Topic: RMU foreign language editions, done by ICE?

[Thot]

With modern AI being able to quite reliably translate almost ay language to almost any language, I wonder... would ICE want to do foreign language versions of RMU? It'd basically be "put into a good AI to translate it into language X, do the layout again, put up on DTRPG, earn money", right?

[Wolfwood]

It's not quite that easy. You still need someone to fix all the mistakes that the AI makes. Basically, the process goes so that a translator uses an AI software to perform the basic translation and then goes over everything and edits quite a lot.

[Thot]

It's not quite that easy. You still need someone to fix all the mistakes that the AI makes. Basically, the process goes so that a translator uses an AI software to perform the basic translation and then goes over everything and edits quite a lot.

Not sure that information is from this year?

[jdale]

It's getting better but it's still not perfect, especially for things where technical details and consistent vocabulary are important -- like rules.

In the past, ICE has partnered with local companies to do translations and distribute in the applicable markets.

[Thot]

It's getting better but it's still not perfect, especially for things where technical details and consistent vocabulary are important -- like rules.

In the past, ICE has partnered with local companies to do translations and distribute in the applicable markets.

Well, given the advances and the way everybody now publishes on DTRPG anyway, I just thought it might make sense for you guys to try it. After all, even if you need a native language editor on the AI-produced translatation, that's kind of a lot less effort required than  it was when you had to build local distribution networks.

[Wolfwood]

Not sure that information is from this year?

It is. I've tried several types of AI translators and they do "body text" ok, but technical details and vocabulary, historical terminology and nuances of meaning are generally lost to them. Otherwise, we'd be able to AI translate novels from one language to another in real-time and would not worry about language barriers in book publishing either.

[jdale]

It's possible the translations will be less work now. ICE is all freelancers, so this isn't something a staff member could be "assigned to", and a native speaker of the language is going to do the best anyway. But it's possible that now all it needs is a translator and not a game company? (Probably still more than one person, since it's much more effective to edit someone else's work than your own.) If someone thinks they have the necessary skills, they could get in touch with ICE.

[Thot]

[...] I've tried several types of AI translators and they do "body text" ok, but technical details and vocabulary, historical terminology and nuances of meaning are generally lost to them. Otherwise, we'd be able to AI translate novels from one language to another in real-time and would not worry about language barriers in book publishing either.

You mean we'd then just have, say, PDF readers with builtin translation functions? Makes sense, but you'll still want a printed book in many cases. And honestly I think that's in the 5-10 years range for "inevitable".

[Thot]

It's possible the translations will be less work now. ICE is all freelancers, so this isn't something a staff member could be "assigned to", and a native speaker of the language is going to do the best anyway. But it's possible that now all it needs is a translator and not a game company? (Probably still more than one person, since it's much more effective to edit someone else's work than your own.) If someone thinks they have the necessary skills, they could get in touch with ICE.

Skills I have, time and energy... not so much. But I guess AI will eventuall help with that as well.

[Wolfwood]

You mean we'd then just have, say, PDF readers with builtin translation functions? Makes sense, but you'll still want a printed book in many cases. And honestly I think that's in the 5-10 years range for "inevitable".

Yes, it is certainly happening sooner or later. But, in the short term, we'll need specialised translator AIs for specific genres and content. An RPG translator AI would be able to translate rulebooks adequately (probably separately taught AIs for each system/genre), while a selection of "military fiction AIs" would be able to translate novels set in specific time periods etc.

[Thot]

I have tested Deepl.com for this specific purpose. The results are not perfect, it would indeed still editing, I believe. As an example, here is the automatically section on resistance rolls, translated into German:

(Referred to as "Widerstandswalzen" in the table of contents, but the actual section is called like below:

"REsIsTANZROLLEN
Manche Gefahren im Spiel erfordern, dass ein
Charakter einer bösen Wirkung widersteht (z. B.
Zauber, Gift oder Krankheit). Widerstandswürfe sind
eine Gegenaktion, bei der der RR gegen einen
Angriffswurf durchgeführt wird. Bei einigen Würfen
gilt: bestanden/nicht bestanden, bei anderen gibt es
unterschiedliche Grade des Misserfolgs. Im Gegensatz
zu Manövern werden Widerstandswürfe nicht durch
Fertigkeiten modifiziert, sondern hängen von den
angeborenen Eigenschaften des Charakters ab (Werte,
Stufe, Talente und Schwächen). Der Angriffswurf
hängt von der Fertigkeit des Angreifers ab (z. B.
Zauberei, Giftbeherrschung). Wenn keine Fähigkeit
des Angreifers anwendbar ist (z. B. bei einer
natürlichen Krankheit), muss der Widerstandswurf
über 50 liegen, um erfolgreich zu sein. Siehe
Abschnitt 5.6 für weitere Details."

So in some cases, it does translate "resistance rolls" correctly with "Widerstandswürfe", but especially in headlines (so wherever there is only very little context) it fails.

They do automatically generate a PDF, but the layout suffers greatly.  As of now, it would require an editor indeed, as well as completely new layout. I would propose this as a tool for people who want to play RoleMaster, but do not speak Englsh, as a gaming aid.

The question there, however, becomes: Can we just hand over automatically translated versions of the PDF's to our players, or would ICE be uncomfortable about this?

[jdale]

Generally speaking, you can do whatever you want for personal use just in your group. But if you want to distribute something directly derived from copyrighted materials you should talk to the copyright holder.

[Thot]

Thanks.