Lock the output language and identity anchors
Before localization, state the language used by the interface, subtitles and dialogue, then identify the source's identity anchors. game-world-design carries language, culture, reading order and content limits into the design handoff. Its narrative method preserves register, forms of address, character voice and cultural concepts.
A two-column card is enough to begin:
| Item | Localization decision |
|---|---|
| Target language | English interface and dialogue; Chinese personal names remain in pinyin |
| Forms of address | Record relationship and situation before choosing wording |
| Proper names | One primary rendering for each place, object and rite |
| Character voice | Preserve politeness, sentence length and ways of avoiding a direct answer |
| Cultural concepts | Explain the scene function first; add a short gloss when needed instead of replacing it with an unrelated genre cliché |
| Knowledge boundary | Localized lines cannot give a character facts they have not obtained |
This is an editorial handoff, not an engine file format. Extend the project's existing terminology source when one exists rather than creating a parallel glossary.
Tie each term to a world fact and scene use
A Chinese-to-English pair alone is too easy to drift. For each recurring form of address or important object, record who uses it, what action it permits in the scene, and the smallest conclusion the player may draw from seeing it.
| Source item | Handoff |
|---|---|
| 回灯 | Primary rendering: lamp return; the borrower or a proxy named when the lamp was borrowed may return the hooded lamp and close this loan; only the borrower may request a passenger-ledger change; closing the loan does not establish that a relationship has healed |
| 守渡人 | ferry keeper; records crossings and lamps but cannot request a passenger-ledger change on the borrower’s behalf |
| 灯签 | lamp tag; proves which lamp was registered, not who physically returned it |
Wording may be made natural in the target language while the scope of the fact stays fixed. If an English word imports an institution the source never established, choose a narrower phrase or give one short in-scene explanation at first use.
Complete original example: completing a lamp return
The following is a paper localization design, not a built or executed game. In the fictional bay town of Qichao, late ferry passengers may borrow a hooded lamp. The borrower or a proxy named when the lamp is borrowed may bring the hooded lamp back the next day. The ferry keeper cuts off its tag and closes that loan, an act called 回灯. Only the borrower may request a passenger-ledger change.
The player is Lin Qiao, temporarily covering the desk. When Shen Wei borrowed the lamp last night, he named his sister Shen Rui as the return proxy. Lin has seen the loan and proxy entries but has not seen Shen Wei. The English version consistently renders 回灯 as lamp return, with a first-use gloss: “returning a borrowed ferry lamp to close the loan.”
Shen Rui places the hooded lamp at the window. “My brother asked me to return this lamp.”
Choice one: “I can receive the lamp and record the lamp return. Only Shen Wei can request a passenger-ledger change.”
Choice two: “Your brother returned safely, so I will remove his name.”
The player chooses the first line. Lin checks the lamp-tag number and Shen Rui's proxy entry, receives the hooded lamp, and writes only “returned by Shen Rui for Shen Wei” in the loan entry. Shen Rui answers, “He only asked me to bring the lamp. He said nothing about the passenger ledger.” Lin cuts off the tag, returns the lamp to its shelf, and leaves the passenger ledger unchanged.
This version preserves four things: a lamp return is the action that closes the loan, Shen Rui has recorded return authority, Lin may update only the loan record, and Shen Wei has not appeared. Choice two is fluent English, but it turns a returned object into proof that a person came back safely and lets Lin erase a name without authority, so it must be removed.
If Shen Wei later requests a ledger change himself, the scene can read two persistent facts: Shen Rui completed the lamp return, and the passenger name remains. Localization has not settled future story events in advance.
Walk backward through address, knowledge and result
Read one intended path and one tempting wrong path aloud:
- Every form of address fits the speaker's current relationship with the listener.
- Proper names remain consistent across interface, dialogue, subtitles and history.
- Player choices use only currently known facts.
- A localized action does not enlarge a character's authority.
- On exit, object location, records and character knowledge preserve the source causality.
- A first-use explanation is enough for the present choice and does not become a repeated lecture.
Then trace backward from the result: why did the passenger entry remain, why is the lamp back on its shelf, and who knows Shen Rui delivered it? If an answer exists only as an inference from English phrasing, an executable fact is missing. If the translation adds conclusions about safety, marriage, identity or guilt, narrow it to what the evidence supports.
Five localization drifts and direct repairs
| Drift | Direct repair |
|---|---|
| One form of address changes arbitrarily between scenes | Record user, relationship and situation; change it only when the relationship actually changes |
| A familiar genre label replaces a cultural concept | State what the concept lets someone do in this scene, then choose a narrow rendering or a short first-use gloss |
| An English choice speaks the ending for the character | Rewrite it as an action the character can currently say, know and perform |
| Fluent prose adds a new fact | Return to the visible carrier and its minimum conclusion; remove unsupported completion |
| Terms are correct but the exit state is wrong | Walk through choice, response, object location and later read point; repair the causal handoff |
A localization read can evaluate naturalness. A fact walkthrough checks a different layer. After both pass, inspect font coverage, reading order, clipping and input usability in the actual interface.
FAQ
Must character names become English names?
No. Follow the project’s language and naming policy. You may keep pinyin, use an author-approved rendering, or adopt a market-specific display name. Keep one character stable, and do not let a renamed display identity rewrite their cultural identity.
Does every cultural concept need an explanation every time?
Usually not. At first use, add only what the current decision requires, then let action and world feedback teach the concept. Repeated long notes can displace the scene’s rhythm.
Do it with the skill
Use $game-world-design to prepare the localization handoff for this novel adaptation. Lock the target language; list forms of address, proper names, cultural concepts and character voice; record user, scene function and minimum factual scope; then walk choices, responses, object locations and knowledge boundaries in both directions.
Read the method: Language, culture, address and causal boundaries for interactive narrative · Language, culture and handoff requirements in game design