The Official Aldorlea Games Forum

I thought I'd give the "professionally localized" German version of Moonchild a try today.
What a disaster! Sorry, can't put that in nicer words.
In the introduction alone there are at least 16 spelling errors (and mostly severe ones at that) - not including about 10 that I think they did on purpose (for whatever reason). Also not including several grammatical errors.
The verbal expression sounds a bit like a fourth grade student was desperately trying to give his very best in a test at school. Also, the person who translated this obviously couldn't decide whether to use the personal or the formal way to address people (comparable to French - vous or tu?). Calypso for instance uses both forms alternatively when talking to Gabriel.
All our letters ä, ö and ü are replaced by ae, oe and ue, which theoretically is correct, but we only do that when it's absolutely necessary. I've never seen it being used so excessively (certainly in no other German game I've ever played) and it makes it harder to read the text.
I gave up after the introduction ....

I thought I'd give the "professionally localized" German version of Moonchild a try today.

Well as you can imagine, I can't read German, so I only meant it had been made by a professional company, which is the truth.

What a disaster! Sorry, can't put that in nicer words.
In the introduction alone there are at least 16 spelling errors (and mostly severe ones at that) - not including about 10 that I think they did on purpose (for whatever reason).

We were able to make the ¨ work if that's what you mean. so ü became ue etc.

Also not including several grammatical errors.
The verbal expression sounds a bit like a fourth grade student was desperately trying to give his very best in a test at school. Also, the person who translated this obviously couldn't decide whether to use the personal or the formal way to address people (comparable to French - vous or tu?). Calypso for instance uses both forms alternatively when talking to Gabriel.
All our letters ä, ö and ü are replaced by ae, oe and ue, which theoretically is correct, but we only do that when it's absolutely necessary. I've never seen it being used so excessively (certainly in no other German game I've ever played) and it makes it harder to read the text.
I gave up after the introduction ....

Oh well, not much I can do.
Try to check the feedback in the press. This time errors are not my fault lol

Indinera wrote:Well as you can imagine, I can't read German, so I only meant it had been made by a professional company, which is the truth.

I do understand what you meant. A professional company. But obviously not BFG.

Indinera wrote:We were able to make the ¨ work if that's what you mean. so ü became ue etc.

In the conversations ä, ö and ü are no problem though. No need to change them to ae, oe and ue. In 3S it also wasn't a problem in the menu and not even in the menu of fights.

Indinera wrote:This time errors are not my fault lol

But it's your reputation.
It's up to you whether you believe me or not. But this is definitely bad work.

I do understand what you meant. A professional company. But obviously not BFG.

Nope. Did you like what BFG did with MM?

In the conversations ä, ö and ü are no problem though. No need to change them to ae, oe and ue. In 3S it also wasn't a problem in the menu and not even in the menu of fights.

This time it was a problem. Rare charas specific to a certain language are always dangerous with DMK.

But it's your reputation.
It's up to you whether you believe me or not. But this is definitely bad work.

I do believe you (why not?).
That said, I made the game, not the localization.
I dunno why it would hurt my reputation if I never touched anything of the dialogs.

Indinera wrote:Nope. Did you like what BFG did with MM?

That's not the point.

Indinera wrote:This time it was a problem. Rare charas specific to a certain language are always dangerous with DMK.

Okay ...

Indinera wrote:I dunno why it would hurt my reputation if I never touched anything of the dialogs.

Seriously???
When I buy a game (for instance at Saturn or Media Markt), I buy it because I like the description on the box and the screenshots and artworks. But if I find out later that the conversations are crappy (which I already encountered before) and disturb the gaming experience, I'm not gonna buy a game of this developer again. How can a customer, who neither knows Aldorlea nor the original English version, know, that it's just poorly translated?

Cassiopeia wrote:

Indinera wrote:I dunno why it would hurt my reputation if I never touched anything of the dialogs.

Seriously???...

It's true that a bad translation can "hurt". But on the other hand, there are (at least in our country, and I suppose it's not different in Germany) companies notoriously known for poor quality translations. In such a case, it's doesn't really hurt the developer's reputation.

I was always going to rely on them, for the lack of being able to understand german.
It's also true that a lot of game localizations are not so well done (in France it happens a lot as well). I guess at this point it's better wait and see.

Indinera wrote:I guess at this point it's better wait and see.

Not much more that can be done anyway I suppose, as the copies are already out there in the stores ...

Indeed... I was always going to let them handle the localization. Little I could do to control what was going on. I hope it goes well regardless.

Indinera wrote:I was always going to let them handle the localization.

See, THAT's the point. THEM. Not BFG. It was always Rokapublish and never BFG - as you told me months ago when I asked you a simple question.

I'm not sure what you're talking about...
Roka did MC and that's it.
BFG did MM indeed a very long time ago.

Indinera wrote:I'm not sure what you're talking about...

Well, that makes it even sadder.

I'm sorry, but I cannot understand what you mean, and this also makes no sense:

It was always Rokapublish

How can it be "always" when I started working with them in May? And what does BFG have to do with the whole thing?

[quote="Indinera"]
Well as you can imagine, I can't read German, so I only meant it had been made by a professional company, which is the truth.
[quote]

Hello, this is an old discussion but I'd like to give a contribution.

Why, instead than relying on a professional company, you don't ask the support of the community? I am sure that your call would receive many answers, and I'm also quite sure that an RPG player will deliver a better translation... for free!

Of course this could mean longer translation times. And, of course, there are technical and copyright problems, if the translation must be done directly on the source code (AFAIK this is the case with RPG Maker). But I am also sure that a solution can be found, and the result may be worth of the effort!

Your opinion?