How does the realism-magic spectrum affect localization? Essentially, it demands very different skills from the translator. Translating a highly specialized simulation, such as a flight sim, will require a high level of subject knowledge in order to handle terminology such as "active phased array radar," "imaging infrared seeker" or "thrust vectoring." In preparing for such a localization project, a translator may have to study voluminous handbooks and build up a specialized reference library. A lack of such knowledge can have embarrassing results, as in the translation of the manual for the helicopter sim AH-64 Longbow into Swedish - much castigated at the time on flight-sim newsgroups - that mistranslated the pilot slang expression "Winchester ammo" ("we are low on ammunition") into the statement that the attack helicopter, which is equipped with a 30-mm-cannon, Hellfire missiles and 5-inch-rockets, had only “shotgun shells” left. As one fan remarked:

In the manual it stated that when youre [sic] wingman cannot open fire he's replying he's winchester ammo. When I now translate the swedish [sic] version it vill [sic] be "Sorry sir I can't fire, I got only shotgun ammo left". (Hey, wanna se [sic] the attack chopper with a twin barreld [sic] shotgun up front!) (Google groups archive for comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.flight-sim, June 15, 1996)

Sports simulations, too, require a great deal of specialized vocabulary concerning tactics and rules, as well as finding the tone of voice in which a sports commentator would describe the action.

If translating a simulation can be compared to technical translation due to its emphasis on terminological precision, the localization of science fiction or fantasy titles is more akin to literary translation. These games envision creatures, weapons, machines, entire planets completely different from the real world. The only outside reference would be to specific fictional predecessors, such as sword & sorcery novels or cyberpunk stories, for example. How does one translate "orc" or "ent" or "nano-modulator?" In the case of fantasy terms, the translator may have to dig deep in the folklore and mythology of the target culture to find an emotional equivalent to a particular mythical creature. For SF games, the translation has to maintain the appropriate level of pseudo-technological jargon and fit within the tone of the game. Therefore, on the fantasy/SF end of the game spectrum, the task of the translator involves creating a consistent tone, be it of pseudo-medieval myth or gritty cyberpunk in order to maintain the illusion created by the game.

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