German Retail Version announced today!

[axelkothe]

Adventure gamers in germany will soon have the chance to play a translated version of Al Emmo (new subtitle: Wild West Adventure). Releasedate according to amazon.de is 20th of July and it will cost under 20€

Congratulations to Himalya Studios on this deal. Is that the first international retail version?

[GameDevChris]

Yeah, the German version will be the first localized release. It's currently being tested and voices are going to start be recorded sometime this week or next week. There's also a Russian version coming sometime soon.  

Was the German annoucement you saw for a boxed copy or a downloadable one?

Hopefully, there will be some interest in localizing other languages too.

[axelkothe]

boxed version:

http://www.amazon.de/Al-Emmo-Wild-West- ... 809&sr=8-3

awful cover btw

[GameDevChris]

Thanks for the link.

Hmm, this box cover was not ran by us. In fact, this is the first time I've ever seen it. It was suggested to keep Eriq's artwork, and also Eriq's pretty unwavering on the fact that a game's logo should not be changed, since that equates to changing the branding.

I'll have a word to them and see if we can get it changed.

[navynuke04]

[TribeHasSpoken]

Thanks for the link.

Hmm, this box cover was not ran by us. In fact, this is the first time I've ever seen it. It was suggested to keep Eriq's artwork, and also Eriq's pretty unwavering on the fact that a game's logo should not be changed, since that equates to changing the branding.

I'll have a word to them and see if we can get it changed.

I think Eriq's absolutely correct (besides which, his work is excellent and deserves to be seen by a wider audience in the retail version) but what worries me most about this is what other changes have been made by the localization team. Obviously certain idioms just don't translate well, but what totally unnecessary "improvements" in dialogue could have been made?

[GameDevChris]

Actually, the translation team is very good to work with, and they have been extremely fast and reliable in bringing the German version to completion.  They've also allowed us to review the content that has been implemented in German, and have also included quite a few revisions and suggestions.  We've been working together to ensure that the game will provide the same experience as the English version.  They have also done a very nice job in translating some of the key jokes over to the German language.

It seems there was a bit of a rush to create box assets and somewhere along the way, something fell through the cracks and we weren't able to review the cover before it went public. Unforunatley, presentation is also one of the aspects that many members on our development team are very fussy about.  I have been trying to get some unbiased feedback on the German box cover but so far, most people believe that the original artwork better advertizes the plot and story.  I'm sure that the new cover would also appeal to some people, but it makes the game look like LSL:Magna Cum Laude instead of selling it based on its own merits... as our original goal with this game was to bring more attention to classic-style adventures.

The quality of the translation itself seems very good. I just hope that they can bring the quality of the box up to an equal level.

[TribeHasSpoken]

Okay, that's a relief.  Hopefully the next news we hear from you will be of good sales figures and reviews from the German gaming press.

[Tobi]

Hello,

i am from Germany and today i have bought the german version of the game Al Emmo.
The German title is: "Al Emmo - Das Wild West Adventure - Gold, Girls & Ganoven". Al Emmo is only one of a few games i buy in a year Rondomedia published almost Low-Budget-Games...
Here are some german reviews:
- Adventure-Archiv.com 83%
- Adventure-Treff.de  75%
- GamersHall.de 6.7
- Adventurespiele.net  5 stars
- Rebell.ch 6/10
- Mega-Gaming.de 63%
- GameCaptain.de 60
- DHL.net

My "Review" can i frist give off when i have installed and played the game

greets from Germany
Tobi

[GameDevChris]

Hey Tobi, thanks for posting these links.  It's always interesting to see the kinds of reviews the game is getting.

Hope you enjoy playing the German localization. The team at Contendo Media did a great job on the translation, and it should be a very accurate representation of the original English game.

[aspid]

Can anyone who played german version of the game say if there are any extras on disk? I've heard it is larger in size than english version was, so I'm curious. :-)

[rugged]

Are you able to give us any news about how well the game has bell selling in the german market?

[Tobi]

Hello,

there are no extras on the german DVD version of the game.

greets from Germany
Tobi

[GameDevChris]

Are you able to give us any news about how well the game has bell selling in the german market?

The publisher was meant to get back to us around the end of September with a progress update, but for some reason the emails I've been sending them aren't receiving any replies. So I'm really not sure at the moment!


The reason the German version is greater in file size, is because the cutscene movies are higher quality and there's also subtitled and unsubtitled cutscenes on the game DVD.  The English version was released on CD, so only the subtitled cutscenes would fit.

[aspid]

Thanks guys. Hope to see the Russian version also with higher quality video.

[rugged]

any updates on how the german version has been selling? At this point is it realistic for Himalaya to consider a second project or have sales simply not justified a second game? [/code]

[Tobi]

any updates on how the german version has been selling? At this point is it realistic for Himalaya to consider a second project or have sales simply not justified a second game?

...and?  

[GameDevChris]

The German publisher has requested that we don't discuss the German sales statistics publicly.

We have an idea for a 2nd project (not an Al Emmo sequel) but are still considering our options.

[Tobi]

I have finished the Al Emmo Version in German and I enjoyed it
If anybody of the germans need help, look at this: http://www.adventurespiele.net/module-P ... d-1120.htm

But, for what is the "Emmo1.xpr" ???

[GameDevChris]

The .xpr file is a file that saves various game variables and values. It was intended so that people could export their file at the end of the first Al Emmo game and import it into any future sequels. Depending on how you played through the first game, it would affect certain events in future games.

[yve]

Dear all,

I read that german version was published and that a russian version is currently in progress.

I'm french.
For me no major issue about playing with english game.
However, I'd like to have my kids playing with quality games..
thereform, I would like to know if a french version is currently under work.

Best regards,

yves

[GameDevChris]

Both the German and Russian versions were released quite a while back.

Unfortunately, no French translation of the game is in development, as no French translators have approached us about working on one.

[yve]

Thank you for your input. (no french translation )

My children are 8 (girl) and 10 (boy).

Acording my first trial, I don't think I'll show them the game - I'm not sure in their current age they'll appreciate the game (in addition with the langage barrier);

According to me, the game is a game for adults - and in this case the english language in not a big issue.
 (I remember I played Sierra one's when I was 16-25 year ; the 1st ones were in english).