Bay Bell FAQ:
Thank you for being interested to read more about “Bay Bell”! This page is intended as a small FAQ around the game, and has been most recently updated on September 28, 2024.
For Questions About Streaming Or Video Content:
I do not mind if people stream or make video content on Bay Bell. However, for anyone considering streaming this game, I would cautiously advise to try the demo (which can be found near the top of this link on Steam or at the bottom of this link on itch.io) before you start — I have received feedback previously that Bay Bell is not really friendly for streaming, since it is a slower-paced experience with a lot of optional reading and puzzle solving.
For anyone who streams or makes video content about Bay Bell: I would like to politely request that obscenities or profanity be kept to a minimum for commentary since they would go against the general atmosphere and themes of the game, alongside there seeming to be younger players of Bay Bell (and who would possibly make up a part of your own audience) who have nicely let me know that they enjoyed it.
For Questions About Additional Localizations Or Translations:
If you are a fan of Bay Bell and would like to support additional localizations or translations, you can purchase the game for yourself or a friend at the links below:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2064230/Bay_Bell/
https://zacharyzion.itch.io/bay-bell
Or, you can purchase the soundtrack for the game here:
https://zacharyzion.bandcamp.com/album/bay-bell-soundtrack
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2064280/Bay_Bell_Soundtrack/
Bay Bell is currently playable in English, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), and Turkish. Spanish (Spain) and German language options are being worked on and forthcoming.
Because a lot of Bay Bell’s subject matter concerns translation and interpreting across languages, and since one of this game’s major themes centers around “communication,” I would like to have Bay Bell be localized or translated into a fair number of languages for players. In no particular order, here are all of the additional languages planned to be in the game when I have the opportunity to commission them: French (France), French (Canada), Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, Polish, and Ukrainian.
If there is another language you would enjoy the game in, I am open to more being available for Bay Bell as long as there is sufficient interest. (The game and its supplementary material in total have the length of a small novel’s worth of text; while I would be happy to localize or translate the game into every language possible, it can be a time-consuming process.) Please contact me at zacharyzionanim at gmail.com if you would like to express an appeal for additional language options. Alternatively, you are welcome to email if you are looking forward to a currently planned language for Bay Bell, as that helps me gauge which localizations and translations should have a higher priority of being available.
Likewise, if you have any corrections or suggestions for a localization or translation that has already been completed, please let me know. I would like audiences in each language to enjoy Bay Bell without improvable and unintended aspects taking them out of the game experience.
There are certain languages with larger writing system character sets that I currently do not plan to have the game’s text localized or translated into, such as Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. I am not opposed to having these languages included, but the biggest obstacle is that the game uses letter substitution ciphers for its character text and puzzles. For extensive writing system sets that are necessary or preferred in a specific language, I am not sure how localizations and translations of the game in these languages would work. (If you would like one of these languages available, and have an idea of how this could be approached in a way satisfying for players in the target language, please let me know.)
I have had a few offers for fan translations, but with the amount of text in this game I do not feel comfortable receiving a translation without properly compensating those involved. I appreciate these offers, but would like to hire professional localizers or translators for the language options in this game. I would also be appreciative if fan translations for Bay Bell are not started for a language that is listed as being currently planned or worked on; I am sincerely grateful for the kind efforts of this game’s community, but want to avoid official translations seeming to compete with any translations by passionate fans. As previously stated, I will be glad to professionally commission languages for Bay Bell that enough players are interested to experience the game with.
I will update this page as the language options are updated in Bay Bell or more languages are planned to be available!
Finally — Not A Question, But A Response:
While I am not able to answer every message, I would like to give a sincere “thank you” to everyone who has sent a kind word about Bay Bell in any language.