Garrulous Glaahk Venom Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I've been wondering if Spiderweb Software has ever thought about translating their games into other languages? This would lead to a wider audience, but I imagine it would be difficult to implement. Spiderweb's games contain a lot of text, so I can see how it might be a difficult undertaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Randomizer Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I know Basilisk Games tried to do this with fans providing translations and so far not a single language translation has been completed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Nioca Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 As far as I'm aware, the answer is no. The amount of time and money it would take for such a translation would render any potential profits from the exercise moot; you'd have to hire a professional translator, sort through the code of the game itself (since some of the text is built directly into the game), oversee the whole operation, and probably a bunch of other stuff I haven't thought about... All to reach a theoretical audience that may or may not be able to let him break even. Additionally, it would take time away from making new games, thus in effect costing him even more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Tracer Bullet Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Theoretically, however, what languages would you translate it into? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Men are from Slars Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I didn't realize Basilisk's efforts failed. Both Eschalon games contain probably less than 1% the dialogue of a SW game, and I don't think that's an exaggeration. So if it doesn't work for Eschalon, doing it for SW seems futile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast Enraged Slith Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I assume running the entire script through Babelfish isn't an option? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Locmaar Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 We've had this discussion before. If you rely much on quality writing in your game - which I think Jeff does - you need a quality translation, properly handling command of style. And you need somebody else to proofread and verify it's a quality translation. It's not something that can be easily done in anybody's free time, let alone anybody's free time who has the skill set to do it. Also the affect this will have on sales is dubious at best. You don't know before you try so I guess you would have to arrange for payment after sales. It's probably too risky from a commercial point of view. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Khoth Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Originally Posted By: Enraged Slith I assume running the entire script through Babelfish isn't an option? Finally, you are just a huge stone in his halls of Redbeard, standing in front. He does not expect you. He is a large man over six months Ino Hiroshi feet and shoulders. As being named after his beard and hair, which is expected to fiery red hair. He looks as if only a few years older than you. It is given that he is the keeper of Abaddon almost 60 years, is a little strange. But the strange thing is his mood. Despite his confusion inside and outside the fort, he is strangely hilarious. Does not seem genuine smile leave his face for a moment. He is looking forward to a repeat tap on the shoulder. "Welcome, Welcome to the new hand Abaddon." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast Triumph Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Originally Posted By: Khoth Originally Posted By: Enraged Slith I assume running the entire script through Babelfish isn't an option? Finally, you are just a huge stone in his halls of Redbeard, standing in front. He does not expect you. He is a large man over six months Ino Hiroshi feet and shoulders. As being named after his beard and hair, which is expected to fiery red hair. He looks as if only a few years older than you. It is given that he is the keeper of Abaddon almost 60 years, is a little strange. But the strange thing is his mood. Despite his confusion inside and outside the fort, he is strangely hilarious. Does not seem genuine smile leave his face for a moment. He is looking forward to a repeat tap on the shoulder. "Welcome, Welcome to the new hand Abaddon." That is hilarious! I would love to read through the whole game script that way! Which languages did you run it through? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnificent Ornk nikki. Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Originally Posted By: Khoth Originally Posted By: Enraged Slith I assume running the entire script through Babelfish isn't an option? Finally, you are just a huge stone in his halls of Redbeard, standing in front. He does not expect you. He is a large man over six months Ino Hiroshi feet and shoulders. As being named after his beard and hair, which is expected to fiery red hair. He looks as if only a few years older than you. It is given that he is the keeper of Abaddon almost 60 years, is a little strange. But the strange thing is his mood. Despite his confusion inside and outside the fort, he is strangely hilarious. Does not seem genuine smile leave his face for a moment. He is looking forward to a repeat tap on the shoulder. "Welcome, Welcome to the new hand Abaddon." So you're saying it *is* an option? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Micawber Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I fondly believe that Khoth was making that up. It's quite beautiful in any case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast Dintiradan Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I heartily endorse a "poorly translated JRPG" Avadon version. MagmaDragoon started work on translating Geneforge to Italian. I don't think he finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Men are from Slars Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I doubt that Khoth made that up. It sounds exactly like a round trip babelfish translation. JRPG: All your fortress of doom are belong to us? Also, MagmaDragoon. Wow. Blast from the past there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Khoth Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 It was google translate from english to japanese to english. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Tracer Bullet Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Google Translate does a word for word translation with no thought to syntax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Men are from Slars Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 That's definitely not true. It's not even true if you meant "word order" and not "syntax," which I'm guessing you do. Google Translate's grasp of syntax is rather lacking. But it does pay attention to it. It doesn't alter word order frequently, but it will do so, especially when words don't translate on a 1:1 basis, as is common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Tracer Bullet Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I take it you had a better experience with it than I did. Maybe its grasp of some languages is firmer than others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Men are from Slars Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 What made it sound like I had a good experience? I'm just saying that it clearly makes adjustments based on syntax. Its adjustments often fail to conform to actual syntax, but that's a different issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Khoth Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I was going to make a little program to automatically convert all the scripts like that, but it turns out that Google doesn't like people doing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast Triumph Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Originally Posted By: Khoth I was going to make a little program to automatically convert all the scripts like that, but it turns out that Google doesn't like people doing that. Alas. As funny as I found that one paragraph, I'm sure "translating" the whole script would've had me laughing out loud for days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Tracer Bullet Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES What made it sound like I had a good experience? I'm just saying that it clearly makes adjustments based on syntax. Its adjustments often fail to conform to actual syntax, but that's a different issue. I never said "good" I said "better" as in, "less bad" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chittering Clawbug Halt Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Google translate doesn't work that well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Lilith Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Originally Posted By: Warlord Aidan Google translate doesn't work that well pope blue, sky catholic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Randomizer Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Originally Posted By: Khoth I was going to make a little program to automatically convert all the scripts like that, but it turns out that Google doesn't like people doing that. You might have better luck with Basilisk Game's Eschalon:Book 2 since the texts were placed in separate files to facilitate translations instead of having to pick them out of Jeff's scripts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Alorael at Large Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Google Translate actually works very well. Sure, the quality of language that comes out is horrible, but it's not gibberish. You can often get a fairly good idea of what's being said even when you lack the most rudimentary understanding of the language. That's of huge benefit. —Alorael, who would not, and does not, use Google Translate to produce finished documents. He can and does use it on occasion, and he has found it more than adequate for, say, navigating foreign sites or interpreting foreign posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnificent Ornk nikki. Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Originally Posted By: Lilith Originally Posted By: Warlord Aidan Google translate doesn't work that well pope blue, sky catholic To quote arrested development, marry me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast Jerakeen Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 You fight the entrance and an agreement in Avadon dungeons and is a lingering herb doctor final resting place which is many enough. You the greatcoat is near in the table and to leave pays attention to the thing. Before fall with the low-end tunnel, it will be wise, inserts and the map above knowing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyshakk Koan Karoka Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Quote: Introduction to submit this letter as your first contact with the meeting on the morrow in Maine, a man named Vonnegut. He will find the Sea Wurm Inn is Selathni. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrulous Glaahk Venom Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 Originally Posted By: Locmaar We've had this discussion before. If you rely much on quality writing in your game - which I think Jeff does - you need a quality translation, properly handling command of style. And you need somebody else to proofread and verify it's a quality translation. It's not something that can be easily done in anybody's free time, let alone anybody's free time who has the skill set to do it. Also the affect this will have on sales is dubious at best. You don't know before you try so I guess you would have to arrange for payment after sales. It's probably too risky from a commercial point of view. Yes, I'd agree with most of these issues. The quality of the translation would need to be far above what Babelfish or Google can do. I'm curious to know actually how much dialogue is actually in a single game, say, Avernum 6. Would it come out to similar to a novel? While I don't think it is quite analogous, I know of one open-source game that has an army of translation volunteers. Battle for Wesnoth campaigns have been translated into almost 50 different languages, all by volunteers. Most of it isn't quality work, but I think for Spiderweb, beta-testers could help sort out the errors during beta-testing. I wonder how much professional translators cost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast Dintiradan Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 I'm actually surprised there hasn't been an Avernum or Geneforge total conversion yet. Well, total conversion of a sorts. We are able to change the scripts and graphics, at least. Even piping the Avadon scripts into Google Translate wouldn't work, because half the time you'd be bumping into the max string limit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Men are from Slars Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 There probably needs to be demand for SW games in a country with few English speakers for that to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Khoth Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Originally Posted By: Randomizer Originally Posted By: Khoth I was going to make a little program to automatically convert all the scripts like that, but it turns out that Google doesn't like people doing that. You might have better luck with Basilisk Game's Eschalon:Book 2 since the texts were placed in separate files to facilitate translations instead of having to pick them out of Jeff's scripts. Picking the texts out of the scripts is easy. The problem is that after the first 20 or so, the translations coming back were all "Suspected Terms of Service Abuse" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast Dantius Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Originally Posted By: Khoth Picking the texts out of the scripts is easy. The problem is that after the first 20 or so, the translations coming back were all "Suspected Terms of Service Abuse" Use TOR and have it randomize your IP every few translations so it doesn't look like they're all coming from the same place. Of course, this also runs into the problem that you come up with an IP from, say, Nigeria, and it think you're a bot and won't give you a translation in the first place... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast keira Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Couldn't you just copy everything onto an html document or two (using something like the id attribute to keep them seperate), upload them, and use the Website Translate thing on it? Or does it figure out extremely long webpages too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Khoth Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 I have no plans to trick google translate into doing something they don't want it to be used for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrulous Glaahk Venom Posted March 15, 2011 Author Share Posted March 15, 2011 Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES There probably needs to be demand for SW games in a country with few English speakers for that to happen. But how will there be demand without any translation? Those seem to go hand-in-hand. Perhaps a trial translation into Spanish. Particularly if Spiderweb gets their products onto Steam, there will be a more international audience, I think. What's with all the Google Translate workarounds? It would end up an inferior/nonmarketable product anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast keira Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Originally Posted By: Venom What's with all the Google Translate workarounds? It would end up an inferior/nonmarketable product anyways. They are in the contradiction. The translators in line are reached and infallible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Khoth Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Originally Posted By: Venom What's with all the Google Translate workarounds? It would end up an inferior/nonmarketable product anyways. A Google Translate version would, however, be very funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fledgling Fyora swiru44 Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Finally i found a program named Resource Tuner v1.98 that can edit every datas in game .exe (in Avernum 1). Is only one problem, exe file don't support international characters (I'm working on it). Next part of game texts, are lokated in .dat files, and they are not so friendly to edit ( only hex editor?). One good thing is that .dat files support international characters (I try with Polish characters). Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrulous Glaahk SamSniped Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 #225484 - 03/15/11 07:03 PM #273122 - 54 minutes 54 seconds ago ... Post #IX of the challenge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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