[TopAce]

My next mod, Descendants of Sol, is nearing completion. After one year and two months of development, I'm almost ready to release it to the public. It's the most challenging and time-consuming mod that I have worked on, and I want to make sure that the mod is as good as I can make it.

I want to make sure that the story I'm telling is conveyed clearly and well. As you may know, I'm not a native speaker of English, so certain sentences may sound "unnatural" and certain word choices might be out-of-place. That's why I need some help. I need a reliable grammar checker who meets all the following requirements:

• Be a native speaker of English. This is CRUCIAL!
  
• Be willing to learn about the mod's story background, setting, characters, events before beginning the actual grammar checking. I'll provide you with a to-date Word document with all relevant information about the plot's details and the mod's technicalities (mission outlines, character descriptions, etc.).
  
• Be able to understand the context (including the story as a whole, characters and their traits, and even the particular mission's objectives) in which the sentence is uttered, and be able to judge the sentence, word choice accordingly. Since this is a story-driven mod, it's very important that the characters speak "naturally". Place heavy emphasis on verbs and adjectives.
• Have a rich vocabulary. The man that I need must find the best word to convey the intended meaning.
• Be able to detect and eliminate repetitions whenever reasonable. I get the feeling that despite my use of the thesaurus, certain words and sentence structures are repeated way too many times.
• Be well-versed in military parlance.
• Be available daily.

Good spelling is not required. Just be able to pick the best word, eliminate and improve on stupid sentence structures, and I can do the rest. There are 20 mission files that need checking, plus tech database and intelligence entries.

I plan to organize the grammar checking in the following way:
- I give you all the mod's files, including the Word document I used for developmental reference.
- You play through the mod to understand what's going on, then go through the missions, one by one.
- I prefer that you don't grammar-check inside the mission file, but compile a long text-only document with all the grammar-checked lines instead. I prefer to work on the missions some more while grammar checking is in progress, so it's the best method to use to avoid file conflicts.

[Nuclear1]

I think I fit 90% of that description.  I'm in.

[TopAce]

Thanks for the offer.

I'll send you a PM with some info soon.

[Mobius]

First of all, great work! Descendants of Sol is nearing completion and that makes me happy. I'll create a similar thread in the future so I know how you're feeling...

One thing: why is Notepad editing unsafe for you? It makes things easier, makes missing lines impossible and also makes correcting badly spelled wing, ship and character names ridiculously easy. Speaking of risks, it's always possible to create backups and replace files only when they prove to work correctly. I see you want to work on mission files during the grammar-checking phase, but doing that will almost certainly require a lot of time... so why don't you wait for grammar-checking before working on a given mission? That'd be easier and painless if you know how to organize your work. Just a suggestion.

[TopAce]

First of all, great work! Descendants of Sol is nearing completion and that makes me happy. I'll create a similar thread in the future so I know how you're feeling...

Thanks

One thing: why is Notepad editing unsafe for you?

Can you quote the message you have in mind? I didn't mention Notepad here. If you remember me complain about Notepad, it's because it randomly adds line breaks where it shouldn't be there, and it makes things untidy and hard to follow.

I see you want to work on mission files during the grammar-checking phase, but doing that will almost certainly require a lot of time... so why don't you wait for grammar-checking before working on a given mission? That'd be easier and painless if you know how to organize your work. Just a suggestion.

When I wrote the first post, I was still planning to improve the missions. Now I'm working on two other projects simultaneously, so I'll return to testing Sol only as soon as grammar checking is complete.

[Mobius]

Can you quote the message you have in mind? I didn't mention Notepad here. If you remember me complain about Notepad, it's because it randomly adds line breaks where it shouldn't be there, and it makes things untidy and hard to follow.

Sorry, you didn't mention Notepad... it's just that, as far as I know, there are two ways to grammar-check a mission: via FRED and via Notepad (or similar programs). The former makes missing lines much more easier, so that's why I wouldn't recommend it.

EDIT: "Coming Jul 31, 2010" 

[TopAce]

I need at least one more for the remaining 20 missions. Read the first post if you want to apply first.

[General Battuta]

I wish I could.  I'd really like to help.

[Mobius]

How about starwolf1991? He's already working on some stuff for me, but I may ask him to redirect his attention to DoS because it's much more closer to release than INFASA.

[TopAce]

I'd welcome any help. If he wants to, I'd appreciate his help, and of course your offer, too.

[Mobius]

I'm redirecting his attention to this thread right now.

[Klaustrophobia]

if you still need the help i'm willing.  i'm not much for original writing, but i'm rather good with syntax and style, and what you are talking about sounds right up my ally (i'm not great with the military speak though).  i'll be available freely until class starts august 18th.  i'll still have some time after that, but not as much.

[starwolf1991]

Greetings.

Mobius did direct me to this thread; I've read what's been going on, and understand your urgent need for an editor.

Now, I would like to help out. With plenty of spare time, I could quickly read through levels in notepad and perform any necessary edits. I have to say, it won't be that simple however; My spare time is largely limited due to studies, and a few mod teams have me doing small stuff already.

If you would like me to have a go at editing, I will try. But I can't give any guarantees.

[TopAce]

Great!

You're both hired. I'll send you the files soon, with the instructions and some developer notes.

[Javito1986]

Do you still need help with this? I've been dying to flex my writing muscles on a Freespace project.

[TopAce]

Sorry, but no. There are only four missions left to be checked now, and they're already assigned.

Thanks for applying, though.