I think something like fan-translation is possible. In that case, it’s on the interest of the author to let people translate their work and send it to them, so the author can submit it to CoG/HG.
Quality Assurance can be a bit iffy, though. But considering the only way to submit translation legally is through CoG, I don’t think there’re many options.
And a fan translation bundle with a official products is sleazy. As they can’t attest the quality of it and if resembles the actual products to point if they do so a pissed customer could demand them for not be truthful to original content. As in the moment something is included in the product the company’s responsible for its content. The lack of quality in a translation could give bad fame to a company too. And sincerity most people that complains will never buy the game anyway.
Other ways I can think of is to post a fan-translation in a public forum. But that’d be essentially the game itself made free, just translated.
It’s a good idea, I think it’s feasible. But with the grammar problem, I think genderlocked male/female games will be easier to translate.
Not except you have a public permission of Cog Hosted and The author as legally you are making free and changed a copyright licensed product. If i were cog i would be very pissed someone giving my game for free and even worse, translated in a way i can’t check if content is same. What if translators put anoffensive content?
If the translatore post a wip so the author will be able to see the progress and the forum too.
Imagine I am the author I have no French idea. So I don’t really will be able to tell if a translation is accurate. I will also want being paid for months of years of working and Cog or Hosted wants and needs been paid to pay themselves to their personal and taxes. Is real world economy. More when the market is not big. Imagine A 14% of French public know English well and want to buy the game then see they have a FREE translation in a forum that will offer same play … Do you think they will buy the game?
I think that translations in books or game books are terribly and piracy NOT modding.
In a video game if you need have the original game bought then add a patched mod to addition o a language is okay. But here is direct giving for free content copyright by others that will lost part of their revenue. Revenue that is vital for most of them as this is not a billionaire enterprise.
What if it’s not a fan translation? It don’t have to be free, right? For example, in the forum there are some people who are good at drawing and they can draw for the authors and they pay them, it can be the same for the translation. If the author accepts of course.
usually , the only translations I ever saw (mind you…I dont go around seeking translation , even if english is my 4th language! translations in french for exemple…suck sometimes) , are for mods . Mods are made by X , some guy or gal think its AWESOME! and they think it should be translated in Y language . well…they take it upon themself with the author blessing to translate it in Y language and dont expect anything .
@Hattab05 the question is moot , because 1) as many said : not everyone is interested in translating their games 2) making a poster or a drawing for a cover of a game is not the same as translating a whole game . Translating a whole games of many many many MANY words…is difficulty , long and hard work that take MONTHS if not years .
Cog has copyright it has not permission the author to publish anything without. Cog can’t charge people for something they have not fully control or guarantee that is accurate with the extent of the full products.
Anywat this is only fictional If until an entire job is done with the permission of the company so cog or hosted.
I mean discussion is going on circles as they aren’t anything done and noone would investing hundreds of hours in ñthey have no absolutely control. There is good reasons why there is no translations of most games out there.
Hey there, fellow Brazilian! I believe you can take this as an opportunity to improve your English! Writing definitely helped me out a lot regarding both grammar and fluency. If you ever need help from someone who understands your language, just send me a message! 
Hi Guys,
This is something that’s been at the back of my mind for a while, as I want to release our games in different languages and sell them at some point.
I wondered if any of you have experience of translating your works into different languages or localising them for other countries and how this process went for you?
Also, if you’re used to reading translated fiction (maybe English isn’t your first language, or you like Japanese visual novels), what do you notice that works well for you and what doesn’t, and are there any pitfalls to avoid?
The practicalities are very important for me- since I don’t have the money for pro services, I’ll be working with amateurs and upcoming translators who are willing to accept an equal revenue split. As with all my projects- the aim is to do the best job I can with a minimal budget, so any advice is welcome!
Dom
Be aware, you can’t sell translated games through HG. If you want to sell them elsewhere, you’ll need to pay COG for the rights to do so. If you don’t have much of a budget, this may not be worth your while attempting. You should talk to COG before you translate about what the costs are of selling your game independently of HG.
Edit: Sorry assumed you were writing in CS. If this if your Unity game, the above doesn’t apply.
I never did any serious translation jobs, but spent most of my life reading media that was first in English, then Spanish. My advice is; Avoid Spain. Spanish is separated (basically) on Spain-Spanish and Latino (or neutro) Spanish. Movies and series get translated in both Spain and Latino dubs. I am, admittedly, a bit biased, since I am on the Latino side of the media, but using neutral Spanish is always a lot more well received (in my opinion) than Spain-Spanish. They just… Have so many regionalisms… It’s so hard to follow, sometimes. Keep in mind that every Latino country has their ThingTM when you talk about languages, (heck, Argentina uses vos instead of usted) but we all still watch the same neutro Spanish conventions on translation and it works.
Tl;dr: Please make sure that your Spanish translation isn’t specifically a Spain translation, and if it is, please specify so, so we can get our gallego dictionaries out.
Best of luck with your game!
Thanks. I should probably have specified that in the thread!
Gracias, amigo! I’ve found similar problems watching Americans play my first game (I’m English) as some words simply don’t travel such as ‘whinging’ (both streamers replaced this with ‘whining’ and assumed it was a typo), and ‘squiffy’, which just baffled people. Also, there are some weird differences that can affect gameplay and cause confusion: in England, a ‘first floor’ of a house is upstairs from the ground floor, in America a ‘first floor’ is the ground floor.
It’s a good point that variations of the same language can make a big difference.
I didn’t expect to find so many Brazilians here!
I agree that English is a big barrier for this kind of game in Brazil. Even people who are decently conversant in English prefer to watch dubbed movies, read translated books and games, and whatnot.
If an author was so inclined to write their book both in English and their native language, could they not open different beta tests to gather feedback from the “international” and the “local” communities?
Ouch! 
(Sorry, I just thought that sounded funny out of context 
).
As a Spanish and Galician I am offended by your mention about my native language Gallego or Galician. It is NOT Spanish. It is as Spanish as it is Italian or French.
Latino is not neutral either. Not officially in any conventional sense. It is like say The English for Quebec is the universally accepted standard, It is not how languages work.
Telling people to avoid an entire country, the country where the language has been developed and started to talk about it has no sense. Moreover, when the Spanish we talk to him is one and the Spanish in Latin America is radically different from the other. I am talking about that because I have. friends from several countries and the differences are radical.
Gallego, Basque and Catalonian are not regional variations of Spanish, they are their own languages Valencian is evolving as well into its own language but it is still considered to be a regional variation of Catalonian …
None of them has zero to do with Spanish. Except like happens that in our states we have two mother languages. Like I have Spanish and Galician.
Edit: I know speaking about languages is an intense topic, reason why translate should be made with the most care for the companies. And never let to amateurs and or Google translate. You could end up alienate half of the population you want to attract.
This, very much this. Be very, very careful around names and make sure you are absolutely confident about them. In some cases, names may also hold symbolism or context that is central to the work you’re translating, so you might want to check on that as well.
Here’s a humorous - but very cautionary - real world example of how badly mistranslations can go.