Hanada Keika, the director and writer of NOVECT’s The House in Fata Morgana, has announced that the developer’s upcoming game, Project Code M, will receive simultaneous overseas releases in English, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese.
The team is working hard on this multilingual support, but the difficulty has been emphasized. This is unlike The House in Fata Morgana, which had the game fully done before multilingual support was produced, leaving the localization process largely in the publisher’s hands. However, this game’s process now implements the following steps:
- The development team prepares categorized data for translation
- The translation team creates the translated text
- The text is tested inside the actual game
- [They] provide dedicated translation tools and updated builds to make this possible
- Revisions are made repeatedly until it’s ready
Localization is much more than just translating text, with testing in the actual game build via LQA. With this project being heavily reliant on dynamic presentation across character animation and camera movement, text timing is crucial. Word order, rhythm, and how lines appear are all significant.
Consequently, the developer created a “development-oriented translation tool that allows translators to input their text into prepared CSV files and immediately check the results in a live build.” So, full-scale translation is planned for next month.
Moreover, it has been explicitly confirmed that NOVECT will not use AI for translation here, or any part of the creative process.
Subtle nuance, emotional weight, conversational flow, character voice, comedic timing… these are areas where AI still struggles, especially in character-driven writing.
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Of course, human translation is not automatically perfect. Much depends on the skill of the translator. Still, I believe in people’s ability to perceive and convey emotion. I want to trust the translation partners who clearly told us they would approach this work with human care and responsibility.
Throughout this title, players investigate a serial murder case from two perspectives: the killer and the detectives who work in the body disposal business.
This game takes place in modern-day Japan, specifically in downtown Tokyo, with notable locations such as Asakusa and Yoshiwara depicted. Players themselves try to devise and enact the perfect crime, and they interview victimized parties afterward through the primary gimmick of switching perspectives. The game is written and directed by Keika Hanada.
