In recent years, there has been a substantial advancement in game technology. The video gaming industry is more significant and much more important than the music and entertainment industries. The percentage of the population that plays games has grown recently. This is why you should localize your games to increase installations, boost sales, keep worldwide gamers delighted, become a component of this competitive market, and boost your scores. And to make your game localization even better, don’t forget to test it! In this article, you will learn different ways to improve game localization testing to your satisfaction.
What is game localization?
Localizing video games entails modifying a game’s hardware and software so that it may be sold in various languages, locations, or nations.
What is game localization testing?
Game localization testing ensures that the localized product is consistent, flawless, and transparent. It checks that the design is as it should be, the characters have the tone they need to speak with, and the content is appropriate to the context.
How to Boost Game Localization Testing?
Whenever your game localization is on point, your content, secret messages, humor, and mood are devoid of incoherent translation or mediocre terminology. When there is a flaw in the system, your gamers will receive backlash from others who will waste no time in identifying and highlighting these defects, thereby rendering the game less enjoyable.
The best ways to improve game localization testing
1. Localize the visuals correctly
Aside from linguistic game testing, you should also focus on localizing the game’s aesthetics, which include hues, images, typefaces, and electronic artwork. For example, the font you use determines the final product content that appears in many translations. It is occasionally necessary to pick a whole separate text style for various languages since the text is shown incorrectly, which makes it difficult for gamers to comprehend.
2. Export the entire content
Apart from coding, you have to import the content of each string of code. Next, you must compile this imported content as resource files so translators can access them. You have to ensure that the localized version of your game makes the players feel like their native language was used to develop the game.
3. Give context
It would have been helpful if you realized that irony, colloquial idioms, and comedy could not be directly translated into another language. It would really assist the localization process if you gave the scenario to the translators. Translators must comprehend the specific circumstances of context to create an accurate translation during the localization process.
4. Check that no strings are missing
Although errors are acceptable, the lack of a handful of strings from the input file for translation can be pricey. Though this is not a typical error, it does occur, which makes it difficult for interpreters and engineers to detect.
During testing, you may discover an issue in which the word does not have a translation from English to multiple languages. For example, when you localize a game into different languages, you may find all the content is excellent except for a missing string. This missing string could be the word “you” that appears in versions of the translated context.
Manual verification is necessary by keeping the translation file open on one side while simultaneously playing the game. To circumvent this, ensure that your code for producing the translation file includes all strings. To test, all strings are adjusted, then the game is played to see what was not translated.
5. Create a translation-friendly code
One significant difficulty with English is that it lacks gender associations. However, this makes it easier for game creators to create completely random phrases, and it poses a challenge for interpreters.
Gender translation to other languages might often result in entirely incorrect statements. You can get a clear understanding if you closely follow this example. In Portuguese, the translation of the word “my” poses a problem for translators. “My” is translated as “meu” for the male gender and “minha” for the female gender. As a result, the gamer becomes perplexed. Hopefully, you can understand the difficulty of a translator for the game localization testing process if you understand this example.
This is a complex problem that is extremely tough to localize. The easiest method to tackle this problem is to learn and investigate the multiple languages for gender and eventually add additional strings to the code so that the translation can easily make modifications as needed.
6. Incorporate contextual elements localization
The design components, location of the narratives, and other features entice Japanese gamers. It would be best if you localized the language and the surrounding factors so that the gamers get the impression that they are playing a local game. Characters’ appearances must be localized when trying the game for Japanese players.
Professionals can assist you with resetting the game’s contextual aspects following the culture of the intended audience. In such cases, you require the support of effective game localization services that are staffed by skilled localizers and translators. These services supply many native speakers who understand your gamers’ points of view.
What are the benefits of game localization testing?
1. The interface is simple to use
Game testing businesses understand how to provide gamers with emotional sensations. As a result, they offer an intuitive interface that is simple to use and explore. Understanding the intended audience’s expectations and preferences for playing games by the localization service provider is vital.
2. Better game functionality
Common defects are eliminated by testing professionals, thereby making the game a perfect one. The flaws of game freezing, advancement barriers, and system crashes have been fixed.
3. Guarantee of complete test coverage
Game testers provide a variety of test cases in order to give comprehensive test exposure for the gaming app.
Conclusion
The specifics of this post should have made it clear how vital game translation testing is. You may also learn about the advantages of translation and how translators can help your game’s visibility.