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Thread: ADoM translation

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Default ADoM translation

    Sorry, I wasn't sure were to post this question, but it seems that all new possibilities and features will be available only in iAdom, so be it here.
    I wish to ask, if there will be ever any possibility to translate Adom on other languages? There were some, at least one - I saw "ZAdom", which used russian language, but it's extremely hard to translate the game this way: by editing binary code. Will there ever be more comfortable way?
    It's really interesting to hear Dr.TB's opinion about it...

  2. #2
    nathrakh Guest

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    I don't see even one good enough reason to translate ADOM to another language.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
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    Default

    There are quite a lot people who don't speak (or read) English. Is that bad reasn?

  4. #4
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    Default

    We hashed this already. We made a nice
    flamewar out of it actually. It started on the
    55th post of this thread, and went from there : )

    http://www.adom.de/forums/showthread.php?t=745&page=2
    "Whip me!" pleads the adom player. The rng replies... "No."

  5. #5
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    TB has already said that a translated version of ADOM would be exceedingly difficult because of how the message outputs are very much tied up with english language constructs. There are far too many fiddly rules to keep track of, especially with the thought of potential updates and changes.
    Platinum Edition ADOMer
    http://gamesofgrey.com - check out my roguelikes!

  6. #6
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    Qualitatively translate the game is unreal. English is very easy to write sentences with floating words. For example in Russian, to replace the word "goblin" to "mouse", you need to change all corresponding adjectives, verbs and pronouns.

  7. #7
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    The ADOM community seems convinced that a localization is more impossible. If been paid to localize software and managed all the messages in a commercial RPG, so I don't believe them, but they are convinced. In any case, a localization is not going to happen. Move on to something else if you can't handle English. Have your friends play something else if they can't handle English.

  8. #8

    Default

    A localization is theoretically certainly possible.

    It gets more difficult if the original code didn't anticipate translation. NetHack has probably a similar way of constructing messages as ADoM and there are several translations of it. Although those translations don't share a common code base so any new version of NetHack (ha!) would require to change each translation project on its own (at the moment, this would mean at least 3 different projects: a German, Japanese and Spanish NetHack).

    It is almost impossible if you don't have the source code and because we know TB's position on that matter I agree that a translation of ADoM won't happen.

    BTW, commercial games can also fail in translating as much as any free game. The original release of "The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion" had a terrible German translation. For example the "light potion of healing" was translated as "Schwachen Trank der Lebensenergie-Wiederherstellung" (something like "light potion of life energy restoration) and because this didn't fit into the UI they abbreviated it to "Schw. Tr. d. Le.en.-W." (I don't know what they were smoking). Fanmods changed that later to "schwacher Heiltrank" which ironically is even shorter than the English term.
    Last edited by bhaak; 12-31-2011 at 09:33 AM. Reason: missing sentence ending

  9. #9
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by sgeos View Post
    The ADOM community seems convinced that a localization is more impossible. If been paid to localize software and managed all the messages in a commercial RPG, so I don't believe them, but they are convinced. In any case, a localization is not going to happen. Move on to something else if you can't handle English. Have your friends play something else if they can't handle English.
    I bet commercial RPG does not make sentences on fly and instead have preset dialogs.

    Given how numerous ADOM auditory is any localization is doomed to fail due to lack of manpower and interest although. Besides russian version actually surprised me, i thought it ought to be lots and lots of worse.
    So far rolled 15 casters with RoDS and shamelessly killed them within 200 turns. For eternium glory!
    (after 15 I stopped counting...)

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