Drakensang - Signed by THQ for NA

Radon Labs has finally signed up with THQ to bring Drakensang to English audiences, according to Worthplaying:

THQ has signed Drakensang: The Dark Eye, developed by Radon Labs, bringing back epic party-based RPG gameplay in a breathtakingly detailed world, based on one of the world’s biggest pen & paper franchises.
The Dark Eye Drakensang is a new party-based RPG game that uses advanced 3D technology and epic vistas to bring the truly realized TDE fantasy world to life. Drakensang, developed by the original TDE authors, will take gamer’s on a journey centuries back in time and dive into the mystical world of Aventuria, that previously only existed in the minds of avid TDE players. Now, thanks to the stunning vistas and tactical turn-based fights displayed in a real time environment, TDE gamers will finally be able to visually experience the landscapes, edifices, heroes, and creatures of the TDE universe.
The Dark Eye Drakensang is set in a unique, medieval world where sinister forces are at work in the city of Ferdok in Aventuria. Summoned by a letter from an old friend, gamers will start off their adventure investigating a series of strange ritual murders. Only after gathering trusted, skilled companions can player’s battle to solve the sinister conspiracy threatening to change the world of Aventuria. The game features a talent-based dialogue system that will allow gamers to threaten, persuade and charm their way through a a universe full of unique characters, creatures and locations.
Key Features:
* party-based single-player RPG
* extensive terrain
* talent-based dialogue system
* strategic real-time combat
* faithful adaptation of an epic fantasy universe
* varied, flexible magic system
* Nebula 3 Engine
* full Shader 2.0 and 3.0 support
* realistic physics
* living artificial intelligence
* hitzone-based combat system
* motion-captured animations
Already avaialble in Europe, The Dark Eye Drakensang will be available on Windows PC in early 2009.

More information.

Good news. It's very stable and when they release it for the englishspeaking countries you probably get the new features introduced by the patches from the beginning. They will enable Anti-Aliasing with the upcoming patch 1.2, some minor gameplay improvements. I think you will be satiesfied if you're not waiting for a potential Dragon Age killer.

The interesting part might be translation and english voice overs.

Yes, I'm wondering hpow the translation might be, too.

Especially with the names. I do hope they keep them untranslated …

I'm so sick of untranslated English names in an otherwise fully translated game, therefore I hope that this might get the English-language gaming world out there a feeling how it is to deal with untranslated names.

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
Yes, I'm wondering hpow the translation might be, too.

Especially with the names. I do hope they keep them untranslated …

I'm so sick of untranslated English names in an otherwise fully translated game, therefore I hope that this might get the English-language gaming world out there a feeling how it is to deal with untranslated names.

Like The Witcher? Personally I like my names untranslated just like I'd rather see a film with subtitles rather than dubed.

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
Yes, I'm wondering hpow the translation might be, too.

Especially with the names. I do hope they keep them untranslated …

I'm so sick of untranslated English names in an otherwise fully translated game, therefore I hope that this might get the English-language gaming world out there a feeling how it is to deal with untranslated names.

I don't want the names translated but I wish you'd drop your crusade against English gamers.

Originally Posted by Avantenor
Good news. It's very stable and when they release it for the englishspeaking countries you probably get the new features introduced by the patches from the beginning. They will enable Anti-Aliasing with the upcoming patch 1.2, some minor gameplay improvements. I think you will be satiesfied if you're not waiting for a potential Dragon Age killer.

Yeah, thanks for the beta-testing, Germans

Just kidding. Excited to finally get to fully play this game. The demo wasn't a purely positive experience, but positive enough that I want to play the game.

Originally Posted by Avantenor
The interesting part might be translation and english voice overs.

Engrish voice overs?

I'm waiting for a Drakensang interview to go through where I ask about the approach to translation/voice-works

Signed for NA so the english version is only available in NA? What about english version in EU?

Already available in Europe

Already available for germanic language to be more correct.

Originally Posted by Brother None
Yeah, thanks for the beta-testing, Germans

Just kidding. Excited to finally get to fully play this game. The demo wasn't a purely positive experience, but positive enough that I want to play the game.

Drakensang is the most stable game I've seen in years. There have been some minor issues, but no severe plotstoppers or technical bugs. Except of SecuROM. If SecuROM doesn't like you or caught you using a nocd, the copy protection leads you in a dead-end. Important quest npcs do not appear, you will be trapped in the jail (that's a good one ) and so one. The sad part, in that case the savegame is also corrupted, so you have to start from the beginning.

I don't know what copy protection THQ is going to use, but that one caused some troubles. On the other hand no online activation and no install limits.

Any word on an Australian release, or will we have to import from the US?

I haven't see anything about other territories - but then, I've only seen this at Worthplaying. We didn't receive the PR directly.

I'll try to find out, though.

My family is multi cultural and I am completely baffled.

What the heck is a translated name?

My daughter is Rosemary, my wife is Akiko. How the heck do I translate their names?

Do you mean like changing William to Wilhelm or John to Johann?

I think that's the general sense of what's meant, yes.

I prefer untranslated names in games, books and movies, because I am often switching the language (reading book 1 in English, reading book 2 in German, watch the movie to book 1 in German etc.)

A name is a name and should NOT be translated.

Yet we change a country's name depending on language!!

Is there an english demo out?

There are long traditions for changing countries' and peoples names to local versions; for example in the Bible the names vary a lot between languages. But it is true that if I'm speaking French and making an effort to pronounce it accurately, I feel it's next to impossible to change the tone of your voice to pronounce English names properly in the middle of a sentence, resulting in a ridiculous-sounding and hard-to-comprehend version of the original. But when the German-speakers pronounce English names, they are usually at least understandable, although the letter combination 'th' seems to pose a lot of problems as well as 'W'…

Edit: btw, just bought the German version of Drakensang to my girlfriend, she seems to like it a lot.

There are names that are comfortable to translate. Thomas Silverwood, inhabitant of a small cottage, pretty simple minded. That's a name you can translate easily into german without a problem. There are other names, that don't work that way. On the other hand, I don't even want to try to read a name from eastern europe correctly.

Originally Posted by V7
Is there an english demo out?

Not yet.

Originally Posted by Avantenor
On the other hand, I don't even want to try to read a name from eastern europe correctly.

Old rule of thumb to make Russian names compatible with German speaking habits:
Speak fast, don't pronounce anything.



THQ already ruined the translation for Legend.
Consider buying a German version if your German is good enough to read BILD. The German writing and voices are good and in character. The level is too high for somebody who still learns German, though.

The Norwegian version of Lotr (the book) actually has translated names (i.e Bilbo Baggins -> Bilbo Lommelun). Redicilous.

Generally, unless a name is completely impossible to pronounce, I prefer if they don't translate it.

Originally Posted by Maylander
The Norwegian version of Lotr (the book) actually has translated names (i.e Bilbo Baggins -> Bilbo Lommelun). Redicilous.

I have no idea if this has a similar descriptive meaning than Baggins, but I can say that the translation or transformation of the LotR names into German was very good. It wouldn't surprise me if Tolkien, as a professor for linguistic, maintained control over the issue.

Generally, unless a name is completely impossible to pronounce, I prefer if they don't translate it.

The problem is that you lose the meaning of descriptive names if you don't translate them. Most people in Germany wouldn't have the slightest idea what kind of country "The Shire" is. "Auenland" on the other hand sets the tone.
Another issue is that some words have different meanings in source and target language. The German "Elfe" (a female Elf) is associated with a little, flying, pixie-like lifeform as it can be seen for example in Spielberg's movie Hook. So the name was changed to Elb.