论文总字数：42649字

摘 要

近年来，世界游戏市场和中国游戏市场不断壮大，中国现在已经是世界上最大的游戏市场。国外的游戏厂商纷纷将目光投向中国，向中国出口了大量游戏。这催生了中英游戏文本翻译的诞生。游戏文本是游戏的一个重要组成部分，因此，翻译质量将会直接影响玩家的游戏体验。

本论文选择《古墓丽影：崛起》为研究对象。首先将游戏文本分为六种：用户界面文本、名称文本、教学文本、说明文本、叙述文本和对白文本，并分析了每一种文本的特点。然后，论文分析了在游戏文本翻译过程中使用的翻译方法：直译、意译和音译。之后，论文分析了问卷并提出了对于翻译的改进意见。最后，对全文进行总结，指出存在的不足，并对将来的研究提出建议。

关键词：游戏文本翻译；本地化；古墓丽影：崛起

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements i

Abstract ii

摘要 iii

Table of Contents iv

Chapter One Introduction 1

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.2 Purpose and significance of the study 1

1.3 Layout of the thesis 2

Chapter Two Literature Review 3

2.1 Game text translation 3

2.2 Current research on game text translation 3

Chapter Three Types and Characteristics of Game Texts 6

3.1 User interface text 6

3.2 Name 7

3.3 Tutorial 8

3.4 Exposition 9

3.5 Narrative Text 9

3.6 Dialogue Script 10

Chapter Four Translation of Game Text in the Light of Localization 12

4.1 Methods used in translating Rise of the Tomb Raider 12

4.1.1 Literal translation 12

4.1.2 Free translation 15

4.1.3 Transliteration 16

4.2 Design and analysis of the questionnaire 16

4.3 Suggestions for improvement 21

Chapter Five Conclusion 23

References 24

Chapter One Introduction

1.1 Background of the study

In the 1970s, video games developed rapidly as commercial entertainment media. In recent years, with the development of economic globalization, the world game market has continued to grow. According to Global Game Market Report issued by Newzoo in the fourth quarter of 2017, there are 2.2 billion game players worldwide, among whom 1 billion will spend money on games. In 2017, the global game revenue will reach 116 billion dollars. China will take the first place with 32.5 billion dollars and become the largest game market in the world. Under this circumstance, game developers have exported a large number of games to China. However, the source languages of these games are mostly English or Japanese. Language barriers make it difficult for game developers to promote their games in China and influence the game experience of Chinese players. Then, a new translation field - game texts translation comes into being. At present, the game text translation is mainly completed by translation companies and some unofficial groups. The lack of professional game translators makes the quality of game text translation vary. Besides, game censorship and cultural differences also make it difficult for translators to translate game text.

1.2 Purpose and significance of the study

In recent years, with the popularity of video games around the world, game text translation came into being. Most games today, especially single games, have grand historical backgrounds, involving a large amount of cultural knowledge, and often have connections with their predecessors. Therefore, game text translation requires translators to have a profound understanding of the background, content, culture and even the predecessors. How to overcome cultural differences, policy restrictions and other difficulties and convey the content of the game to players is a great challenge for translators.

Today game text translation is completed by either translation companies or non-profit groups. The industry lacks specialized game translators and the quality of translation varies. The author studies Rise of the Tomb Raider, summarizing and analyzing the methods used in game texts translation and giving suggestions with players’ feedback. The purpose is to improve the quality of game text translation and bring better game experience to players.

1.3 Layout of the thesis

This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter one is a general introduction of the thesis, including backgrounds of the study, purpose and significance of the study and the layout of the thesis. Chapter two is the literature review, including an introduction of game text translation and the current research on game text translation. Chapter three analyzes the types of texts and the characteristics of each type. Chapter four discusses game text translation in the light of localization. It begins with the methods used in game text translation. The next part of this chapter is the analysis of the questionnaire. This chapter ends up with some suggestions for the improvement of the translated version. The last chapter, chapter five is the conclusion of the thesis, making a summary of the thesis, pointing out limitations and give suggestions for future study.

Chapter Two Literature Review

2.1 Game text translation

Game text translation is an important part of video game localization. In 1970s, the video game industry developed rapidly and quickly became a worldwide phenomenon. However, the source languages of most games are English or Japanese. In order to expand the market, the game developers localized their games into the target language versions. Game localization came into being. According to O'Hagan M and Mangiron C, “the globalisation of popular culture and the desire to expand to new markets have led most producers to localise their games into many target language versions. This has brought about the emergence of a new field in translation, game localisation, which combines elements of audiovisual translation and software localisation.” (O'Hagan M, Mangiron C, 2006)

2.2 Current research on game text translation

Video game industry flourished in the 1970s, and the large number of game import and export happened at the end of the last century. Therefore, research on game localization started late and there are little research in this field.

O'Hagan M and Mangiron C (2013) did thorough research on video game localization. In their book Game Localization: Translating for the Global Digital Entertainment Industry published in 2013, they introduced the history of game localization, the assets requiring localization, the process of localization and translation strategies applied in game localization, compared localization to translation and did research on game localization in translation studies.

In earlier research, game localization was regarded as part of software localization. Domestic research on software localization started at the end of the last century. However, at that time, most research was in computer or engineering field and there were little research on translation.

Wang Baoqin (2012), from the aspect of Skypos Theory, analyzed game name’s four values: information dissemination value, cultural value, aesthetic value and commercial value. She thought the translation of game name should follow the target orientation principle. The translator should focus on the target players’ psychology, considering their expectation, aesthetic taste and receptivity and using literal translation, free translation, literal and free translation combined and transliteration to achieve the values of game name. Dong Ziyan and He Sixian (2016) summarized the strategies and methods used in the translation of game name, including zero translation, transliteration, literal translation in foreignization and free translation, imitation, recreation in domestication.

Li Peijia and Chang Ying (2012) discussed the localization of Plant vs Zombies from five aspects: role name translation, cue word translation, menu translation, theme song translation, and the evaluation of game players. They pointed out that the tutorials in the game should be translated into Chinese and dubbed; translation should be standardized; the translation should be idiomatic Chinese, considering the specific situation, the receptivity and comprehensive ability of players of different ages. Fu Yang (2013), from the perspective of Functionalist Translation Theory, pointed out that game texts had two main functions: referential function and appellative function, and five translation methods were used in game text translation: literal translation, free translation, recreation, fixed translation and transliteration. He proposed that translators should choose proper translation strategies and methods according to the type of the game text. Chen Qi (2017), from the aspect of Skypos Theory, analyzed the characteristics of different types of texts and summarized the strategies and methods used in game text translation. She pointed out that game localization should focus on game players and cater to their potential needs; translators should use literal translation as much as possible; translators must spend enough time understanding the game; relevant articles about cultural backgrounds should be published after the launch of the game.

However, at present, most of the studies on game text translation analyze the translation strategies and methods from the aspect of translators. The result is that they ignore that the targets of games are game players. Therefore, besides the analysis on translation methods of game texts translation in terms of languages, cultures, text features, etc., the author designed a questionnaire for game players and proposed suggestions by analyzing their feedback on the translation of Rise of the Tomb Raider.

Chapter Three Types and Characteristics of Game Texts

3.1 User interface text

The user interface (UI) is the space where video game players interact with the game, including menus, help messages and system messages. When players start the game, the first thing they see is user interface. User interface helps players to start a new game, continue the game, modify options, buy game props in the market, etc. Therefore, user interface will directly affect players’ game experience.

UI texts have three features. 1) Some texts in the UI are very brief because of strict space limitations. Examples:

Continue

Load Game

New Game

Expeditions

Croft Manor

Leaderboards

Options

Marketplace

Quit Game

2) Some UI texts are very technical, especially those in “Options” menu. Because of the technicality of these texts, the players need to know something about the terminologies used in the “Option” menu, or they will feel confused when modifying the options. Examples:

Refresh Rate

Anti-Alizsing

Vsync

Anisotropic Filter

Tessellation

3) There are explanatory texts in UI texts, especially in “Options” menu. The explanatory texts explain the options to help players to choose the proper difficulty and change the settings of the game according to their computer configurations, so these texts have to be easy to understand. The example below clearly explains what the “Resolution” option is and how this option affects performance.

Change the game’s rendering resolution. Resolution is by far the biggest factor affecting performance. Lowering resolution will greatly improve performance.

3.2 Name

In Rise of the Tomb Raider, the name includes people’s name, place name, skill name, item name and weapon name. The name text appears frequently in the game and has the following features:

1) Like the UI text, the name text is subject to strict space limitation so it has to be very brief. Otherwise, it will bring some trouble to players. Examples:

Mongolian Passage

Installation Vista

Hidden Refuge

Geothermal Valley

Dodge Counter

Efficient Killer

Thick-Skinned

2) The skill names and item names in Rise of the Tomb Raider are vivid. Although these texts are very brief, they can fully describe the usages and features of the skills or the items. For example, “Heart of Stone” is a name of a skill which is to reduce the damage from enemy gunfire and melee attacks. As is known to all, stone is very tough and difficult to destroy. From the name of this skill, the players will know that this skill is a defence skill even before they read the description of the skill. Another example is “Dragonfire Shells”, a kind of incendiary shotgun shells that wreak havoc by lighting enemies on fire and igniting other flammable objects. In western myths, dragon is “a large aggressive animal with wings and a long tail, that can breathe out fire” (The Oxford English Dictionary). Dragonfire is dragons’ main attack means and is extremely powerful. From the name, the players can know that this kind of ammunition is incendiary and powerful.

3) Some names is related to culture. For example, in the game, the heroin Lara’s enemy is an ancient and secretive sect called Trinity. In Christianity, the Trinity is the union of Father, Son and Holy Spirit as one God. In the game, Trinity is a branch of Christianity. The believers regard the Prophet and his people as heretics and their concepts blasphemy. They believe it is their mission to build a new world cleansed of sin with the Divine Source. This is the reason why they have chased the Prophet and his people for hundreds of years, from Constantinople to Siberia, trying to kill the Prophet and loot the Divine Source. This reason is easy to understand for westerners. However, for Asians like Chinese and Japanese, this may be difficult.

3.3 Tutorial

In video games, tutorial is used to explain game mechanics, helping players to get familiar with the game play, such as how to jump, how to dodge, how to aim, etc. Tutorial can be the most direct factor that influence players’ game experience. If the tutorial is too complicated for players to understand and learn, it will be impossible for players to continue the game.

Tutorial texts have two characteristics. 1) Tutorial texts have to be brief and clear as they usually appear during the game. In the game, the players need to finish reading the tutorial and react quickly. If the tutorial text is too long or ambiguous, when players understand it, it may be too late to react. Examples:

[Space] Jump

Press [Tab] for map

[F] Melee

[C] Dodge

2) Tutorial texts in Rise of the Tomb Raider have two fixed formats, one is “[key] action”: “[C] Scramble”, “[R] Reload”, “R Mouse aim and L Mouse rope pull; etc.; another is Press/Hold [key] to action: “Press [E] to interact”, “Press [F] to attack”, “Press [E] to loot”, “Press [F] to cut rope”, “Hold [V] to heal”, etc.

3.4 Exposition

“Expositions are passages describing characters, monsters, animals, geographical locations, etc.” (O'Hagan M, Mangiron C). In Rise of the Tomb Raider, expositions are used to describe the usages of items, features of weapons, details of missions, details of skills, etc. For expositions, clarity and informativity are stressed. A typical example is the exposition of the “Rise of the Tomb Raider 20 Year Celebration Pack”, introducing what is included in the pack in detail:

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