BLOG

1. UI Considerations

The prevalence of hanja in the Korean language allows Korean text to be shorter. So Korean developers tend to eliminate blank spaces and make use of all available space for in-game UI text. However, more often than not, overflowing text is the result when it is translated into English or other European languages. Abbreviations in the target language may be used but applicability is limited and for languages that use the alphabet, the translated text becomes much longer than the Korean source text. Therefore, a developer needs to make allowances for extra space during development.

2. Word Order

If the text only consists of words to be translated and no placeholders like the examples below , translation may be difficult to do accurately or even outright impossible.

Variables need to be included in the text such as “Select {0}” for an appropriate translation to be possible. In addition, utilizing line breaks in grammatically unusual positions within the text is likely to cause problems during translation. Therefore, it is important to consider word order and incorporate variables when handling text.

3. Ample Context Information Enhances Localization Quality

Having text with ample information about the context it is used in results in localizations that are overall much better than those without context. In general, what sets apart game developers with extensive experience in game translation and localization from those without is the utilization of comments that can be used to infer context.

4 . Technical Aspects

– Don’t hard-code text: If the text to be translated is embedded into the source code, there is a high chance that problems will occur during translation.

– Text box expandability or extra space: When English is translated into German, the text becomes 20-30% longer on average. Extra space for longer strings should be taken into account.

– Providing context for text: Providing information such as whether the text is a title, part of longer text, or a label for a button increases the speed and accuracy of translations.

– Text: Try to avoid sentences that are overly long. Barring situations where they are essential to progress the game or otherwise unavoidable, using concise and understandable words, expressions, and sentences is recommended.

When you localize your game, you need to discuss as detailed as possible about your game and over the way you want it to be localized. And listen attentively to what the localization experts say. That would be easy way to make your game ready for global release.