{"id":7824,"date":"2021-12-22T13:14:38","date_gmt":"2021-12-22T04:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=7824"},"modified":"2022-05-12T17:18:27","modified_gmt":"2022-05-12T08:18:27","slug":"20211222-7824","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20211222-7824\/","title":{"rendered":"A game developer falls into the dreaded \u201cnumber notation\u201d trap of programming"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by. Nick Mosier based on the original Japanese article<\/a> (original article’s publication date: 2021-12-21 17:05 JST)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Japanese solo indie developer THIQXIS tweeted<\/a> that they\u2019ve been receiving reports of issues from Vietnamese players, and now know why. The root of the problem comes from how different countries use commas and periods when writing numbers. This problem has become something of a hot topic among developers with many expressing their surprise and passing along their sympathy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we tried to play THIQXIS\u2019s rhythm game TAKUMI\u00b3<\/em> on Android, there were no issues when the device was set to English or Japanese. But when trying to play in Vietnamese, we were able to confirm issues with notes not showing up or being stretched horizontally. These issues also occurred when using German. When using French, there was an issue where the song list didn\u2019t show up in the first place.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Gameplay when the device is set to Japanese<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Gameplay when the device is set to Vietnamese<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


The root of the problem is how periods and commas are used to separate numbers. In the United States and Japan, a four-digit number is written like \u201c1,000.00.\u201d But in countries like Vietnam and Germany, the period and comma are switched so it\u2019s written as \u201c1.000,00.\u201d And in France, a space is used, so it would look like \u201c1 000,00.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you don\u2019t know the notation in Vietnam, 1,000 would become 1. A human can look at the context and understand what was meant, but a program can\u2019t do that. A program that interprets data using the Japan and United States standard would see \u201c1.000,00\u201d and accept it as just \u201c1.\u201d For example, if an object\u2019s width was set to \u201c1.234\u201d by Japan\u2019s standard, in Vietnamese notation it would be 1,000 times bigger. This is what appears to be happening in TAKUMI\u00b3<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, it looks like THIQXIS recruited some help and seems to have found a solution. THIQXIS\u2019s tweet also drew a lot of reactions with others chiming in with similar experiences of their own, including looking at estimates received from other countries. It appears that this difference in notation is a worry for accountants and programmers alike. Some people also seem interested in the historic context behind the notation that\u2019s used in Europe also being used in Vietnam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pok\u00e9mon Brilliant Diamond and Pok\u00e9mon Shining Pearl <\/em>have also had their own issues over number notation differences across different language settings (related article<\/a>). In Pok\u00e9mon BDSP<\/em>\u2019s case, the in-game calculator would behave strangely depending on the Nintendo Switch\u2019s language settings. Issues with number notation based on language settings may only continue to nag developers in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One game developer falls into the dreaded \u201cnumber notation\u201d trap of programming. An example of how the notation rule differences between countries can cause bugs in video games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":7828,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,3],"tags":[39,17],"class_list":["post-7824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indie-games","category-news","tag-indie-games","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nA game developer falls into the dreaded \u201cnumber notation\u201d trap of programming - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One game developer falls into the dreaded \u201cnumber notation\u201d trap of programming. 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