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Community Projects => Translations => Topic started by: Novachen on October 02, 2020, 04:54:16 pm

Title: [Release (0.6.3)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on October 02, 2020, 04:54:16 pm

Heyya everybody,

it was a very tough year for myself. Unfortunately i was not able to find some time to work on version 0.7. I hope i can release a version with some new translateable missions during the next twelve months.
But because new MediaVPs were released, i have to do at least a compatibility update.
So here it is. But there are more things under the hood.

What is new in Version 0.6.3?
• MediaVPs 4.7.1 (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=99050.0) compatibility!
• Updated strings.tbl. All translatable strings added since NTP's 0.6.2 release are now supported. This includes the new in-game settings menu currently in development.
• Some strings from the Retail FreeSpace 2 Launcher had to be restored for this as well.
• The japanese translation of "Escape Pod Bay" exceeded the 32 Bit Buffer, which cause crashes on newer FSO builds. Another shorter term is now used.
• The japanese language package now also includes the complete default (aka english) language, as the used japanese font support all english letters anyway.
• Added new entries to the controlconfigdefaults.tbl to prevent the usage of duplicate IDs and to ensure proper translatability for every input setting.
• Changed MediaVPs & HD Mainhall files are now in their own VP files in preparation to make NTP more independent from both in the future.
• Mission update in SM1-08 "The Sixth Wonder": Some event changes on the NTCv Hawkwood & NTC Conquest to make them less obviously indestructible for fighters.
• Mission update in SM3-02 "High Noon": If the SD Beleth survives SM3-01 "Bearbaiting" with active beam cannons, it will now also provide proper fire support for the SJ Sathanas with them.
• Mission update in SM3-04 "Straight, No Chaser": The SJ Yama/GVD Psamtik sequence has been slightly optimized.
• Mission update in loop2-2 "Into the Lion's Den": Further repositioning of some ships. The mission should be solvable with all objectives on Insane difficulty again. Also, the Shivan check on the GTF Maras happens earlier now.
• Mission update in DemoTrain "Training": Command Briefing did not have any voice because of a wrong file name. This was corrected.

What NTP stands for?
No idea, it never got an official full title. Feel free to call it how you like. How sounds New Thoughts Process to you?
The original name was simple "Novachen's Translation Project"... lame, i know.

What is NTP?
NTP is actually an effort to create a translation library for FreeSpace campaigns.
To be more precise, the goal is, that every FreeSpace campaign can be fully translated into several languages with the use of only few files.
The idea actually goes back to one of the first drafts of my FreiRaum translation project, that could not be realized due to the string id limit in the tstrings.tbl back then.
However especially thanks to m!m i was able to include some localization features, which also includes the deactivation of the string limit. Now it is possible to bring most text of all mods into one string file.

In the end, i try to offer a much better structure for translation efforts with NTP, as the main task is the creation of unique id ranges for the individual mods.
The best case would be, that NTP consists only of a single (t)strings file, which contain all string entris, that people can easily use to play or to translate into their prefered language.
To make the process as understandable as possible, there are many annoted sections in the translation files.
As i am using NTP for my own german translation that is nearly developed simultaneously, i make sure, that everything text related is translateable.

What are the Contents of NTP Version 0.6?
• Full translateable Menus and Tables.
• Full translateable Subtitles for all 10 FreeSpace 2 Cutscenes.
• Full translateable FreeSpace 2 Main campaign with 41 missions, which take place from 11 May 2367 to 07 August 2367.
• Full translateable FreeSpace 2: Demo campaign with 3 missions, which take place from 13 June 2367 to 22 June 2367.
• Full translateable FreeSpace 2: Operation Templar campaign with 4 missions, which take place from 28 October 2347 to 30 October 2347.

Which languages are included next to English?

(https://em-content.zobj.net/thumbs/120/joypixels/340/flag-france_1f1eb-1f1f7.png) (https://em-content.zobj.net/thumbs/120/joypixels/340/flag-germany_1f1e9-1f1ea.png) (https://em-content.zobj.net/thumbs/120/joypixels/340/flag-italy_1f1ee-1f1f9.png) 1 2 (https://em-content.zobj.net/thumbs/120/joypixels/340/flag-japan_1f1ef-1f1f5.png) 1 (https://em-content.zobj.net/thumbs/120/joypixels/340/flag-poland_1f1f5-1f1f1.png) 1 2 (https://em-content.zobj.net/thumbs/120/joypixels/340/flag-spain_1f1ea-1f1f8.png) 1 2 FreeSpace 2 Menu ✅ ✅ ✅ ☑️ ✅ ✅ Technical Database ✅ ✅ ✅ ☑️ ✅ ✅ Cutscene Subtitles ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ Non-mission specific text ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ Single Player FreeSpace 2 Campaign ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ FreeSpace 2: Demo Campaign ✅ ✅ ✅ ☑️ ✅ ✅ FreeSpace 2: Operation Templar Campaign ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ✅ ✅ Icons: ✅ - Fully translated ☑️ - Partially translated ❌ - Untranslated 1 - This language does not have a currently active translator. 2 - An older translation, that was fixed and adapted to NTP by myself. As i am not a native speaker, there are maybe some inaccurate translations of some text i translated myself. My translations were created through dictionaries, translation tools and AI. Contributers: French: Achille44 (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?action=profile;u=11419) German: Novachen (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?action=profile;u=39556) Italian: marco111 (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?action=profile;u=41034) Japanese: Komet (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?action=profile;u=797), Nikogori (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?action=profile;u=34846) & Soy Sauce (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?action=profile;u=41455) Polish: Interplay Entertainment (https://www.interplay.com/) & Mito [PL] (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?action=profile;u=35518) Spanish: Alex Navarro (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?action=profile;u=7141) What is different to the original FreeSpace 2? • I splitted up some training messages (and their voice files) into two individual messages each, as even the original messages were already too long to be displayed in the training message gauge. • Fixed the formatting in Command- aswell Debriefings. In the command briefings FreeSpace2 used the wrong color code, so that it was not visible. And debriefings did not have any color formatting whatsoever. • Date and Location Information were added into the first CBrief Page. So the FreeSpace 2 campaign takes place from 11th May 2367 until 07th August 2367. • Some missions got bugfixes. What problems are still present? • Even i have included string ids for wing names, they can not be used as an actual wing name. In example Alpha is called Alfa in briefings and communication messages in some translations, but in the mission they are still Alpha. • Due to engine-restrictions, i can not offer an All-in-One package unfortunately. • The NTP lacks language specific hud_gauges and coordinates for the context sensitive help system because of this also. Other translation related stuff • The newest version of my small Language Selector is included, which offers a german and english speaking user interface. The newest version of it also features the possibility to activate Italian within FreeSpace. However, this Selector does not support Portable Mode. If you use Portable Mode, you have to edit the "Language" entry in the fs2_open.ini in the game folder by yourself. For the current release, following languages are officially supported by NTP and so can be entered manually as a value in the beforementioned Language Entry: "default", "French", "German", "Italian", "Japanese", "Polish" & "Spanish". DOWNLOAD: Installer The Player package is available on FSOInstaller (http://scp.indiegames.us/fsoinstaller/FreeSpaceOpenInstaller.jar). ('Save Link as...', requires Java (https://www.java.com/) to run) Manual Installation Player Package: NTP Root (Version 0.6.3) (https://sectorgame.com/fsfiles/repo/data/Novachen/Translations/NTP/ntp.7z) (7.05 MB) - Includes all missions and table files that were prepared for NTP so far. The Language Selector is also included. LANGUAGE ADDON PACKAGES Only one of these packages can be used simultaneously. NTP EUR Package (Version 0.6.3) (https://sectorgame.com/fsfiles/repo/data/Novachen/Translations/NTP/ntp_EUR.7z) (924.90 KB) - This package includes all european languages. So English and the translations in French, German, Italian, Polish, and Spanish, aswell all settings and the font that are needed for most other Latin-based languages. NTP JPN Package (Version 0.6.3) (https://sectorgame.com/fsfiles/repo/data/Novachen/Translations/NTP/ntp_JPN.7z) (3.50 MB) - This package includes English and the Japanese translation aswell all settings and the font that is needed for that. Developer Package: NTP Developer Files (Version 0.6.3) (https://sectorgame.com/fsfiles/repo/data/Novachen/Translations/NTP/ntp_developer_files.7z) (11.21 MB) - This package actually includes all of the above. However the translation related files are extracted in subfolders for the different languages. This package is not playable without any further moving of files, as the main purpose is to offer the possibility to create own translations as fast and easy as possible. Of course it can also be used to fix or to expand already available languages aswell :). NTP Developer Tools (Version 2023-12-06) (https://sectorgame.com/fsfiles/repo/data/Novachen/Translations/NTP/ntp_developer_tools.7z) (306.05 MB) - This package is only a collection of tools, i am using myself for the development of NTP. So they are surely helpful for your translation efforts as well. The contents are: ANIBuilder32, ANIViewer32, DeepL, GIMP (2.10.36) and Notepad++ (8.6 in x86/x64). Only recommendend if you do not have these anyway. If you are developing or expanding a translation, i would like that you share your results, so that your development can be integrated here :). Requirements: • FS2_Open 23.3.0 from 06th December 2023 (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=99072.0) or newer. • MediaVPs 4.7.X (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=99050.0) in a Folder called MediaVPs_47X. • MjnMixael's HD Mainhalls 1.4.10 (https://fsnebula.org/mod/MjnMHs) in a Folder called mjnhalls. The folders are created automatically if you use the FSOInstaller (http://scp.indiegames.us/fsoinstaller/FreeSpaceOpenInstaller.jar) method above. Installation: Extract the manual archives into the FreeSpace 2 folder and use your Launcher of choice to launch the game. The language selector is available in its own folder and should be self-explanatory as it offers a German and English speaking interface. If you want to use NTP in Knossos however, you have to create a "New Mod", that have the under "Requirements" listed components as a requirement. Visual Impressions: (https://i.ibb.co/vHV39my/NTP04FR.png) (https://i.ibb.co/4S3cBDw/NTP04DE.png) (https://i.ibb.co/qWKgxSm/NTP06IT.png) (https://i.ibb.co/VH7FHnM/NTP04JP.png) (https://i.ibb.co/7GHGN13/NTP06-PL.png) (https://i.ibb.co/fYsgGXV/NTP04ES.png) What changed during the course of this project?

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Version 0.6.3:
Released at: 2023-12-06
• MediaVPs 4.7.1 compatibility!
• Updated strings.tbl. All translatable strings added since NTP's 0.6.2 release are now supported. This includes the new in-game settings menu currently in development.
• Some strings from the Retail FreeSpace 2 Launcher had to be restored for this as well.
• The japanese translation of "Escape Pod Bay" exceeded the 32 Bit Buffer, which cause crashes on newer FSO builds. Another shorter term is now used.
• The japanese language package now also includes the complete default (aka english) language, as the used japanese font support all english letters anyway.
• Added new entries to the controlconfigdefaults.tbl to prevent the usage of duplicate IDs and to ensure proper translatability for every input setting.
• Changed MediaVPs & HD Mainhall files are now in their own VP files in preparation to make NTP more independent from both in the future.
• Mission update in SM1-08 "The Sixth Wonder": Some event changes on the NTCv Hawkwood & NTC Conquest to make them less obviously indestructible for fighters.
• Mission update in SM3-02 "High Noon": If the SD Beleth survives SM3-01 "Bearbaiting" with active beam cannons, it will now also provide proper fire support for the SJ Sathanas with them.
• Mission update in SM3-04 "Straight, No Chaser": The SJ Yama/GVD Psamtik sequence has been slightly optimized.
• Mission update in loop2-2 "Into the Lion's Den": Further repositioning of some ships. The mission should be solvable with all objectives on Insane difficulty again. Also, the Shivan check on the GTF Maras happens earlier now.
• Mission update in DemoTrain "Training": Command Briefing did not have any voice because of a wrong file name. This was corrected.

Version 0.6.2:
Released at: 2022-07-31
• MediaVPs 4.6.5 compatibility!
• MjnMixael's HD Mainhalls 1.4.10 compatibility!
• Various Mission fixes.
- SM1-03 "The Romans Blunder": The Psamtik was repositioned and rearmed to make sure, that it uses the Anti Capital Beam Cannons against the NTF cruisers.
- SM1-09 "Into the Maelstrom": The hull status of the GTFr Parracombe and Cargo Pod 163 is now bound to each other to show the correct hull damage.
- loop1-1 "Rebels and Renegades": On its attack run on the NTFg Iceni it could happen, that the GVC Yaaru finished off the NTSC Hinton by accident. The Hinton got some more Hitpoints, which make it more survivable during the initial attack.
- SM2-02 "A Game of TAG": Scout 3 was destroyed, before he was able to send his complete communication message. That was fixed.
- SM2-03 "Proving Grounds": The GTD Aquitaine got some more Hitpoints, which should make this mission to a less drastic difficult spike in the game.
- SM2-08 "A Monster in the Mist": The LRed beam cannons of the SJ Sathanas were able to destroy the GVCv Maahes before the player was even half way through the subsystem scanning. The medal was unobtainable if a player played this mission in the intended way. The Maahes got more Hitpoints which give the player more time for the subsystem scanning. The intended way to play this mission was restored.
- SM2-09 "Speaking in Tongues": In the Briefing a GVCv Sopedu is mentioned. However only a GVCv Thutmose is present in the mission. The briefing text was corrected.
- SM3-02 "High Noon": If the SD Beleth was not destroyed during SM3-01 "Bearbaiting", it will reappear in this mission as a Support destroyer for the SJ Sathanas.
- SM3-03 "Return to Babel": An incorrect Variable Name caused a crash of the game. This critical error was fixed.
- SM3-04 "Straight, No Chaser": As the SJ Yama kills off the GVD Psamtik way too fast, not even all communication messages were played. The sequence was reorganized, so that all messages are present, now.
- SM3-05 "Argonautica": As inactive events were reactivated during NTP 0.5, this mission is several minutes longer and so it is also more difficult and more frustrating than in retail. Now, the GTD Aquitaine got more Hitpoints, so that this mission should be more like Retail difficulty again. The SJ Yama was repositioned and will appear further away from the Gamma Draconis Jump Node, now. The Aquitaine Escape Pods will now properly fly to the Gamma Draconis Jump Node.
- loop2-2 "Into the Lion's Den": Some buggy events in the original mission were fixed and restored. The Shivans will now check on the approaching GTF Maras and this will be commented by Snipes. The SI Dre Device that the player is ordered to scan is actually scannable now. Some ships were repositioned to be a better fit for the now-working events as well to reduce the waiting time at the Jump Node. The Sathanas Juggernaughts will jump in with the Knossos Warp Effect, now.
- SM3-08 "Their finest Hour": The GTVA capital ships used their beam cannons only on the initial shivan wave. The waypoints were changed so all other Shivan capital ships are also attacked with beam cannons. As the SJ Jagannatha kills the GTVA Colossus too quickly, the last communication message was never played in full. That sequence was slightly changed so that the full communication message is properly played.
- SM3-09 "Clash of the Titans II": Some communication messages by the wingmates were not playing. The events were adjusted so that all conversations are present, now. Deleted all leftovers of the SD Niobe events i introduced in NTP 0.5 and that were still present by accident since NTP 0.5.1.
- SPDemo-02 "Crisis in Capella": The GVD Psamtik appeared only very unreliable which cause that this mission did not have a consistent difficulty. Some events in this mission were changed to ensure, that the Psamtik will always appear.
• Several spelling fixes in the german language file.

Version 0.6.1:
Released at: 2022-06-06
• MediaVPs 4.6.4 compatibility!
• Fixed some string range errors under the fsu_credits-crd.tbm segment in the default, italian and polish language.
• Updated "FreeSpace-NTP" font. Following characters were revised: Â/â, Ą/ą, Č/č, Ē/ē, Ĕ/ĕ, Ė/ė, Ę/ę, Ě/ě, Ğ/ğ, Ñ/ñ, Õ/õ, Ź/ź, Ż/ż, Ž/ž, ẞ/ß.

Version 0.6:
Released at: 2022-04-29
• MjnMixael's HD Mainhalls 1.4.8 compatibility!
• Inclusion of the Polish translation by Interplay Entertainment, but with special mention of Mito [PL] for the cutscene subtitles.
• Inclusion of the Italian translation by marco111.
• Both languages were adapted to NTP and got some own translations in this process by Novachen.
• Changed the name of the EFGIS package into EUR.
• All languages got a new language identifier according to ISO 639.
• Instead of the standard "Bank Gothic Md" font, the "FreeSpace-NTP" font is now used. It is a Font, that was exclusively created for this translation library by me.
• Some examples of new supported characters: Ā/ā, Ł/ł, Ṣ/ṣ, Ż/ż, ẞ/ß. The new font properly supports all six latin based languages that are part of NTP Version 0.6.
• Fixed the string table for the default language as it had an incorrect string range.
• Added some new translateable entries for the strings.tbl.
• Fixed the location of the CBrief for the mission loop2-1 "As Lightning Falls" correctly to GTD Soyakaze in the default language.
• Some formatting fixes in all languages, which also fix the error messages at launch of the Japanese translation.
• Some of the real existing Star Systems got a name in the German, Italian, Polish & Spanish translation that is more common there. (According to wikipedia at least)
• Added a spanish translation to the "FreeSpace 2: Demo" campaign with support by my sister. Thank you lil sis, you are the best translator tool i know 😘.
• Added the "FreeSpace 2: Operation Templar" Campaign. -> Campaign complete!
• FreeSpace 2: Operation Templar take place from 28th October 2347 to 30th October 2347. (14 Paopi 7840 to 16 Paopi 7840 in vasudan calendar)
• FreeSpace 2: Operation Templar is playable in English, French, German, Italian, Polish and Spanish languages.

Version 0.5.1:
Released at: 2021-12-28
• MediaVPs 4.5.1 compatibility!
• Updated Japanese translation by Soy Sauce.
• Fixed spanish translation for the mission "Bearbaiting".
• Jump Nodes in missions are now also translateable.
• Deleted the NTP AI profile as all former changes are now enabled by default within FSO.
• Back rid of most enhancements within the missions from 2367: Supernova and FreeSpace: Blue, as they changed the retail feel too drastically.
• Some smaller enhancements however are still present. For example bug fixes in several missions and features that were not present due to technical limitations in 1999.

Version 0.5:
Released at: 2021-02-11
• SM3-02 "High Noon" caused a crash with the French language setting in Version 0.4.X.
• The Iceni was not present in SM3-03 "Return to Babel" due to a wrong Arrival Cue that activated itself in the resave of the mission for NTP translation.
• Introduced enhancements in many missions from 2367: Supernova or FreeSpace: Blue.
• Added the FreeSpace 2: Demo Campaign. -> Campaign complete!
• This campaign take place between 13th June 2367 through 22th June 2367. (03 Paoni 7859 to 12 Paoni 7859 in vasudan calendar)
• Added the Voice Files for the Demo Missions.
• Added a nameplate for the GTC Adamant.

Version 0.4.2:
Released at: 2021-02-04
• Added MediaVPs 4.4.1 compatibility.
• Added the Aquitaine Nebula Mainhall into the Campaign.

Version 0.4.1:
Released at: 2021-02-01
• Forgot the fonts.tbl in the EFGIS package 🙄.

Version 0.4:
Released at: 2021-01-30
• MediaVPs 4.4.X compatibility.
• Fixed some critical errors in the Japanese translation, that caused that it was not launchable at all 😳.
• Several spelling fixes in the German aswell Spanish translation.
• Added the whole third Act of the FreeSpace 2 Main Campaign, which is also known as FreeSpace 2: Exodus. -> Campaign complete!
• The campaign take place from 11th May 2367 to 9th August 2367. (30 Paremoude 7859 to 30 Epip 7859 in vasudan calendar)
• Subtitle Files for the five Act 3 Cutscenes.
• As the HD Main Halls are now a default MediaVP extension, several of them are used during the course of the campaign, there are now own Main Halls for the GTI Kos (Training 1-3), GTD Soyakaze (Loop 1-1 & Loop 2) & NTFg Iceni (Loop 1-2 & Loop 1-3) now.

Version 0.3:
Released at: 2020-12-23
• The player is now addressed by its rank where it fits.
• Some formatting and spell fixes.
• Added the whole second Act of the FreeSpace 2 Main Campaign. (Also known as FreeSpace 2: Endgame)
• Added the Subtitle files for the two Act 2 Cutscenes.
• Date & Location Information from my german translation are present by default for all languages now. The campaign in this version begins now at 11th May 2367 terran calendar and ends at 06 Epip 7859 vasudan calendar.

Version 0.2.1:
Released at: 2020-12-13
• Inclusion of the French translation by Achille44.
• Version 1.2.1-NTP of the Language Selector is included, which actually replaced the "english" with a "default" setting as it is theoretically possible, that another english translation could be present later (British English i.e.). Default is used, to disable any translation.
• Some changes in the mv_root-hdg.tbm, so that the other values from the font.tbl are correctly used.
• Changed a Value in the NTP AI Profile which should fix the error of missing text.
• SM1-02 "The Place of Chariots" can now be played.
• Translateable variables are now correctly used.

Version 0.2:
Released at: 2020-11-06
• First public release.
• MediaVPs 4.3.X Compatibility!
• Inclusion of the German Translation by Novachen.
• Inclusion of the Japanese Translation by Komet & Nikogori.
• Inclusion of the Spanish Translation by Alex Navarro.
• Added the whole first Act of the FreeSpace 2 Main Campaign. (Also known as FreeSpace 2: Colossus)
• Added the Subtitle files for the three Act 1 Cutscenes.
Greetings,

Jenna

Title: Re: [IN DEVELOPMENT] NTP
Post by: X3N0-Life-Form on October 04, 2020, 04:10:37 am

That's a nice endeavor :)

Title: Re: [IN DEVELOPMENT] NTP
Post by: starlord on October 04, 2020, 05:16:21 am

Weren’t there problems with the fonts? Namely special characters like the umlaut? I thought that was a barrier for translation...

Title: Re: [IN DEVELOPMENT] NTP
Post by: Novachen on October 04, 2020, 06:31:03 am

Quote from: starlord on October 04, 2020, 05:16:21 am

Weren’t there problems with the fonts? Namely special characters like the umlaut? I thought that was a barrier for translation...

That was always only a problem with True Type Fonts or custom VF files.
But during a previous translation of a mod that uses TTF i was able to fix that together with m!m (he did most of the coding work i requested).
So that is not an issue anymore as long the used TTF file supports them (some actually do not, but that is a problem in the TTF then).

Title: Re: [IN DEVELOPMENT] NTP
Post by: starlord on October 04, 2020, 06:54:31 am

So out of curiosity, would it be possible in the future to insert other characters like Cyrillic or kanji? Just a question mind you...

What I’m saying is that if there are other translation efforts in the future and that said translations are technically readable, freespace SCP might get a major popularity boost in the future.

Title: Re: [IN DEVELOPMENT] NTP
Post by: Novachen on October 04, 2020, 07:18:07 am

Quote from: starlord on October 04, 2020, 06:54:31 am

So out of curiosity, would it be possible in the future to insert other characters like Cyrillic or kanji? Just a question mind you...

What I’m saying is that if there are other translation efforts in the future and that said translations are technically readable, freespace SCP might get a major popularity boost in the future.

If you use a specific ttf file for that it should be already possible.
Look at the Japanese Localization Mod (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=94840.0). (You can still download it via Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/s/hj22nn0cg1fnded/FS2JP_MV2014.zip?dl=1))

Even that is a different approach to that what i am trying to establish here. In Nikogoris Mod the english text was simply replaced with the japanese one.
I hope with NTP that is not needed anymore, it is intended to work as an additional working language that can be activated by the language entry in the fs2open.ini.
In this way, it would not affect the mod files in any way after the right IDs were included. So a mod developer could even update the mod and the translation would still work.

However for non-latin based languages you also need a specific TTF that uses the needed characters of course. Additionally a own fonts.tbl that defies that ttf is needed, too.


I mean, is there a demand, maybe a enhancement of the fonts.tbl can be requested where you can set up different font files for different languages.  :blah:

Title: Re: [IN DEVELOPMENT] NTP
Post by: Novachen on October 10, 2020, 07:47:43 am

Well, next to he german translation i am working on myself i simultaneously try also to implement all already existing translation projects into NTP, so that they can serve as a base to be finished or expanded aswell.

Next to the said Japanese translation which is FS2 retail only i also got my hands on the files from the spanish translation project which includes complete FreeSpace Port and Silent Threat: Reborn aswell.
There seems to be an in-progress french translation project also at the moment. However i did not got in touch yet. Even i have the retail french translation from my multi-language DVD release, even it also includes the retail FS2 stuff and nothing from the SOTY.

However i do not have any polish text except from the Polish files from FSPort. Anyone can help me with the Polish text files from FS2?
If it works like in any other language release, the polish strings.tbl and polish tstrings.tbl would be enough. To be fail-safe i would like to have the font01.vf also.

Title: Re: [IN DEVELOPMENT] NTP
Post by: Achille44 on October 11, 2020, 07:18:23 am

As I started to work on French translations on my side, I would be interested in contributing to the French part of your "Neo Translation Project"  :D

How do you plan to release these translations in future? Will they be directly available through Knossos?

Title: Re: [IN DEVELOPMENT] NTP
Post by: Novachen on October 11, 2020, 08:36:00 am

Quote from: Achille44 on October 11, 2020, 07:18:23 am

As I started to work on French translations on my side, I would be interested in contributing to the French part of your "Neo Translation Project"  :D

Would like to see that :).

How far is your translation of the FS2 campaign? Even my strings.tbl is complete, my tstrings.tbl cover only all tables and every mission up to SM1-06 so far.
I planned a Demo release after i finished the first Act with SM1-10 (because i always offered Beta releases after i reached specific milestones in the german translation, too)
Is that soon enough for you or do you want the current indev version already, so that you can implement all of your french strings into NTP right now?
Would send you them via PM. We should get in touch anyway to organize ourselves to share our data. Dropbox, Google Drive etc.

Quote

How do you plan to release these translations in future? Will they be directly available through Knossos?

So far i only planned to offer the Templates on Knossos which can be used for own translations. And full releases of mods that are not maintained anymore, because there is no one who add the string ids into the mod files. :D
By manual means you simple could add NTP into the secondarylist of mod.ini and the translations would work.

On Knossos, maybe all mods which were made NTP-compatible and included the proper IDs into the mod files can add NTP as an Dependency. (which could be also made optional to download if it used as a dependency for an optional package, whatever).

As this one is mostly a development thing, they will be offered here aswell, of course.

Title: Re: [IN DEVELOPMENT] NTP
Post by: Achille44 on October 11, 2020, 04:13:44 pm

Quote from: Novachen on October 11, 2020, 08:36:00 am

How far is your translation of the FS2 campaign?

So far strings.tbl is complete, most of the tables, and missions up to SM1-07.

Don't worry I can wait for your demo release.

Title: Re: [IN DEVELOPMENT] NTP
Post by: Novachen on October 19, 2020, 01:12:40 pm

I do not think, that this is something special.  :D
But i thought i could show nevertheless, that the multi-language interface works with all special characters  without a problem if they have proper string IDs.

German & Spanish:
(https://abload.de/img/ntpgermanb4kqm.png)
(https://abload.de/img/ntpspainishhykx2.png)

Good thing about latin-based languages is, that they will work with the same font most of the time as they share the same special characters.
Only problem so far is, that FS2 does only support string ids that are marked as German, French or Polish.
So spanish use the French language setting at the moment. But because of Achille's translation i most likely will change that to Polish, as so the three most prominent languages right now can be used together.
Currently it is not possible to use more than three translations at once.

Title: Re: [IN DEVELOPMENT] NTP
Post by: Novachen on October 25, 2020, 01:09:26 pm

Time for a update.

FreeSpace 2's Act 1 is actually finished. Need only minor fixes. The german translation is done, too. It only need the final spellcheck.

Currently i am preparing the spanish and japanese translation and adapt that into NTP's IDs. Spanish is nearly finished, in this case i actually filled up all left english pieces with spanish ones i have translated myself with the help of several translator tools and consulting with my sister who learned spanish some years ago.
The translation will not be very good, for sure. But better than nothing. Fortunately Alex Navarro's one is pretty comprehensive, so we are talking about a few missing entries i added.

Japanese however will be have many english pieces as the translation was mostly done for missions only. Maybe someone is interested to pick it up :).


Think the first public release will be available during the coming days.

Title: Re: [IN DEVELOPMENT] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on October 31, 2020, 06:51:41 am

Uh, actually i have to admit, that i was totally wrong before.

It is possible to include new languages next to the three established ones.
So Spanish is now usable with a Spanish Language Setting aswell Japanese can be played with a Japanese one.

But Knossos does not support that right now, which will make a Knossos release somekind of difficult.
So far i am only able to offer an expanded version of my old language changer program. :lol:

Other problems are still present, that will still force me to offer specific language packages like the Japanese one instead to have an usable whole multi+X package.
Fonts.tbl actually have the support to set language specific font files... unfortunately this Feature does not support Unicode  :o.

But that would be actually a non-issue, as there is also a feature, that is able to use files in a subfolder that is named after the extension of the desired language... theoretically.
but well, that Feature does not seem to be more than rudimentary implemented. :wtf:
Japanese did not find the font.tbl i had in the data\tables\jp\ folder, also German did not use the changed Kill Gauge from data\hud\de and the HUD aswell Help configuration from data\tables\de...

Have to admit, that i have no idea how that one is working exactly, or if this one is working at all. Maybe one of the devs can tell me more about that, as i did not really found out big clues from the source code itself.
So far, in older threads this feature was only about multi-language voice files. That was a present feature in retail, however it was not fully implemented. Maybe SCP only fixed that... but nothing more.


News from the release front:
Spanish integration is complete.
Japanese tables were adapted into NTP aswell. Right now only the japanese missions from Act 1 are missing :).

Title: Re: [IN DEVELOPMENT] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Mobius on October 31, 2020, 07:26:28 am

Glad to hear of further progress on the Spanish translation.  :yes:

Title: Re: [DEMO Release] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on November 06, 2020, 04:45:28 pm

Demo is there  :)

Title: Re: [DEMO Release] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Achille44 on November 08, 2020, 07:49:59 am

Nice :) I am now working to include my translation.

Title: Re: [DEMO Release] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Achille44 on November 11, 2020, 11:02:35 am

Here is my French translation adapted to ntp. So far it's working quite well. I just reduced the size of the Main font to 14 on my side as it was closer to the original.

However, I found several bugs during my tests:
- "Error: EINVAL: String error" when trying to access the Mission Simulator menu.
- Mission SM1-02 can't be loaded.
- Some dialogues are not triggered in several missions, especially in SM1-03.
- In training missions, "Invalid UTF-8" errors appear when trying to display some shortkeys (when the key name includes special characters).
- The target's hull integrity below the reticle is not centered.
- In most missions, the translations of alt ship class (for ntf ships) are not displayed.

[attachment deleted by admin]

Title: Re: [DEMO Release] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on November 11, 2020, 03:54:51 pm

Mh, interesting.

Have to say, that i playtested only some missions, but not all of them. (But started everyone) Seems, that i left out the training missions completely :/.
Actually i have no idea why some dialogues are not triggered, as i did not changed anything at them.  :confused:

For the not loading mission, only explaination could be that the said mission slipped in from my own Development Branch into the release one in preparation of the 0.2 package.

Will look into that tomorrow, as i have to release a new version with the french translation. Thanks for it.

Title: Re: [DEMO Release] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on November 12, 2020, 01:25:38 pm

Some specific response.

Quote

I just reduced the size of the Main font to 14 on my side as it was closer to the original.

Mhh? reduced to 14? My own fonts.tbl was 14 already?!
Maybe i packed the wrong table in the package...  :wtf:

Quote

- "Error: EINVAL: String error" when trying to access the Mission Simulator menu.

I can not confirm that. No idea. Did not have this problem with your files. :confused:

Quote

Mission SM1-02 can't be loaded.

Confirmed and fixed.

Quote

Some dialogues are not triggered in several missions, especially in SM1-03.

Confirmed. Seems that this only effects #Command messages in some missions. Have to say, that this is not caused by NTP. Looks more like a bug in the "Override #Command in event messages" flag. The game already freaks out if i activate this flag for MVP4X SM1-03. Does not seem to work with the Scramble Mission flag. In other missions, that feature worked however.
I think i will go back to Variable Translation for #Command like i did in previous translations until this feature is fixed. Fortunately i have enough placeholders for non-mission-specific text :).

Quote

In training missions, "Invalid UTF-8" errors appear when trying to display some shortkeys (when the key name includes special characters).

Good catch... can confirm that and yes, i got this exactly for a training message were i rebinded a function to a special character key (ö in my case).
Never noticed that, because german does not use controls in the training missions that were binded to special characters by default... but does not looks like i am able to fix that. I did not get a crash after i deleted the [Press $key$] entry in the training message however. Unicode-mode bug maybe?
Controls seem to be problematic, as special character keys are invisible in the settings at all.

Quote

The target's hull integrity below the reticle is not centered.

Mh, that reason is simple because a different font and size is used. Japanese looks different in this case also. But well, could be fixed by a EFGIS and Japanese specific hud-table. Maybe it will be included into 0.3.

Quote

In most missions, the translations of alt ship class (for ntf ships) are not displayed.

Interestingly... i only encountered that in SM1-03 too, where this problem seems to be connected with the other problem said above.

Title: Re: [DEMO Release (0.2.1)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on November 13, 2020, 04:40:13 pm

I have uploaded an update.

This should nearly fix all reported issues. Also the french translation was included.
Only problem left is, that the game will crash if a "special character" key is used for a function that is covered by the Training Missions. So play Training Missions with the default key configuration or simple skip them.

Changelog:
• Inclusion of the French translation files.
• Version 1.2.1-NTP of the Language Selector is included, which actually replaced the "english" with a "default" setting as it is theoretically possible, that another english translation could be present later (British English i.e.). So default is used, to disable any translation.
• Some changes in the mv_root-hdg.tbm, so that the other values from the font.tbl are correctly used.
• Changed a Value in the NTP AI Profile which should fix the error of missing text.
• SM1-02 can now be played.
• Translateable variables are now correctly used.

Title: Re: [DEMO Release (0.2.1)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on December 15, 2020, 11:29:07 am

I have finished the main development for Version 0.3 yesterday. This means, that Act 2 is done.

German Translation is also finished. And Achille got the strings, so that the french translation is ready to use right at 0.3's release.

Now i am working on the integration of the spanish and japanese translation for the act 2 missions.

I decided to include the timeline from the german translation that is used in Command Briefings into the untranslated missions aswell. It really does not matter much as the normal variant is still available via MVPs.

Title: Re: [DEMO Release (0.2.1)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Mobius on December 15, 2020, 01:00:53 pm

Nice work! Don't forget to pimp this on German and French websites.  :yes:

Title: Re: [DEMO Release (0.2.1)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on December 15, 2020, 05:27:50 pm

Quote from: Mobius on December 15, 2020, 01:00:53 pm

Nice work! Don't forget to pimp this on German and French websites.  :yes:

Well, as this one is still WIP i post only some status reports on a german freespace forum, which is dormant apart my activity, Twitter and some Discords. Releases are at least features on a ModDB page.

Maybe after 1.0 is finished i try it again to get a news article on some german gaming sites like i got for the now-infamous Between the Ashes translation aswell the Silent Threat: Reborn one back then.

But right now, the FS2 NTP is only 36% complete. There is still much work to do.
Even i am looking forward that i can release any version after 0.4 much faster, as i am finished with the integration of the japanese translation then.
This one slows me down as it is hard to adapt and to correct the formatting of a language you absolutely have no feel for.

Title: Re: [Release (0.3)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on December 23, 2020, 05:13:32 am

UPDATE
Can present Version 0.3. Which includes so far all languages from 0.2.1.

CHANGELOG:
- The player is now addressed by its rank where it fits.
- Some formatting and spell fixes.
- Added the whole second Act of the FreeSpace 2 Main Campaign. (Also known as FreeSpace 2: Endgame)
- Added the Subtitle files for the two Act 2 Cutscenes.
- Date & Location Information from the original german translation are present by default now. So the campaign in this version begins now at 11th May 2367 terran calendar and ends at 6th Epip 7859 vasudan calendar.

Title: Re: [Release (0.3)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Mobius on December 23, 2020, 06:28:51 am

You should definitely get in touch with a lurking community member who has done something similar for another language. I'm redirecting him to this thread, and who knows, maybe I can finally convince him to create a HLP account.  :)

Title: Re: [Release (0.3)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on December 23, 2020, 06:43:22 am

A HLP account is not necessary as i have also Twitter or Discord :D I also have still an active ICQ account ^^.

Well, in the depths of the web i found something about a Portugese Translation, but well, all research about it yield nothing. So i assume it was never released.

There exist an italian FSPort translation, but did not find nothing about a FS2 one. The same is with Polish which was even released officially for The Great War & Silent Threat... but nothing for FS2 as it seems. So both languages are not covered right now, as i am still in FS2.

Title: Re: [Release (0.3)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: marco111 on December 23, 2020, 08:05:17 am

Hi Novachen,

I have the Italian version (text and voice) of these mods:

AftermathReboot-1.0.0
Babylon-3.6.2
battlestar_galactica
blueplanetcomplete-1.0.6
BtRL-1.0.0
revenge-1.1.0-BETA8
Silent_Threat_Reborn_1.4.2
Solaris-1.0.15
Wing_Commander_Saga

and the all original missions.

I have used syntheic voices and part of work is a semi-automatic translation that need a bit revision.

Can be usufull ?

Title: Re: [Release (0.3)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on December 23, 2020, 08:48:08 am

That is quite an impressive list   :shaking:
Especially because most of the campaigns are long as hell.

I hope NTP will cover all of them someday. But i am not a dreamer, it will take years to that.

I sent you a PM :). Would like that you create an italian translation with the developer package yourself. As this would make things much easier for me.
I am interested in all of it, however. Even for the case, if you are not available anymore. Then i can work on the translations myself just in case.

Title: Re: [Release (0.3)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: marco111 on January 10, 2021, 09:23:26 am

Hi Novachen,

First of all happy new year !! with a bit af delay sorry ....

About your last post I don't understant what you mean developer package.

However just to inform it this work was done by a software created by me in C#, that automatically do all (translate text and voice).

After this I have done a random review of part of work to fix manually the errors.

But becouse now the amazon TTS (Text-to-Speech) service was expired I can't work on voice.

Have a nice day !

Marco



 

Title: Re: [Release (0.4)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on January 30, 2021, 08:31:09 am

UPDATE
Another release. This finish up the FreeSpace 2 Main Campaign 🥳.
This will be the last version that have new japanese strings that were added by myself, as the files from the japanese translation project are exhausted now. There is nothing more i can integrate.
So it is up to our japanese speaking members now 😉

Changelog:
• MediaVPs 4.4.X compatibility.
• Fixed some critical errors in the Japanese translation, that caused that it was not launchable at all 😳.
• Several spelling fixes in the German aswell Spanish translation.
• Added the whole third Act of the FreeSpace 2 Main Campaign, which is also known as FreeSpace 2: Exodus. -> Campaign complete!
• The campaign take place from 11th May 2367 to 5th August 2367. (Or 30th Paremoude 7859 to 26th Epip 7859 in vasudan calendar)
• Subtitle Files for the five Act 3 Cutscenes.
• As the HD Main Halls are now somekind of official MVP extension, the campaign was prepared that five of them are used.

Check out the Opening Post (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=96944.msg1902298#msg1902298) for further information.

Knossos release will follow in the course of the weekend. Most likely tomorrow.
EDIT: Knossos version was uploaded and should be available now.

Title: Re: [Release (0.4.1)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on February 01, 2021, 06:32:41 pm

Well, released a small fix for the EFGIS language package.

Changelog:
• In 0.4 one important file decided to keep the social distancing and did not wanted to be in a package with others due to COVID.

Title: Re: [Release (0.4.2)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on February 04, 2021, 04:13:43 pm

Another small update.

Changelog:
• Added the Aquitaine Nebula Mainhall into the Campaign. Aswell i took over changes from MediaVPs 4.4.1 tables that are relevant for NTP.

The manual downloadable and so standalone launchable 0.4.2 developer package is available only on my Google Drive for the time being.
FSFiles seems to have some issues regarding larger files lately. My FSFiles repository terminates my upload constantly.

Title: Re: [Release (0.5)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on February 11, 2021, 02:08:27 pm

Update
A new version with 0.5, this one includes a complete new campaign in a whole :).
Have fun with the three missions of the "FreeSpace 2: Demo" campaign.
Spanish & Japanese is listed as "partially" in the translation table in the Opening Post (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=96944.msg1902298#msg1902298) for this campaign because the first of the three missions is mostly translated, as it uses strings from FreeSpace 2 Main Campaign.

Changelog:
• SM3-02 caused a crash with the French language setting in Version 0.4.X.
• The Iceni was not present in SM3-03 due to a wrong Arrival Cue that activated itself in the resave of the mission for NTP translation.
• Added the FreeSpace 2: Demo Campaign. -> Campaign complete!
• This campaign take place between 13th June 2367 through 22th June 2367. (Or 3rd Paoni 7859 to 12th Paoni 7859 in vasudan calendar)
• Added the Voice Files for the Demo Missions.
• Added a nameplate for the GTC Adamant.

Title: Re: [Release (0.5)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on February 27, 2021, 07:13:44 am

Due to some personal issues further development is only very slow, right now.
However there are also some great news, in the depths of FRED2 i also found the possibility to make Jump Nodes translateable in-mission. As the spanish translation used the spanish names of all the star systems originally (or to say partially, as they were not translated in every mission, which looks more like an oversight), they can now be properly integrated.

So, elements that are not translateable in a mission right now are Wing Names and the name of the Support Ship. But well, i hope that will be possible in some future :).


Well, i am not sure if i should post it here, but well, as i announced on Twitter already, i started a NTP video playthrough series on my YouTube channel. I am playing through the FreeSpace 2 Main Campaign on Insane difficulty with the german language setting and i am using the current InDev versions of NTP Version 0.6. So there are some background info in the video descriptions aswell :).
This video series does not only serve for hunting of remaining bugs (i simple see much more issues if i can watch only), but also for promotional reasons so that people know outside of HLP, that such mod actually exists... and well, and of course to have some NTP video material on YT.

NTP 0.6: FreeSpace 2 [German] Playlist (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn48T37137OAeijOGYZsJRPpnw9H3D8Si)

Title: Re: [Release (0.5)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on March 08, 2021, 05:14:12 am

Well, today the last playthrough video will be published for the time being @ 8 PM GMT+1.

Because of circumstances i have to do a break. So the last mission of Act 1 is the last before the break.
I hope to be able to pick it up again in one or two weeks, so that the Act 2 Playthrough still continue in March.

Well, at least it was very helpful, to find some errors, also to find out that some missions with current data are not working as flawless as they did in Retail.
Also some $quote tags in the text broke the Byte Limit without any error message. So i was forced to replace them with Guillemets, as these are the only allowed quotation marks in German that fit in one byte.

Right now i am thinking about to release a 0.5.1 update that contains the fixes i have done so far.
Alternatively i could simple hold them back to release them together with Operation Templar in 0.6.

Title: Re: [Release (0.5)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on March 16, 2021, 05:27:22 am

Some news :).

Due to recent developments, the development of Version 0.6 will take longer, as it tends to be the biggest update yet.
Next to some mission fixes, i encountered during my playthrough and the already announced Operation Templar campaign as a new addition, there will be actually two(!) whole new languages for NTP.
That means, that you will be able to experience at least the FreeSpace 2 Main Campaign in 7 languages.


The implementation and some tests will take a while, though.

Title: Re: [Release (0.5)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: ferlanero on April 15, 2021, 08:57:06 am

Hi friends,

I have been playing Free Space since it was originally released. Then I enjoyed so much all the stuff this great community does with the release of the code. Yesterday, looking at the mod database I found this NTP great Mod (thanks for release it) but... I can't figure how to change the game to Spanish after installing the mod. Could someone please point and help me how to select the Spanish language for Free Space? Yesterday I was reading the NTP thread on this forum, searching in internet, and looking all around the Knossos interface, but still no luck :( How can I change language using NTP? Is there any how-to? Thanks in advance!

Title: Re: [Release (0.5)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on April 16, 2021, 04:14:54 am

Knossos does not support languages, that are not supported by retail, at least right now.

So you have to change to spanish manually.

So, you can use my Language Selector (https://www.moddb.com/engines/fs2-open-engine/downloads/fs2-open-language-selector) for that, which should even work without any extraction, or you go to the folder %appdata%/HardLightProductions/FreeSpaceOpen and open the file fs2open.ini with Notepad(++).

There should be a "Language=" entry, you have to change to Language=Spanish.
Is there none, you have to add it in the [Default] segment.

Title: Re: [Release (0.5)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: ferlanero on April 16, 2021, 04:27:53 pm

Quote from: Novachen on April 16, 2021, 04:14:54 am

Knossos does not support languages, that are not supported by retail, at least right now.

So you have to change to spanish manually.

So, you can use my Language Selector (https://www.moddb.com/engines/fs2-open-engine/downloads/fs2-open-language-selector) for that, which should even work without any extraction, or you go to the folder %appdata%/HardLightProductions/FreeSpaceOpen and open the file fs2open.ini with Notepad(++).

There should be a "Language=" entry, you have to change to Language=Spanish.
Is there none, you have to add it in the [Default] segment.

Thank you very much for your answer! But I´m afraid I have no fs2open.ini and your program only shows as available Gernan & English languages :( Is there any more I could do?

Oh I forget. Knossos automatically installed FreeSpaceOpen in C:/Games/FreeSpaceOpen and there are "bin" "FS2" & "temp" folders. I don´t know if this could help...

Title: Re: [Release (0.5)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on April 16, 2021, 05:52:59 pm

Quote from: ferlanero on April 16, 2021, 04:27:53 pm

Quote from: Novachen on April 16, 2021, 04:14:54 am

Knossos does not support languages, that are not supported by retail, at least right now.

So you have to change to spanish manually.

So, you can use my Language Selector (https://www.moddb.com/engines/fs2-open-engine/downloads/fs2-open-language-selector) for that, which should even work without any extraction, or you go to the folder %appdata%/HardLightProductions/FreeSpaceOpen and open the file fs2open.ini with Notepad(++).

There should be a "Language=" entry, you have to change to Language=Spanish.
Is there none, you have to add it in the [Default] segment.

Thank you very much for your answer! But I´m afraid I have no fs2open.ini and your program only shows as available Gernan & English languages :( Is there any more I could do?

Oh I forget. Knossos automatically installed FreeSpaceOpen in C:/Games/FreeSpaceOpen and there are "bin" "FS2" & "temp" folders. I don´t know if this could help...

Nope, only the user interface of the program is english or german, which should be obvious ( :confused: ) as the first selection talks about program language and not about game language in the first place.
After that initial selection, you can select the game language.
Your lack of faith is disturbing :lol:. As i had set up this whole thing, you can be sure, that you are able to change the language into spanish with the methods i mention here.

No, the fs2open.ini is in your appdata\roaming folder as mentioned. Only exception is, if you activated portable mode in your global FSO flags, which is very unlikely.

Title: Re: [Release (0.5)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: ferlanero on April 17, 2021, 03:11:55 am

Quote from: Novachen on April 16, 2021, 05:52:59 pm

Nope, only the user interface of the program is english or german, which should be obvious ( :confused: ) as the first selection talks about program language and not about game language in the first place.
After that initial selection, you can select the game language.
Your lack of faith is disturbing :lol:. As i had set up this whole thing, you can be sure, that you are able to change the language into spanish with the methods i mention here.

No, the fs2open.ini is in your appdata\roaming folder as mentioned. Only exception is, if you activated portable mode in your global FSO flags, which is very unlikely.

YOU ARE RIGHT! Spanish language working here!! :D Sorry for my misunderstanding. With the program you point me here, and following its its steps, changing language is like a children game! Thank you very much for all your work. This mod is just incredible!  ;)



[attachment deleted to save space]

Title: Re: [Release (0.5)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on June 03, 2021, 05:09:06 am

Well... this project went to sleep in the last couple of months. Unfortunately an aftermath of the tragedy during Corona in my personal life hit me hard. So I have to take special care for my husband, again.

So 0.6 is unfortunately on hold for quite a while now.

However i try to release a 0.5.1 Version instead soon. That one will update the Japanese Translation aswell will fix some other small and even some bigger issues.

Title: Re: [Release (0.5)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: wookieejedi on June 03, 2021, 08:51:23 am

This translation library is very helpful and impressive, and it's great to hear 0.5.1 might be released. Very sorry to hear about the personal toll Corona has taken on you and your family, and I hope your husband heals quickly!

Title: Re: [Release (0.5)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on July 21, 2021, 06:39:18 am

Well, unfortunately 0.5.1 is still far from ready  :(.

But well, at least i was able to upload a new version of my small Language Selector (https://www.moddb.com/games/freespace-2/downloads/fs2-open-language-selector).

Version 1.2.2-NTP has only one addition: You can also activate the italian language as well.

Even NTP does not support it right now (at least that will happen in 0.6. But i still try to squeeze that into 0.5.1) it already has a use.
Because you can properly play the built-in italian translation of the FreeSpace Port, now.

Title: Re: [Release (0.5)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on November 06, 2021, 06:35:25 am

Well, the last message was a few months ago.

But well, i think i should tell you about, what actually happened that causes that this Translation project got to a halt so far.

Because of an accident caused by me, my husband fell into a coma last year. And since he is awake again, life is very much connected with restrictions, because I have to support him on the way to recovery.
At the beginning of the year, his condition unexpectedly worsened again, which is why I actually had hardly any time apart from work. Accordingly, I preferred to use that time for other things than to work on a modification.

A lot of things I wanted to bring on the way for the next version have been left behind because of that.
Since several weeks he is again nearly so on the level, before he had his relapse at the beginning of the year. So now I have a little more time and don't have to take care of him exclusively anymore.
That's why I'm trying to slowly ramp up this project again.

The goal is to get at least one version finished by the end of the year.
Because NTP is still a huge construction site in version 0.5. Many of the QoL improvements I introduced with NTP in good conscience didn't really pay off and there was a general wish from some people to undo them so that this actually plays like the original campaigns with all the bugs and problems, just in a different language.

My goal for 0.5.1 is next to a compatibility to the current MVPs is to revert most of the so-called QoL improvements in the missions.
Also i will at least include the updated japanese translation i got many months ago.

Can not promise that i will able to include the polish and italian language, though.
I prefer to set the support for both languages on the list for a 0.5.2 or maybe even the 0.6 release.

Title: Re: [Release (0.5.1)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on December 28, 2021, 02:37:04 pm

Well, it was quite a journey, but after 12 months i was able to release an update for this  :lol:.

Changelog for 0.5.1
• MediaVPs 4.5.1 compatibility!
• Updated Japanese translation by Soy Sauce (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?action=profile;u=41455).
• Fixed spanish translation for the mission SM3-01 "Bearbaiting".
• NTP uses the tabled strings for the default language setting now. So english behaves now like any other language and can be customized via the string files.
• Jump Nodes in missions are now also translateable.
• Deleted the NTP AI profile as all former changes are now enabled by default within FSO.
• Get rid of most enhancements within the missions from 2367: Supernova & FreeSpace: Blue, as their experience was too far away from retail.
• Some smaller enhancements like bugfixes however are still present.
• The language selector is now part of the root package on Knossos.

Title: Re: [Release (0.5.1)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: wookieejedi on December 28, 2021, 03:16:28 pm

Great to have an update!

Title: Re: [Release (0.5.1)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on January 28, 2022, 05:27:07 am

Version 0.6 is somewhat on the way, even slowly. It will include another campaign with the Operation Templar, for Single Player of course.
Most prominent addition however will be the inclusion of two other languages: Polish and Italian.

Yesterday i have finished another step for the proper integration of them: An own Font.
Polish has some characters, that are not present in the default character set of Bank Gothic.
So i created an own one, which is based on the standard Bank Gothic, but uses some characters from its clones like Bank Sans or Squarish Sans. Practically you will do not see any difference in the game between the default and the additional characters. A simple switch to Bank Sans or Squarish Sans was however not possible, as i found out, that they lack few characters from the spanish language :lol:.
So this own font simple includes everything so far.

The reason behind this is easy: I do not have to offer a specific language package then.

So i am thinking about, how to bring that even a step further and to include the Japanese Characters as well.
That would ensure, that we do not have to fiddle around with different language packages at all and that you can switch freely between languages with the same mod files.

My question is, anyone know a font which has a similar style to Bank Gothic Medium, but support Japanese letters instead? The style of the japanese letters in the font from the Japanese package are way too different to include them in my opinion.
I am asking, because... maybe someone has an idea? :)

Title: Re: [Release (0.5.1)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on February 12, 2022, 05:31:09 am

Polish integration is complete and is also supported now (or to better say, will be in 0.6) :).
On that way i also fixed some errors in the official polish translation like wrong ship names, system names or that they called the Rebels Shivans sometimes  :D

After i heard so much bad things about the polish translation i have to say, that at least the text one is surprisingly accurate. Maybe it has its reputation because of the voice actors, then. However this mod is intended to be played with the original english voices.

(https://i.ibb.co/7xh7b4c/NTP-PL1.png) (https://ibb.co/ym2LVST)
(https://i.ibb.co/cDyhMKw/NTP-PL2.png) (https://ibb.co/Bqf2dHG)
(https://i.ibb.co/GP1nQdB/NTP-PL3.png) (https://ibb.co/XJdjxWN)
(https://i.ibb.co/6Zy0pCX/NTP-PL4.png) (https://ibb.co/j58kxXJ)

So, Italian is next.

Title: Re: [Release (0.5.1)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: wookieejedi on February 12, 2022, 08:05:17 am

Nice job!

Title: Re: [Development 0.6] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on March 19, 2022, 03:14:58 pm

Well, the last report was a month ago.

So i think i can tell you about some progress that happened in the mean time.
I am still working on 0.6  :).

Right now, i am in the middle of the integration of the Italian translation.

So the progress so far:

Cutscenes
The first thing i always do are the Cutscene subtitles. For the spanish translation back then, i had cutscenes with built-in subtitles, so i typewritten the text into the subtitle files.
(https://i.ibb.co/WD4XWVH/NTP-06-IT-1.png)

On all other languages like Polish i never had any subtitles (as there are voiced in the original), where i always translated the english original text into the specific language via translator and maybe even dictionaries.
Even Italian is a fan translation that exists... it does not contain any text for the subtitles. So i also had to create them from scratch too.
Interesting fact: The cutscene subtitles always get a revisit at the end of the development, as things like Ship class names or the Star System Names still change very often during the course of the translation.

So why i am doing the subtitles not at the end of the development in general? No idea actually. It always felt like a good start for me, that something is already translated completely with not very much effort  :lol:

Menus
The translation of the Menus and the technical database are also complete. So the tech database was adapted successfully to the string range of this translation library.
That is one of the things i mean that Ship class names can be changing since the Cutscene subtitles.
The italian translation i got was actually very unsure if it should call the ships by their english original name or by a translated one (most likely because it was done via automatic translators without further scrutiny). In many ship entries, it uses the translated name... so i actually changed the ship class names in general to them. So this is actually the same experience like in the French translation by Achille.
(https://i.ibb.co/GxPjKS0/NTP-06-IT-2.png)

The cover of the technical database also means that the weapon statistics that are present since MediaVPs are also translated... which is in this case an own translation aswell, as the old italian translation does not cover this.
(https://i.ibb.co/72DQZ5r/NTP-06-IT-3.png)

The technical database includes the intelligence tab aswell.
(https://i.ibb.co/Dw7z1MZ/NTP-06-IT-4.png)

Missions
As the menus are all done. I am already at the missions.
(https://i.ibb.co/J7F2QFj/NTP-06-IT-5.png)
Right now, i got the translation adapted for the first five missions of the FreeSpace 2 campaign. So the whole 53rd Hammerheads (or 53° Martelli  :rolleyes:) arc is finished and playable in italian  :)
(https://i.ibb.co/KLJb1Dz/NTP-06-IT-6.png)

I actually do not think, that i will be finished with this in April. My conservative prediction for a release would be May 2022.

Greetings,

Jenna

Title: Re: [Release (0.5.1)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: wookieejedi on March 19, 2022, 03:33:07 pm

Oh wow, that's some impressive progress!

Title: Re: [Development (0.6)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on April 10, 2022, 07:50:01 am

Heyya,

so, another development update. Actually a big one.

Polish and Italian translation integration is so far complete.
Both languages are now on the same level as NTP 0.5 is. So aswell FreeSpace 2 Main Campaign as FreeSpace 2 Demo campaign are translated and playable in both languages with a simple language switch.

So in fact, i COULD release a NTP 0.5.2 update. As this one is finished. But well, i still prefer to release it together as part of 0.6, which would make this version a much bigger step.

(https://i.ibb.co/ZhQ6m8K/NTP-06-PL-5.png) (https://i.ibb.co/WpCdxmp/NTP-06-PL-6.png)
(https://i.ibb.co/L8TqjKS/NTP-06-IT-7.png) (https://i.ibb.co/KDYJBqt/NTP-06-IT-8.png)

Because now i can start with the actual development of the content that makes NTP 0.6 to that specific version. New translateable missions. Namely the FS2 Operation Templar singleplayer campaign in this case.
Besides two completely new languages to experience FreeSpace 2 with, you will have even four new missions to play in the other languages as well. Isn't that great?  :lol:
Operation Templar will however the first campaign, where i can not offer a japanese translation unfortunately, (at least for now). But there will be some fixes in all existing languages, that includes the japanese one as well.

Greetings,

Jenna

Title: Re: [Release (0.5.1)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: wookieejedi on April 10, 2022, 08:19:07 am

Wow that's terrific news! Awesome progress  :)

Title: Re: [Release (0.6)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on April 29, 2022, 01:30:00 pm

Heyya guys,

Well, after the last development report it got way faster as i presumed. So i can already release the next step of NTP before May!

This is actually a big one, even you have only four new missions to play with a rebalanced version of FreeSpace 2's version of Operation Templar for single player, there are TWO NEW(!) fully integrated languages you can play this game in. Next to english, french, german, japanese and spanish you can also experience FreeSpace 2 in Italian and Polish!
But that it not all, there are also several other changes under the roof.

Changelog of Version 0.6:
• MjnMixael's HD Mainhalls 1.4.8 (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=96090.0) compatibility!
• Inclusion of the Polish translation by Interplay Entertainment (https://www.interplay.com/), but with special mention of Mito [PL] (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?action=profile;u=35518) for the cutscene subtitles.
• Inclusion of the Italian translation by marco111 (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?action=profile;u=41034).
• Both languages were adapted to NTP and got some own translations in this process by Novachen.
• Changed the name of the EFGIS package into EUR.
• All languages got a new language identifier according to ISO 639.
• Instead of the standard "Bank Gothic Md" font, the "FreeSpace-NTP" font is now used. It is a Font, that was exclusively created for this translation library by me.
• Some examples of new supported characters: Ā/ā, Ł/ł, Ṣ/ṣ, Ż/ż, ẞ/ß. The new font properly supports all six latin based languages that are part of NTP Version 0.6.
• Fixed the string table for the default language as it had an incorrect string range.
• Added some new translateable entries for the strings.tbl.
• Fixed the location of the CBrief for the mission loop2-1 "As Lightning Falls" correctly to GTD Soyakaze in the default language.
• Some formatting fixes in all languages, which also fix the error messages at launch of the Japanese translation.
• Some of the real existing Star Systems got a name in the German, Italian, Polish & Spanish translation that is more common there. (According to wikipedia at least)
• Added a spanish translation to the "FreeSpace 2: Demo" campaign with support by my sister. Thank you lil sis, you are the best translator tool i know 😘.
• Added the "FreeSpace 2: Operation Templar" Campaign. -> Campaign complete!
• FreeSpace 2: Operation Templar take place from 28th October 2347 to 30th October 2347. (14 Paopi 7840 to 16 Paopi 7840 in vasudan calendar)
• FreeSpace 2: Operation Templar is playable in English, French, German, Italian, Polish and Spanish languages.

Opening Post was updated. So have fun.
Would like to hear some reports  :)

Greetings,

Jenna

Title: Re: [Release (0.6)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on May 05, 2022, 05:20:30 pm

As NTP 0.6 is the first release, i am somewhat satisfied with, i decided to bring the dormant NTP ModDB (https://www.moddb.com/mods/freespace-ntp) up-to-date.

That was actual the page for my (very controversial) campaign updates i made a few years ago. However i renamed that page after I decided to completely remodel my translation efforts at the time. Most of the screenshots and (now archived) downloads there are still from that campaign updates.
But well, i posted some new NTP screenshots, however nothing new for the people who use the Forum. All screenshots were already posted in this thread.

Did not find time to write a release article yet (maybe at the weekend?). However i found time to create an Installer for NTP for a proper manual install.


Regarding the next version 0.7.
Currently i did nothing after the release of 0.6. :D

I will take a look in the FreeSpace-NTP font however for that version again. Some of the "new" characters seems to need a redraw or at least different scaling settings. There ARE actually very small differences i found out after i looked closer to some screenshots.

Title: Re: [Release (0.6)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: wookieejedi on May 06, 2022, 07:59:00 am

Oh that’s a big update, awesome! All the work you’re doing to bring expanded translation access to FS is really terrific!

Title: Re: [Release (0.6)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on May 06, 2022, 05:48:04 pm

Quote from: wookieejedi on May 06, 2022, 07:59:00 am

Oh that’s a big update, awesome! All the work you’re doing to bring expanded translation access to FS is really terrific!

Thank you very much. It actually means something to me that someone appreciates one of my works here :).

Even there is still a very long way ahead with many versions before this project may will be really catch greater interest.
At the moment it still covers only a game that is over 20 years old and surely everyone who is interested has played it at some point already.
I just hope I can keep my motivation up long enough for this to really find its place here as a permanent expansion that people look forward to, and not have someone stumble across it in a few years and it turn out to be just an attempt by then.

I mean, there are more than enough of "attempts" on HLP.  :)

Title: Re: [Release (0.6)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: wookieejedi on May 07, 2022, 06:46:13 am

Quote from: Novachen on May 06, 2022, 05:48:04 pm

Quote from: wookieejedi on May 06, 2022, 07:59:00 am

Oh that’s a big update, awesome! All the work you’re doing to bring expanded translation access to FS is really terrific!

Thank you very much. It actually means something to me that someone appreciates one of my works here :).

Even there is still a very long way ahead with many versions before this project may will be really catch greater interest.
At the moment it still covers only a game that is over 20 years old and surely everyone who is interested has played it at some point already.
I just hope I can keep my motivation up long enough for this to really find its place here as a permanent expansion that people look forward to, and not have someone stumble across it in a few years and it turn out to be just an attempt by then.

I mean, there are more than enough of "attempts" on HLP.  :)

This project definitely fills a much needed space in the FS mod Eschelon. And indeed, attracting players from many different languages is a terrific goal that will help contribute to keeping FSO gaining new folks  :)

Title: Re: [Release (0.6.1)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on June 06, 2022, 05:49:38 am

Update time. I waited until the FSOInstaller got the MVP 4.6.X, as to make any manual installation method mutually compatible.
Well, i simple missed a version jump, so i thought 4.6.3 is the current one. In all documents MediaVPs 4.6.3 are mentioned, but however it is a proper 4.6.4 compatibility.

NTP 0.6.1 is ready to download. Nothing big actually. Missions needed an update due to the new AI Profile and some of the strings could be omitted due to the new animation code. Apart from that, i fixed some stylistic errors in the FreeSpace-NTP font. So the font got an update aswell.

Changelog of Version 0.6.1:
• MediaVPs 4.6.4 (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=98197.0) compatibility!
• Fixed some string range errors under the fsu_credits-crd.tbm segment in the default, italian and polish language.
• Updated "FreeSpace-NTP" font. Following characters were revised: Â/â, Ą/ą, Č/č, Ē/ē, Ĕ/ĕ, Ė/ė, Ę/ę, Ě/ě, Ğ/ğ, Ñ/ñ, Õ/õ, Ź/ź, Ż/ż, Ž/ž, ẞ/ß.

Also the FreeSpace 2 Open Installer (22.0.0-4.6.4) (https://www.moddb.com/mods/freespace-ntp/downloads/fs2open-installer-ntp) on the ModDB site includes now also a "NTP" installation preset. That one installs a build, launcher and only the MediaVPs that are absolutely necessary for NTP. The installer also mentions 4.6.3 even 4.6.4 is included.

Opening post was updated, so have fun.
Would still like to see some feedback and experience reports  :)

Greetings,

Jenna

Title: Re: [Release (0.6.1)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Toranks on July 03, 2022, 08:39:21 pm

I came here looking for compatibility with MVPS 4.6.5 and I see that it is already updated, although Knossos still has 0.6.0
How can I install 0.6.1 so that I can boot and manage it from Knossos?

EDIT:
A manual installation seems to work. I start it from Knossos as usual, and now I get both the new version of MVPS and NTP and the tutorial works.

By the way, would you accept corrections to the spanish translation? In the menus and HUD there are errors that, in addition to being incorrect, are too long and cover other texts, such as in the HUD. And some mispelling i've encountered. I am making the corrections for myself in the *spa-lcl.tbm files.

Title: Re: [Release (0.6.1)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on July 04, 2022, 11:03:27 am

I got info about a critical bug in 0.6.1 due to a misspelled variable that causes a crash in a mission.

I am working on a 0.6.2 update because i got some other reports (finally  :D) that need to fix.
But well, as a temporary measure there is a fixed ntp_root.vp on fsfiles (https://sectorgame.com/fsfiles/repo/data/Novachen/Translations/NTP/ntp_root_fix.7z). It is somekind of unofficial update, that ensures that you can play through the main campaign.
The fixed root archive has to be extracted in the ntp folder.

I think this error was introduced in 0.6, as i remember that i fixed a different bug in that specific mission for 0.5 :blah:. For Troubleshooting it was the last time i played that mission, as i never reached that mission in my regular playthrough with the 0.6 Beta :D.

0.6.2 will include some additional fixes in some missions, but well, they are not critical enough for a hotfix release. Hope that i can release the upcoming version in one of the next two weekends.


In other news:
There is nothing going on in terms of 0.7.0 though and i actually do not think, that anything will happen until Q4/2022. Maybe late in Q3 if the weather gets too bad.


So, for the questions:

Quote from: Toranks on July 03, 2022, 08:39:21 pm

I came here looking for compatibility with MVPS 4.6.5 and I see that it is already updated, although Knossos still has 0.6.0

Well, it seems that Knossos still do Knossos things  :lol:.

Because of the upcoming 0.6.2 update i do not think, that i will fix that. So i simple recommend manual installation for the time being. Or you have to wait one or two weeks.

Quote

By the way, would you accept corrections to the spanish translation?

Of course i do  :).
As that is a language without any translator right now.
So it's translation is mostly based a very old one i adapted to NTP myself and got some own translations by me even i am not speaking spanish at all.

So i never played through it on spanish on the first place. I did only small random tests.

Title: Re: [Release (0.6.2)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on July 31, 2022, 03:59:12 am

Time for another update.

Nothing new for NTP 0.7 actually. But well, 0.6.1 still has more than enough hiccups, so an update come in handy. Especially during a twitch livestream of NTP 0.6.1 i saw some problems in the missions. So the most part of this update are mission bugfixes.

Changelog of Version 0.6.2:
• MediaVPs 4.6.5 (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=98197.0) compatibility!
• MjnMixael's HD Mainhalls 1.4.10 (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=96090.0) compatibility!
• Various Mission fixes.
- SM1-03 "The Romans Blunder": The Psamtik was repositioned and rearmed to make sure, that it uses the Anti Capital Beam Cannons against the NTF cruisers.
- SM1-09 "Into the Maelstrom": The hull status of the GTFr Parracombe and Cargo Pod 163 is now bound to each other to show the correct hull damage.
- loop1-1 "Rebels and Renegades": On its attack run on the NTFg Iceni it could happen, that the GVC Yaaru finished off the NTSC Hinton by accident. The Hinton got some more Hitpoints, which make it more survivable during the initial attack.
- SM2-02 "A Game of TAG": Scout 3 was destroyed, before he was able to send his complete communication message. That was fixed.
- SM2-03 "Proving Grounds": The GTD Aquitaine got some more Hitpoints, which should make this mission to a less drastic difficult spike in the game.
- SM2-08 "A Monster in the Mist": The LRed beam cannons of the SJ Sathanas were able to destroy the GVCv Maahes before the player was even half way through the subsystem scanning. The medal was unobtainable if a player played this mission in the intended way. The Maahes got more Hitpoints which give the player more time for the subsystem scanning. The intended way to play this mission was restored.
- SM2-09 "Speaking in Tongues": In the Briefing a GVCv Sopedu is mentioned. However only a GVCv Thutmose is present in the mission. The briefing text was corrected.
- SM3-02 "High Noon": If the SD Beleth was not destroyed during SM3-01 "Bearbaiting", it will reappear in this mission as a Support destroyer for the SJ Sathanas.
- SM3-03 "Return to Babel": An incorrect Variable Name caused a crash of the game. This critical error was fixed.
- SM3-04 "Straight, No Chaser": As the SJ Yama kills off the GVD Psamtik way too fast, not even all communication messages were played. The sequence was reorganized, so that all messages are present, now.
- SM3-05 "Argonautica": As inactive events were reactivated during NTP 0.5, this mission is several minutes longer and so it is also more difficult and more frustrating than in retail. Now, the GTD Aquitaine got more Hitpoints, so that this mission should be more like Retail difficulty again. The SJ Yama was repositioned and will appear further away from the Gamma Draconis Jump Node, now. The Aquitaine Escape Pods will now properly fly to the Gamma Draconis Jump Node.
- loop2-2 "Into the Lion's Den": Some buggy events in the original mission were fixed and restored. The Shivans will now check on the approaching GTF Maras and this will be commented by Snipes. The SI Dre Device that the player is ordered to scan is actually scannable now. Some ships were repositioned to be a better fit for the now-working events as well to reduce the waiting time at the Jump Node. The Sathanas Juggernaughts will jump in with the Knossos Warp Effect, now.
- SM3-08 "Their finest Hour": The GTVA capital ships used their beam cannons only on the initial shivan wave. The waypoints were changed so all other Shivan capital ships are also attacked with beam cannons. As the SJ Jagannatha kills the GTVA Colossus too quickly, the last communication message was never played in full. That sequence was slightly changed so that the full communication message is properly played.
- SM3-09 "Clash of the Titans II": Some communication messages by the wingmates were not playing. The events were adjusted so that all conversations are present, now. Deleted all leftovers of the SD Niobe events i introduced in NTP 0.5 and that were still present by accident since NTP 0.5.1.
- SPDemo-02 "Crisis in Capella": The GVD Psamtik appeared only very unreliable which cause that this mission did not have a consistent difficulty. Some events in this mission were changed to ensure, that the Psamtik will always appear.
• Several spelling fixes in the german language file.

Opening Post was updated. NTP Installation file on ModDB was also updated. Knossos will follow. The "FreeSpace 2 Open All-in-One Installer" will however get an update only after FSO 22.2 go out of RC. So long it still contains the MVP 4.6.4 models. Should be still compatible, though.


Would still like to see some feedback and experience reports :)

Greetings and Happy playin'

Jenna

Title: Re: [Development (0.7.0)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on October 18, 2022, 04:43:59 am

Heyya,

well, i think it is time for a small development announcement.

I had quite a lot on my mind again during the last couple of months since the last release.
As i heard nothing about annoying issues that are still present in 0.6.2, there will be no 0.6.3 update anymore.

Instead the development of NTP will continue with version 0.7. That version will bring back translated versions of the Standalone Singleplayer Missions in the Tech Room from the Game of the Year Edition.

As these missions are unaltered since retail i will however do some mission changes to modernize them like i did with the FreeSpace Port Standalone Single Missions in FreeSpace: Mission Disk: Redux (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=97871.0).

These mission updates will have some kind of time exclusiveness to NTP. For the time being there will be no seperate standalone release, as there are actually plans for a FreeSpace 2: Mission Disk: Redux like release however. That would also include converted standalone coop missions for single player as well... but will be released only after i am finished with the work on the coop section of NTP.

That would mean... with luck in two years or so :lol:
(i actually hope not, even there is actually a massive number of standalone coop missions through the multi mission pack)

Greetings,

Novachen

Title: Re: [Development (0.7.0)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on December 29, 2022, 06:38:02 am

Well, as 2022 is coming to an end, i use the opportunity for an End of the Year report as there will be nothing happen anymore in the current year.

I have to admit, that i was not able to accomplish my personal goals that i set for NTP in 2022.
This year only saw the release of Version 0.6, which however was a big milestone nevertheless.
This version added two whole languages for this game, which made it possible, that you can experience the FreeSpace 2 campaign in six languages with current MediaVPs (even NTP was last tested with now slightly outdated ones, it should still be compatible) for the first time. Also the FreeSpace 2: Demo campaign was released for the first time in italian, polish and spanish aswell.

Version 0.6 saw also the release of the FreeSpace-NTP font, which is an exclusive created font based upon the original Bank Gothic Md to include all the characters that are present in the five latin-based languages. Especially in the newly included polish and italian languages there were some chars, that have to be added.
During the further development of Version 0.6 there was a release of the 0.6.2 Update which includes many bugfixes in the Main Campaign missions. Some of them were timing adjustments so that messages got properly played completely, others were however fundamental bugfixes, so that the missions are working much like in Retail again. These bugfixes were needed due to changed AI or SEXP behaviour in process of Code changes by FSO.

However, my goal this year was to release at least Version 0.7 which would had complete the Single Player segment of FreeSpace 2 with the Standalone Single Missions.
But well, life was playing a different game with me again. During the summer a lightning strike fried the telephone line in my house. This disconnected myself from the internet for several weeks. As i did not had an unlimited volume of data for my mobile phone contractor back then, that event caused extreme difficulties and problems at work, as well financial damages i am still in the process to sort out.
During autumn a thunderstorm also damaged the roof of our house as well. So in every rain shower we had to make sure, that not too much water runs into the house.

And last but not least, in November we had a house search by the police here because my husband is suspected of certain acts. All of his hardware was confiscated.
Of course I believe in his innocence, but this whole thing was quite an additional emotional burden for me. Especially because although his health is better, he's still not fully recovered.

But these are all reasons why it just wasn't enough for more than version 0.6 to 0.6.2 this year.
The second half of this year was just extremely difficult and that will probably drag on into the first months of 2023.
Will therefore not promise too much after this year for the next year in this project. But you should be able to count on version 0.7, because I shouldn't let this project die here. And for that there should be something at least once a year.

Greetings,

Jenna

Title: Re: [Release (0.6.2)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: wookieejedi on December 29, 2022, 08:19:20 am

Having version 0.6 and the subsequent updates out this year was terrific. Very sorry to hear about all those rough and unfortunate events that made the second half of the year so difficult, and hopefully the upcoming year will be better as time goes on.

Title: Re: [Release (0.6.3)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on December 06, 2023, 08:45:39 am

Well, that was a hell of the year.

In terms of work, I was pretty busy and it was successful. Unfortunately, there was no time for hobby projects like this one.
So there was no big progress this year. I hope to finish version 0.7 with new missions in 2024 then.

But because there are new MediaVPs, I at least had to find time for a compatibility update.
So here it is. But there are more things under the hood.

For example, around 200 new entries for strings.tbl, which basically means that the new options menu, which is still under development, has already been translated.
As always, Achille has contributed the French texts. I did the German ones. All other languages were partly translated with a mixture of translation tools and AI. The best I can offer as a person, who does not speak Italian, Spanish, Polish or even Japanese  :nervous:.

The build from 06th December 2023 (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=99072.0) is required. I have not currently installed Knossos due to circumstances, so I recommend considering it as a supplement to manual installation or the FSO installer right now. I hope that i will be able to add this to FSOInstaller in the near future at least, as i have to update my things there too anyway.

Changelog of Version 0.6.3:
• MediaVPs 4.7.1 (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=99050.0) compatibility!
• Updated strings.tbl. All translatable strings added since NTP's 0.6.2 release are now supported. This includes the new in-game settings menu currently in development.
• Some strings from the Retail FreeSpace 2 Launcher had to be restored for this as well.
• The japanese translation of "Escape Pod Bay" exceeded the 32 Bit Buffer, which cause crashes on newer FSO builds. Another shorter term is now used.
• The japanese language package now also includes the complete default (aka english) language, as the used japanese font support all english letters anyway.
• Added new entries to the controlconfigdefaults.tbl to prevent the usage of duplicate IDs and to ensure proper translatability for every input setting.
• Changed MediaVPs & HD Mainhall files are now in their own VP files in preparation to make NTP more independent from both in the future.
• Mission update in SM1-08 "The Sixth Wonder": Some event changes on the NTCv Hawkwood & NTC Conquest to make them less obviously indestructible for fighters.
• Mission update in SM3-02 "High Noon": If the SD Beleth survives SM3-01 "Bearbaiting" with active beam cannons, it will now also provide proper fire support for the SJ Sathanas with them.
• Mission update in SM3-04 "Straight, No Chaser": The SJ Yama/GVD Psamtik sequence has been slightly optimized.
• Mission update in loop2-2 "Into the Lion's Den": Further repositioning of some ships. The mission should be solvable with all objectives on Insane difficulty again. Also, the Shivan check on the GTF Maras happens earlier now.
• Mission update in DemoTrain "Training": Command Briefing did not have any voice because of a wrong file name. This was corrected.

Opening Post was updated.


Greetings and Happy playin'

Jenna

Title: Re: [Release (0.6.3)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on December 16, 2023, 04:24:40 am

So, NTP is also part of the FSOInstaller now, which means that it also downloads all required files automatically aswell.

I looked into the MediaVPs 4.7.2 and its chagelog suggest that there should be any incompatibilites to NTP 0.6.3. So you can safely update.

As stated in the NTP 0.6.3 changelog, i already moved all changed MediaVPs & HD Mainhall files for NTP into its own VP files.
The target for Version 0.7 is to official provide a base version of NTP that is launchable regardless of the current Mainhall/MediaVPs version. Or even to play retail like without any of them.
I think the content of the specific vps could be changed for 0.7 aswell, if they will even survive in the long term, as i think there is a much better way to keep compatibility, but i have to put more time into this.

If there is an upcoming MediaVPs version that cause incompatibilites, you should already able to remove the ntp_mediavps_47x.vp now and can still use NTP's translations together with any new feature. In this case, only a few texts would again be untranslated.
This standalone solution was desired by myself, as i could not work on this project for over a year and so missed some MediaVPs releases.

But as far as i have not tested this actually, i give no guarantee yet.

Title: Re: [Release (0.6.3)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Toranks on February 25, 2024, 04:40:25 pm

How is this project going? If anyone is willing to update it to be fully compatible with the latest updates of FSO and MVP (4.7.2), I am willing to help with the Spanish translation, which has numerous errors.

Title: Re: [Release (0.6.3)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Novachen on February 26, 2024, 03:51:51 am

0.6.3 was released for the current MediaVPS. So it should be fully compatible with 4.7.2.

But i have no spanish translator. So If you want to update the spanish translation, you can fix the errors in the spanish language files and send them to me and i will release a 0.6.4 update  :D

There are no news for 0.7 right now. But i am positive, that i will find time for this during the year. I know that there is no big progress for some time already. It is not a lack of motivation, but the lack of free time for this. I did not gave up on this. This project is still maintained for compatibility right now, even there are no new translated campaigns for the moment.
But there will in the future.

Title: Re: [Release (0.6.3)] NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface
Post by: Toranks on February 26, 2024, 10:21:37 am

Okay thanks! Indeed, it seems to be compatible with any version of Freespace from 23.3 to 24.0 without errors, same with MVP 4.7.2 so I consider it good. I'm already correcting strings.