For a Catalog game, can I still use Google Translate to generate localization files?

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Apologies for using this category, there doesn’t seem to be one specifically for ‘Catalog’.

Regarding the latest GenAI policy for Catalog, AI Disclosure :

We no longer accept titles that use generative AI for art, audio, music, text, or dialog.

It’s the “(but not limited to)” in the followup text that has me puzzling.

Context: I’ve looked into professional localization services, they cost roughly US 10-cents per word. For a large RPG that can add up fast (back of the envelope for my particular case is excess of USD$1000 per language). I was intending to support 5 or 6 languages (or more) for my upcoming title (Under The Tree 2), but if I can’t use machine translation then based on my estimated sales it’s not practical to launch with more than one non-English language - right now I use the proceeds from the previous title to pay my artist for her work for the current title, there’s not enough left over for professional translation into multiple languages as well.

I was intending to use Google Translate to generate localization files for various languages based on my ‘en.strings’ content, with an invitation to players to submit suggestions/corrections to be applied post-launch. Is this ‘still allowed’? If not Google Translate, is there a different machine translation method that’s acceptable? If not, then it would be helpful to know up-front, as this will allow me to concentrate on other areas of the game rather than extending internal support for additional languages that won’t actually be added.

Edit: note that I’m not intending to use machine translation to create game text (I write that myself), but translate it… just like I don’t use AI to generate my game code (I write that myself), but the compiler is what translates that code into the executable form. tl;dr: “en.strings→machine_translate→xx.strings” is analogous to “souce_code→compiler→machine_code”.

I realize that things are getting blurrier and blurrier lately.

So, please clarify.

Thanks!

– Tengu

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Hi, Tengu! In case you can’t, I offer myself for the translation to the Spanish language. I specialize in localization, so I know what to do, and I’m a native speaker of Spanish. My fee? Free, just for this time. I’d like to see this game in Spanish, and to start seeing other games localized as well, so maybe this can be a kickstart.

Note: it would be great to have Spanish in some of your apps as well, Panic. I use Transmit in English because it still doesn’t have Spanish, and it’s the third most spoken language in the world…

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Jorge,

Thank you very much for the offer!

I’m likely several months from finalizing the text and dialog for UTT2, but when I do I’ll let you know.

Thanks again!

– Tengu

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