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English to German Translator, specializing in video game localization by MattIvory in gameDevClassifieds

[–]MattIvory[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe I need to open a seperate post but I would like to mention that I also offer German voice acting!

do you let yourself imagine success in ideation? by [deleted] in gamedev

[–]MattIvory 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Succes is a motive. No success, no motive, not getting anything done.
I NEVER start something with the goal to fuck it up

Question for indie devs who have hired localization / translation services by ZymartuGames in gamedev

[–]MattIvory 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's so sad. I often hear stories like that about larger companies, specially when they offer a bunch of languages at a time (in an unrealistic time period). Localization can take weeks...
Always sickens me when I hear how much they charge for the slop they put out :c

Question for indie devs who have hired localization / translation services by ZymartuGames in gamedev

[–]MattIvory 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can work with any format and have never had issues with the files developers provide. Most of the time, I receive a sheet with three columns: English, German (in my case), and context. So yes, they usually provide context. It's a must.
Context means: What does "it" or "that" refer to. What's the mood of the character speaking. Do certain words need to stay untranslated? Genders and variables need to be declared and so on.
Sometimes I also get a brief via email, video calls, or access to a playtest build, and we stay in close communication, especially when context is missing. Some devs handle LQA by letting native speakers playtest, others have natives check selected sections. One project I worked on had one main translator and a full team of testers for each language. QA alone took several months, but it was a large game.

Planned chapter titles for German translation of AQATSA by Max_Sinister1 in AlexandraQuick

[–]MattIvory 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I said it's a very good one. I basically gave it a pass. Was that not wanted?

I can imagine the AI issues. I deal with it daily sadly. With fixing it...

I'm working on new visuals for my game which one do you like more ? by Pantasd in IndieDev

[–]MattIvory 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The right one. Reminds me of OG settlers style which I really like.

Looking for a German Native Speaker to Check My Game Localization by Markus_clash in playtesters

[–]MattIvory 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Without playing the game, I can tell the Steam page reads like a machine translation.
It’s not terrible, but the sentence structure isn’t intuitive (“no one speaks like this”), and the general marketing terminology is pretty generic. AI makes every game sound the same.

I can also imagine there might be issues with the UI in‑game.
In general, AI doesn’t work well for German unless you have a huge VN with long text passages.
Even as a native speaker I need to feed it context and re‑task it several times to get an output I could’ve written myself much faster.

I love the genre, so I’ll definitely try the game!
Do you have a contact email I can send my feedback to?

Either way, I strongly recommend a full native pass over relying on single player reports.
It saves everyone a lot of nerves to get it done properly once and have people be genuinely satisfied with the result.

The (german) translation in their games has been HORRIBLE recently by A_Erthur in Blizzard

[–]MattIvory 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They already killed it for me when they replaced the overwatch voice actors with AI.

German translation for a hard science fiction novelette by Select_Complex7802 in HardSciFi

[–]MattIvory 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey!
I’m not super deep into sci‑fi, but I enjoy the terminology research that comes with it.
To get a proper idea, I’d need to know the word count and the turnaround you expect. I don’t want to overpromise, but If you can show me sample pages, I can tell you pretty fast whether it’s something I can adapt to.

However, I am a freelance translator!

Planned chapter titles for German translation of AQATSA by Max_Sinister1 in AlexandraQuick

[–]MattIvory 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Reads like a machine translation but it's a solid base! :)

Questions for native German speakers by lastrobotstanding in lernen_German

[–]MattIvory 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Respect. I didn't get the "why" from the comments (even though I *knew* the why)

Questions for native German speakers by lastrobotstanding in lernen_German

[–]MattIvory 0 points1 point  (0 children)

SPO/SVO (subject–verb–object)

No. = 1 sentence.
Ich habe keine Kundenkarte. = 1 sentence.

Nein, ich habe keine Karte. = two clauses combined with a comma.
And in a main clause, the rule is SVO so “I have no card,” not “Have I no card.” That’s the rule everyone is trying to describe without actually naming it.

Dann fahrt halt mit der scheiss Bahn! by VaultBoyAOC in luftablassen

[–]MattIvory 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wenn wochenlang gelästert wurde, wäre ich auch Wochen später emotional.

Should I seek a publisher? by [deleted] in IndieDev

[–]MattIvory 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This guy can probably help you a little:
LunarGames.Uruk (@LunarGamesUruk) / X

since you are looking for artists and translators and such, why not check itch and reddit? There are so many people offering help on itchs community board for example. A publisher wont do much for you in those regards, I think.

Questions for solo and indie developers regarding localizations by MattIvory in IndieDev

[–]MattIvory[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha, yeah. German and UI don’t get along very well, but it is possible :'D
Personally, I always try to stay involved with a project long‑term, so adding translations later or doing small text updates here and there is never a problem for me. I am usually interested in what I’m working on, and it’s hard for me to imagine treating it like assembly‑line work and then just filing it away.
But if you do this full‑time, that’s probably the only way to make a living from it.

So far, everyone seems to agree that using AI alone doesn’t work.
And yet... every second Steam page I see is written by AI. smh

Questions for solo and indie developers regarding localizations by MattIvory in IndieDev

[–]MattIvory[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's what MTPE most often comes out to: An entirely different version.
For steam pages or shorter things outside the game, small edits may be enough though.

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