WiP in WiP, post your screenshots!

[Mikroscopic]

For example, if the first time you ever installed TF2 was while having steam believe you are german, your game will forever be censored. From what I can tell (meaning everything after these brackets is speculation), this is done by downloading some extra files which will override stuff like blood particle effects. Simply deleting these files won't do the trick as the game checks for their existance when you launch it.

What do you mean by forever? Does this somehow carry over from a complete uninstallation and deletion of TF2?

 

[Izotope]

Some things change depending on the country you are in, but you won't be able to affect it by changing some settings. For example, if the first time you ever installed TF2 was while having steam believe you are german, your game will forever be censored. From what I can tell (meaning everything after these brackets is speculation), this is done by downloading some extra files which will override stuff like blood particle effects. Simply deleting these files won't do the trick as the game checks for their existance when you launch it.

First 2 years of playing TF2 my steam and everything was in german until I changed it, but I bought my Orangebox from the UK so I've always had it uncensored.

 

[~curlysnail]

Getting into the autumn spirit a little late.

 

[Hyperion]

(not mvm)(no more red ground)

 

[Prosciutto]

(not mvm)(no more red ground)

i'm incredibly happy that the red ground is gone since that looked really wierd

 

[Lampenpam]

What do you mean by forever? Does this somehow carry over from a complete uninstallation and deletion of TF2?

Of course it will. Only way to get the game uncut is to remove

When the account bought the license to the cut version, than you will keep that version. Reinstalling doesn't help. You have to go here: https://help.steampowered.com/de/ select a game and click "I want to permanently remove this game from my account" After doing that you have to buy the game again, with the right ID. So in case of censored games, you have to import the game or let someone outside of the country with the censored version gift the game to you.

 

[AsG_Alligator]

 

[Mikroscopic]

Of course it will. Only way to get the game uncut is to remove

When the account bought the license to the cut version, than you will keep that version. Reinstalling doesn't help. You have to go here: https://help.steampowered.com/de/ select a game and click "I want to permanently remove this game from my account" After doing that you have to buy the game again, with the right ID. So in case of censored games, you have to import the game or let someone outside of the country with the censored version gift the game to you.

Dumb.

 

[Lampenpam]

Dumb.

censoreship is and shitty laws are dumb. Of course those laws wouldn't be fine with censored games being censored just optionally, so steam has to give you the censored version of the game until you import it.

 

[ThatOneOwl]

It's good to be back from the dead. Sometimes...

Spoiler

Still can't understand how to make a proper lighting.

 

[VinLAURiA]

Been screwing around in my empty "sandbox" area for quick prototyping. Made a bunker inspired by the Badlands spire and connected the summits of two of them via bridge.

Spoiler

 

[Pocket]

Easier said than done. As far as I know Source can only handle localization of strings and audio, not textures and models. (Also localizing those would be considerably more difficult and time consuming.)

Wait, that's nutso. So does everyone else in the world just have to memorize what CAPTURE POINT and INTELLIGENCE and RESUPPLY mean?

 

[EArkham]

Wait, that's nutso. So does everyone else in the world just have to memorize what CAPTURE POINT and INTELLIGENCE and RESUPPLY mean?

How would you propose localizing textures and model skins without creating a large folder of vtf files that go completely unused by any populace that ISN'T the targeted language? On the surface it sounds like a problem with an easy solution, but it has its own issues.

 

[Pocket]

The same way Steam allows each localization to have its own separate version of the audio files without forcing everybody to download every one.

 

[Jusa]

Made some displacement skycards, turned out pretty cool





Also cap holograms in action.

 

[Idolon]

The same way Steam allows each localization to have its own separate version of the audio files without forcing everybody to download every one.

Strings and voice clips are much easier to localize than images.

Strings are a matter of just writing the words down and voice clips are a matter of replacing the original content outright. Easy to hand off to another team.

When dealing with images, you either have to hope that the text is editable (which it may not be if the artist is working in a tool that does not support that, or they have flattened the text in order to apply certain effects to it) or you have to remove the text and start over - and then apply any effects afterwards in a way that is artistically consistent with the rest of the game, which may require getting the original team involved. There's also cases where text may be size-sensitive, where translating the text into another language makes it too big to fit in its original context. You either have to do something clever or just give up at this point.

It's also a lot more effort and possibly outside the skill set that a localization team typically has. You could do it if you had a good localization team and the developer is willing to put the effort in, but (my understanding is, at least, that) many times localization happens towards the end of development and there's no budget or time to be flesh it out properly.

 

[Coding Ethan]

When dealing with images, you either have to hope that the text is editable (which it may not be if the artist is working in a tool that does not support that, or they have flattened the text in order to apply certain effects to it) or you have to remove the text and start over - and then apply any effects afterwards in a way that is artistically consistent with the rest of the game, which may require getting the original team involved. There's also cases where text may be size-sensitive, where translating the text into another language makes it too big to fit in its original context. You either have to do something clever or just give up at this point.

It would be a bit of work to create templates if they don't already exist, but it would be worth it for all the players which may not understand English:

Source: http://steamspy.com/app/440 under Geography tag,

As for sign models not being large enough for the new text, enlarging the props horizontally would have little to no effect on nearly any map, as long as sticky bombs can't be hidden in them but player collision remains off.

 

[Muddy]

I don't think it really matters that much anyway. Once players learn the layout of the map - specifically where the objective and the respawn rooms are - they won't even notice those signs anymore.

 

[hutty]

[Alden Kroll] Two-dimensional HUD elements present a particular art problem, because they have to look good and sharp no matter what resolution the user is running their game at. Given today's availability of high resolution wide-screen displays, this can require a lot of texture memory and a lot of work anticipating different display resolutions. The problem for Team Fortress 2 was even more daunting because of our desire to include a lot of smooth curved elements in our HUD. We developed a new shader system for drawing 'line art' images. The system allows us to create images at a fixed resolution that produced smooth silhouettes even when scaled up to a very high resolution. This shader system also handles outlining and drop-shadows, and can be applied in the 3D space to world elements such as signs.

As far as I know the signs in tf2 don't use the shader system they built for the hud, but they could.

 

[EArkham]

Nevermind the fact that TF2 was originally designed with non-language visual cues, such as lighting intended routes differently so they stand out, intuitive directions, and icon bubbles over characters' heads. Signs that indicated point A, B, C etc are still valid in many languages and are effectively symbolic since they match the hud.

Signs with actual readable text are almost always just detail and unnecessary to the game itself, so it's understandable why the team didn't want to go to the extra effort of converting any of it or getting a translation team involved at that level.