SBT Report: September 2018 (#37)

September is a month of changes and new undertakings. It marks the time when books, which rested quietly all summer, get seriously hit by school and university students. How exactly this affected the process of “breaking down the Rock of Localization” and what turns of fate brought this September to the SBT Localization Team — all of this we will tell you in just a mo.

Cursed stream

All Saints’ Eve is still a long way off but the evil spirits have already managed to do a mischief to SBT Localization Team. It all started on the thirteenth ShliakbyStream run by Karina Voloshyna together with Sofia Shul…

Everything started just as usual: they set out for adventures that are so plentiful in Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition, saved a couple of miners and even one cheerless elf, and then… That was where the impish spirit intruded and cut Karina’s internet connection for a minute or two. As the result, the stream split in two, ending up as 13 and 13 1/2.

In the second part, the girls headed to a party at the Gnoll Stronghold and returned Dynaheir the Invoker who had stayed there for a bit too long, after which explained the Thayan wizards the concept of human rights with some hand-waving and a stick.

The rest went without incidents; the curse, however, remained and we weren’t able to run any other streams that month. But don’t you worry, our shaman Ivan has already meditated over a ritual piece of lard, dispelling the curse for good. So, stay tuned and wait for new streams this October.

Events

A couple adventures took place in the first month of autumn.

September 22 and 23, such activist members of SBT as Oleksii Ivanov, Olya Khmelnytska, Bohdana Vozniuk, and “Dinadin Cross” visited Comic Con Ukraine. They say the crowd was so large it looked miraculous that all these people managed to find room inside. To make it into the building you had to wait several hours in the queue. Still, it was worthwhile because a lot of interesting stuff could be found there, including lectures (which, unfortunately, were constantly put off or canceled), stunning cosplay, captivating games and many other things of all tastes and means. Also, our guys met some good acquaintances from PLAYUA.

We thank the organizers for this marvelous event and wish the next one to be an even more marvelous one.

“Breaking down the Rock of Localization” is hard but teaching how to do that is, seemingly, way harder. Last month, in their search of practice, almost two dozen students of translation of Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University joined SBT Localization Team. That was where the editors had their share of grief! Some students still proved themselves very worthy, such as Oksana Ryvko and Bohdan Tsymbaliuk. We hope that the newly acquired experience and knowledge will be of service to our trainees, while some of them might even fill localizers’ shoes, helping the Ukrainization of the Universe to gain even more momentum.

Besides, answering an invitation from the Subfaculty of practice and translation, we read a lecture on “Introduction to localization”. The details of this meeting were shared later by Sofia Shul on her Facebook page. The lecture material will be published on our website some day this October.

Game localization

Now, we will tell you a bit about the game localization part that we completed the previous month.

Siege of Dragonspear

Localization project Siege of Dragonspear is nearing its finish. We will surely be editing it for some time but with the localization available on Steam. Currently, the translation process is at about 95%.

The biggest contribution of effort and time to this project was made by Oleksandra Kutsan. Yanis Verminko, “Dinadin Cross” and Oksana Bukanova, too, did a fine job.

Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition

Admirers of the Baldur’s Gate series can be pleased as SBT Localization Team is finally returning to project Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition. As of this moment, only the trainee students and editors are ruing the hour they joined it; but soon enough, other members of SBT Localization will get to the project horse and foot.

Like we promised you on Patreon, this project will be finished until the end of 2020, so wish us luck, patience and as much inspiration as possible.

Grimmwood

The tiny multiplayer survival game Grimmwood is already translated and the only part left is editing. This means you will see the Ukrainian localization in the nearest time. In September, the biggest contribution to this project was made by Yanis Verminko, Sofia Shul and Oleksandra Kutsan.

The Curious Expedition

Once more, the translation expedition has got lost in the text jungles of The Curious Expedition. Oh, it’s no easy task to carry the fire of localization when you have but the thicket of tags in your path. We’ve got some minimal progress, though, and it’s already at 75%. This time, the lost expedition was returned on track with the aid of Sofia Shul.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance

As far as Kingdom Come: Deliverance is concerned, the state of things is pretty fine. His Majesty Andrii Kozhushko rules his allegiant translators with all the fairness of an editor, that’s why the translation progress is already at around 20%.

In September, the biggest localization effort for this game was made by Iryna Makovska, Vasyl Nabochenko, and Oleksandra Kutsan.

Aside from all that, a part of our team is still focused on the secret project prioritized due to the set deadline.

Other interesting things

We had some other interesting moments in September. For instance, fresh pages of the Outsider comic series saw the light of day, translated by Oleksander Lukianov. Those who missed them out can find and read the comic series on our website.

Also, we published a series of articles (in Ukrainian) based on the thesis of our team member Tetiana Cherednychok. They present an analysis of the specifics of localizing such games as Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition, Hand of Fate and Ruiner. We invite you to read them if you haven’t already done so.

From time to time, be so kind as to visit our little hamster Boo who along with SBT Localization Team members prepares glimpses of Ukrainian to teach you how to use words in a literate manner.

Our other pet – M’Aiq the traveling cat – will explain you some strange English expressions, which is sure useful both for translation skills and for training your brain.

In this very same September, our expert video editor, Maksym Duvanov, had a slice of time and inspiration to create a few memes. Say, like this one:

Still, a genius may not always be understood at certain moments, so look for Maksym’s other memes on his YouTube channel.

Also, you should really have a look at this cartoon:

This is just the first episode but it will be translated to English by you-know-who-with-the-capital-S and dubbed in this language as well. We wish the artists from PevenFactory to keep up their creativeness when bringing us the next series.

Finally, we should mention the Made in Abyss anime series that was dubbed in Ukrainian with the support of SBT Localization Team. You can download all the episodes of the first series from Toloka or watch them on AniTube.

Paragraph of Fame

The most active localizers of game worlds in September:

• Oleksandra Kutsan (projects Siege of Dragonspear, Grimmwood, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance)
• Iryna Makovska (project Kingdom Come: Deliverance)
• Vasyl Nabochenko (project Kingdom Come: Deliverance)
• Yanis Verminko (projects Siege of Dragonspear, Grimmwood)
• Oksana Bukanova (project Siege of Dragonspear)
• Dinadin Cross (project Siege of Dragonspear)

On behalf of our entire organization, we also express our appreciation to other SBT members who contributed to our cause in one way or another:

• Oleksii Ivanov
• Olya Khmelnytska
• Bohdana Vozniuk
• Dinadin Cross
• Ivan Yankovyi
• Yanis Verminko
• Maksym Duvanov
• Sofia Shul
• Andrii Pekar
• Andrii Kozhushko
• Tetiana Cherednychok
• Yurii Bisyk
• Tetiana Kaliuzhna
• Karina Voloshyna
• Oleksander Lukianov

Join us!

SBT Localization Team is always happy to embrace new talented enthusiasts who want to try their hand at game localization. If you feel confident, contact us using the online form or look for our official social network pages and PM us.

If you do not have time for game localization but nevertheless are not indifferent to gaming in Ukrainian, you can easily help us as well. You are welcome to send any amount to card number 5169 3305 1649 7846 (when making transaction via a payment terminal please specify your full name so we will know whom to thank) or become our patron on Patreon.

Our Thanks

We kindly thank everyone who supported the SBT Localization team on Patreon and otherwise in September. We wish that you and your family stay healthy, successful and live well!

$100

$50

593 UAH

500 UAH

428 UAH

$10

$5

We are also thankful to Oleksandra Kutsan (2$), Maria Polishchuk (2$), Volodymyr Hryhorash (2$), “Drifters” (2$), Pavlo Donchenko (2$), “Step” (2$), Yurii Bregman (2$), Taras Syniuk (2$), Oleksander Lukianov (2$), and Pavlo Chernitsov (2$).

SPECIAL THANKS TO IRYNA AND YARYNA FROM CROWDIN FOR THEIR SUPPORT!

Look for the videoreport on our YouTube channel soon. Remember to subscribe!

UKRAINIZATION OF THE UNIVERSE MARCHES ON!

10/04/18