Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
she is saving towards her eventual matrimony. I wanted to know if this phrase
was used in the US and a search on the internet turned up the term 'hope
chest' as an equivalent.
Even if you discover all of your parallel terminology, it is not necessarily
desirable to use it.A character in the game who is English, for instance, would
not use American expressions and vice versa. I once worked as script editor
on a game based on an Agatha Christie novel because the US company
developing the game wanted to be sure that the English dialogue sounded
British and not American.
Occasionally, the differences in vocabulary bring about a smile. In Britain
our kitchen sinks have taps attached to them, while those in the United
States have faucets. However, apparently, the people of both countries refer
to the liquid that comes out of them as tap water. This also shows that care
must be taken not to make the wrong assumptions about the words used.
Full translations
French, German, Italian and Spanish are common languages for translation in
the European game market. Other languages are decided on factors which
set the number of possible sales against the cost of translating, recording and
testing that version.
Regardless of the number of translations taking place, the scripts should
be presented in a single format, which usually means taking the spreadsheet
files that you used for the recording scripts and changing them a little to
accommodate an additional column for the translated lines. The column
entitled 'Translation' would be changed to whichever language the translator
was working in.
English
Translation
Scene - Edwards talks to Wilks
[20201]
Edwards:
Hey, Wilks.
//
Greeting used
every time
First Time
[20202]
Wilks:
What's up?
[20203]
Edwards:
I heard that you
witnessed the
shooting.
