Category Archives: Aurebesh to English

April 1, 2020 · 12:01 am

Take Me Away to That Special Place

While messing about on SWTOR‘s Public Test Server this evening, I realized that the character I had transferred over last year still hadn’t leveled their crew skills. To remedy that, I flew over to Mek She to farm up some metals. While running through Brzo’s Wells, I came across an inaccessible instanced area that I don’t believe I had encountered before. Even more peculiar was the Aurebesh sign hanging outside of the area, and it is one I definitely hadn’t seen before.

This neon sign is amusing partially because it seems to advertise a restaurant (which specializes in bone broth soup no doubt) but mainly because its mascot seems to be none other than the breakout star of The Mandalorian series! Leaving aside issues involving canon, the time-space continuum and crass commercialism it’s interesting to note that even in SWTOR this little green foundling is still officially referred to as “Child” and not Baby Yoda.

I apologize for the lack of translation and recreation. I will endeavor to get a better screenshot once the next game update goes live in a couple of weeks, but I thought it would be a fun discovery to share today.

Who’s More Foolish?

Just updating this post with a late in the day addition. This is indeed an April Fool’s Day joke. I honestly wasn’t sure if I should go ahead with this prank, but some friends pointed out that now more than ever we all could use a laugh and more Baby Yoda in our lives. Swtorista has compiled a truly epic list of official and unofficial SWTOR related April Fool’s jokes and if you’re looking to raise your spirits definitely check it out!

Finally, here’s a peak behind the curtain at a higher resolution version of the “Sweet Child O Diner” poster before I resized, distorted, blurred and muddied it up into the Mek She street scene. I won’t lie, I’m quite pleased with how this turned out.

 

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Filed under Aurebesh to English, General Star Wars, General SWTOR, My Artwork

February 26, 2020 · 10:55 am

Standing Under the Bar Lights

First off, let me apologize for the longer than usual gap between posts. I had spent a couple of weeks working on another, much more complicated translation, but that project ran headlong into a proverbial concrete wall, forcing me to abandon it completely. Instead I’ve moved on to something whose translation was no challenge at all.

If you’ve spent time on the hollow asteroid Mek Sha, you’ve seen this holographic sign and many others like it. To say that there are a lot of bars on Mek Sha is a massive understatement. There are bars everywhere on Mek Sha. I imagine these establishments are tiny affairs, much like the countless bars and sushi joints packed into the narrow alleys of Tokyo’s Shinjuku district. Each of the miniature cantinas on Mek Sha likely has space for just a few seats, but serves unique and exotic specialties tailored to Mek Sha’s diverse alien inhabitants.

The sign itself repeats the word “bar” three times and flashes on and off. It includes hex patterns that are common elements on other advertisements seen on Nar Shaddaa and the Republic Fleet. This is a nice aspect, which visually connects it to other holographic displays familiar to players already.

Alderaan Property Values

I should also touch on SWTOR’s latest game update, Pinnacles of Power. The update’s major feature is the Alderaan stronghold. Although I have purchased and fully unlocked it, I haven’t yet done any decorating at all there, so I can only offer some brief first impressions.

Once again, Bioware has provided players with a beautiful and vast space to make their own. The stronghold is packed with secret areas, achievements and a wide variety of spaces to decorate from  the waterfall and stream in the open field out front and the impressively creepy Killik cave to the stained glass glow of the great hall and the snow capped calm of the mountain retreat, my favorite area of the stronghold.

I have the same complaints I have with all strongholds about wanting more hooks in one place, different kind of hooks in another and wishing for more interactive elements, but that doesn’t diminish how cool Alderaan is. Like the Rishi and Yavin strongholds, I’m certain I will be decorating Alderaan for many, many months to come. Hopefully, I’ll be finished before the Death Star comes to pay a visit.

The Task at Hand

The game update also came with some story content. On the one hand, it is a brief interlude that doesn’t really advance Onlsaught’s larger narratives, but it is nice to touch base with characters old and new and see that things are happening even if they aren’t galaxy-shattering events. And if you’re a fan of Star Wars lore, there are some nice extra bits to sink your teeth into. For Republic players, characters from the Old Republic novel Deceived are introduced to SWTOR for the first time. In addition, Sith characters meet Darth Rivix, who is implied to be a Zeltron, an alien species first introduced way back in the Marvel Star Wars comics of the 1980’s. Those comics are my jam, so I am completely on board for this magenta hued Dark Lord.

A bug introduced to the game during Knights of the Fallen Empire does add a sour note to the update. The bug has to do with companions wearing armor that has different appearances depending on what faction the character wearing it is a part of. For example, if Elara Dorne is wearing Trooper armor, it will appear as Bounty Hunter armor in cut scenes. This is something many players may not even notice if they’ve dressed their companions in gear from the Cartel Market or recent expansions. As someone who’s been playing since launch, however, I have a collection of old school armors that are often good fits for my companion.

I understand that Space Barbie problems are far from game breaking, but it really does take me out of the moment when I walk into a cut scene and Kira is dressed like a Sith Inquisitor.

Aside from that, I think the story update does what it needs to do to keep the chains moving. Once again, things play out differently for Republic and Sith characters, and between some different dialogue options and companion interactions, playing through on alts has felt satisfying. I did not anticipate Malgus’ next objective, but I imagine we’ll be catching up with him in the ruins of Dantooine’s Jedi Enclave in the not too distant future. That can only spell trouble.

 

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February 3, 2020 · 7:20 pm

Relish is a Lie, There is Only Ketchup

Like countless others last night, I tuned into the Super Bowl which is as much an advertising bonanza as a sporting event. I did not expect that anything I saw would inspire me in any way, but a commercial for Heinz Ketchup surprised me with its display of the official fake space language of this blog, Aurebesh.

The commercial features a split screen of visitors to various eating establishments across time and space that are united by a common use of the tomato condiment. One of the settings is an alien market adorned with banners that clearly use the Aurebesh alphabet. Even though some of the letters have been rotated and altered somewhat, there is no doubt that Aurebesh is used here.

If you’re like me and hoped for an inside joke declaring mustard to be the superior condiment, you’ll be disappointed. The letters do not translate into anything with an obvious meaning. I have no doubt that someone in authority made sure that there were no secret messages to be found. Indeed I think the use of Aurebesh itself was the whole of the easter egg for Star Wars fans.

Even if you don’t get the Star Wars connection, anyone can still look at those banners and recognize that they contain writing of some sort, even if it is not legible. That duality sums up Star Wars’ core aesthetic that seeks to strike the perfect balance between the alien and the familiar. Star Destroyers evoke battleships without looking that much like them. No Authurian knight or Japanese samurai ever wielded a laser sword, but lightsabers instantly connect the Jedi to those traditions. What is clever about Aurebesh’s design is how it is also strange and familiar at the same time. Aurebesh’s letter shapes are often based on their English counterparts, but their component parts have been twisted around or turned inside. If I find myself stumped by some Aurebesh, it actually helps me to translate it by “reverse engineering” the glyphs into familiar English letters.

This is certainly one of the more unusual things I’ve examined for this blog, but it never ceases to surprise me how far Star Wars has seeped into pop culture.

 

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November 1, 2019 · 12:01 am

Clip Show

This Week in Aurebesh, I am not yet two weeks into Onslaught, and I don’t think I’ve even scratched the surface of SWTOR’s new expansion. I still need to the complete the story on the opposing faction, visit the new flashpoint in something other than storymode and venture into the Dxun operation, let alone uncover Onderon and Mek Sha’s many achievements and hidden Datacrons.

I do want to share my first impressions about the good (the story and worlds!), the bugs (lost quest objective spawns, group finder ops!) and the ugly (Conquest and crafting!), but I also want to take my time enjoying leveling and exploring, so my commentary will have to wait a bit longer.

One thing that I do think is safe to say is that Mek Sha is super-cool. It’s as if all of Nar Shaddaa were stacked and crammed into one tiny planetoid with a gigantic picture window into the void of space. It’s dark, dank, claustrophobic and yet another neat setting unique to both Star Wars and the Old Republic setting.

It’s also bathed in a colorful, holographic glow. While there are many new signs and displays to be found on Mek Sha that I plan to examine in the future, there are also many familiar posters, lights and graphics repurposed from the game’s vast library of imagery.

Before you write this off as lazy, it’s worth remembering that whether you travel to Times Square in New York City or Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo or Piccadilly Circus in London you will behold many of the same ubiquitous brands and logos of our own world’s corporate landscape shining down on you in neon light.

So while I lollygag my way through Onslaught, I’d thought I’d take a break this week and revisit some of my favorite signs and graphics that I have already recreated in this blog and that you can spot on your journey into the underworld of Mek Sha.

I hope long time readers to this blog will forgive this self-indulgence, and I hope new visitors enjoy a taste of what this project has been for the last three years!

 

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Filed under Aurebesh to English, General SWTOR, Huttese to English, Onslaught

October 17, 2019 · 4:00 pm

Buy n Large

In anticipation of SWTOR’s new expansion Onslaught’s launch next week, let’s check out a little poster that is oddly relevant to the closing days of Knights of the Eternal Throne both in terms of what it says and where this particular example can be found.

The poster announces a sale, and even though the hype train for Onslaught has been surprisingly low key, SWTOR’s Cartel Market has done its part by running a six week long series of sales. I don’t deny that I’ve been hoarding my monthly grants to take advantage of the deals.

This sign pops up all over the galaxy, but the example I’ve chosen comes from the flashpoint Hammer Station, directly outside the room where heroes confront the final boss, Battlelord Kreshsan. While the Onslaught Test Server was active I made sure to spend time exploring, Onderon, Mek Sha and Dxun, but like many others, I also spent time racing through Hammer Station in order to complete the PTS achievements to unlock the Kai Zykken log mount.

I am proud that I got to help a whole bunch of friends complete the achievement, but if you come across me in the activity finder and Hammer Station pops, please don’t take it personally when I drop from the group. I’ve had my fill of Hammer Station for a while.

As for the poster itself, I highlighted but did not recreate it in the very earliest days of this blog. It has a simple and charming design featuring a happy three-eyed alien who has no doubt gladly been parted from their hard earned credits, cartel coins, peggats, truguts or wupiupis. I’ve been there too, my tri-occular friend.

Despite a simple design, the poster has several layers of folds, faded colors, stains, rips, tears and general distress that suggest that the sale being advertised has long since ended. The Aurebesh at the top of the sign is written using a rarely seen freehand style rather than any of the standard versions. Aside from this poster, the only other place in the game you might see this type of Aurebesh is in some graffiti on Coruscant. Against my better judgment, I used Comic Sans in my English version, but the world’s most hated font does indeed match the style of the original Aurebesh.

I hope that this poster will one day be available as a stronghold decoration.

New York, New York

I am fortunate that I was able to get away and participate in the New York Community Cantina a couple weekends ago. I’m a natural wallflower, but it was great fun to meet not just the people who make this game I love, but also so many of the good folks I’ve been lucky enough to play with online. Hearing familiar voices come from real people is a rare pleasure and I’m extremely glad I made the trek.

The Cantina event was light on official news; the venue did not really lend itself to elaborate presentations and we’re close enough to Onslaught’s launch that there isn’t much left to announce. But in chatting with the devs from Bioware, there were additional tidbits to learn. The bosses in the Corellia flashpoint will be different depending on which faction you’re playing. Everyone will get to interact with the much-missed characters Kira and Scourge as they make their through way the story, although they won’t be joining everyone as companions afterwards. More generally, Bioware plans to keep things moving in the weeks and months ahead. They don’t want Onslaught to drag out as long as Knights of the Eternal Throne and intend to make sure that every aspect of the game gets some love: from story and group content to PVP, strongholds and even Galactic Starfighter. It won’t come all at once, but regardless of how you play, there should be something for you in Onslaught.

I can’t wait, and I’ll see you there!

 

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September 27, 2019 · 11:52 pm

Recharge and Reload

This week let’s take a look at something that both has been on my to-do list for a very long time and should be familiar to anyone who plays a Bounty Hunter. When using their Recharge and Reload ability, Hunters cycle through a series of animations including one in which they check a pop-up holographic display on their gauntlet.

This graphic is also used by both Imperial and Republic Medical Droids who consult this display when selling medpacks and purchasing players’ vendor trash. The graphic itself features a map, several targeting reticles and some Aurebesh text.

The text readout mostly consists of several numbers spelled out in Aurebesh letters, side-stepping the question of which of Aurebesh’s number forms should be used. I suspect the text itself comes from a collection of semi-random numbers and vaguely technological jargon that can be seen on many monitors around the galaxy. I imagine this array of non-specific text was compiled so that it could be easily inserted into graphics meant to be used in a wide variety of settings in the game.

New York City or Bust

Next weekend, the SWTOR Community Cantina will take place in New York City and I’m planning to attend! This will be my second Cantina event, and I’m looking forward to another fun evening meeting some fellow players and hopefully getting a sneak peek at the latest news of Onslaught.

In addition, I will be meeting up with Dr. SWTOR from the Ootinicast, Max from the Escape Pod Cast and Marcus and Nick from Working Class Nerds. While the swag from the SWTOR team should be your main objective, I will have a bag of “This Week in Aurebesh” buttons to hand out. If you find yourself in the great state of New York, next week, stop on by. I hope to meetcha!

 

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August 22, 2019 · 8:00 am

Loose Vocabulators Sink Ships

As another summer of SWTOR and the Fallen Empire era comes to an end, I’ve been a bit busier in game that I normally am this time of year. I took full advantage of the double xp bonanza and have used the used the end-of-expansion lull to reach some milestones and complete achievements that I might not have time for once Onslaught hits.

Before the 5.0 cycle concludes, however, let’s check out a pair of posters that feature two very different characters from SWTOR’s lore. The first features our plastic pal who’s fun to be with, HK-55 and was delivered as a stronghold decoration to players as a subscription rewards in 2016 as a part of the more or less monthly chapter releases for the final third of Knights of the Fallen Empire’s story chapters.

The HK subscriber rewards were fairly controversial at the time. Personally, I’m happy to receive free loot in the mail, and I enjoyed and got good use of most of the HK stuff. Indeed, the HK jetpack remains one of my favorite mounts, and most of my characters keep it close at hand. The rewards, like all of the various HKs’ incarnations throughout Old Republic lore, are faintly ridiculous, and ought not be taken too seriously, if at all.

Far be it from me to declare people on the internet humorless sticks-in-the-mud, but many commenters seemed to have reacted to these trifles as though they were personal insults, and SWTOR has shied away from regular subscriber rewards ever since.

I keep my subscription active so that I can play with friends whenever I want and have immediate access to new content when it does come out, so I did not need the extra incentive for monthly rewards. That said, as a regular customer, I do like being told that my business is appreciated from time to time.

The crown jewel of these rewards was the HK themed chapter “Shroud of Memory.” As of this writing, it is the only story content in the game that is exclusively available only to certain players who were subscribed at a certain time. And it’s a shame. “Shroud of Memory” is outright fun and a delightful change of pace from the main Fallen Empire storyline. However, indications from Bioware and SWTOR’s PTS suggest that “Shroud of Memory” will again be available to players, perhaps as a reward or through a purchase from the Cartel Market, and I’m happy to hear it. The folks at Bioware have every right to be proud of the chapter, and players should be able to play it. Hopefully, everyone will be able to experience “Shroud of Memory” without too much hassle in the near future.

Ah, but I’ve gone off on a tangent again. The HK decoration evokes classic wartime propaganda posters with its reduced color palette and bold design, yet the poster’s tagline are rather more playful and it’s fair to wonder how inspired you can really be by a someone who considers us all “meatbags.”

There is another propaganda poster in the game with a similar layout. This poster can be found throughout Separatist controlled areas on the planet Ord Mantell. It is also available as a decoration for players’ use in their own strongholds. This poster uses the Aurebesh variant Galactic Basic, so some of the letters don’t match traditional Aurebesh.

This poster shares many of the same influences as the HK poster, but mostly plays it straight which is appropriate given the seriousness of the situation on Ord Mantell. I always thought it was neat that SWTOR drops brand new Troopers and Smugglers into a morass with no clear “good guys” and asks them to navigate the war tearing the world apart. This poster simply and effectively emphasizes that conflict with a heroic image of someone at first glance we might otherwise think is just a faceless villain.

If all goes to plan, I’ll be back next week with some last words on Knights of the Eternal Throne. The Disney expo is this weekend, so there is sure to be plenty of Star Wars news in the days ahead. I don’t have high hopes that much of will be SWTOR related, but you never know.

 

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July 31, 2019 · 8:00 pm

Orange is the New Red

This week, I at last return to the second of the four Aurebesh decorations awarded to players during Star Wars Celebration earlier this year. I started with the Republic version, so it’s only fair to give the Empire its due.

This Sith Empire propaganda poster shares a similar design and layout with its Republic counterpart; both feature their faction symbol, a bit of inspiring text and a background pattern. The Republic version expands on the light side Force symbols seen in Tau Idair’s tattoos, but the Imperial version extrapolates out from the sharp angles and jagged shapes of the Sith Empire’s logo.

While I have recreated these posters separately, and most players aren’t likely to see them hanging along side each other either on their Fleet hubs or a in a partisan’s Stronghold, they really should be considered together.

The posters’ complementary color palettes instantly evoke a contrast between the two factions and Onslaught’s stated goal to return SWTOR to the Jedi vs. Sith conflict. Blue and red have been signifiers of the calm, cool Jedi and the passionate, fiery Sith since Star Wars’ earliest days. However, the posters also adopts the Orange-Teal contrast which has been fashionable in film for many years now. There has been much discussion about this trope, but as visual short hand, it is remarkably effective. The inclusion of analogous colors, orange into the Sith’s red color palette and cyan into the Jedi’s blues, strike me as appropriate and natural additions to an existing thematic contrast.

With SWTOR’s expansion now almost in sight, I remain busy. I intend to spend sometime on the PTS in the weeks ahead, and I continue to have fun running Operations, although the Hard Mode Hive Queen is becoming something of a White Whale for me. Hopefully it won’t come to me spitting my last breath at her. But there is also some unglamorous work to be done here behind the scenes, including, maybe, upgrading to a theme that is actually still being supported by its developer.

But, I will keep the Aurebesh coming. My next recreation is likely to be something from my to-do list that is probably best completed before the door closes on SWTOR’s Fallen Empire era.

 

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May 10, 2019 · 1:49 pm

How It’s Made

I’m quite certain I would be remiss in my job if I did not translate the four amazing propaganda posters players received as part of Star Wars Celebration’s Community Cantina event. My first selection confirms my longstanding Republic bias, but I will endeavor to do justice to the Imperial posters soon enough!

I thought it also might be interesting to describe the process I go through in these recreations and to point out some of the challenges I face along the way.

Step 1: Get the Perfect Screenshot

Spotting a cool looking poster or sign is the easy part. Finding a clear view, with good lightning is a different cup of tea. I’m sure I’ve spent hours cruising around Nar Shaddaa and Corellia looking for the perfect example of a neon sign or poster to capture. Even then, I may need to climb over nearby terrain or obstacles to get a good angle. I often hop on a tall mount and desperately mash the screenshot button mid-jump to get as high and close a view as I can get.

In this case, of course, I am working with a stronghold decoration, and was able to hang the picture frame at an ideal height in a well-lighted room.

Even under the best of circumstances, however, I still adjust the screenshot when I bring it into Photoshop in order to get the image as straight and front-on as possible.

Step 2: Break it Down into Parts

Next I copy the dimensions of the original poster and then roughly duplicate graphical elements, such as lines, shapes and general text that make up the image. I adjust all of these elements as I go, but I find it’s best to put together a rough pass of the full image before getting too bogged down in the details.

Sometimes the layout of the poster will only consist of a few broad shapes or lines, but it’s not uncommon for various symbols to be included in the design. Many of these, such as planet icons or logos for the Coruscant Market or Hypermatter Corporation are repeated, and I have assembled over the years a collection of common graphics that I can drop in when they appear.

Here the Republic Propaganda poster has a complicated background pattern. I probably could’ve used Photoshop’s selection tool to make a basic copy, but because I think it’s a neat looking design I decided to render a full recreation in Illustrator. This took a lot longer, but I’m pleased with the result.

I swiped the Old Republic logo from Wookieepedia, and I suspect the artist who designed this poster did the same since it easily aligned with the original. Curiously, the logo is reversed in the in-game version of the poster. Whether this was an accidental oversight or confirmation of Bioware’s Sith bias, who can say? I tend to keep spelling mistakes intact in my recreations, but in this case I could not resist placing the Republic logo in its proper orientation.

For English text, I use a free font called Nakadai. It has a similar line weight and size to standard Aurebesh, and I find it allows my recreations to maintain visual consistency with the originals.

Step 3: Color Time!

Once I’ve got the layout set, I drop in colors, apply simple gradients where needed and modify the text to match the original design by adding strokes, adjusting spacing and, in this case, applying a perspective transformation to the text.

The colors in this recreation are significantly duller than in the original since I based them on the poster’s appearance in the game with the graphic setting Bloom disabled. This allows a clearer look at the graphic’s design. It wasn’t necessary here, but it will come in handy when I get around to this poster’s Imperial counterpart.

Step 4: Here’s Where the Fun Begins

When I first started this blog, step three was more or less where I stopped. But in the last couple of years, I have aspired to make my recreations have higher fidelity to the originals in the game. This means making sure I get what I call “all the fiddly bits” to look just right. It at least doubles the amount of time it takes me to make these images, but I’m usually much happier with the final results.

The biggest challenge of this part of the process is getting the lighting right. Nearly all signs and posters in game are affected by ambient lightning and the inset lights and shadows from their frames, and many, such as this one, seem to have a glow from behind like you’d see in a movie poster hanging at a theater.

Often parts of the posters are faded or wrinkled or otherwise distressed and I have a whole suite of brush tools I use to create those effects.

I typically pile on a dozen or more extra layers of assorted shadows, gradients and adjustments before I get a result that I deem acceptable. Like George Lucas, I don’t really think a piece of art is ever really finished, so I, on occasion, succumb to the urge to tweak the sliders or poke some stray pixels when I think no one is looking.

I’m no Photoshop rock star, so I hope this post wasn’t too self-indulgent. I enjoy seeing other artists’ process and figure it couldn’t hurt to share a look at mine.

 

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March 30, 2019 · 7:50 pm

Station!

My choice of this sign for recreation was mainly inspired by news that a third Bill and Ted movie would at long last be coming out in the not too distant future. This sign’s only complete word “station” probably indicates a nearby Rocket Tram Station on the planet Corellia and is not a reference to martians with excellently huge butts. Probably.

The sign’s basic design is similar to others in the game, contains one readable word, three seemingly random letter and three seemingly random numbers. But how random are they? If there is one thing I’ve learned working on this blog is that things are often not as simple as they seem.

The top and bottom letters are translated easily, but there is something going on in the middle of the poster. At first glance the large letter in the center seems to be Dorn, the Aurebesh letter for D, but the artist’s choice to slice through the second horizontal bar changes the letter shape into Resh, the Aurebesh R. This suggests to me the intent to combine the two shapes into a single unique glyph. In my recreation I attempted a similar effect by slicing off the lower legs of the R to create a shape that evokes both D and R.

Could the Z, DR (Doctor) and O refer to some of the founders of Bioware? It seems plausible to me. But stare long enough at any random arrangement and patterns will emerge.

Moving on, the numbers 327 on the sign are fairly common throughout Star Wars lore. I’m sure numerologists could have a field day with George Lucas’ recurring use of numbers. 1138 is the most famous of his favorites, but it’s far from the only one. 327 appears in American Graffiti, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back. As for what it means, your guess is as good as mine, but 327 is apparently a “perfect totient number.” Even after researching that term, I still don’t have the slightest clue what it is, but 327 was also the street address of the house I grew up in as a child.

So, Illuminati confirmed.

 

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