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Kenshi 1\u2019s translation was managed by Lo-Fi\u2019s Lead Writer – Nat, and our Japanese Localisation, PR and Community Manager – Meg (now also Localisation Lead). The pair are now using their experience with Kenshi 1 to improve and perfect the Kenshi 2 localisation process so that non-English speakers can enjoy the game as it was intended.<\/p>\n
In this month’s community update, the two share insight behind the much-improved technique behind Kenshi 2\u2019s translation and our future development plans for non-English players.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most frustrating challenge in managing localisation is not being able to speak the languages yourself to verify the quality and how it’s going. You’re completely at the mercy of trusting other people to know what they’re doing or that they\u2019re actually putting care into it. And it was hard to fully monitor this on top of my other work,\u201d says Natalie, who had a particularly difficult time trying to manage the localisation of Kenshi in 8 different languages whilst writing the game.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThere are also so many complications with writing for Kenshi; I have to train new writers for so many months to get into good \u2018Kenshi habits\u2019, to understand how wordswaps fit together grammatically, to check sentences flow together nicely (procedural dialogue can fit together extremely clunky due to the many alternative combinations), even just drilling in Kenshi\u2019s themes and consistencies. Kenshi writing is a whole other level of thought process – only half of it involves actual creativity, the other half is Kenshi-specific brain aneurysm level of technical weirdness.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n It’s hard that I can’t check these things myself and properly train our translators to the same level. So I\u2019m really glad to have Meg with us for Kenshi 2, she has more dedicated time and is actually working alongside the other translators \u2018on the front line\u2019 herself to communicate these issues and work more closely with them.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Note the above grammar mistake caused by incorrect use of wordswaps. We\u2019ve recently incorporated a \u2018results generator\u2019 in the FCS (an in-house development tool) which displays all possible permutations of written sentences. Lots of new technical features have been added to help solidify the workflow and reduce issues like this one.<\/p>\n We’ve been able to keep a tab on everything that didn’t go so well for Kenshi 1 and use that newfound knowledge and understanding to set the foundation for Kenshi 2. The most important lessons we learned during Kenshi 1\u2019s localisation were context and cohesion. Translators are essentially writers of the game in their own language. They’re making decisions that they, the native speaker, are most equipped to judge, for example fitting names to their own language – do they translate literally? Do they keep nouns phonetically similar or perhaps create punchier words?<\/p>\n Kenshi 2 is still under development, so if a translator fails to understand the atmosphere or how something is used in the game, they can easily misinterpret meanings and tones. Localisers must also properly be able to reflect the themes and information intended and understand the game design and intended experience behind writing i.e. what we’re trying to make the player feel, what we’re trying to hint at or encourage them to do.<\/p>\n At many points translators are dealing with game-changing actions the player can make, and as writers, we need to really clarify the repercussions and weight of those player decisions. If a translator isn\u2019t aware of the impact of certain lines, a game has the potential to become really frustrating with the player missing out on big opportunities or being heavily punished for things they didn’t understand.<\/p>\n Essentially, the player’s gameplay experience and fun carry much more weight than just fancy words and nice writing. We\u2019re now working much more closely with translators and involving them in the development process with frequent catchups, workshops and Q&As, as opposed to localisation being an afterthought added at the end of development. This time around, we are starting translation alongside <\/i>development.<\/p>\n We didn\u2019t plan to localise Kenshi 1 initially; it was already a huge development project for the 4-6 people involved. It only really occurred to us that we might want to translate the game into other languages when we first started to see it become popular in other regions around Europe and when players began making their own translation mods. Essentially, the localisation process was slapped on towards the end and handled by a bunch of outsourced companies, so we hadn\u2019t laid the proper groundwork for documentation.<\/p>\n We now have a brilliant new internal wiki which is visually accessible and easy to use for other members of the team that\u2019s easy to keep updated (lore evolves and changes constantly over development).<\/p>\n Not only can translators use our wiki to understand the background of the world and its cultures, but we <\/i>can also use it to explain any regional speech styles, specific slang, personalities, key facts and relevant recurring names or themes in the game. Adding bios for all of the characters is also extremely helpful to a translator: Their gender, personality and role in the story – good or evil, for example.<\/p>\n We also have more organised naming systems which immediately give a bit more context and order to the items being worked on. We have lots of design documentation and guides, and, biggest of all, we have translation notes! These are notes that the writers can leave directly attached to items, dialogue strings and even GUI data that will display within the translation mode of the FCS. This includes things like overall context summaries, levels of formality, specific wordings that reflect deeper meanings, deliberate misspellings\/mispronunciations, puns or humour which might get lost in translation.<\/p>\n If a translator is not seeing the atmosphere or purpose of how something is used in the game, they can easily misinterpret meanings and tones. The more information you can provide on context for your translator, the better. It has become a part of our everyday process in our writing tasks to 1) Update the wiki and 2) Leave notes on everything we write.<\/p>\n We kicked off the first round of localisation with our original Kenshi 1 translators Paola (Spanish), Marie (French), and of course Meg (JP), which began in January. We plan to start others this year too, now that we’ve all worked hard in ironing out the initial kinks and teething problems (for example: lost data, missing translation notes, data export issues and crashes in our software).<\/p>\n Meg, who recently completed the revised Japanese translation of Kenshi 1, has now taken a role of localisation lead, training\/supporting other translators while she works on Kenshi 2. Meg\u2019s experience with Kenshi 1 was unique in a way that she herself is an avid Kenshi player who spent countless hours playing and watching Kenshi videos, and that she worked on re-translation of Kenshi 1 after it was translated multiple times by modders and other translators.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lofigames.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/0cce0a366ebf486c707f8902a574073f59fda902.png\")
<\/p>\nKenshi Post Mortem<\/h1>\n
Cohesion<\/b><\/h3>\n
Context<\/b><\/h3>\n
Team<\/h1>\n
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