Localizing

Stoneshard is a dark fantasy turn-based RPG developed by Ink Stains Games and published by HypeTrain Digital. As my largest project to date, and only my third one, I was not too sure of how I would tackle this beast of a game. I had only been working as a freelancer for a couple of months, and this project —though not my first— felt like my baptism by fire. I had to rely on my skills, creativity, consistency, and flexibility to translate all the different types of texts, from common dialogues and UI strings to challenging wordplay, poetry, and detailed world building. Thankfully, I was up to the task and I am extremely happy with the result! So much so that I am now writing a full-fledged blog post about it. Why not.

Andrey, Game and Narrative Designer, and I first began exchanging emails in late 2019, and arranged that the game was to be fully localized into Spanish for its Early Access launch in February. Sadly, this could not happen and we began localization on March 1st. I worked on the game all through March, some testing by myself included, and was finished by April 5th. Back then, the game amounted to around 50,000 words, whereas now it has almost 70,000.

This is my experience localizing Stoneshard into Latin American Spanish. I will talk about some of the more challenging parts as well as my main focus throughout the project and what I loved about working on it. Whether you are a game developer, fellow localizer, or gamer, I sincerely hope that this post can show all the work that goes into localizing a videogame. Without further ado, let us begin!

Dungeon Generation: or How I Learned to Love the Code

Catacombs, chapels, towers, ruined manors and castles are present throughout the land of Stoneshard, and placenames were a great way of conveying local customs and beliefs. Some points of interest in the game are predetermined locations that the player will eventually find and explore, like "Abbey of the Holy Revelation" (Abadía de la Sagrada Revelación) or "Hermit’s Hut" (Choza del ermitaño). Most of them, however, are randomly-generated, and thus called for some variety and posed a technical issue.

The code generated these dungeon names by randomly combining an adjective (like “corrupted”, “gloomy”, “sinister”) and a noun (like “crypt”, “tomb”, “burial”). Firstly, these names required accuracy, as there are about 50 different adjectives; some are as generic and common as “black” or “old” while others are archaic and uncommon, like “tinkling”, “sullen”, or “forlorn”. This variety is due to the game being a procedurally-generated roguelike which at the same time aims to inform the player of local beliefs and legends regarding these places. You can be sure that if the local innkeeper and townsfolk refer to a place as "the Forlorn Burial", it must have quite the unnerving story. I really enjoyed translating these odd adjectives! And while searching for vivid adjectives in Spanish to match, I even learned some myself: angustioso, tétrico, desolado, among others.

As for the technical issue... there was the issue of gender. English had it easy here, as always, because nouns are not arbitrarily defined as "male" or "female". For Spanish though, I had to make use of the slanted bar "/" to feed the code two different adjective forms, one male and one female. Furthermore, the developers told me I had to add a number in between brackets next to each noun, to tell the code whether that noun was male or female. Thus, the word cripta had a “(2)” next to it, which meant the code would use the female form of whatever adjective was randomly assigned to it, like tétrica (the female form) and not tétrico (the male form). But wait! There is more, sadly. In Spanish, adjectives usually go AFTER the noun, not before it like in English, so we had to arrange that as well. Once was dealt with (a quick Discord message to Andrey—communication is key!), I could finally say I had finished the dungeons!

Part of the map in my Stoneshard run. To the right, a Sickly Burial (Entierro Enfermizo).

The World Beyond Aldor

The current playable region of the game is located in Aldor, a war-torn country, but the player will quickly learn of different far away lands like Skadia, Nistra, Jacinth, Fjall, and so on. Each of them having their own distinct peoples, cultures, and customs.

Regarding the proper names of countries, peoples, and cities in the world, I had a bit of a mixed approach. I naturally wanted to be faithful to the developers' creation and transfer the names without interference. Eventually, though, I put myself in the place of the Spanish-speaking audience and found some names may have been quite difficult to pronounce for players without knowledge of English sounds and phonetics.

Names like "Aldor" or "Brynn" have a straightforward pronunciation and thus were transferred without modification, but others had to be adapted or fully translated. But other places, like "Skadia" or "Aldwynn" for instance, were adapted to Spanish phonetic and writing standards. “Skadia” was adapted to Eskadia, since words starting with this cluster (/s/ + consonant sound) do not occur naturally in Spanish, and native speakers tend to add a vowel sound like /e/ for ease of pronunciation. As for “Aldwynn”, the more I read that name (from a Spanish-speaker perspective), the more it looked like someone smashed their face against the keyboard, haha. No, but seriously, I figured it might alienate the Spanish-speaking audience to see such a foreign cluster of consonants. So I adapted it to Alduinn. I believe it looks much more natural while still being a fantasy name, plus it can be pronounced more easily and is comprised of basically the same sounds.

Some placenames and most faction names were essentially common noun phrases, and so had to be fully translated ("The Jacinth Kingdoms" - los Reinos Jacintos, "The Grand Magistrate" - el Gran Magisterio). The same goes for adjectives describing place of birth or nationality, which were completely adapted to consistent with their proper names counterparts (like "Aldwynnians", "Skadians", "Aldorians" - alduinnos, eskadianos, aldorianos).

This was the first of two instances where I felt I really had to re-write the original material to successfully bring it to Spanish-speaking gamers while respecting the developers' vision. The other instance that called for mindful transcreation and adaptation was when I tackled the game's huge collection of treatises.

Lore at Plain Sight

Stoneshard’s cultures and time periods are further built through the ever-growing collection of books, tomes, tales, and poems known collectively as "treatises". Gameplay-wise, these treatises let the player learn new skills, as they each unlock part of a skill tree (do they remind you of Skyrim’s spell tomes and skill books too?). And although some players will probably open the book and then immediately close it, forgetting about it forever, the game’s writers saw an opportunity to reward curiosity and lore-hunting. Just like you would imagine, Stoneshard’s treatises emulate real life literature and writings: exotic journal entries and travel notes, amazing legends, children’s tales, witty poetry, history and non-fiction. A video game localizer can never really get bored, huh?

This was my absolute favorite part of the whole project. I sometimes found myself so deeply invested in these stories that I had to check and double-check my translations time and time again, as it was hard to be content with my text. The more I read them, the more I re-wrote the Spanish version to include all the subtle references, the very personal touch that each author has, and the intention of the developers.

I remember using every dictionary I could get my hands on to find the perfect term, the perfect synonym, the perfect phrase that would carry the essence of the original text over to Spanish. The amount of variety, detail, and deep lore that the developers included in this portion of the game is really astonishing. The authors range from retired bounty hunters to mad poets and army commanders, and each and every one of their works has a distinct personality, voice, and historical context. I am super happy with the result and confident that Spanish-speaking players will enjoy the lore as it was intended to. Here are some titles that will hopefully illustrate the variety:

An Essay on the Necessity of a Military Reform, Backed by Compelling Evidence and Indisputable Arguments (serious piece written by an obstinate and stoic veteran);
The Adventures in Distant Lands - A Dozen of Exciting and Exceptionally Truthful Tales Which Will Amaze You (stories from Skadia, Nistra and Jacinth with a clickbait title, hehe);
The Book for Lords: Managing Your Lands and Your Army (step-by-step guide for Aldorian rulers);
The Iron Dueling Codex (an antique code of conduct upheld by honorable knights of yesteryear);
The History of the Trollslayers, Their Victories, And Defeats, Witnessed First-Hand (this mercenary group actually never faced a single troll!);
Useful Tips For a Novice Pyromancer, Coming From an Experienced One (a must-read for any fire magic enthusiast);
The Nine Virtues: the Path to Unity (canonical writing of the eastern philosophy called ‘the Path’), and
Folk Tales Recorded at the Mannshire Summer Fair, Year 417 (an anthology of popular poems and songs).

I would love to showcase every single treatise, but they are quite long and there are a lot of them, with more to come! So I encourage you to play the game and discover each treatise for yourself!

A song about the Headsman of Brynn.

A Product of their Time

As is the case in many many other games, hovering over an item with your mouse in Stoneshard shows its respective tooltip. This little box shows vital information the players absolutely need to know like name, type, its effect on the player character, value and so on.

In Stoneshard, these tooltips also provide a small insight into the game world through the addition of a much-appreciated item description: the text appearing at the bottom of the tooltip. These descriptions tell stories or interesting facts about a myriad of topics relating to the item you are looking at; from strange forging techniques and erratic eastern dances to local battle tactics and even which type of shoes are fashionable among merchants! They are successful in integrating the world and the items, reinforcing the idea that they are a product of a certain culture and time period.

The main localization challenge here was not technical (no character limitations thankfully!) but creative: my focus was set on recreating the underlying tone of these descriptions, which varies a lot. Some of them tell the player how the item was made; others, a fun fact about its use, and some include witty remarks or even jokes. When translating, I had to consider the purpose of each description: is this informing the player? Or making them go "huh"? Is this supposed to be funny? Tragic? Unnerving? You get it.

Here are some of my favorite item descriptions, with translations:

Soporific Sponge: 'Barbers in the capital often use these sponges before pulling out a bad tooth.'

Esponja soporífera: Los barberos de la capital suelen usar estas esponjas para extraer dientes podridos.

Fig: 'An exotic fruit, often traded by eastern merchants. It does not come cheap: folks say that it's one of the secrets to elven longevity.'

Higo: Una fruta exótica que suelen intercambiar los mercaderes orientales. No es barata: se dice que es uno de los secretos de la longevidad de los elfos.

Roasted Tender Meat: 'Worthy to be served to a king... If only Aldor had one, of course.'

Carne tierna asada: Digna de ser servida a un rey... Si tan solo Aldor tuviera uno, claro.

(And I personally love these two for having the same reference)

Identification Scroll: 'A result of a longstanding clash between the Mages Guild and the Enchanters Guild.'

Pergamino de identificación: El resultado del prolongado conflicto entre la Hermandad de Magos y la Hermandad de Encantadores.

Enchantment Scroll: 'Another powerful blow delivered by the Mages Guild to the Enchanters Guild.'

Pergamino de encantamiento: Otro duro golpe que la Hermandad de Magos le asestó a la Hermandad de Encantadores.

(Here are some funny ones!)

Purse: 'The heavier it is, the lighter your worries.'

Monedero: Un monedero pesado aligera tus problemas.

Surgeon's Toolkit: 'The very case when expertise and courage are equally important.'

Equipo de cirujano: El caso más ejemplar en el que se necesita tanta pericia como coraje.

Raw Tender Meat: 'Not so tender now.'

Carne tierna podrida: Ya no es tan tierna.

In some cases, these tooltips also give the player a peek into what their very own characters are thinking, or at least that is what I have come to realize. These are written in an impersonal manner and resemble a "narrator" voice. They might as well be your character's very own thoughts or stream of consciousness:

Mug: 'Would be much more preferable if it was filled to the brim with foamy ale...'

Jarra de cerveza: Sería mucho mejor si, efectivamente, estuviera rebasando de espumosa cerveza.

Black Boar Head: 'Over the years this stuffed head became matted, and the fierceness of its glare gave way to bewilderment. Where did it all go wrong? How did it find itself mounted on a piece of wood?'

Cabeza de un jabalí negro: Con los años, esta cabeza disecada se apelmazó y la fiereza de su mirada se convirtió en perplejidad. ¿Qué pasó? ¿Cómo terminó en esta tabla de madera?

Forbidden Grimoir: 'Something ominous emanates from it.'

Grimorio prohibido: De sus páginas emana algo ominoso.

Gold Ring: 'Gold is an excellent conductor of magical energy. Maybe that's why everyone is after it?'

Anillo de oro: El oro es un excelente conductor de energía mágica. ¿Quizás por eso todo el mundo lo busca?

Mastercrafted Flanged Mace: 'If there're any weaponsmiths in Aldor who can forge a mace like this, they most likely reside in Aldwynn...'

Maza de armas magistral: Si existen herreros que puedan forjar una maza como esta en Aldor, seguramente vivan en Alduinn...

I already said this but... I wish I could showcase all of these, but it is simply not possible. There are hundreds of items in Stoneshard and each description is either funny, interesting, or informative. The developers made great work here. Play the game and become obsessed with these little lore pieces, like me!

The End

Well, if you stuck through all of this until the end, I sincerely thank you!

Working on Stoneshard has been an amazing opportunity, and it is one of those projects that reminds me why translation is one of my biggest passions and my dream job: you, as a localizer, are responsible of bringing a full-fledged narrative and audiovisual experience to a new audience. Your audience, who can enjoy the original videogame as it was intended thanks to your linguistic expertise and cultural background.

I can assure you there were many other topics and texts in Stoneshard that I would have liked to discuss. Dialogues, weapon variety, enemy factions and names, curses and their puns... all of that will have to wait until I have a surge of inspiration again! This is long enough already.

If you enjoyed reading this, let me know! I would be thrilled to hear your opinion and answer any questions. DM me on Twitter (@iangonzaleztr) or send me an email (iangonzalez.tr@gmail.com). And if you are interested in learning more about me, I just added an "About Me" section in this very website! Andrey, Game and Narrative Designer, loved the idea of me writing about our work on his game, and this is what he had to say about our collaboration.

Thank you, and take care!

Ian Gonzalez

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