Localization. Basic words pack translated on many languages for your game? "Start", "Options", etc.

I want to make localization for my game on 13+ languages. I want to translate simple phrases and words like "Start new game", "Options", "Loading" etc.

I'm afraid that the word "Start" (for example) doesn't suit well on every language for player to start new game. I guess some languages use the word "Begin" on their language, not "Start". So trying to basically just translate the word "Start" via google translate is not a good idea. It would not suit well. I hope you get the idea.

So, I wonder is there any "basic words" pack, translated on many languages so they would look well and won't make player feel that that game was translated by google translate.

 

You're right, you can't use Google Translate and get a good result. Normally a game pays a translation company to produce all the translations.

I'm not aware of any such generic words pack, but it's not a bad idea — for small/indie developers, it would at least let you get the basic menu/option type things properly localized.

 

Another option is to crowdsource the translations from fans. Release your game with as many languages as you can translate well on your own. If it becomes popular, you may be able to get fans who speak other languages to contribute their translations. If you do this, make it easy for them to provide translations (e.g., provide a simple Excel spreadsheet).

 

Just wanted to say that this would be a great idea for an Assetstore asset.

@UnityMaru : maybe Unity Technologies could start offering something like this on the assetstore? It could be expanded over time and would be a great time saver for all those simple mobile games that benefit from localization and don't need any narrative to be translated because the games are so abstract anyway. It could also serve as an example how to implement localization well from a technical perspective.

 

I'm aware of a community maintained open spreadsheet of exactly what's being discussed here. It's just a list of commonly used game terms, context descriptions, and then translations into a bunch of languages. I can't remember where it is, but if I can find it again I'll link it.

Edit: Not sure if this is the same one, but Polyglot Gamedev has one on GitHub.

 

Thanks for sharing! I skimmed a bunch of the German translations and it's a very good start, but still has some entries that seem overzealous with translating everything that can be translated instead of translating everything that makes sense. And I don't think the notes on the context were detailed enough in some cases.
E.g. Vsync = Bildschirmsynchronisation... I bet there are more gamers who know what Vsync is than there are gamers that know what exactly they mean with "Bildschirmsynchronisation". Or concept artist = Konzeptkünstler... no one calls them that in Germany. Konzeptkünstler sounds like someone who makes weird performance art, this should have been left as "concept artist" in my opinion. And Discard = Abbrechen... it depends on the context, but it's probably wrong here. In the context of card games (the neighbour words in the list are "bet" and "jackpot") it would be "abwerfen", which means something totally different than "abbrechen" (cancel/abort) and would confuse players a lot.

 

Time for a pull request?

 

Sogalsen is with you, a regular translator will not help in such cases, and you will need to use special services for more accurate localization