Outer Rim Archives
Archives · 2018 · 9910850

Granted patent

System and method of localizing assets using text substitutions

Number
9910850
Published
2018-03-06
Filed
2008-01-25
Assignee
Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Inventors
Sakashita; Tadashi George et al.
CPC
G06F9/454; A63F13/60; G06F40/45; A63F13/54
Verdict
Set aside text-substitution localization, explicit drop category
Source
Google Patents · FreePatentsOnline

Abstract

A system and method for translating a phrase for video game development for games to be made available in a plurality of natural languages is disclosed. The method includes determining that code for a video game being developed has been created or modified. The method further includes inspecting the code to determine whether a phrase to be displayed or to be spoken during game play is present therein, wherein the phrase comprises a plurality of words. The method further includes comparing the entire phrase to a collection of phrases for which one or more translations to another natural language are already available, and if an exact match is determined, then reusing the one or more available translations for one or more corresponding languages.

Background

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION(1) Field of the Invention(2) The invention relates to video game development, and in particular, to an automated management of localization workflow.(3) Description of the Related Technology(4) A video game can be developed in one country using a single natural language, such as English, but the video game may be distributed in many different countries in which foreign languages are spoken. Accordingly, various assets, e.g., text, audio, and video, of the game need to be translated into the foreign languages. The process of translation is referred to as localization. Various assets that need to be localized are identified and sent to applicable translators. After the translations are performed, they should be reviewed for accuracy and, when applicable, for compliance with various standards for different platforms. As such, video game localization is an expensive and complicated part of video game development.(5) In addition, a translator typically is not provided with the privileges to compile source code. In a conventional game development process, to view updates to translations in a game environment, a translator may have to wait for the source code to be recompiled by the software developer, which may be in a different time zone from the translator. This can result in lengthy delays.(6) Therefore, an automated management of localization workflow for video game development would be desirable.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION(7) The system, method, and de

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of translating one or more phrases for video game development for game titles to be made available in a plurality of natural languages, the method being implemented in a computer system comprising one or more processors and one or more non-transitory electronic storage devices, the method comprising: storing, by the one or more non-transitory electronic storage devices, code for a video game being developed; storing, by the one or more non-transitory electronic storage devices, one or more files comprising information including individual phrases to be displayed or spoken during game play in the video game, the one or more files being stored outside the code itself during development of the video game, the one or more files including a first file, the first file being stored outside the code itself during development of the video game, the first file comprising information including a first phrase to be displayed or to be spoken in a first natural language during game play in the video game, the first phrase comprising a plurality of words; storing, by the one or more non-transitory electronic storage devices, a collection of sample phrases in the first natural language for which one or more translations to a second natural language have previously been made; determining, by the one or more processors, that the code for the video game being developed has been created or modified; inspecting, by the one or more processors, the code to determine whether one or more substitution identifiers are present therein, individual substitution identifiers referring to individual ones of the one or more files stored outside the code itself during development of the video game, such that during execution of the code individual substitution identifiers are replaced by information included in the individual referred-to files, the one or more substitution identifiers including a first substitution identifier, the first substitution identifier referring to the first file stored outside the code; determining, by the one or more processors, that the video game is to be made available in the second natural language; obtaining, by the one or more processors, the information including the individual phrases to be displayed or spoken during game play in the video game included in the individual files stored outside the code that the one or more substitution identifiers present in the code refer to, including obtaining, from the first file referred to by the first substitution identifier, the information including the first phrase to be displayed or to be spoken in the first natural language during game play in the video game; comparing, by the one or more processors, the individual phrases to be displayed or spoken during game play in the video game to the collection of sample phrases to determine if there are exact matches between the individual phrases to be displayed or spoken during game play in the video game and individual ones of the sample phrases included in the collection of sample phrases, including comparing the entire first phrase to the collection of sample phrases; and determining, by the one or more processors, based on the comparison of the individual phrases to be displayed or spoken during game play in the video game to the collection of sample phrases, whether to effectuate substitution of the information including the individual phrases to be displayed or spoken during game play in the video game included in the individual files stored outside the code with information including the individual previously made translations of individual matched sample phrases included in the collection of sample phrases, or to effectuate substitution of the information including the individual phrases to be displayed or spoken during game play in the video game included in the individual files stored outside the code with information including individual new translations of the individual phrases to be displayed or spoken during game play in the video game by a translator, including: determining, based on the comparison of the entire first phrase to the collection of sample phrase, whether to effectuate substitution of the information including the first phrase included in the first file with information including a previously made translation of a matched sample phrase included in the collection of sample phrases, or to effectuate substitution of the information including the first phrase stored in the first file with information including a new translation of the first phrase made by the translator, such that: responsive to determining an exact match between the first phrase to be displayed or spoken in the first natural language and one of the sample phrases in the collection of sample phrases in the first natural language, a determination is made to implement, in the first file stored outside the code, a substitution of the information including the first phrase in the first natural language with information including the first phrase in the second natural language in accordance with the previously made translation of the matched sample phrase to the second natural language; and responsive to determining there is no exact match between the first phrase to be displayed or spoken in the first natural language and one of the sample phrases in the first natural language, determinations are made to provide the first phrase to the translator for the new translation to the second natural language, and to implement, in the first file stored outside the code, a substitution of the information including the first phrase in the first natural language with information including the first phrase in the second natural language in accordance with the new translation. 5. An apparatus for translating one or more phrases for video game development for game titles to be made available in a plurality of natural languages, the apparatus comprising: one or more non-transitory electronic storage devices configured to store: code for a video game being developed; one or more files comprising information including individual phrases to be displayed or spoken during game play in the video game, the one or more files being stored outside the code itself during development of the video game, the one or more files including a first file, the first file being stored outside the code itself during development of the video game, the first file comprising information including a first phrase to be displayed or to be spoken in a first natural language during game play in the video game, the first phrase comprising a plurality of words; and a collection of sample phrases in the first natural language for which one or more translations to a second natural language have previously been made; and one or more physical processors configured by machine-readable instructions to: determine that the code for the video game being developed has been created or modified; inspect the code to determine whether one or more substitution identifiers are present therein, individual substitution identifiers referring to individual ones of the one or more files stored outside the code itself during development of the video game, such that during execution of the code individual substitution identifiers are replaced by information in the individual referred-to files, the one or more substitution identifiers including a first substitution identifier, the first substitution identifier referring to the first file stored outside the code; determine that the video game is to be made available in the second natural language; obtain the information including the individual phrases to be displayed or spoken during game play in the video game included in the individual files stored outside the code that the one or more substitution identifiers present in the code refer to, the information including the first phrase to be displayed or to be spoken in the first natural language during game play in the video game being obtained from the first file referred to by the first substitution identifier; compare the individual phrases to be displayed or spoken during game play in the video game to the collection of sample phrases to determine if there are exact matches between the individual phrases to be displayed or spoken during game play in the video game and individual ones of the sample phrases included in the collection of sample phrases, the entire first phrase being compared to the collection of sample phrases; and determine, based on the comparison of the individual phrases to be displayed or spoken during game play in the video game to the collection of sample phrases, whether to effectuate substitution of the information including the individual phrases to be displayed or spoken during game play in the video game included in the individual files stored outside the code with information including the individual previously made translations of individual matched sample phrases included in the collection of sample phrases, or to effectuate substitution of the information including the individual phrases to be displayed or spoken during game play in the video game included in the individual files stored outside the code with information including individual new translations of the individual phrases to be displayed or spoken during game play in the video game by a translator, including: determine, based on the comparison of the entire first phrase to the collection of sample phrase, whether to effectuate substitution of the information including the first phrase included in the first file with information including a previously made translation of a matched sample phrase included in the collection of sample phrases, or to effectuate substitution of the information including the first phrase stored in the first file with information including a new translation of the phrase made by the translator, such that: in response to determining an exact match between the first phrase to be displayed or spoken in the first natural language and one of the sample phrases in the collection of sample phases in the first natural language, a determination is made to implement, in the first file stored outside the code, a substitution of the information including the first phrase in the first natural language with information including the first phrase in the second natural language in accordance with the previously made translation of the matched sample phrase to the second natural language; and in response to determining there is no an exact match between the first phrase to be displayed or spoken in the first natural language and one of the sample phrases in the first natural language, determinations are made to provide the first phrase to the translator for the new translation to the second natural language, and to implement, in the first file stored outside the code, a substitution of the information including the first phrase in the first natural language with information including the first phrase in the second natural language in accordance with the new translation. 9. A computer-implemented method of video game development for game titles to be made available for a plurality of different game consoles, the method being implemented in a computer system comprising one or more processors and one or more non-transitory electronic storage devices, the method comprising: storing, by the one or more non-transitory electronic storage devices, code for a video game being developed; storing, by the one or more non-transitory electronic storage devices, one or more files comprising information including individual game controller symbols to be displayed during game play in the video game, the individual game controller symbols corresponding to individual control features of individual game controllers of individual game consoles, the one or more files being stored outside the code itself during development of the video game, the one or more files including a first file, the first file being stored outside the code itself during development of the video game, the first file comprising information including a first game controller symbol to be displayed during game play in the video game, the first game controller symbol being specific to a first game console; inspecting, by the one or more processors, the code for the video game to determine whether one or more substitution identifiers to one or more game controller symbols are present therein, individual substitution identifiers referring to individual ones of the one or more files stored outside of the code itself during the development of the video game, the one or more substitution identifiers including a first substitution identifier, the first substitution identifier referring to the first file stored outside the code; determining, by the one or more processors, that the code for the video game is to be made available for the first game console; obtaining, by the one or more processors, the information included in the individual files stored outside the code that the one or more substitution identifiers present in the code refer to, including obtaining, from the first file referred to by the first substitution identifier, the information including the first game controller symbol; identifying, by the one or more processors, the individual game controller symbols from the obtained information included in the individual files stored outside the game, including identifying the first game controller symbol from the information included in the first file based on the code being made available for the first game console; and replacing, by the one or more processors, individual ones of the one or more substitution identifiers with the identified individual game control symbols, including replacing the first substitution identifier with the first game controller symbol. 21. An apparatus for video game development comprising: one or more non-transitory electronic storage devices configured to store: code for a video game being developed; one or more files comprising information including individual game controller symbols to be displayed during game play in the video game, the individual game controller symbols corresponding to individual control features of individual game controllers of individual game consoles, the one or more files being stored outside the code itself during development of the video game, the one or more files including a first file, the first file being stored outside the code itself during development of the video game, the first file comprising information including a first game controller symbol to be displayed during game play in the video game, the first game controller symbol being specific to a first game console; and one or more physical processors configured by machine-readable instructions to: inspect the code for the video game to determine whether one or more substitution identifiers are present therein, individual substitution identifiers referring to individual ones of the one or more files stored outside of the code, the one or more substitution identifiers including a first substitution identifier, the first substitution identifier referring to the first file stored outside the code; determine that the code for the video game is to be made available for the first game console; obtain the information included in the individual files stored outside the code that the one or more substitution identifiers present in the code refer to, the information including the first game controller symbol being obtained from the first file referred to by the first substitution identifier; identify the individual game controller symbols from the obtained information included in the individual files stored outside the game, the first game controller symbol being identified from the information included in the first file based on the code being made available for the first game console; and replace individual ones of the one or more substitution identifiers with the identified individual game control symbols, the first substitution identifier being replaced with the first game controller symbol.