Awesome Game. Awful Translation.

[Googolplex]

So, guys. Here is a test version of my fixed and improved german.lang.
Please let me know how you like it.

I think when everyone feels happy with this, FG will hopefully add it in a next update.


  german.zip (Size: 156.94 KB / Downloads: 200)

[PiratesFr33k]

I don't intend to be a party-pooper here or talk down on anyone, but... I've never understood how German people (I am German, too) always need their stuff localized. TV series, movies, games, ... why not just play them the way the creators intended to? In Germany, everything must always be translated. If you look at our neighbors, the Dutch, you'll see that they don't translate much at all and they are absolutely okay with that! They watch their TV series and films in original audio with Dutch subtitles, and by doing that, they improve their English. But in Germany? Nooo... everything is considered "bad" as long as it's not translated, synchronized, etc.

The problem is that every time it is mentioned that people prefer the original English audio, there's some kind of counter-movement (especially amongst younger people) that say stuff like "yeah, you just try to be elitist or 'cool' just because you watch/play it in English. You're not better than us!" – yeah, I don't intend to be "cool"! I just enjoy the original work more than the (more often than not) inferior synchronisation, I'm sorry!

I've heard people say "I love watching Scrubs, but only in German. In English it's shit." – which is something I cannot, for the life of me, fathom. How can the original work be "shit" while a version in which some local people trying to regurgitate something in their language is considered "good"?

There are two arguments I keep telling my fellow Germans:

1. If a local artist, such as Helge Schneider, Bully or Otto Waalkes, would be dubbed in English language and some English people would tell you "I love them in their English synchronization, but their original German version is inferior", what would you think about that? Stupid, don't you think?

2. Would you go into a music store and buy an album of an English-singing band that's synchronized into German language? Just imagine some girl trying to mimic Lady Gaga or whatever and singing the whole album in German! Who would buy that?? (Then again... a majority of people out there doesn't care about lyrics, so... yeah...)

Just saying.
Rant over.
Sorry.

[Mudbill]

I know one thing that is better off translated (dubbed) rather than the original; Ghost Stories ;P

[felixmole]

Just saying.
Rant over.
Sorry.

As long as there is no dubbing, I have nothing against localization. In fact, I don't think there is any dubbing in SOMA, just subtitles and some localized text when using the in-game terminals.

[Noneatme]

I don't intend to be a party-pooper here or talk down on anyone, but... I've never understood how German people (I am German, too) always need their stuff localized. TV series, movies, games, ... why not just play them the way the creators intended to? In Germany, everything must always be translated. If you look at our neighbors, the Dutch, you'll see that they don't translate much at all and they are absolutely okay with that! They watch their TV series and films in original audio with Dutch subtitles, and by doing that, they improve their English. But in Germany? Nooo... everything is considered "bad" as long as it's not translated, synchronized, etc.

The problem is that every time it is mentioned that people prefer the original English audio, there's some kind of counter-movement (especially amongst younger people) that say stuff like "yeah, you just try to be elitist or 'cool' just because you watch/play it in English. You're not better than us!" – yeah, I don't intend to be "cool"! I just enjoy the original work more than the (more often than not) inferior synchronisation, I'm sorry!

I've heard people say "I love watching Scrubs, but only in German. In English it's shit." – which is something I cannot, for the life of me, fathom. How can the original work be "shit" while a version in which some local people trying to regurgitate something in their language is considered "good"?

There are two arguments I keep telling my fellow Germans:

1. If a local artist, such as Helge Schneider, Bully or Otto Waalkes, would be dubbed in English language and some English people would tell you "I love them in their English synchronization, but their original German version is inferior", what would you think about that? Stupid, don't you think?

2. Would you go into a music store and buy an album of an English-singing band that's synchronized into German language? Just imagine some girl trying to mimic Lady Gaga or whatever and singing the whole album in German! Who would buy that?? (Then again... a majority of people out there doesn't care about lyrics, so... yeah...)

Just saying.
Rant over.
Sorry.

I don't need a translation, but most people do. I'm afraid that most of the Germans simply don't know English and can't even build a single sentence because they never English that much [in school.]. Also, we are very selfish and love our self more than we should do.
Most people in my family (older than 30) are not capable of understanding English so good that they can easily play a whole game or watch a English movie
without problems.

But from time, it gets better and better

And yes, the translation is really choppy at some parts of the game. I noticed this too.

[Kreekakon]

Please do not dig up overly old threads. If you want to have a similar discussion, create a new thread so that new people can join in! With old threads many of the original posters are either gone or it's been so long they do not remember on what basis they made their points.

-Locked