Translating English Games into Japanese

I can help translate specific text, but game localization is complex—it involves UI, scripts, fonts, encoding, cultural adaptation, and testing.

What I Need From You

1. Game Title & Platform: (e.g., Stardew Valley PC, Undertale Switch, Custom RPG Maker project).
2. Scope:
   • UI Only: Menus, buttons, item names, system messages (~500–2,000 strings).
   • Full Script: Dialogue, lore, tutorials, item descriptions (~10k–100k+ words).
   • Specific Lines: A few sentences for a mod/patch.
3. File Format / Engine:
   • Ren'Py (.rpy), RPG Maker (.json / .rxdata), Unity (.json, .csv, .txt, .po, AssetBundles), Godot (.csv, .po, .tres), Custom (XML, Excel, Binary).
   • Encoding: UTF-8 (standard), Shift-JIS (legacy JP), CP932.
4. Tools You Have: CAT tools (MemoQ, Trados, OmegaT, Crowdin, Weblate, POEditor), custom scripts, manual spreadsheet.
5. Japanese Style: Polite (Desu/Masu) vs Plain (Da/Dearu) vs Character-specific (Yakuza, Anime, Keigo, Slang). Honorifics (San/Kun/Chan/Sama).

General Workflow

1. Extract Strings: Use engine tools / scripts / Universal Game Translator tools.
2. Glossary / Style Guide: Define terms (HP→HP/体力, MP→MP/魔力, Level→レベル/階層, Save→セーブ/記録). Consistency is king.
3. Translate: Human + MT (DeepL, Google, Claude) + Native Review. Machine translation alone fails context/gender/puns.
4. Implement & Test: Repack files. Test every screen — text overflow (Japanese wider), font fallback (need JP font: Noto Sans JP, M+, Rounded M+, Shippori Mincho), line breaking (Kinsoku Shori), ruby/furigana.
5. QA: Native speaker playthrough.

Resources

• Fonts (Free Commercial): Google Fonts (Noto Sans JP, Noto Serif JP, M PLUS, Zen Maru Gothic), fonts.google.com.
• Terminology: IATE, Jisho, Weblio, Game-specific wikis (JP).
• Communities: r/translation, r/localization, LOCJM (Japanese Localization), Discord servers.

Reply with the game, file format, and scope. I can translate sample strings or guide the pipeline.