Work in progress: French translation

[Van Gogh]

Hi everyone !

    I've begun working on a French translation of the Lieutenant's Manual in my free time, here's two pages to show what is done already (quality is better as a pdf, but then the file is a bit too big to be attached): I'm aiming at keeping the looks of the Manual -if it is to be used for initiation games, it is all the better to give an attractive product  . There's still a lot to do, but I hope to be advancing steadily.
    The modus operandi is to write down raw text in a .txt file; get the background from the english pdf as an image  and carefully erase the english text (without damaging said background); and finally layout text and image together before converting to .pdf format (or a good old postscript).
    As for the translation itself, I have chosen to translate all the game terms, but also give the corresponding English ones alongside them (in italic), so to help going from one version to another and ensure compatibility (I've seen the mess that using the old, 3^rd edition  French translation of BTech alongside the English rules can be). Also, translation will only concern game rules: I'm no professional translator, so the short story will have to wait for something more official  .
    Remarks, corrections, suggestions are of course welcome.... I hope it will work well to the end !

-Vincent

[Toolian]

This is great for the game.

Maybe CGl will look to you for future translations?

[Van Gogh]

Progress so far:
  - text done up to page 15 20 done !
  - backgrounds: done.
  - layout: cover done page 17 done !
  - need to add a "Creative Common" licence page added.

Would anyone be interested in doing some proof reading for me ? Even a non French speaker would be useful, as he/she wouldn't be distracted by the sentences and see layout problems more readily.

Maybe CGl will look to you for future translations?

Thanks for the encouragements ! I'm no professional translator/layout man/graphist, so I don't think it will be a professional-looking product, merely a usefull tinkering (and a magnifique use of the Creative Common Licence). On the other hand, it would be a great honor to have this work used as a base by professionals. Time will tell, I suppose. I suppose it's up to Randall, ultimately.


edit: Updated progress. And modified second paragraph to sound less depressive.

[Tonbo Karasu]

I can do you a proof-read if you want.  My french is quite rusty, but I've proof-read gaming books before.

[Van Gogh]

Thanks for the help Tombo !
As soon as I have a full pdf available, I'll send it to you via e-mail.

Does any knows what font is used for the typewritter-looking parts ? I rather like that effect, and I wouldn't like to miss it  .

[Van Gogh]

    All right, version 0.1 is done  . If you are interested in doing some reviewing work, or are just curious, you can PM me with an email adress to which I can send the .pdf file. Be warned it's rather large (6 MB).
    A couple of question are left to be solved for a definitive version: the fonts to be used; whether I add the english version of the license to the license page (and to check the license write-up is right); and if I should add the ship cards to make a fully self-contained product or leave it as an add-on to the Lt's Manual.
   
   Well, now I suppose I have to look into the additional rules published in James' tome II... Turrets are so nice it's a shame to miss them.