Game localisation. MultiByteToWideChar. Games Demystified: Super Mario Galaxy By Jeremy Alessi Welcome to the first article in a new Gamasutra series called Games Demystified. In this series I'll be deconstructing games with unique or distinguishing mechanics that may have left some folks scratching their heads, including reproducing effects with code samples, examining -- just how did they accomplish that? The first game we'll be covering is Super Mario Galaxy for the Nintendo Wii. Upon release, Super Mario Galaxy enchanted the gaming community because it allowed gamers to walk upside down and inside out -- all while feeling completely intuitive. Obviously, real world physics have a place in today's games.
People such as Isaac Newton have studied and derived a great deal about gravity, but no one actually knows the true mechanics behind the force. Force of Gravity = Gravitational Constant * ( ( mass1 * mass2 ) / distance2) To simplify, gravity follows the inverse square law. Intensity of Gravity = 1 / Distance2 player\vX# = 0 Else. Games Demystified: Portal By Jeremy Alessi [In the second in this series of articles which deconstructs a particularly fun or interesting mechanic in a recent, relevant game, Jeremy Alessi pulls apart Valve's Portal and puts it back together again -- to give us a clearer understanding of the compellingly-executed teleportation mechanics central to that game's astoundingly entertaining gameplay.] EDITOR'S NOTE: To download the associated demo and code sample for Portal Demystified, please click here. Welcome back to Games Demystified. This month we'll be examining the chief gameplay mechanic behind last year's amazing Portal!
That line sums up the mechanics that distinguished Portal from the rest of the herd this past winter. Game mechanics are usually abstractions based on real-world physics. This go-round we're looking at wormholes, Einstein-Rosen Bridges, or portals, if you will. Image From Samuel Joseph George's description of The Einstein-Rosen Bridge Function updatePlayerPhysics() Else. Software Visualization. (To appear in the Journal "Science of Computer Programming", 2008) Pretty-printers reduce the time programmers spend reading and understanding code. Pretty-printers found in modern development environments are hand crafted for responsiveness, an imperative property for interactive environments. However, these pretty-printers are language specific, tightly integrated into development environments, and have limited customizability. The literature describes how to generate pretty-printers that are customizable and reusable, and that are make efficient use of the presentation space.
However, these pretty-printers only provide a global rendering capacity, i.e., they can only render entire files. This reduces responsiveness, preventing their use in modern development environments. We present a flexible, stable, peephole-efficient pretty-printing algorithm for generated pretty-printers. Getting Clueful: 7 Things CIOs Should Know About Agile Development - CIO.com - Business Technology Leadership.
CIO — Though it may surprise cynical IT managers to learn this, developers care passionately about the software they write. Managers want top-notch, bug-free applications delivered on time, which meet or exceed user expectations—and the people who build that software have the very same intention. How managers and developers achieve those goals, however, can be far different. The "old" school of software development followed a path in which software specifications were defined explicitly in the form of an inviolate requirements document.
Then managers told the development staff to write that application...and come back when finished. The result, too often, was a great answer to the wrong question: software that's late, that does interesting things but doesn't solve the user's need, and—well, you're probably too familiar with the results. They have quietly been taking over your development department, too. 1. The business benefit is a key message for CIOs and IT managers. Continue Reading. Book Reviews. By Joel Spolsky Wednesday, March 13, 2002 “Pretty close to the perfect short list for any programmer” — Jan Derk You can learn a lot about somebody by the books they've read. And I've always thought that if you read all the same books I read, you'll come to think like me, too. So here it is -- Joel's Programmer's Bookshelf. This is the short list of all the books that I honestly think that every working programmer needs to read, with my own book hidden in there in case you didn't notice because I get about two bucks if you buy it.
Painless Software Management Peopleware: Productive Projects and TeamsTom Demarco and Timothy R. As summer interns at Microsoft, my friends and I used to take "field trips" to the company supply room to stock up on school supplies. The Mythical Man-MonthFrederick P. Rapid Development: Taming Wild Software SchedulesSteve C. Code Craftsmanship Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software ConstructionSteve C. Philosophy of Programming MicroserfsDouglas Coupland Wow! 37 Signals vs. Joel on Software » Bogle’s Blog. Programming for Internationalization FAQ. Gettext' utilities. GNU gettext utilities This manual documents the GNU gettext tools and the GNU libintl library, version 0.18.2. --- The Detailed Node Listing --- Introduction The User's View Setting the POSIX Locale Preparing Program Sources Making the PO Template File Creating a New PO File Updating Existing PO Files Editing PO Files Emacs's PO File Editor Using Translation Compendia Manipulating PO Files Highlighting parts of PO files Producing Binary MO Files The Programmer's View About catgets About gettext Temporary Notes for the Programmers Chapter The Translator's View Organization National Teams The Maintainer's View Files You Must Create or Alter Autoconf macros for use in configure.ac Integrating with CVS Other Programming Languages Individual Programming Languages sh - Shell Script Perl Internationalizable Data Concluding Remarks Language Codes Licenses 1 Introduction This chapter explains the goals sought in the creation of GNU gettext and the free Translation Project.
Please send suggestions and corrections to: i18n and l10n By. Introduction to Software Translation for MFC. Free source code and programming help. Introduction Recently, I have been involved in localization of software applications for global markets. Although software localization and translation is usually (and hopefully) less complex and less expensive than the original development of the application, it is still a complex issue, and it can be difficult knowing how to get started. In this article, I am summarizing some of the information I would have liked to have immediately available when I first considered localizing applications. This article is primarily targeted to programmers considering translation and localization of applications.
The information comes from research and my own experiences. It should be noted that there is a difference between translation and localization. Translation is translating the application text to a different language, e.g. Localization is customizing an application for a specific country or location, e.g. Finally, I am using a writing style where the original language is assumed to be English. InfoMail : Do's and Don'ts in software development before localization.
We provide world class Software Localization services and specialized, highly technical, and professional translations into all commercial languages. Translation is often the critical path in Software Localization. Streamlining the process requires streamlining the translation tasks. By applying search and database technologies to the software localization process, we are able to eliminate redundancies and reduce time needed by developers and tech pub writers to manage changing content in source files, help and manuals.
GlobalVision International is founded by engineers seeking to simplify the software localization process and who are able to translate/localize your software into 100+ languages. Software Localization Services: Platforms Desktops: Windows, Mac, Unix, LinuxMobile: iPhone, iPAD, Android, BlackBerry, WinWeb: Ruby, LAMP, Ajax, HTML4, .Net Technologies & File Types Supported Technical Translation Services for Manuals and Online Help Some of our Software Clients “Highly recommended! InfoMail : Are Last-Minute Updates Wreaking Havoc With Your Localization Budget? There’s a very old (and, unfortunately, very true) saying in high tech that sometimes you have to shoot the developer before a product can be released to manufacturing.
When developers change or add product functionality at the last minute, Tech Pub writers must scramble to update the documentation so that it doesn’t gate the release. When you consider that localization is taking place at the same time, the ripple effect of updating the documents can have international ramifications.
Obviously, once documentation has been released for localization, early and minimal changes to that documentation can reduce your localization costs. But what if this is not possible? The localization process often involves file prep, translation, linguistic edit (or review), layout or desktop publishing (DTP), and quality assurance (QA), before docs can be released to printing or manufacturing. To reduce localization costs associated with documentation updates, consider these suggestions: Optimal Solution.
InfoMail : Top Five Reasons Why Product Localization Fails. Localizing a product for international markets is not rocket science. And yet, even in the 21st century, we hear of failed international product release attempts or mishaps. The following are the top five reasons why product localization falters. Avoiding these mistakes will increase your success rate by orders of magnitude. Improper or incomplete internationalization of the product Many internationalization efforts fail because they are inaccurate or simply incomplete. Are you covering all of the following? Lack of process Not having a localization process (or using an outdated, unproven, or incomplete process) can have long-term consequences for your product’s future updates and success.
Preparing the filesBuilding the translation databaseLeveraging the translationReusing the translation Every company should establish a localization process that permits easy file processing and translation reuse. Crippling budgets There are very inexpensive ways to produce translations. Crippling schedules. Do’s and Don’ts in Software Development Before Localization. Do’s and Don’ts in Software Development Before Localization By Micheline Freij, Operations Director, GlobalVision International, Inc.
Micheline[at]globalvis.com Become a member of TranslationDirectory.com at just 8 EUR/month (paid per year) Given the constant competitive pressure on executives to expedite product time-to-market, many developers are given tight deadlines to deliver functional software. Keeping these pressures in mind, developers can strive to ensure that basic principles are maintained while developing software to facilitate localization efforts - and meet time-to-market requirements for all the required languages, not just the source. Here are 12 do’s and don’ts that all developers should read and apply in their work.
Messages are textual objects that are translatable components. This practice will facilitate the localization process, since localizers can work on these resource bundles without the need to modify source code. Here are some examples of fixed textual objects: Dobbs Code Talk - Programmer? Or Software Developer? Book Extract: The Game Localization Handbook: Localization Production Pitfalls. Production covers a wide range of localization tasks and contains several areas in which things can quickly get out of control. Production pitfalls can be easier to rectify than technical pitfalls, since they do not need to be fixed by adding new game code. Most production pitfalls can be avoided if the localization process has been thought out thoroughly and planned for accordingly.
Poor Planning Poor planning is the number-one cause of difficulties during localizations. As discussed throughout this book, a number of items must be planned for and considered when developing localized versions. For example, localization-friendly code is not something that happens late in the project, it must be planned for in advance. Moreover, if the assets translation is not planned in advance, the developer cannot expect to have the assets translated, integrated, and tested a week before the localized versions are scheduled to release. Achieving Simultaneous Release Linguistic and Functionality Testing.