already wrote about the "robes" of wizards (instead of robes) and other miracles...

Somehow I came across the following phrase in localization: “Dear Sir Ranger, please taste our treat!” It sounds something like: “Oh, you are a goy, VIP person!” A person who does not feel this should absolutely not become an interpreter. This can probably be worked out with long practice, but the gray hair of the editors (and the spoiled pleasure of the players to whom such pearls have slipped) is not worth it. The truth is, there are plenty of other ways to earn a living.

Another misfortune of bad translators is inappropriate Slavification. The most characteristic case is the translation of Gadgetzan as "Gadgetzan". What makes this translation disgusting is, first of all, the suffix -sk, because of which the goblin city in the desert suddenly turns into a Russian outback. If the translator had had enough sense of taste for at least another ending, it would not have been so hopeless.

Interestingly, sometimes the same translators are not able to translate a word that can and should be translated. They gleefully declare it "untranslatable" and mold "dwarves", "units" and other nonsense in their text.

Here, by the way, there is a wonderful excuse in its absurdity: they say, playing on international servers, people will not understand what this or that word means! Therefore, for example, the Nivalovites, in their own game, called the praying mantis "mantis". They didn’t call ticks “ticks”: apparently, every Russian knows how to say “tick” in English? In fact, as experience shows, the players do not have such a problem. This bogey exists only in the translator's imagination.

Some of the names contain a reference to the realities from outside the game. Recall at least the numerous "Easter eggs" from World of Warcraft, The Witcher and others. If they are not preserved in the translation - and not just one, but many - it means that the translator ate his bread for nothing.

Meanwhile, the pirates...

While the official localizers were signing the paper and getting the localization kit, the pirates were busy "breaking" the game. And the main problem for them was by no means Starforce, but the extraction of game resources: texts, speech sounds, fonts... Some also translated inscriptions on game pictures.

But in any case, at the exit, the pirate received a mountain of scattered texts, which the translator was asked to deal with. No comments - where is it used, how, when...

Try to translate, for example, the lonely word "get", which hackers picked out from the game code. Maybe it will be taking an item, maybe it will be downloading something from the site, maybe it will be choosing an ability from the list ... One ingenious translator came up with an almost universal translation - "to myself"; it looks strange, but in fact it almost never violates the context.

Since there is no resource collector, it often turns out that you also need to observe ... the exact length of the text (because it needs to be placed in exactly the same place in the file). With long lines, still more or less, but when it comes to a single word? Try to translate the same “get” into three letters. Or, say, "axe": tpr? Top? Well, we don’t have a three-letter analogue of the word “ax”!

Attention is a myth: the English text is usually shorter than its Russian translation. If it's about single word, approximately so it is; but here is a coherent text of meaningful length in the Russian version almost always shorter(we don’t talk about poetry, there are their own laws). In those days, I even set a rule for the translators who worked with me: if your text is longer than the original, then you edited it poorly. This, of course, is a rough approximation, but it is not unreasonable - if a person makes a Russian text long, this means that he skips unnecessary words.

Text translation

Then comes the hour of the actual literary translation. This process has many difficulties, books have been written about it (for example, by Chukovsky and Nora Gal), and for localizers, it is hampered by several other problems.

Let's start with a problem that a localizing company often creates for itself: paradoxically, this job is often hired by anyone, but not translators.

A diploma for this profession today means little - most translators cannot boast of either a philological or literary education, but this is not the point. Often, people working with the text of a responsible project can present only general knowledge of English as a resume.

Attention is a myth: the main skill of a translator is knowledge of the source language. In fact, its main capital is a high level of knowledge native language. It is in this area that he must shine in order to make a professional literary translation. And the mastery of the original language can be much weaker than, say, a simultaneous interpreter; but the "sense of the language" must be.

Worse, publishers have heard that translators often do not know the context of the game. That is why they strive to find a specialist not in translation, but in the subject of the game. Well, or at least close: for example, if the game is based on Dungeons & Dragons, you can find a person who understands ... Magic: the Gathering.

It's about the same as if an ostrich got sick in a zoo, and the management decided not to call a veterinarian - where does he get experience in treating ostriches? Better invite a specialist in ... origami: he knows how to fold excellent cranes out of paper, and a crane, whatever one may say, is also a long-legged bird!

Of course, not every game in Russia has to experience such a survival horror; sometimes there is, on the contrary, an approach so professional that it remains only to take off your hat. So, for example, among all the editors with whom your humble servant dealt as an author, the best specialist in the literary part was just the localizer of games - Vasily Podobed, who headed the corresponding department of Nival in those years.

But even if the zero stage passed painlessly for the project and it was possible to involve a translator, and not a high-altitude assembler and not a specialist in walrus tusk carving, working with a game turns out to be in some ways much more difficult than translating a book or film.

Firstly, even in a relatively high-quality localization pack, the phrases are not in the order in which the player will see them. The game is an interactive product, and the order can be very different. And the translator has to reconstruct the chains of events based on meager comments.

Secondly, a stab in the back is constantly being prepared by the same vile grammatical category - gender. This is especially fun in role-playing games, where we are invited to create a character from scratch and it is not known in advance whether we have a hero or a heroine. Although game developers have gradually learned to make different options for a woman and a man in key lines, it is difficult for them with their native English to imagine that in an innocent phrase like “I already had breakfast today”, the Slavs for some reason demonstrate the gender of the speaker with the end of the verb.

Thirdly, English-speaking authors do not know the concept of declension. Which means they can afford something like: "%CLASSs are not allowed here!" We substitute the name of the class instead of% CLASS - and we get, say: "Paladins are not allowed here!" Simple and elegant. And in Russian? Paladins have the ending "s" in the plural, wizards - "and" ...

So translators have to cripple the phrase in order to achieve the nominative case, the singular, the present tense, contrary to reason ... Therefore, sometimes the strange construction of a phrase in translation is caused not by a lack of translation skills, but by difficult conditions.

But it happens, of course, and vice versa. So, for example, humorous games usually get the most in translation, because not everyone knows how to translate jokes (and even notice them in translation).

Attention is a myth: a play on words cannot be translated. The “untranslatable pun” remarks are a thing of the past: nowadays, 99% of such moments in the book are translated, and only exceptional cases fall into the footnote. If one manages to translate "Alice in Wonderland", then it is absolutely a shame not to cope with much simpler texts.

Perhaps the most important skill for a translator, without which it is impossible to produce a quality result, is the ability to understand that he does not understand something. This is by no means a paradox, but the harsh reality of life.

For example, if you don’t know who Paris Hilton is - really, there’s no big grief in this - then you won’t recognize the elf Haris Pilton either. But if at the same time you are a translator, and not a misunderstanding, then you will understand that there is something strange in this name and you need to figure out why it is, what it refers to. The main thing is to ask a question, it is much easier to find an answer with the help of the Internet and acquaintances.

It is not true that mistakes in translations arise because the translator does not know that tunic is not only a tunic, but also a uniform, and a merchant selling China is not an international spy, but just a porcelain merchant. Mistakes arise because, seeing such a strange situation, he did not doubt, but dressed the officer in a tunic, forced the merchant to trade (at best!) Maps of China - after which he fell asleep calmly, and his conscience did not torment him.

By the way, both examples are absolutely real. The second gentleman is especially beautiful: he even realized that trading in China is absurd, but he did not find the spiritual strength to look into the dictionary, but corrected it for more, from his point of view, reasonable “maps of China”. I would like to recommend him to devote the rest of his life to trading in maps of China, and not to take on translations anymore. This is not his path.

However, talking about how not to spoil the translation (and how it is often spoiled) can take hours. Books have been written about this (for example, "High Art" by Korney Chukovsky or "The Word Living and Dead" by Nora Gal). Alas, they are not for everyone...

The biggest problem with translating games is still that the problem is too often solved by unsuitable means. They set an unrealistic deadline, hire a dwarf manufacturer and Chinese map dealer instead of a translator, cut editing out of the process...

Editing and proofreading

It doesn't matter if the translator is good or bad, the fruits of his labors must be edited. And do it very, very carefully. And it is necessary that the editor enter into work at the stage of making a dictionary.

The translation editor must, in fact, be a translator himself to some extent. At the very least, he should have the skill to notice oddities described above. Moreover, generally speaking, its main task is not to edit the text, but to return it for revision, marking low-quality pieces. Otherwise, his work will become more and more difficult over time: the further, the less shortcomings of his product the translator will notice.

However, this is often not enough time. A localizer cannot always afford several editing cycles (as, by the way, the editor of a periodical) ...

Then comes the corrector; in this situation, he has the least specifics, since the rules of the Russian language do not depend much on the nature of the text. Unless you need to be able to recognize scripted inserts, like the %CLASS mentioned above, but these are trifles.

And yet... it's no secret that localizers often skip this stage. Which is extremely stupid on their part: not everyone is able to identify translation defects, many will attribute dull texts to the shortcomings of the original ... but the absence of commas and other delights will certainly be noticed. Of all the problems of localization, typos are the most visible - this, by the way, applies to any typed text...

Curiously, sometimes the authorities deliberately spoils work of the corrector, forbidding it to work in accordance with the rules of the language! So, for example, I saw with my own eyes a case when the localization editor strictly ordered the proofreader to keep the spelling "Elves", "Gnomes" and so on - with a capital letter. Say, these are not just races - these are sides in the game!

The poor fellow sincerely believed that it was for this reason that they were capitalized in the game. But in fact, in English, Russians or, say, Chinese will also be capitalized - the rules of the language are like that. But we don't seem to be translating into English, do we?

Meanwhile, the pirates Pirates had edits... sometimes. As a rule, it came into action if the text received from the translator did not go through any gates. For example, "translator" worked with Promt or Stylus. The translator, of course, was hung on a yardarm, and the editor was given a task like “translating all this nonsense into human language in twenty-four hours” ... Note that the use of such programs at any stage of work for a translator is a 100% indicator of incompetence. Even the slightest traces of Stylus and any of its analogues, if they are noticed in the text, normally provide the translator with a "wolf ticket" even from official localizers, even from pirates. There are some limits to decent even for the knights of the Jolly Roger!

voice acting

But finally the translator's work was finished, he received his fee and left. Actors get involved.

Five years ago, actors for localization were often collected from the world one by one, and they had to explain a lot of things before starting work. After all, the actor does not, as a rule, have time to get acquainted with the whole history of the issue. There are simply lines in front of him, there is (hopefully) original voice acting and some description of the character's character. But what is, say, a dwarf, the actor may not know, although any player knows this very well.

Meanwhile, the pirates these and at all, as a rule, voiced their products by the forces of the translators themselves. And it's good if there was at least two vote. There was no mention of professionalism.

However, recently the situation has improved: with the advent of a constant market for orders for voice acting, studios have appeared that professionally perform this particular job. One of the most notable is Muza-Games, in which announcers work, including our video magazine.

Usually, quite a few actors work on the voice acting of the game, much less than there are characters in the game. And it’s completely normal if the artist gets a good dozen heroes. At the same time, he usually voices them one by one, and not in the order of the lines in the game, in order to better enter the role and achieve the correct voice features.

Although now excellent professionals work with dubbing games, very “poly-voiced”, sometimes it is still noticeable that there are fewer of them than we would like. From time to time, software filters are used to mask this, correcting the timbre.

People who are far from the gaming kitchen sometimes think that voice actors play entire dialogues from the game. Alas, in real life this is extremely rare. Usually, an actor is given a simple list of his lines, and it's good if between them are the words to which his character answers! Many even prefer not to see "extra" remarks, so as not to interfere. And then the sound editors put the lines in their places, and in the game they themselves are assembled by the script into dialogues.

The reasons for this state of affairs are trivial: the voice acting of the game costs a very round sum, and the actors and the studio are paid by the hour. If the actor will delve into every intermediate line of other characters, I'm not talking about it - if several artists work with the text at the same time, the price of localization will increase very, very seriously. However, there are projects with "fair" play... or at least have been.

Occasionally, in addition to replicas, one has to voice more groans, crowd noise and other similar oddities (often they are simply left from the original). For some reason, it is often believed that the most difficult thing is to voice the noise of the crowd, although in fact these methods have been known for many years and have been worked out to automatism: several meaningless remarks like “what to say when there is nothing to say” are superimposed on each other with an offset. Sometimes the same noise of the crowd "plays" with success in a dozen projects.

While the voice acting is going on, the artists are fiddling with the game's fonts, as well as with rendered inscriptions. Much of this work, other than the actual creation of fonts, is technical; but if the localization package is made so-so, it can be very, very time consuming. Alas, even today there are such joys as the need to enter text directly on top of the existing one (the developer was too lazy to give a picture in layers), which means long, long hours of image retouching.

Installation and debugging

And finally, all the source materials are done. What's next?

Further, again, depends on the good will of the foreign publisher. If he was so kind as to send the game and a tool for editing texts and sounds into it, then the localizer itself collects the Russian version and can correct errors in real time.

But, as you know, trust in Allah, and tie your camel; and some publishers prefer to do the assembly themselves. This is another way to mess up the end result...

Why? Yes, because even with the most careful work, mistakes are inevitable, and each cycle of sending material to a publisher abroad takes at least a day, usually much more. The game is a project of such complexity that it would be ridiculous to expect success the first time. Somewhere the translator still didn’t understand the context (this happens especially often when a phrase or a name in a game is assembled from separate words)...

A case from one's life: here are some characteristic fruits of such an assembly. “Fly Lair” (Fly Lair, a den of flies), “Take Two” (for an unknown purpose, the name of the publisher of Take Two was split in half in the localization table), “Booby Trap” ...

But perhaps the most common problem, which is revealed only by the test stage: something does not fit somewhere. For example, a too long name does not fit into the spell table, or a protracted remark clashes with the next one, or the inscription does not fit on the button ...

At the same time, you need to understand well that under no circumstances does the localizer physically unable be enough time to conduct a full test of the volumetric game...

If, say, it is still possible to find all possible options and nooks and crannies of a quest, then viewing and listening to all the lines in a role-playing game is an incredibly long process. At the very least, this can be done in a long development cycle, but localizers cannot afford several months of testing!

However, if, say, on the screen, the texts of the replicas systematically creep out of the window border (in the last issue we described such a game), or the inscription on the main screen does not fit on the button, or replicas stick together in the intro video, it will be fair and right to declare the work of the localizer hacky.

This is the life cycle that a Western game goes through before it ends up with us “in full Russian translation”.

As you can see, there are dozens of reasons why the translation may not be ideal; and not all of them are on the conscience of the localizer. Although most often, alas, poor localization is the result of too tight deadlines and not too conscientious selection of employees. But the localizer is constantly forced to race against the clock, and for those who want easy money, I would not advise going into this business.