Text translating...

[guido81]

Hi to all

 

i am italian ... and yesterday i installed TDM for the very first time, simply amazing!!

Let me thanks every person who is involved in this project!!!

 

but i have a questinon..it is possible to translate all the writing ( mission texts, journals ecc)??

 

I mean...if i (and some friend of mine) translate them in italian, it is an heavy/impossible thing to make a patch (or other mission's version) ??we can start with a little mission ..

Also TDM maybe...

 

because a lot of italian people don't speech english very well (me also ....in this way we make tdm enjoyable for them...and who knows...maybe also a sweden-spanish ecc people would do the same!!

 

please don't take it like a criticism or whatever..it is just a way to meke TDM "ecumenical"!! :)

 

thanks again and keep on working on it!!

[Sotha]

but i have a questinon..it is possible to translate all the writing ( mission texts, journals ecc)??

 

Basically yes. All the mission briefing texts and readables are stored in mission_briefing.gui, briefing.xd or mapname.xd. These are plain text files.

 

Making translations to the missions would then be as simple as taking the text files and translating the text. Then we could have a place for translated xdata files, from which people could download translations for the missions. All they would need to do is to copy the translations in the mission folder and replace the original text files with the translated ones.

 

Translaters editing xdata-files should check their work does not spill over the readable pages, though. That's an easy mistake to do.

 

I will never do translations for my missions and they will always be distributed only in english, but I do not object if someone makes a high-quality translated xdata-files and shares them with other people. Maybe there could be a place for translated xdata-files in the wiki? Plain text-files won't take much space..

[7upMan]

Hi Guido,

 

I translated several FMs into German (although so far I only released one), and the guide that Hyeron (who did some French translations) made proved extremely helpful. I suggest you read it (the link to the PDF is at the end of his post) and follow it to the letter. Be aware, however, that Doom 3 does not support any non-ASCII letters. In German, I had to work around this by trying not to use any words with Umlauts, which makes phrasing sometimes less than optimal. Still, it's important work and will hopefully draw more people to TDM.

 

Have fun!

 

 

[guido81]

thanks...

 

but i had some discussion with some others people..and they tell me that the text lenght as to be the same between translated/english..it is true??

[Sotha]

thanks...

 

but i had some discussion with some others people..and they tell me that the text lenght as to be the same between translated/english..it is true??

 

If you edit the xdata text files with a normal text editor, then yes, the text should be of the same length. If your text goes over the page, it will not automatically reach the next page. Text going over is not seen at all. You need to guess/test to know when to start writing the next page.

 

However, if you translate the text in the readable editor in dark radiant, then it works like what-you-see-is-what-you-get text editor and the resulting translation length can deviate in all ways from the original.

[guido81]

If you edit the xdata text files with a normal text editor, then yes, the text should be of the same length. If your text goes over the page, it will not automatically reach the next page. Text going over is not seen at all. You need to guess/test to know when to start writing the next page.

 

However, if you translate the text in the readable editor in dark radiant, then it works like what-you-see-is-what-you-get text editor and the resulting translation length can deviate in all ways from the original.

 

clear..i don't already take a look of dark radiant...it would be difficult do it that way??

[Sotha]

clear..i don't already take a look of dark radiant...it would be difficult do it that way??

 

Nope, I don't see it difficult, most likely it is easier than translating the text files by hand. You need to install DR. Set it up, it uses darkmod-folder contents as a default.

 

Then you would need to extract parts of the to-be-translated mission in you darkmod-folder.

You need to copy maps and xdata folders from the mission.pk4 into your darkmod -folder.

 

Then you start DR and open the .map file from the /maps -folder. In DR, try to locate the readables. You can move around by right clicking the camera window and then use the arrow keys on you keyboard to move around. Mouselook works. Right clicking again ends the camera movement. Then find the mission readables, select the readable by holding shift and left-clicking it.

 

Then from the upper menu bar choose "readable editor." That was in one of the pull-down menus, can't remember which. Then the WYSIWYG editor appears with the readable text in. You can now translate the text and see how your modifications are seen in the game. When you press save, the changes are written in the darkmod/xdata/mission.xd file, which you can distribute when the translation is completed.

 

After translating a bit, you know the basics of DR and can start learning to map great missions for this mod too.

[guido81]

Nope, I don't see it difficult, most likely it is easier than translating the text files by hand. You need to install DR. Set it up, it uses darkmod-folder contents as a default.

 

Then you would need to extract parts of the to-be-translated mission in you darkmod-folder.

You need to copy maps and xdata folders from the mission.pk4 into your darkmod -folder.

 

Then you start DR and open the .map file from the /maps -folder. In DR, try to locate the readables. You can move around by right clicking the camera window and then use the arrow keys on you keyboard to move around. Mouselook works. Right clicking again ends the camera movement. Then find the mission readables, select the readable by holding shift and left-clicking it.

 

Then from the upper menu bar choose "readable editor." That was in one of the pull-down menus, can't remember which. Then the WYSIWYG editor appears with the readable text in. You can now translate the text and see how your modifications are seen in the game. When you press save, the changes are written in the darkmod/xdata/mission.xd file, which you can distribute when the translation is completed.

 

After translating a bit, you know the basics of DR and can start learning to map great missions for this mod too.

 

even!!! :P

 

ok this afternoon i will check it..thanks again for your help!!!

 

 

edit

 

and for the game itself?? i mean menu ecc

Edited March 11, 2011 by guido81

[7upMan]

Nope, I don't see it difficult, most likely it is easier than translating the text files by hand.

 

Make that: Most definitely easier than translating by hand.

 

 

Also, the menu resides in "Doom 3\darkmod\tdm_base01.pk4\strings\" (strings folder in the tdm_base01.pk4 file), so you have to either check the file manually if you recognize any strings from TDM and translate them (because there are many strings from vanilla doom). Or you get the French version by Hyeron and do a file compare to see it quickly. Either way, it's a bit of work.

 

 

[OrbWeaver]

DarkRadiant itself is also in need of more translations. Here is the thread greebo posted on the topic:

 

http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/10944-darkradiant-localisation

[7upMan]

Guido, if you feel the urge to translate masses of terms, feel free to contact Greebo and ask him to create an Italian branch. Here is the list of DarkRadiant terms: http://darkradiant.angua.at/translation/list.php?category=all&page=1

[guido81]

mmm

 

i think is better(and useful) if i translate editor before missions...i will contact him soon!!

 

but if there is an english word i don't understand??i can post my request in....which trhead??

 

thanks

[STiFU]

I wrote a small section specifically addressed to translators in the wiki article about the Readable Editor. That should get you started.

 

but if there is an english word i don't understand??i can post my request in....which trhead??

You could probably just ask here after having checked an online dictionary like www.leo.org. However, it is a bit problematic to translate everything on a word-by-word basis, especially when you don't know the context, due to lack of mapping experience. Some functions or names like "brush" for instance should probably be kept in English.