Lemma Soft Forums

Ok, I'm trying to wade through the info on translating games...I was wondering if VN developers had a preferred approach/policy on fan translations?

For anyone making a commercial game, do you tend to encourage/discourage them? I think I've heard some devs say they tend not to respond, allowing them if they exist. I've heard other devs send a cease and desist.

I'm not sure yet if I would want to go the commercial translation route, so wondering what the pros/cons are of fan versions.

Thanks!

From what I've heard, a translation can have a huge impact on people's opinion of the game, especially those who haven't yet played it.
Many people prefer not to randomly trust 'generic internet guy a' for translating for a few reasons.
Namely, the translation has not been approved by the creator. It may be low quality or cause other game breaking issues, thus bringing down people's thoughts about your game in general.
Another consideration is; do you want to potentially market to said language in the future. Allowing a fan translation may cause the above and lower peoples expectations on the 'official' translation, or they may already have the game and not want it again, being content enough with what they have.

On the other hand, you may get more exposure/future followers. You may get a 'free' translation which could help boost interest in your next project and you may also never plan to release in said language, so a fan translation will fill a niche you couldn't.

Thanks for your reply. Nice breakdown of pros and cons!

Personally, I would be flattered if anyone wanted to translate my games! I know I've come across real gems I'm dying to understand but can only do so with a not-so-firm grip on a language I barely understand. And think of all the gems we might have never found, that might never have gotten an official translation and license, if someone hadn't been willing to undertake the hard work, time, and dedication to translate them into English first. Also, Google Translate is the master of Unreliable Narrators.

If anyone wanted to translate my games into any other language, I'd give it my approval and blessing. I should, of course, note that not everyone may feel the same way. Indie devs tend to be easier to contact directly on issues about translation than corporations, so it never hurts to ask first.

(And also, it's just common courtesy in my country, Canada, to have things translated into both English and French-Quebecois, so part of it may also be a cultural issue to some extent?)

Imo, fan translations are best when 1) they don't offer the whole game, just a patch 2) you have some way to check them (maybe a friend, or if you understand enough of the language to read player feedback) not just for quality, but to make sure that the intent of the text is preserved and 3) you have no immediate plans/means to release the game in that language.

For example, I know #1 is a significant problem with the latinamerican community while getting a fan translation in chinese or japanese would probably be godsend, because those are two of the most expensive languages to translate to/from.

Also consider that 99% of people contacting you to do a fan translation, will disappear in a black hole without finishing anything
(Happened so many times to me in the past)

Seconding Jack_Norton, I've got approached by someone to translate P&Y to Spanish and/or Catalanan just weeks after its release and haven't heard of them since. It's been a year since. I'll refrain from mentioning who because there was no money exchanged and thus no harm done, but it does suggest that these things tend to happen and what reaction it might invite from developers.

I think that commercial games might be a bit more wary than non-commercial games because they've got little control over whether you'll distribute the game for free or personal profit. Or they could be less enthusiastic because it means more work for them as well: having to code the translation into their game, alpha-test it again and replace their distributions with the new version. The former means no work but also no control, the latter means that while the developer has control they'll also have to do a lot of work.

The main issue I can foresee though is the same as any other form of service around here: no previous work. Just like how an artist with no portfolio or a writer with no previous projects, there's no telling what a translator with no previous experience will produce (if anything at all), whether they have the focus to see the project through and how they'll do it. And you can't give them examples of your work because they can't read it. By making some example projects and establishing a form of distribution that the developer can check on, you can assure them that you're capable of handling the task and incentivising them further to hire you if you already have an already existing network of distribution that would increase their audience.

If you can find a commercial project willing to let their game be translated, then that's good. Otherwise you might want to start with one or two fan-translations of free projects because those tend to be a lot more okay with these things. Can't keep profit margins from a free game . Once you've got a few games like that, you should be a more serious candidate. Maybe they'll even allow you to distribute the game for free like f.e. the otherwise commercial games translated by vgperson.