Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs Discussion Topic Part 1

[Googolplex]

I'm interested to know if they have multilingual support. And even, like Penumbra Overture, german voices.

So, is there multilingual support, just the texts or even a full localization?

Mainly I mean german language.

Why would you even want localization in AMFP? Don't mean any disrespect but with all your big talk about immersion I would think you would want to use subtitles. Not to say localization is not a noble pursuit, it just never works out, especially not for an indie game. The only dub I have seen that was on par with the original English version is Puss in Boots, which honestly I think is a milestone in film localization.

EDIT: I'm talking about the Spanish localization of course.

Hah, the german localization of Overture is even better than the original english!
The voices, the language style, that's more impressively than the original.

And I also don't want to use subtitles, because reading a text during gameplay will pull you off from the game.
And you can't read a text and look at the environment at same time. So, a multilingual full support would be very important, when it's made well like in Penumbra Overture.

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Spoiler below!

I'm interested to know if they have multilingual support. And even, like Penumbra Overture, german voices.

So, is there multilingual support, just the texts or even a full localization?

Mainly I mean german language.

Why would you even want localization in AMFP? Don't mean any disrespect but with all your big talk about immersion I would think you would want to use subtitles. Not to say localization is not a noble pursuit, it just never works out, especially not for an indie game. The only dub I have seen that was on par with the original English version is Puss in Boots, which honestly I think is a milestone in film localization.

EDIT: I'm talking about the Spanish localization of course.

Hah, the german localization of Overture is even better than the original english!
The voices, the language style, that's more impressively than the original.

And I also don't want to use subtitles, because reading a text during gameplay will pull you off from the game.
And you can't read a text and look at the environment at same time. So, a multilingual full support would be very important, when it's made well like in Penumbra Overture.

Hm, I see where you're coming from... I suppose they might have localization. After all Frictional have a bit more money now than they used to
But why not try out the english version? It might be hard at first, but playing games in their original english language is how I learned english!

Just don't make the mistake of switching on german subtitles - that actually doesn't help at all with learning. Because in order to really learn a language you have to resist translating what you hear in your head and instead grasp the meaning of the word immediately. Basically, after a while you start thinking in english as soon as you hear it and after you get to that point it becomes easier and easier.

I first played english games with english subtitles to get used to the way things were pronounced and then switched those off after a while. Now I get to enjoy my games in their intended glory because - few exceptions aside - most games are horribly localized.

---

As mentioned the graphical design in Amnesia, I'm also trained in 2D art and I have to say that some textures in Amnesia really are bad. I don't mean low resolution, I mean the creation is crappy. Some textures like the bricks of the castle looks like "cloned" each other, there is no contrast, no dirt, no cracks and the textures aren't even tileable.

A texture need more structures, more urgently details, more contrast and more different "objects" on it, looking different each other, so that nothing seems cloned. The most important thing is that textures can set together without you can see the join. To have a better looking surface, a texture also should have different lighting, dark and bright areas.


But OK, Amnesia is a game where story and atmosphere comes first, not the graphics.

I won't say the graphics are bad, but I want to say some textures are poor made.

I already told about the bricks, but also the stone looks like an other one, barrels and wood planks, all looks like the same compared to the others. There is no versatility, whether that would be very important for an atmospheric and realistic world.

Some of the things you mentioned might be there because of the limitations of hpl. For example you can't have more than one material on the same object and you can't blend materials with shader networks like, say, in Unreal.
In UDK you can take one tiling stone texture and a random noise texture and then create the shader in such a way that it will never look repetitive, even if you tile it a hundred times on a huge plane. Or you can have automatic, randomized color variations in instanced barrels, crates and the like. Those magic tricks aren't possible in hpl so cut them some slack

As for the cloned bricks, the problem is also that if you make them too different, the tiling will be even more obvious. Think about it: You have the same piece of wall placed ten times in a corridor, one behind the other. Now if their bricks were super varied, you'd immediately notice that for example that one unique darker brick repeats itself on every piece of wall.
Make the bricks more uniform and it will look a bit boring but at least the repetitiveness won't catch the viewers eye quite as fast.

[Googolplex]

Spoiler below!

I'm interested to know if they have multilingual support. And even, like Penumbra Overture, german voices.

So, is there multilingual support, just the texts or even a full localization?

Mainly I mean german language.

Why would you even want localization in AMFP? Don't mean any disrespect but with all your big talk about immersion I would think you would want to use subtitles. Not to say localization is not a noble pursuit, it just never works out, especially not for an indie game. The only dub I have seen that was on par with the original English version is Puss in Boots, which honestly I think is a milestone in film localization.

EDIT: I'm talking about the Spanish localization of course.

Hah, the german localization of Overture is even better than the original english!
The voices, the language style, that's more impressively than the original.

And I also don't want to use subtitles, because reading a text during gameplay will pull you off from the game.
And you can't read a text and look at the environment at same time. So, a multilingual full support would be very important, when it's made well like in Penumbra Overture.

Hm, I see where you're coming from... I suppose they might have localization. After all Frictional have a bit more money now than they used to
But why not try out the english version? It might be hard at first, but playing games in their original english language is how I learned english!

Just don't make the mistake of switching on german subtitles - that actually doesn't help at all with learning. Because in order to really learn a language you have to resist translating what you hear in your head and instead grasp the meaning of the word immediately. Basically, after a while you start thinking in english as soon as you hear it and after you get to that point it becomes easier and easier.

I first played english games with english subtitles to get used to the way things were pronounced and then switched those off after a while. Now I get to enjoy my games in their intended glory because - few exceptions aside - most games are horribly localized.

Yeah, I know, most games are really horrible localized. As you said, they have money and this will mean they should support more languages. I don't want to lean english when playing a game! I want to understand the story!!! English do I lean here, but please not in a game. I do not play a game to lean english.
I mean, Penumbra Overture had a publisher, that was "Kalypso Media" or something. In Black Plague it was "Paradox Interactive", but they only did english voices so that I have to read subtitles and I hate that to read subtitles!!! That breaks the immersion for me.
When Overture was in german and even russian, why they couldn't keep that on?

[Mehis]

As mentioned the graphical design in Amnesia, I'm also trained in 2D art and I have to say that some textures in Amnesia really are bad. I don't mean low resolution, I mean the creation is crappy. Some textures like the bricks of the castle looks like "cloned" each other, there is no contrast, no dirt, no cracks and the textures aren't even tileable.
A texture need more structures, more urgently details, more contrast and more different "objects" on it, looking different each other, so that nothing seems cloned. The most important thing is that textures can set together without you can see the join. To have a better looking surface, a texture also should have different lighting, dark and bright areas.

But OK, Amnesia is a game where story and atmosphere comes first, not the graphics.
I won't say the graphics are bad, but I want to say some textures are poor made.
I already told about the bricks, but also the stone looks like an other one, barrels and wood planks, all looks like the same compared to the others. There is no versatility, whether that would be very important for an atmospheric and realistic world.

GL creating 9000 different textures just because you actually try to spot the errors.
Wait, some textures don't tile? I haven't seen that, nor do I want to search for some not-tiling-textures when I'm going around in darkness trying to survive. Creating tiled textures is already so god damn time consuming.


Why are we even discussing (oops, arguing*) about this? This is AAMFP discussion.
LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO ME

[Statyk]

Yeah, I know, most games are really horrible localized. As you said, they have money and this will mean they should support more languages. I don't want to lean english when playing a game! I want to understand the story!!! English do I lean here, but please not in a game. I do not play a game to lean english.
I mean, Penumbra Overture had a publisher, that was "Kalypso Media" or something. In Black Plague it was "Paradox Interactive", but they only did english voices so that I have to read subtitles and I hate that to read subtitles!!! That breaks the immersion for me.
When Overture was in german and even russian, why they couldn't keep that on?

I merged your last thread into here and did a ton of merging posts and quotations. If something is related to AMFP, try to keep it in here.

And multilingual voice acting costs extra money, as well as the requirement of proper programming to have it work properly. Frictional Games, while Swedish, works and have stated in a blog (or a Q&A, can't remember) that they work and talk mostly in English. English is a widely known language, and subtitles saves them money and time. It'd be nice for those who don't speak English, but be thankful there are at least subtitles.

[Bridge]

Hah, the german localization of Overture is even better than the original english!
The voices, the language style, that's more impressively than the original.

And I also don't want to use subtitles, because reading a text during gameplay will pull you off from the game.
And
you can't read a text and look at the environment at same time. So, a
multilingual full support would be very important, when it's made well
like in Penumbra Overture.

Well I just watched a
video of the Penumbra Overture intro in German and while I don't
disagree with you the guy who did the voice for Phillip was not very
good at all. I don't speak German so it just sounds like a guy reading
his lines to me and I don't want to sift through video after video just
to hear the voices of Red and Clarence. Those, however, were very good
and I don't think it's unfair to say the German voices are likely
inferior. I am fairly certain that the German localization of Amnesia is
inferior to the original English though because Amnesia has some of the
best voice acting I've ever heard in a game.

[Googolplex]

As for the cloned bricks, the problem is also that if you make them too different, the tiling will be even more obvious. Think about it: You have the same piece of wall placed ten times in a corridor, one behind the other. Now if their bricks were super varied, you'd immediately notice that for example that one unique darker brick repeats itself on every piece of wall.
Make the bricks more uniform and it will look a bit boring but at least the repetitiveness won't catch the viewers eye quite as fast.

Yes, I know. But I managed to create textures to avoid this effect. It happens when you spend not enough work in it, but when you work well this repetitiveness doesn't appear.

This happens when you don't invest enough work in it. But when you work well on the textures, you can avoid this repetitiveness of areas.

An example of my gravel and ground textures:




Clarence doesn't appear in Overture, there are just Red and Philip.
And there also is no german voice in Amnesia.

The german intro where Philip speaks is excellent. In opposite of that I find Daniel's voice in Amnesia is too slow. But this might be good to give a chance to read the texts until he changed to next page. But I never heard an english guy speaking so slow before!

Glad to hear there will be multilingual translations! Good enough to have texts and subtitles.

[Gilligan's Hell]

Hah, the german localization of Overture is even better than the original english!
The voices, the language style, that's more impressively than the original.

And I also don't want to use subtitles, because reading a text during gameplay will pull you off from the game.
And
you can't read a text and look at the environment at same time. So, a
multilingual full support would be very important, when it's made well
like in Penumbra Overture.

Well I just watched a
video of the Penumbra Overture intro in German and while I don't
disagree with you the guy who did the voice for Phillip was not very
good at all. I don't speak German so it just sounds like a guy reading
his lines to me and I don't want to sift through video after video just
to hear the voices of Red and Clarence. Those, however, were very good
and I don't think it's unfair to say the German voices are likely
inferior. I am fairly certain that the German localization of Amnesia is
inferior to the original English though because Amnesia has some of the
best voice acting I've ever heard in a game.

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON! IF YOU WANT TO DISCUSS PENUMBRA STUFF GO TO THE FUCKING PENUMBRA DISCUSSION! THIS IS ABOUT A MACHINE FOR PIGS FOR FUCK SAKE!

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON! IF YOU WANT TO DISCUSS PENUMBRA STUFF GO TO THE FUCKING PENUMBRA DISCUSSION! THIS IS ABOUT A MACHINE FOR PIGS FOR FUCK SAKE!

Calm yourself, my irritable friend. If you read Statyk's post you'll see that he merged another thread into this one which revolved around the question whether AAMFP would receive localization in voice files or in subtitles only. Penumbra was part of the speculations regarding this matter, because it included localized voice files whereas Amnesia did not. So in a way, everyone IS discussing AAMFP

[Kman]

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON! IF YOU WANT TO DISCUSS PENUMBRA STUFF GO TO THE FUCKING PENUMBRA DISCUSSION! THIS IS ABOUT A MACHINE FOR PIGS FOR FUCK SAKE!

made