jkk
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spelling errors

Mon Mar 17, 2008 3:53 pm

I would just like to be able to fix those spelling errors in the game that are fixable (those not frozen by presence as part of a game graphic). I am thinking of leader names, unit names and city names.

Can anyone tell me which files govern these names, and whether I may safely fix spelling errors in them?

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Heldenkaiser
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Mon Mar 17, 2008 4:03 pm

Wouldn't it be better for the community if these errors were fixed permanently, i.e. by the designers? :innocent:
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lodilefty
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Mon Mar 17, 2008 4:17 pm

Heldenkaiser wrote:Wouldn't it be better for the community if these errors were fixed permanently, i.e. by the designers? :innocent:


I agree.
Start a list & we'll campaign for the 'fix'. :nuts:

Some of the changes you discuss could create issues with events [there are often references to names in the event scripts]..... :siffle:
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jkk
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Mon Mar 17, 2008 6:46 pm

Heldenkaiser wrote:Wouldn't it be better for the community if these errors were fixed permanently, i.e. by the designers? :innocent:


I thought they had issued the last patch they planned to issue, so that was a dead issue.

I'd be happy to fix spelling errors so they could include them in a patch if that's what the designers want, or to share them with whomever wants them. These days, at least in my country, not only do most people not spell correctly or care about correct spelling, it's considered bad form to look down on people for any flawed written English. I certainly don't fault people for whom English is a second language for making errors; I make plenty of errors in written Spanish, French and several other languages.

So I'm not evangelizing; I'm used to being the only one who cares, and I'm at peace with that. I just want to learn how to fix them without breaking anything in my own game. I happen to be a very good speller and proofreader, and would like to stop looking at the South Carolina 'Loyaltists', and would like to get either 'Pigot' or 'Pigott' or 'Piggott' straight once and for all, etc., etc.

If it's not possible, that's okay. If that's how it is, that's how it is. Can I learn whether it's possible?

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lodilefty
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Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:22 pm

It's worth the effort, if for no other reason than to correct these irritants in BOA2....

And it can be assembled as a mod for BOA if no further patch is issued.

The best way:
Download the database. [It really should be changed in the DB to get into BOA2]
http://ageoddl.telechargement.fr/latest/BOA_DB.zip

Start with the LocalStrings_BOA42.xls and make corrections anywhere other than Column 'A'.

You can then try it in your installation [we'll help you get it extracted and put in the right place]. :siffle:
If you wish to, post the results here for all to share. :sourcil:

As to people's names, propose changes with data sources. The modders community will help understand what is easy to fix, what isn't....

....and my mother was an English teacher. Spelling counts! :niark:
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jkk
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Tue Mar 18, 2008 3:25 pm

Okay, wading through this, just editing the description column B. (I've worked on modding before, so I know not to just randomly screw with things.) Preliminary observations:

1) This can be handled at two levels of editing. One can either just correct the most blatant errors (the stuff that sounds like Borat). Or one could recast about half the sentences. I honestly don't have the time or energy to do that, so it'll have to be just the most blatant errors.

2) Some of these leaders I have never heard of and can't find any clear references to. I'm hiliting those so I can ask about them here. Unless I can find independent reference to a leader, clearly I can't be confident how his name is spelled.

3) Does column B have a char limit one can bump up against? Obviously it would get awkward with unit or leader names, and just as obviously, there's some limit to scenario text or they wouldn't have broken them up in multiple pieces.

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lodilefty
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Tue Mar 18, 2008 4:21 pm

jkk wrote:Okay, wading through this, just editing the description column B. (I've worked on modding before, so I know not to just randomly screw with things.) Preliminary observations:

1) This can be handled at two levels of editing. One can either just correct the most blatant errors (the stuff that sounds like Borat). Or one could recast about half the sentences. I honestly don't have the time or energy to do that, so it'll have to be just the most blatant errors.

2) Some of these leaders I have never heard of and can't find any clear references to. I'm hiliting those so I can ask about them here. Unless I can find independent reference to a leader, clearly I can't be confident how his name is spelled.

3) Does column B have a char limit one can bump up against? Obviously it would get awkward with unit or leader names, and just as obviously, there's some limit to scenario text or they wouldn't have broken them up in multiple pieces.


1) OK
2) OK. Remember that spelling didn't even begin to be standardized until Webster wrote his book. And names? In the US an immigrant family could end up with several spellings depending on which agent interviewed them at Ellis Island!!!! :niark:
3) {you're going to hate this answer} It depends!
I'm not sure what the 'hard code limit' is, but the 'display limit' is set by where each string gets used:

For each 'group' of strings, let the existing ones serve as a guide [don't exceed length of any in that group]

By group, I mean for example:
'evt_nam_xxxxx' [the text that appears in the 'turn log' report numbered 1, 2, etc.]
'evt_txt_xxx' [the full text 'stores' you see whn a reported event is highlighted in red]

etc. etc.

You're on the right track! Soon you'll be another 'mad modder' :niark:
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jkk
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Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:04 pm

lodilefty wrote:2) OK. Remember that spelling didn't even begin to be standardized until Webster wrote his book. And names? In the US an immigrant family could end up with several spellings depending on which agent interviewed them at Ellis Island!!!! :niark:


Yeah, that includes my own family. Dutch Kuykendalls became 'Kirkendall', and so forth. If you showed up at EI and your name was Schreckenburg, the immigration guy would say 'Look, the hell with it. Your name is now Shrek, got it?'

I won't stress about length because in most cases I'm making things shorter rather than longer, removing redundant words, or fixing mismatched prepositions.

On spellings, since it is true that ye FpellingF vayried over ye yearF Fo muche thatte it iF evadent Fome naymeF were never Fpellt ye Fame twyce, my logic is to look at how the more official and formal histories render people, especially if the descendants are involved. Take Dolley Madison, for example. Most people misspell her first name as 'Dolly'--but that's incorrect. But one wouldn't learn that unless one dug into the topic.

What surprises me is being completely unable to identify some of the leaders. But I'll find them, one way or another.

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lodilefty
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Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:26 pm

Oh, Ftop it, ye Filly PerFon.....

:niark: :niark:
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jkk
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Sun Mar 23, 2008 2:57 am

Okay. I have finished the basic spelling fixes for LocalStrings_BOA42.xls. I used the following guidelines:

1) Stay out of column A. In practice, this meant no global search and replace was feasible. (Global search, yes, but they had to be fixed manually to avoid breaking column A.)

2) Fix only obvious spelling errors, not paying too much attention to scenario descriptions as they would take a long time and it would be just as easy to completely rewrite them (which I could do in about 3/4 the space on average, but decided not to undertake).

3) Fix only what I was sure of. Which meant in some cases I know there's something wrong, but I didn't do anything because I don't know what is the correct alternative.

4) Be careful with the non-English language columns. While I happen to speak French and Spanish and a bit of Russian, obviously the designers speak better French than me and almost certainly have access to better Spanish and Russian. However, this wasn't usually a factor since what I was editing was usually a 'foreign' proper noun (relative to the language in question), for which most languages don't change the spelling. In any case, the Cyrillic spellings looked like the best of the bunch--I would bet that the Russian localizer was a native speaker with perfect biliteracy in English. What I'm saying is that while I did take a look, I tried to also use sensible restraint in this. For example, you would never say 'Tuscaroras Indians' in English, but you might say 'Tuscaroras Indiens' in French because French modifiers have to agree with the noun.

I did notice that some of the unit and place names that need fixing aren't in this file, at least in the 1775-83 campaign. I am sure there's still work to be done in the other files. Anyway, it's time for the next step. I'm sure someone will want to review this to make sure I didn't do anything idiotic.

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Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:09 am

:coeurs:

Sounds like good work!

In order for us to get these into WIA [BoA2], can you upload the .xls file here? It would help if you highlighted the cells with changes [now he tells him :siffle: ] so they are easy to find. :sourcil:

If you want to share these as a mod for BoA, you should also upload the extracted csv file, ready to copy/paste into the Settings folder. :king:

We'll make a modder out of you yet! :niark:
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jkk
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Sun Mar 23, 2008 5:55 pm

lodilefty wrote:In order for us to get these into WIA [BoA2], can you upload the .xls file here? It would help if you highlighted the cells with changes [now he tells him :siffle: ] so they are easy to find. :sourcil:

I can definitely upload the .xls here so it can help with BoA2. I can't highlight the cells with changes because I couldn't possibly locate them all in hindsight. Any retro-highlighting would be incomplete. That's the kind of request that one needs to know about before one begins.
lodilefty wrote:If you want to share these as a mod for BoA, you should also upload the extracted csv file, ready to copy/paste into the Settings folder. :king:

Fine by me, though I'm assuming someone else has already edited that file in the name of modding, so I'm not sure why anyone would want it as it is if they're using any other mod at all. Do I just extract the sheet to a .csv, that simple?
lodilefty wrote:We'll make a modder out of you yet! :niark:

Well, I've often been a sort of mod support person who helps with certain areas. Rarely would I care to code new events, for example. But when it came to the Hearts of Iron II unit names list, I was all about that. So I stay within my core competencies, which are English and history, and avoid things I suck at.

How do I fix the rest of the unit names? The South Carolina 'Loyaltists' have me almost ready to disband the unit so I don't have to look at that any longer.
Attachments

[The extension xls has been deactivated and can no longer be displayed.]


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lodilefty
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Sun Mar 23, 2008 6:14 pm

How do I fix the rest of the unit names? The South Carolina 'Loyaltists' have me almost ready to disband the unit so I don't have to look at that any longer.


Most of these names are assigned in the 'setup' spreadsheets.

If there at start, on the setup tab [and then you get to learn how to compile a new scenario using csv splitter and the game editor :siffle: ]

If they 'arrive' later, they're in the 'reinforcements' tab. [Yet another thing to learn when time to compile]

I'll take your spreadsheet, csv-it, and run it through Fcompare vs. the WIA file to see if I can find anything.....

Of course, I could always try a spell checker.... :innocent:

Thanks, and good luck :sourcil:
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jkk
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Sun Mar 23, 2008 6:52 pm

lodilefty wrote:Most of these names are assigned in the 'setup' spreadsheets.

If there at start, on the setup tab [and then you get to learn how to compile a new scenario using csv splitter and the game editor :siffle: ]

If they 'arrive' later, they're in the 'reinforcements' tab. [Yet another thing to learn when time to compile]


I don't know about learning to do all that compiling and splitting, but if you can tell me other places I can fix spelling errors, I'm glad to help.


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