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Virginia Parades Gurrea Diana Díaz Montón I VGVWA, Barcelona 2010

Checklists - How to Avoid Game Localization Pitfalls

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Page 1: Checklists - How to Avoid Game Localization Pitfalls

Virginia Parades Gurrea

Diana Díaz Montón

I VGVWA, Barcelona 2010

Page 2: Checklists - How to Avoid Game Localization Pitfalls

Internationalization in Video Games

Localization Pitfalls

Context

Inconsistencies

Mistranslations

Format & Coding

Wrong Implementation

Layout

Hardcoding & Variables

PRE-DEVELOPMENT CHECKLIST

Familiarization – Templates – Query Log

Page 3: Checklists - How to Avoid Game Localization Pitfalls

Internationalization in Video Games

Format & Coding

Wrong Implementation

Extraction & Insertion

Embedded text

File structure & naming

Track of changes

Why?

Page 4: Checklists - How to Avoid Game Localization Pitfalls

Internationalization in Video Games

Format & Coding

Layout

Overlapping

Wrong rendering

Cropping

Page 5: Checklists - How to Avoid Game Localization Pitfalls

Internationalization in Video Games

Format & Coding

Date & Time Format

Decimal Separators

Currency

Measuring Units

Variables

Hardcoding & Variables

Page 6: Checklists - How to Avoid Game Localization Pitfalls

Internationalization in Video Games

Context

Inconsistencies

Clearly identify game terms

Glossaries

Termbases

Translation memories

Automated QA & terminology checks

Page 7: Checklists - How to Avoid Game Localization Pitfalls

Internationalization in Video Games

Context

Cosmetic Issues in Layout

Page 8: Checklists - How to Avoid Game Localization Pitfalls

Internationalization in Video Games

Context

Mistranslations

Gender – male or female

Puns – plays on words

Grammar – noun or verb

Disambiguation

Page 9: Checklists - How to Avoid Game Localization Pitfalls

Internationalization in Video Games

Context

TemplatesGlossary

Dialogue

Ingame

Page 10: Checklists - How to Avoid Game Localization Pitfalls

Internationalization in Video Games

Context

Familiarization

Play the game

Game website

Legacy

Design documents

Character descriptions

Screenshots

Artwork

Page 11: Checklists - How to Avoid Game Localization Pitfalls

Internationalization in Video Games

Context

Translator Log

Page 12: Checklists - How to Avoid Game Localization Pitfalls

Asset Organization & Format

File Structure & Naming Conventions

Folder for each language with subfolders Logical naming for each type of file Clearly state file version & date Unique ID for each text string Date in files

Format

Text not embedded in code Unicode font Allow increase & decrease of fontsMinimum concatenated screens Gender & grammar changes support

Support for duplicating a string Engine that allows gender marks Duplication of all dialogues

Allow change of format dates & times Artwork text images in layers Different tracks for voice, music & sfx Use of icons for common features of UI Avoid cluttered UI screens

Translation –friendly assets

Information about the game

Brief description of game, characters, places, missions, game phases, etc.

Glossary with a screenshot of each term & organized in categories

Differentiate text, artwork, dialogues... Character limitations Built-in macros to check lengths Scripts organized in columns:

File ID Location Stage direction Speaker Addressee

Information about procedures

Familiarization Yes NoChanges allowed Yes NoTranslators in QA Yes No

Page 13: Checklists - How to Avoid Game Localization Pitfalls

thank youVirginia Paradés Gurrea

[email protected] Díaz Montón

[email protected]