[GUIDE] Translation / interpretation of some names / words

Greetings, Underlords

Many of you who have grappled with translations community have noticed That Certain words and / or names are difficult to translate into Their Own language.

This thread is created with the aim to annoy developers

If you have any doubt about how to translate a name or word you can ask here.

P.S. I will try to keep updating the list with Devs suggestions

Developers guidelines

Spoiler

Localisation Guidelines & Advice
Translation is a complex art, and when bringing a game to another language there has to be a degree of creative freedom permitted to the translators. As you likely realise there are many cases where some things don’t work when literally translated into another language, not least of all jokes and wordplay, which you’ll find no shortage of in WFTO. So we have a few suggestions for you on how to approach things. As above, you’re under no obligation to follow our advice.

1: Localise for your audience
The difference between translation and localisation is who you’re aiming the words at. When we wrote War for the Overworld we wrote it with a British audience in mind. This means that the humour, cultural references, and stylistic effects like wordplay might not be understood by another culture. Here we encourage you to be creative in your interpretation of the English text, such as changing a cultural reference to something more appropriate for your audience, but which retains the “spirit” of the original.

2: When clarity is important
When it comes to describing critical systems or gameplay mechanics to the player, such as in tutorial messages, tooltips, or game options, we encourage you to remain as close as possible to the intent conveyed by the English text.

3: Don’t translate proper nouns unless necessary
The names of individuals are generally considered to be “sacred” and so should not be translated. There are many examples of proper nouns in WFTO, such as “Emperor Lucius”, the leader of the Empire. These should always be kept in English, or remain as faithful as possible in non-Latin alphabets.

Be aware that you may change an individual’s title. For example Mandalf the Maroon’s title changes between different colour names each time he respawns. In this case, retaining the colours is preferable (since they match his visible clothing), but if the joke does not work anymore then you may want to be more creative.

Similarly, “Lord O’Theland” is a contraction of “Lord of the Land” (a reference to a certain game where you keep a dungeon). You may see fit to change this name to a similar contraction or joke in your own language.

4: Remember context
Context is important in any delivery of text or speech, and some languages require different word choice depending on the context. Unfortunately when we first generated our translation files we didn’t provide very much context alongside them, and this still remains an issue (though is something we’re working to address in future releases). So you may have to look at the game to get more information about the context of certain texts. However, we are more than happy to answer questions on the Community Translations forum if you are having difficulties deciphering context.

List words / names translation

- “Lord O’Theland” is a contraction of “Lord of the Land” (a reference to a certain game where you keep a dungeon). You may see fit to change this name to a similar contraction or joke in your own language.

- "Crackpot" = Mad Alchemist
- "Warband" = War Group/Legion
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first questions

- Crackpot
in Italian can be translated in various ways
Literally (in ita): wacky, crazy (in eng).
These names sound bad in Italian, so I Decided to translate it as "Toxic" or "Mad Alchemist"
Which is more correct?

- Gnarling
Literally (in ita): rough (nosense name in ita)
any idea on how to translate this

- Warband
Literally (in ita): musical group of war (in ita sounds really bad), War Group (sounds a little better)

at the moment I translated as "war group".

considering the "Underlord theme" I Believe That the best translation is "legion" (in ita) ... because is a group of monsters and not a musical group of war. : P
which translation is best?

 

I guess you could call the crackpot a narcotic of sorts xD. Crackpots used to be normal gnarlings, but then they smelled the fumes from the alchemy lab (can't remember the rest of the quote) Anyways, if you think about it, 'Crack' in crackpot could reffer to the drug, and pot... Well it could be Marijuana or just a pot... Either way, that could give an idea about their personality... But yes if you translate crackpot, it's a crazy person... I probably should not mention drugs, but i could'nt help myself. xD

Anyways, Mad Alchemist does'nt sound way off..

 

Thr Gnarling is, as i understand it, a grumpy minion. Well I don't know if they are grumpy. I guess you could call it a gobling or something like that. Maybe a Troll (not somone who's trolling people)

A Warband is a War group, so whatever sounds best, and still fits the theme should be appropriate.

Keep in mind that it is your translation, and you can do with it as you see fit. They want you to stay as true to the game as possible, but they can't force you to do that. Not that i suggest making an untrue translation, but that you might have to be flexible.. (i hope i don't get in trouble for this statement though xD)

 

To my best knowledge, the name "Gnarling" derives from the "Gnarl" advisor character in the Overlord series, and hence is a proper noun, which is normally left untranslated (unless you are Blizzard, but screw these people). The German version has them as "Knarzling", which is a rather unfortunate product because "Knarzen" usually refers to the dry sounds wood makes when it is "working". At best, I would suggest taking the "Gnarl-" word root and then adding the respective Italian diminutive form - Gnarlino / Gnarletto ?

Regarding the Crackpot - the German version of the name lists him as the "Kesselknacker" (roughly: Pot-Cracker, or Pot-Snapper). The idea, I think, is to emphasize a) the meaning that the Crackpot works in the alchemy lab where there's a lot of cauldrons/pots and b) that he's a lunatic (the literal meaning of the crackpot name).

"Warband" probably is better translated based on "Warhost" or just "War Group". Legion does sound fine as well, though.

 

thanks for the tips.

wow (Gnarlino / Gnarletto) is an interesting idea, but it sounds terribly bad
if it is a proper noun, I think...is best Gnarling

- Ok Mad Alchemist(Alchimista Folle) is ok

- Yes, the literal translation is War Group(Gruppo di Guerra), but it sounds bad in Italian(for wfto) ..
Legion however, more reminiscent of a Roman legions and demonic legions ... so in my opinion is better ^^

 

OK, I understand the meaning of "gnarling" ... the literal translation in Italian should be "Nodoso", but it sounds terribly bad as proper name

maybe .... Adunco?

But that means: Recurve as a hook

thanks for tips guys

and....... Augre=Ogre?