full French translation here/Traduction Française ici

[madeba]

Hi/salut
A full french (all .txt files) translation for Eschalon 2 can be found following this link.
Maybe someone from Basilisk could take 30 seconds to modify the FAQ accordingly ?
---
Une traduction française (fichier .txt) peut être trouvée ici.
Pour l'installation, simplement décompresser l'archive dans le dossier du jeu.
Pour toute question, voir cette page, ou répondre simplement ici.

Bon jeu

[SpottedShroom]

Wow, that's impressive! Maybe BW would be willing to post a datapak file including these files for French speakers to try out?

Also, I'm afraid there's more to translate: all of the .map files in the datapak also contain English text. And since .map files are binary, it won't be as easy to edit them. You could probably do it with xolotl's editor, but I expect it wouldn't be easy.

[Vroqren]

What SpottedShroom said aside, that was quite the impressive feat! I take my hat off to you sir!

[madeba]

Thank you for the kind comments
It was quite a long job. Always funny at the beginning, but by far more difficult for the last files ("books.txt" has been a bit tedious to translate!).
Concerning a possible inclusion in the datapak, i'm afraid Basilisk is not really interested (they never answered any e-mails, because of some flooding in their mailbox, as explained in another topic. I suppose they're really busy...)

I know there is more to translate (5% according to basilisk(?)), but i don't really know how to handle these 'hard coded' texts. And as you said, it doesn't seem so simple.
Anyway, i think this translation will be enough for french speaking people with a (too) low english level.

[Kreador Freeaxe]

People rarely understand just how big a job localization is in a video game. I have a few friends who write for AAA titles, and they're creating tens of thousands of lines of dialog, not to mention all of the various menu screens and so on. To localize, you not only have to translate the specific words, but the actual intent and tone, which can be far more complicated. Then someone else has to go back through and proof all of that work to be sure it actually is correct and fits with the game and the tone and the story as the designer wants it told. BW pretty much gave up on the hope that any of the volunteers would manage that last year, plus I'm guessing he doesn't read French well enough to go back and proof it himself, nor does he have the time.

It's an impressive thing you've done, Madeba.

[SpottedShroom]

I just wish that there were a way for other people to enjoy madeba's work, but it seems impossible without BW's help. No one else can post a copy of the datapak file with his work incorporated, since it also contains all of BW's intellectual property. And we can't even provide instructions for rolling your own, since it involves decrypting the datapak with the "secret" password.

[madeba]

@kreador. yes, it's important to catch the atmosphere. That's why i finished the game before translation. Another person (who has also finished the game) is now reading the whole translation, looking for errors or possible discrepancies/incoherences with the original english texts.
@spottedshroom, i think you've got the point, but it must be easier for BW to simply ignore this translation, and answer to any questions that the translation is not official...

[BasiliskWrangler]

I missed this post originally- it was just pointed out to me.

Let me test it...

[BasiliskWrangler]

Yes, it works. Just follow the instructions in the readme file (place 'french' folder in install directory, edit general.cfg file to say 'language=french')

Now then, this only translates the text files in the game. For Book 3, the system will have the ability to have all the graphics/menus translatable as well.

And big thanks to madeba of course. I apologize for not seeing this sooner. I will Tweet it.

[madeba]

And big thanks to madeba of course. I apologize for not seeing this sooner. I will Tweet it.

You're welcome
About 180 downloads so far (~6 months) : it's not a huge success, but it seems to be useful for many people.
I got some feedback on (french) forum and by e-mail. Many people just want to thank me for the job. Of course, there are many players who can't understand english, but also some guys who "are tired of games [only] in english" (sic) and find by far more pleasant when a game is in their mother tongue.

And, ho, some people asked if a translation will be available for the third chapter

Edit : number of downloads