The document discusses tools and processes to improve localization for video games. It recommends performing font analysis, pseudo-localization, and internationalization passes early on to detect issues. It also advocates for constant validation and translation consistency checks to reduce bugs. Further, it suggests audio validation and providing a localization-friendly pipeline and centralized string database solution to facilitate collaboration between teams. The goal is to improve quality while reducing costs, bugs, and wasted resources associated with localization.

1. THERE IS SHOULD BE
A TOOL FOR THAT
Adolfo Gómez-Urda
Montijano

2. GAMES I’VE LOCALIZED
2005 - 2010
2010 - 2013
2013 -

3. HOW CAN LOCALIZATION CRASH YOUR GAME?
What will crash your game?

4. HOW CAN TOOLS AND A LOCALIZATION-
FRIENDLY PIPELINE POSITIVELY IMPACT THE
GAME (AND YOUR LIFE)?
Drastically reduce amount of localization bugs
Reduce chances of broken localization builds
Reduce translation and LQA costs (BAK 3x more content, only 2.3x $ more
than BAC, 5 years later!)
Reduce wasted resources
Reduce dependency from development team
Improve quality of localized builds
Reduce chances of compliance issues and MF bugs by first party

5. PROBLEM/CHALLENGE -> TOOL/FEATURE TABLE
PROBLEM/CHALLENGE TOOL/FEATURE
Hardcoded strings and text boxes too small Pseudo-Localization
Constants and variables in source text Constant Validator
Repetition in English Translation Consistency Check
Audio/Subtitle mismatches Audio Validator
Unsupported characters Font Validator
Different 1st-party formats for achievements
& trophies
Next Gen Achiever

6. CONSTANT VALIDATOR

7. CONSTANT
VALIDATION
• Sony terms: "DUALSHOCK®3", "DUALSHOCK®4", "PlayStation®3", "PlayStation®4", "PlayStation®App",
"PlayStation®Camera", "PlayStation®Eye", "PlayStation®Move", "PlayStation®Plus", "PlayStation®Store",
"PlayStation®TV", "PlayStation®Vita", "PlayStation™Network", "PS TV", "PS Vita", "PS3™", "PS4™", "PSN", "SIXAXIS™",
"Sony Entertainment Network"
• Microsoft terms: "Kinect", "Smart Match", "Xbox", "Xbox Live", "Xbox Live Gold", "Xbox One", "Xbox SmartGlass"
• Miscellanea: "[*]", "{*}", "<*>", "%s", "%ls", "%i", "%d", "%hs", "%%", WBPlay
• Numbers

10. TRANSLATION
CONSISTENCY
CHECK
4600 translation
inconsistencies
(around 460 per
language in a 11500
string database)

11. INTERNATIONALIZATION PASS
• Should be performed on pseudo-localized builds (a couple months before Loc
QA)
• General idea of the localizability of the game before actual localization starts
• Font and encoding conversion issues
• Hardcoded strings
• Real estate UI issues
• Number format issues
• Date/Time format issues
• Non-localized art
• Establish punctuation guidelines for English and other languages before
translation starts:
 Curly VS. straight apostrophes and quotation marks
 Long dashes VS. short dash
 1 VS. 2 spaces after periods

12. PSEUDO-LOCALIZATION
• 30-100% length increase to catch real estate UI
issues
• Prefix made up of language-specific characters to
catch font and encoding conversion issues
• Can flag hardcoded strings early in development

13. Real Estate UI Issues

14. Font glyph issues
Hardcoded string

15. FONT VALIDATION
Develop a tool to analyze all the game
fonts
 Small alphabet languages (European languages)
 Support ALL potentially necessary characters throughout the
project
 Large alphabet languages (Chinese, Japanese,
Korean, etc.)
 Support most common + used characters only and update
regularly
Always support these special characters:
 Ellipsis (… or Alt + 0133)
 Non-breaking space (Alt + 0160)
 Copyright (©), Trademark (™), and Registered (®)
symbols

17. FONT VIEWER

18. AUDIO VALIDATION
• Must also be performed in English
assets prior to localization
recordings to avoid re-recordings in
other languages
• Excellent task for localization testers
when builds are not stable enough or
to familiarize themselves with the
game
• Only possible way of listening and
validating all audio in the game
• Ensure localized audio files are
properly named

20. ACHIEVEMENT & TROPHY
LOCALIZATION
• Along with metadata updates, #1
source of copy/paste in video game
localization
• Merge all assets into one single Excel
file for translation:
 Sony *.trp
 Microsoft XDP *.xml export
 Steam *.vdf
• Ensure English texts match across all
platforms (they never do)
• Diff, diff, and diff again
• Encourage translators to be creative
when translating achievement names!

22. IDEAL
LOCALIZATION
PIPELINE
• Loc Mgmt Team: PM &
Engineer
• LQA: Loc QA testers and
lead

23. LOC-FRIENDLY STRING DATABASE
SOLUTION
• All parties (dev, Loc
PM, testers) work on
the same centralized
tool
• Provides string history
• Provides string status
per language
• Allows connection via
API
• Can export/import
to/from Excel

24. 2016 2017Nov 2016 Mar May Jul Sep Nov
VO Export for Translation and Recording
1/12/2016
1st UI Export for Translation
2/1/2016
Start of LocQA
3/1/2016
Localized VO Integration
3/2/2016
1st Party
Submission
11/15/2016
1/5/2016 - 1/9/2016
English Audio Validation
1/5/2016 - 1/14/2016Font Analysis
12/1/2015 - 12/30/2015
Internationalization Pass
1/5/2016 - 1/14/2016English text proofreading
2/2/2016 - 11/15/2016Constant Validation
2/2/2016 - 11/15/2016Asian Font Texture Regeneration
3/6/2016 - 3/15/2016Localized VO Validation
11/3/2015 - 12/2/2015
Localization Process & Tools Setup

25. SUMMARY
• Font analysis
• Pseudo-localization and internationalization pass
• Constant validation (and translation consistency)
• Audio validation
• Achievement & trophy localization
• Efficient and localization-friendly pipeline and
string database solution

26. QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?