Improving the game's english - Volunteers needed

I think it would be a good idea to overwork some of the terms and phrases of Itycoon in order to make the game easier to understand for english-speaking users.

I have started to re-translate the manual from german to english and will have a first draft ready in a couple of days. I also think that some adjustments should me done to the in-game language.

My idea of how to proceed is as follows and I require help by english native speakers who are familiar with the game and possibly some economy-related terminology... Well this is the plan:

- At first we have a look at some of the in-game technical terms and agree on the best wording. Have you seen any terms (not language mistakes) that might be misleading? A classical example is the "shopping worth" which should be somethng like "shopping attractiveness" or so. Should it be "capital" or would maybe "cash" be a better term? etc

- At the same time we take a look at the product and building list (see here English product list and here English research list).
Please post your suggestions in this thread and maybe add a reason (like: a logging camp should produce logs, deep-frezzer is spelled incorrect and should be called ice box to distinguish it from the refrigerator)

-Once the technical terms are agreed on we can start to reword some of the in game texts. Maikel has already agreed to provied ALL texts used in the game in some format.
It is smart to fix the technical terms first because it does not make sense to fix a language error in the game but refer to the wrong or misleading term.

Since i'm german and not an english native speaker I can help with some translation stuff but my english is not the most elegant and I do quite a few mistakes and rely on everyone's help.

I am still looking for volunteer(s) to check and cross read my translation of the manual.

Please feel free to submit your suggestions for changes of any terminology (product names/building names and technical terms) in this thread.

Language mistakes (bad grammar etc) of the in-game text will be looked into at a later stage.

regards
replikant aka firma0816

PS: this post is not authorized by any of the staff/supporters. However I spoke with maikel and stdok in the chat and they signalled thumbs up :o)

Zitat

Original von John_Walker
Should we authorize threads?
Sure, its very helpfull if english-speaking users spend time for this. And we german-speaking users/staff can help to explain some german sentences.

Sure that would be helpful.
Also some "advertizing" of the project might help and make this forum even more popular:)
What we need first is a number of enthused volunteers.

Zitat

Original von John_Walker
In additional I can give u the recommendation to use a wiki project for this. Is a better configuration than threads here. So it may help if any english-speaking user can provide this.

To be honest I think we should not blow this task out of proportion. I think we are facing a handful of technical terms that are to be changed and maybe 25 product names or so. Once these changes are fixed it should only be an afternoon's job for an experienced player to re-word in-game texts wherever necessary. And work can be done parallel by several people.

But ofcourse a wiki project might be a good idea to keep track of future changes in the game and have them translated or explained by volunteers.

Thanks wwf
I like some of your suggestions and have added them to a list, especially "customer satisfaction"... nice term and pretty self explanatory.

I think wooden loco should remain what it is or be "wooden locomotive"... because there are the friction train and the model railway it might cause confusion otherwise? friction train > metal train makes sense though.

sun screen... ok we dont use sun cream... sunscreen it is. ok. thanks quik.

IT-Company... IT means industry tycoon. should remain for consistency with german

research: ok the terminology is a bit tricky, but i say we keep it that way for consistency.

I have a few to add:

Technical terms:
firm > company
Knock down > demolish
Pcs. (Stk.) > units (?)

Product names:
Grain wood > pulp wood
Sun protection > sun cream

Building names:
Property market > Do-it-Yourself store (this was clearly a translation error, baumarkt/bau-markt/propery market = immobilienmarkt)
Hardware store > Household supply store? (i think a hardware store also sells hammers, nails and these items?)

Zitat

Original von wwf

It is hard to differentiate a "property market" and a "hardware store". (In Canada, we have a property market called "Home Depot", and a hardware store called "Home Sense".)
In fact tools, ladders, etc are usually sold in a hardware store. For property market, you may prefer "building supply store" or "tool store" or "lumber yard". For "hardware store" you may prefer "appliance store" or "kitchen store". I think the big differentiator between these two industries/stores is that one is conserned about outside of the house, and the other about the inside of the house.
Walter

Ooh now this is interesting and i had no clue it seems.
I was not aware that "property market" actually had a meaning in common english, i have never come across it related to an actual store.
The german term "baumarkt" is self explanatory. Its where you go to buy all the stuff needed to fix an old house, gardening stuff too. from a wooden birchwood discount offer to a high price laser guided drilling machine you get everything a hetero male desires (kidding). I think DIY store or do-it-yourself store is the closest fitting match... maybe "property market" does make sense for everyone though... i didnt find it in the dictionary.

The "hardware" store in the game seems to indeed sell kitchen things more or less... i dont think hardware store is the right description here... or is it?

where are the other native speakers? I want more suggestions!

thanks!

mental note after our chat...

property market > do-it-yourself store
hardware store > household store
wooden loco > wooden locomotive
friction train > metal train
sun protection > sun SCREEN ok i drop the cream idea
logs, lumber, pulp wood
patents unchanged. considered understandable and i veto changes for reasons of consistency

almost forgot:
raw goods vs. products and...
raw goods warehouse/product warehouse/export warehouse