A game about crazy geek scientists and a little enchanting localization story
This is the most awesome and positive game about scientists that we have seen. This process will be interesting both to those who are pleased with the IT Game Development, and to those who love the history of long projects with surprises.
So, at the entrance were the rules in English, written in the spirit of mathematical minimalism, the texts of maps and prototypes. All this appeared in 2011 from the author Donald Vacarino. The prototypes looked like this: he nadegal cliparts to clarify his thought, and prescribed parameters.
')
We decided to make the game not just about crazy scientists, no. About the good, but at the same time completely, completely mad scientists in the spirit of "Monday begins on Saturday." And they started with the concept of illustrations. Relevant concepts to the right of the prototypes.
To explain to you the importance of every detail in the process, you need to start with the history of the game. Donald Vacarino is one of the most famous game designers in the world. His "Dominion" was probably one of the most commercially successful games in the world in recent years. So, this guy wanted to make the game of his dreams. As he says jokingly, he was offended at school a lot, and therefore he dreamed of inventing something such. He did - and sold the world rights to publish the company Ascora Geyms.
The publisher published the first edition, showed it at an exhibition in Essen (this is a city in Germany, where the most famous exhibitions on board games and other geek things are held). The game shattered like hot cakes. There were partners in different countries. In Russia, we were candidates for publication. And then the publisher is gone. Completely gone. Neither we, nor the factory where he ordered the seal, nor the author of the game could find him.
As a result, the game, which was supposed to be a bestseller, continued rapidly. We have long harassed Donald to help us release this game. Somewhere in half a year the situation was as if with Firefly - it seems that it’s cool that there is an audience, only there is no content. In our case, there was already a lineup of people willing to buy “Nefariusa”. And pre-loved him. The contract was a clause that the contract may be terminated if the publisher has suspended commercial activities. We waited almost a year. Donald broke the contract with “Ascora”, and in the end we got not just rights, but international rights to the game. Vakarino himself spent two years in balancing and even found extremely exotic game situations that were corrected in this edition. Some geeks already want a second box.
Let's return to the project. Unlike a number of other localizations, we needed not only to take ready-made images and texts, but to do everything from scratch according to the author’s prototypes. Usually we get an already popular game in the West, which has been published a couple of times. In the same situation, we had a thing in our hands, similar to our own early prototypes. This meant that we write the rules ourselves according to his theses, we draw all the “interfaces” and we do the translation with localization.
The first prototypes looked like this:
Accordingly, it was necessary to get ready maps from the output tables.
Every player is a scientist. The task is to bypass other scientists on points. Points are given for the creation of inventions. Every invention changes the world (gives game effects like earnings, acceleration of research, and so on). Each turn an action is chosen - prototype assembly (implementation of the invention), research (theoretical research), work or espionage. In addition, each party has a new world each time - that is, cheap nuclear energy, then government grants, then restrictions on working with animals, then in general contact with aliens.
The question of the destruction and seizure of the world is quite delicate. In the sense that in an enlightened Europe, how loud the liberals scream depends on how it is presented. Well, the very ones that forbade GTA and other games, but not so violently.
The western concept was: “My volcano activator rescues from earthquakes, the freezing beam will help in transporting fruit, etc. - but the rector does not allow me to talk about it at the conference. Aha I will break the television station and tell everyone. Oh! And someone has already broken it and is already talking about their inventions. So. This is a challenge! ”
We went closer to the concept of Vakarino and still made a game about such geeks who are fanatically conducting research, waving away minor minor problems. Each has its own laboratory. That is, on the one hand, we left the concept of the “war of scientists”, and on the other, we decided that our scientists would be generally more kind and scattered. Why? Because we went over the list of cards - there is a bias towards cooperation (for example, the inter-university network of scientists), and there are no obvious indications of something specifically specifically aggressive.
We drew the first pictures, asked Vakarino if we were digging there. He was somewhat discouraged by the cartoony style (he himself wanted in the spirit of Red Alert), but he confirmed. Great, working.
Original style
Good localization begins with a couple of pictures that set the style. We immediately wanted something cartoon, but at the same time interesting enough for consideration. Here are the options:
This one is too evil, but the pieces in the background are quite nothing
There is something here, we try further in the same way
That's cool
Here is the right mood. It becomes clear that we still need two scientists, as above, but those with whom the sea is knee-deep. You know, a little from the Strugatsky, a little from children's cartoons.
More concepts:
Very pleased with this one in combination with the previous "grandfather". We take its original concept and consistently change. Here is the source.
We think about the box:
Try on the original style of the first edition in the West:
And in the end, still doing what they wanted. Here they are, our handsome men on the box:
Future game box
The important thing was the maps of inventions. In the original, the theme of blue and mechanical font was played up there. We immediately replaced the domestic drawings (they are positive, not negative) and the font intended by GOST to sign them. Here are the prototypes and the result:
Early version
Prototype later
The author used local memes and puns. When translating, humor is lost in the game of words, and during localization, we must take into account our features. Here is an example of a card, the essence of the flavor (decorating text that does not carry the game load) which he did not understand. But he believed us that it was better. But with EAL, even they have this anecdote.
As agreed, I asked to redraw a couple of pictures. Example:
"The Hobbit" was too homely
He wanted a special plot on this map. At the same time you can see how the arrow and coins have changed a little during this time.
And the result
Then we made the following prototype of paper and cardboard:
And gave it to people unfamiliar with nastolkami in general. Then - to those who only play them. Most beta testers talked about the complexity of the rules. Here is an example from a test report:
We finish the rules (sample page):
An important question was what to choose for money - circles from cardboard (well, you know, which are squeezed out with a crunch from the matrix) or money in papers, as in Monopoly. On tests, it became clear that mugs are more convenient, but paper money is cheaper to produce. We consider the resulting difference is only a couple percent up on the shelf. Ok, we do better - mugs.
The arrangement of the circles on the sheet was an opportunity to draw something. I offered to draw another "coin" with a root of minus two - they will not be able to squeeze it out, but there will be joy in the sea. But the production manager says that Easter eggs are Easter eggs, and then his clients will remove his head for the fact that the coin is not squeezed out - an obvious marriage is the same. I understand that he is right and I agree. So without complex numbers, sorry.
Where there is no seller, sells box. In Europe, the seller is almost nowhere to be, so we tried to immediately make the box sharpened under their market. It means a lot of text.
And, of course, we could not resist a couple of small Easter eggs on it.
One of our translation rules is the name of the author on the box in Russian, so that it is clear how to read it (and in the original in the output of these rules). But, alas, it is necessary in English under the license contract - perhaps someone approached Don at one of the exhibitions and greeted him with a harsh Croatian accent. Here it is now insured.
Then - proofreader and prepress. And the game is on the shelves. Two weeks without announcements - the boxes were simply not enough, they were bought at the rate of appearance in stores.
Everything. Download the full rules and look into the box more deeply here . As usual - say “ Habrahabr ” - you get a small pleasant discount in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk and Ufa. Word works week.
PS Yes, one more thing. I have a pair of new sealed boxes that I want to use with maximum positive. I think one should be sent by Post of the Russian Federation to nuclear physicists from Moscow State University (just to present their faces upon receipt), but I haven't thought of what to do with the second one yet. If you give me an idea, it will be great.
So, at the entrance were the rules in English, written in the spirit of mathematical minimalism, the texts of maps and prototypes. All this appeared in 2011 from the author Donald Vacarino. The prototypes looked like this: he nadegal cliparts to clarify his thought, and prescribed parameters.
')
We decided to make the game not just about crazy scientists, no. About the good, but at the same time completely, completely mad scientists in the spirit of "Monday begins on Saturday." And they started with the concept of illustrations. Relevant concepts to the right of the prototypes.
How it all began
To explain to you the importance of every detail in the process, you need to start with the history of the game. Donald Vacarino is one of the most famous game designers in the world. His "Dominion" was probably one of the most commercially successful games in the world in recent years. So, this guy wanted to make the game of his dreams. As he says jokingly, he was offended at school a lot, and therefore he dreamed of inventing something such. He did - and sold the world rights to publish the company Ascora Geyms.
The publisher published the first edition, showed it at an exhibition in Essen (this is a city in Germany, where the most famous exhibitions on board games and other geek things are held). The game shattered like hot cakes. There were partners in different countries. In Russia, we were candidates for publication. And then the publisher is gone. Completely gone. Neither we, nor the factory where he ordered the seal, nor the author of the game could find him.
As a result, the game, which was supposed to be a bestseller, continued rapidly. We have long harassed Donald to help us release this game. Somewhere in half a year the situation was as if with Firefly - it seems that it’s cool that there is an audience, only there is no content. In our case, there was already a lineup of people willing to buy “Nefariusa”. And pre-loved him. The contract was a clause that the contract may be terminated if the publisher has suspended commercial activities. We waited almost a year. Donald broke the contract with “Ascora”, and in the end we got not just rights, but international rights to the game. Vakarino himself spent two years in balancing and even found extremely exotic game situations that were corrected in this edition. Some geeks already want a second box.
Let's return to the project. Unlike a number of other localizations, we needed not only to take ready-made images and texts, but to do everything from scratch according to the author’s prototypes. Usually we get an already popular game in the West, which has been published a couple of times. In the same situation, we had a thing in our hands, similar to our own early prototypes. This meant that we write the rules ourselves according to his theses, we draw all the “interfaces” and we do the translation with localization.
Prototypes
The first prototypes looked like this:
Accordingly, it was necessary to get ready maps from the output tables.
Game process
Every player is a scientist. The task is to bypass other scientists on points. Points are given for the creation of inventions. Every invention changes the world (gives game effects like earnings, acceleration of research, and so on). Each turn an action is chosen - prototype assembly (implementation of the invention), research (theoretical research), work or espionage. In addition, each party has a new world each time - that is, cheap nuclear energy, then government grants, then restrictions on working with animals, then in general contact with aliens.
Sample project plan
- To play about 20 games of the project team and understand what the game style is.
- Invent and prescribe the concept of localization.
- Do art for the first cards and choose a style.
- Start drawing the rest in the same way.
- At the same time to think over the layout and the "intefrays" of the card.
- Translate the rules.
- Run a chain of tests.
- Consider a complete set.
- Make a box.
- Make all auxiliary components.
- Run another test chain and make edits on the results.
- Give all the proofreader.
- Assemble and prepare for production.
- Check that everything is properly made.
Concept
The question of the destruction and seizure of the world is quite delicate. In the sense that in an enlightened Europe, how loud the liberals scream depends on how it is presented. Well, the very ones that forbade GTA and other games, but not so violently.
The western concept was: “My volcano activator rescues from earthquakes, the freezing beam will help in transporting fruit, etc. - but the rector does not allow me to talk about it at the conference. Aha I will break the television station and tell everyone. Oh! And someone has already broken it and is already talking about their inventions. So. This is a challenge! ”
We went closer to the concept of Vakarino and still made a game about such geeks who are fanatically conducting research, waving away minor minor problems. Each has its own laboratory. That is, on the one hand, we left the concept of the “war of scientists”, and on the other, we decided that our scientists would be generally more kind and scattered. Why? Because we went over the list of cards - there is a bias towards cooperation (for example, the inter-university network of scientists), and there are no obvious indications of something specifically specifically aggressive.
We drew the first pictures, asked Vakarino if we were digging there. He was somewhat discouraged by the cartoony style (he himself wanted in the spirit of Red Alert), but he confirmed. Great, working.
Original style
Illustrations and translations
Good localization begins with a couple of pictures that set the style. We immediately wanted something cartoon, but at the same time interesting enough for consideration. Here are the options:
This one is too evil, but the pieces in the background are quite nothing
There is something here, we try further in the same way
That's cool
Here is the right mood. It becomes clear that we still need two scientists, as above, but those with whom the sea is knee-deep. You know, a little from the Strugatsky, a little from children's cartoons.
More concepts:
Very pleased with this one in combination with the previous "grandfather". We take its original concept and consistently change. Here is the source.
We think about the box:
Try on the original style of the first edition in the West:
And in the end, still doing what they wanted. Here they are, our handsome men on the box:
Future game box
General style
The important thing was the maps of inventions. In the original, the theme of blue and mechanical font was played up there. We immediately replaced the domestic drawings (they are positive, not negative) and the font intended by GOST to sign them. Here are the prototypes and the result:
Early version
Prototype later
The author used local memes and puns. When translating, humor is lost in the game of words, and during localization, we must take into account our features. Here is an example of a card, the essence of the flavor (decorating text that does not carry the game load) which he did not understand. But he believed us that it was better. But with EAL, even they have this anecdote.
As agreed, I asked to redraw a couple of pictures. Example:
"The Hobbit" was too homely
He wanted a special plot on this map. At the same time you can see how the arrow and coins have changed a little during this time.
And the result
Final Tests
Then we made the following prototype of paper and cardboard:
And gave it to people unfamiliar with nastolkami in general. Then - to those who only play them. Most beta testers talked about the complexity of the rules. Here is an example from a test report:
page 6 - about the action of the Invention - at the first reading the phrase “pay the cost of the invention” was completely incomprehensible - who pays whom and to whom (to the bank or to rivals)? the cost of his invention or whose? then it becomes clear, of course, but again you have to go back and reread.
Page 7 - “played invention” - it may be worthwhile to add “played and paid for”, because at this moment it is still not very clear what “played” means.
page 8 - “who scored 20 points or more at the end of the move” - I want to add “first scored”. In principle, this is understandable, but complete clarity probably does not hurt)
The final
We finish the rules (sample page):
Equipment
An important question was what to choose for money - circles from cardboard (well, you know, which are squeezed out with a crunch from the matrix) or money in papers, as in Monopoly. On tests, it became clear that mugs are more convenient, but paper money is cheaper to produce. We consider the resulting difference is only a couple percent up on the shelf. Ok, we do better - mugs.
The arrangement of the circles on the sheet was an opportunity to draw something. I offered to draw another "coin" with a root of minus two - they will not be able to squeeze it out, but there will be joy in the sea. But the production manager says that Easter eggs are Easter eggs, and then his clients will remove his head for the fact that the coin is not squeezed out - an obvious marriage is the same. I understand that he is right and I agree. So without complex numbers, sorry.
Box
Where there is no seller, sells box. In Europe, the seller is almost nowhere to be, so we tried to immediately make the box sharpened under their market. It means a lot of text.
And, of course, we could not resist a couple of small Easter eggs on it.
One of our translation rules is the name of the author on the box in Russian, so that it is clear how to read it (and in the original in the output of these rules). But, alas, it is necessary in English under the license contract - perhaps someone approached Don at one of the exhibitions and greeted him with a harsh Croatian accent. Here it is now insured.
Then - proofreader and prepress. And the game is on the shelves. Two weeks without announcements - the boxes were simply not enough, they were bought at the rate of appearance in stores.
Minute advertising and discount
Everything. Download the full rules and look into the box more deeply here . As usual - say “ Habrahabr ” - you get a small pleasant discount in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk and Ufa. Word works week.
PS Yes, one more thing. I have a pair of new sealed boxes that I want to use with maximum positive. I think one should be sent by Post of the Russian Federation to nuclear physicists from Moscow State University (just to present their faces upon receipt), but I haven't thought of what to do with the second one yet. If you give me an idea, it will be great.Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/216133/
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