1. What are some of the funniest or most interesting issues and problems encountered during the localization process?
It’s always interesting to watch a game evolve through the localization process, particularly a game like Dragonica, which has such a distinctive and humorous style. The challenge as you adapt the language is always to keep the essence of the game, while occasionally making creative changes where appropriate.
Dragonica’s graphical atmosphere already has a lot of humor already in place. As localization continues, the goal will be to maintain that. I’m not involved with localization on a daily basis, but I was in the groups deciding class, mob and item names. Each session went pretty smoothly, because the game elements are so fun and unique that it doesn’t take long to slap English words on Barunson’s cute, wild, and hilarious creations.
With any game you localize, it’s all about tone. Dragonica is whimsical and fast paced, so the text must reflect that. The game is well designed, so it’s not difficult to capture that after playing it for a while.
3. The Archer has generally gotten less "love" compared to the other character classes in Dragonica. You seem to enjoy playing as one, though. What's the draw for you?
(With the resident heart-throb NPC Rony, above)
Honestly? At first glance he reminded me of my little ‘Robin Hood’ Legoes I had when I was a kid. Those guys were awesome. Even though my Lego Knights had this massive castle, I would always have the archers sneak in at night, scale the walls undetected and pwn everyone. They all had the same green outfits and pointy hats as Dragonica’s archer.
I think the ‘Wolverine’ factor has a lot of people going for the Thief, and of course the Warrior and Magician both look great and fit that standard idea of an RPG character.
4. Dougie the Archer is the current record-holder for the highest combo count. Do you have a few tips and tricks for those hoping to replicate your results?
Funny thing, that was done on a pre-alpha build where it was actually more difficult to get high combos than it is now. Despite that, I haven’t been able to get back over 1K in the current build. I’m too into collecting hats now. *laughs*
The archer is devastating for most normal mobs when using his pop-attack in combination with a very fast angle-shot. It’s pretty easy to execute and extremely effective. Even with that, you won’t get up to 1K or higher unless you stack your combo with multiple mobs. Depending on your level in relation to the mob you’re killing, you’ll only get 11-25 hits per mob, so you’ll need to move fast to keep the combo stacking.
Dungeons aren’t a good place, because they typically have ‘heavy’ monsters that can’t be popped up, and also have little or no respawn. You need a normal map with the perfect level differential and re-spawn rate to keep it going. Just as you’re finishing up the final monster in a small area, the first monster you killed should be respawning, allowing you to continually cycle the combo.
If you find this perfect spot, you’ve got to ignore any drops. Stopping to pick them up will likely kill your combo cycle. You also have to try not to take any hits. You’ll likely be popping 3 or more mobs in the air at once, and if one of them gets a hit in, the other two probably will also. It won’t kill you, but it may take up just enough time to end your combo.
5. Do you think you can beat your own record of 1268?
HA! We’ll have to see how the game evolves as we move into Alpha, CBT, OBT and final release. Whether or not I can break it, I’m sure the community will come in and shatter that to pieces once the game is opened up. I bet 6 months from now you’ll be interviewing some whiz kid with a video of his ridiculous 4K combo.
18 comments:
Heheh, I love the answer to the last question.
Stupid question though. By "pop up" though, does that mean they're not "floatable", and thus not open to juggling?
some whizhkid with a 4k combop LOL...
I wanna see that hehe...
I wonder what he means by it was harder to get a combo in pre-alpha???
@lien
Yup, that's what it means! Some enemies are not "launchable" at all, so you need to vary your attack strategy in those cases.
@qwerty
The new build gives extremely fast attack speed to the archer's upward shots. You end up with a high combo count in a short time. The older version was slower in shooting-rate, so it was actually harder to make the same number of combos.
Great interview Kaye. Btw, here's the screenshot of the player with the 1622 combo o_o
http://picasaweb.google.com/gihan84/Drag
onica/photo#5191698675411756898
It's very clear now that Dragonica is going to be different than anything else out there. Especially in regards to how it is being developed, you can tell there's many people involved who actually care about the game and it's future. The fact that the NA/global version is being developed so closely in time to the other versions of the game is a huge boon. It feels much more personal, that we aren't just a second thought. It also means that we should be getting updated game builds relatively soon, as opposed to months, possibly even years after they are released in their native region like some other games.
The way most other developers do it is just complete the game in it's targeted location, if it does well there, they hastily ship off a poorly translated version to the next location. It's obvious their only goal is making money, rather than a great game. The impression I get from some of the games I have played was that they didn't bother hiring a native english speaker to go through and fix all the horrible engrish, because they just don't care enough to bother. They know people will play and pay for it anyways, so they have little incentive to go the extra mile. But their lack of effort shows and ultimately loses them business.
But enough ranting for now. It's true that the archers seem to be getting less love than other classes at the moment. I pointed this out in an earlier thread, not sure if anyone saw it. But the archer has one less total stat point than the other classes. They all have 67 total stat points, the archer had 66. I'm not sure if the archer was just a lower level or had a point saved, but I assume that they were all the base starting statistics for the classes. Poor archer, nobody loves you.
True. Whenever I begin a new MMO, the first thing I usually notice is the horribly translated text. Oh, and the lack of wrap-around (please, please have wrap-around text, please!). It just makes the game less fun, in an overall manner.
Oh, and as for "slapping" english words on to mobs... I was just wondering if the mobs will be identify-able. What I mean is, if I say, "those XXYZY were really annoying," would others be able to identify said XXYZY without having to pull out some web page and looking it up? Are the names going to make sense? Or are they going to be something along the lines of "Hedonist Interesting Machomachastic Dionist?" (That really was a name of a mob in some other game. It was almost as if they tried to find a few long words and stick them together >.<")
Well, there's a monster called 호박머리너구리. Directly translated, it means Pumpkin-headed raccoon. Don't know about you guys, but sometimes a direct translation is the best answer. I can't think of anything else lol.
http://www.uploadgeek.com/uploads456/5/asdf.jpg
LOL, I trust our team is working very hard cos the same issues are close to their hearts. (I remember staying late with a couple of them to think of good monster names that not only fitted the "image" of the monster in question, but that people can remember easily and recognize quickly.
(And last I checked, Pumpkin-head Raccoon is STILL Pumpkin-head Raccoon. Some things don't need to be fixed!)
@endler & kroova:
I guess we've all been through the slap-dash jobs done on some otherwise great games.
Unlike some game-operators who may buy a lot of games "on the cheap" and then throw them out into the market to sink-or-swim so they can quickly drop the ones that fail), the standard approach for IAH has always been to invest very heavily (in terms of time, effort and funding) in the development of games that have great potential.
That makes success less predictable because all we have to work with initially are concepts, a digital presentation, sometimes a very raw alpha build if we're lucky, and the promise of the developers. (I'm lucky that Barunson Inter has been much more responsive than most other developers.)
When a game doesn't do as well as expected or runs into problems, people at IAH can get pretty "emo" because we work so hard on them LOL.
But that's not a good enough reason to stop taking a chance in great games!
In my opinion, this game is practically guarenteed to be successful, at least in the NA/global part of things. There's only one other game like this over here, and it's not really that great. There is one other game kinda like it going into beta sometime this year, but it's one of those "picked up by a company to see if it will work, no biggy if it dosn't" games with not even half the appeal or dedication Dragonica has.
From a business point of view this type of game was a smart move, versus the standard fantasy MMO style. Dragonica has that platform / adventure feel to it like the popular Crash Bandicoot or Jak and Daxter games, which would help draw in the casual gamers not interested in a more serious MMO.
In the end, there's really no need to fear about it failing, or becoming "emo" for any length of time. However it is incredibly reassuring to hear that such emotion is going into this game. Tell everyone at IAH to keep up the good work and give them a high-five for me.
Sorry to switch the subject so bluntly, but a question regarding stats. Does Intelligence increase both MP AND Magical Attack? Or is Magical Attack linked with your Strength? :\
Nice interview Kaye (thnx gen) ^^
I wonder why archer is not getting alot of praise in this game . they seem pretty strong.. that will be my second choice if a thief doesnt meet my expectation( but then agen im a thief person so im gonna try and make it fir my standards hehe)
XD
@endler
Thanks for the encouragement!
@kotoko and genocide,
The archer IS pretty powerful, but then so are the other classes (in very different ways), depending on your style of play.
INT affects your total mana/spell points, but your magic-attack rate is more affected by the level of the spells/skills you choose to upgrade on your skill-tree and your overall character level and class.
(At least that's what I can observe from the current build. I don't have the specific numbers though!)
well,the korean closed beta ended today it think.
Thats means the alpha accounts gonna be out soon??
Oh yeah!! Kaye will be stranded without a dragonica to play!!!
As much as I enjoy seeing these classes, I'll still probably go for fighter class. ^-^;;
@Qwerty, I don't believe the Korean closed beta will have anything to do with Iahgames' alpha test. Iahgames is just hosting a version of Dragonica which is South East Asia. Luckily they speak English so people in the Americas can play.
Just keep checking in on Kaye's blog. She keeps us most up to date about everything. I'm sure once the time comes, she'll inform us about everything.
holy macamoleie cowaidsia
XDD lolz
~raven
@hachimakiwell,good to hear that they are separate...
@kaye
Asia soft was really evil in their ip banning act for all their games(i think), but i dont think IAH would do that right?? just thought i would ask since the thought that the NA people could p[lay it came up...
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