translation in french

[Damyen]

Quick note : Rodmar, after reading the Bolter's description again, I understand your point -> In the Bolter, the ammuntion contains everything needed to fire, but the rifle itself only uses electricity. So : Ok, "fusil électrique" (my pref.).

[Rodmar]

Hello, a last thought... what about the translation of the "stun family"?
In game, an actor may be rendered unconscious for turns (knocked out, stunned), or loose all of its TUs (dazed, stunned). Indeed, the English version uses "stun" a lot.

At first I translated en:flashbang into "grenade assourdissante" as in irl French army.
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenade_(arme)
Another candidate is "grenade incapacitante" but it would also be the case of the gas grenade.
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/M84_stun_grenade
Then, I went for "grenade étourdissante" because of the effect it causes in  game.

To be stunned as in knocked out is translated as "assommé" and derivatives.
To be stunned as in dazed by a flashbang, or surprised, is translated as "étourdi". I figure that it could be the case even if flashbang is translated into "grenade assourdissante".

MSGIDs:

• en:flashbang(s)
  fr:grenade étourdissante 832-835, 841, 884, 888, 982-984, 1269, 1271, 2071
  
  
• en:stunning
  fr:étourdir 1034
  fr:neutraliser 1301
  
  
• en:stunned
  fr:(a perdu) connaissance 2259, 2262, 2265, 2268, 2271
  fr:inconscient 2803, 2900
  
  
• en:dazed
  fr:étourdi 2908
  
  
• en:stun
  fr:assomer 955, 1004, 1311
  
  
• en:stun rod/gun/damage type/shot/charge
  fr:bâton/fusil/Dégâts/Tir/Charge assomant(e)(s) 1000, 1001, 1034, 2135, 1035, 1128, 2132, 2136
  
  
• en:stun gas
  fr:gaz incapacitant 115

[Damyen]

Hello,

 Stun grenade : "Grenade étourdissante" is already in use, but I like "Grenade incapacitante" (it's all the same to me, but I'll do the change if you prefer "incapacitante"). The "gas grenade" is an offensive and deadly grenade, not a stun grenade (at least in v2.6), no risk of confusion. Except when context is clear, I avoid using "neutraliser", often used as an euphemism for "tuer" (for example: what about the state of the ennemies if I write "Les adversaires ont été neutralisés"? Are they dead or alive?).

 Other points :
 * the melee weapons are now called "poignard de combat", "poignard monomoléculaire", and "poignard à plasma". Seems good to me, does't it ?
 * I renamed the "Canonnière" into "Croiseur" because this UFo is the strongest, and because it cruises a lot around the earth. Your opinion?
 * still not liking "Arachnobot" ?

 And a question. I really wonder whether i should rename the encased ammo. Today : "Munitions à plasma chemisées". I feel that "Munitions chemisées à plasma" could be better, or "Munitions blindées à plasma" (shorter), or... your ideas ?

[Rodmar]

Hello Damyen,

* Stun grenade: the concern with "grenade incapacitante" is that it's already in use irl for nerve gas, and irritating gas (such as the anti-alien gas in game). And here, this is quite an euphemism, but to incapacitate means to put a soldier out of combat without killing him fast, even if it hurts and may leave him with dire after-effects. On the other hand, how to call the purpose of throwing a gas grenade amidst civilians? "Assommer" looks weird, hence "neutraliser" (or to prevent them from frolicking all around), or when possible,  "rendre inconscient". In this case, it should be ok that they are still alive.

* Plasma blade: yes, "poignard à plasma" seems good to me too, but as I was reading the UFOpaedia research entries again, I stumbled upon a phrase I had mistranslated. It's about Navarre wondering how a plasma blade could work, and even how such a close-quarter weapon could prove useful when you have plasma guns (preliminary report), and then when he says he was wrong thinking about a knife (post-research report), and that's a single-use weapon. Precisely:
"We were wrong to think of the plasma blade as a knife. In essence, it is a one-shot anti-armour weapon, like the Panzerfaust"
I'd translate this as:
"Nous nous trompions en croyant avoir affaire à une sorte de couteau à lame de plasma. En fait, le « poignard à plasma » est destiné à percer les armures en un coup, comme le Panzerfaust"
I mean that Navarre once thought that it was like a laser saber with a blade made out of plasma that would be erected out of the handle for the duration of a close quarter assault.

* I wouldn't use "Croiseur" to translate the alien Gunship. I agree that "Canonnière" looks weird at first and even second glance, because the French call "Canonnière" the Gunboat in the naval sense only, if I'm not wrong, whereas the US use it for planes and heavy choppers too: the famous AC130 is called a gunship because it has porthole (side) guns.
In-game, we don't know about any ground support role for the Gunship-UFO, and the weapons on the model are directed forwards, but the fact is that this aircraft is larger than a transport. The nearest navy-equivalent to the Gunboat in size would be the Patrol Boat ("patrouilleur"), but a cruiser would be much, much larger. "Croiseur" could translate the future alien Battleship, however, even so if it's FTL-capable.
Perhaps its UFOpaedia entry fails first hand to inform us why this heavy interdiction aircraft (as it seems to have been specifically designed to destroy any atmospheric flying threat) is called a Gunship.

* I'm sure I can get accustomed to "Arachnobot": Arachnobot. Arachnobot. Arachnobot...

* As for the plasma encased ammunition, as we have "balle chemisée à tête creuse ou à noyau de plomb", I guess that "munition chemisée à plasma" (short. "munition CP") would be better, indeed.

[Damyen]

Hello Rodmar, thank you for your answers!

* Stun grenade : Hum... I'll keep "grenade étourdissante" for the moment, but i'll try to think about the other words too.

* plasma blade. Well, I rewrited both mails
- step 1 (discovery of the weapon) => "Commandant, durant notre dernière mission, nous avons ramené quelque chose d'étrange : une chambre à plasma munie d'une poignée. Nous supposons qu'il s'agit d'une arme : d'après sa forme, cela pourrait être une espèce de couteau à plasma. Mais je n'ai aucune idée de la façon dont cela peut fonctionner. Nous n'arrivons pas à mettre l'objet en marche et nous ne comprenons pas son utilité dans l'arsenal extraterrestre."
 - step (after research was achieved) => "Nous nous trompions en croyant avoir affaire à une espèce de couteau à plasma. En fait, cette arme délivre une charge unique, qui transperce les protections un peu comme le Panzerfaust de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale transperçait les blindages. L'arme est cependant conçue pour neutraliser un soldat ou un véhicule léger plutôt qu'un char."\n

I used "couteau à plasma" because there is a "couteau électrique" irl.

* "Patrouilleur" : ok

* ok, "munitions chemisées à plasma".

* I'm sure I can get accustomed to "Arachnobot": Arachnobot. Arachnobot. Arachnobot...

Yes, for sure

[Rodmar]

Hello Damyen,

I'm fine with all of these.

But as for the item's name, did you change "poignard à plasma " to "couteau à plasma" too? Or only in the messages? "Couteau" looks less martial than "poignard".

About the "Patrouilleur", although the naval counterpart would be smaller than an "Escorteur", perhaps here, "Escorteur" could have a try too?

Lastly, how do you intend to translate the future Ripper-UFO? We don't know anything about its design and role yet, but better be prepared. "Éventreur" as in Jack-the-Ripper, or "Défonçeur", "Corvette"?

[Damyen]

Hello Rodmar.

I kept "Poignard à plasma". "Couteau à plasma" is used only when Navarre wonders about what he is studying. The transition between a cutting object ("couteau") and a piercing object ("poignard") is written like this: "Cette arme a la forme d'un manche de poignard sans lame. À la place, il y a un petit orifice noir entouré d'un grand anneau en plastique. Il n'y a ni détente, ni autre système d'activation visible. L'armement se fait en tournant le manche, et la mise à feu en approchant l'orifice à quelques centimètres d'une surface raisonnablement plane. Ce n'est qu'alors que le « poignard à plasma » se met en marche."

Patrouilleur / escorteur: for v2.6, I prefer "Patrouilleur", because this ship is often alone and travels all around Earth; he is more "patrouilling" than escorting.

Ripper: "Éventreur" for the moment.

[Damyen]

Hello. I'm still deeply updating the french translation. At this very moment, Rodmar, I have checked about 40 % of the .po file you submitted earlier. I have to state that there are many precious ideas inside, most of them related to the precise words you use to describe weapons and ammo. Now, I'd like to have some thoughts about...

1- Some points that were discussed before. Changes are:
 a) "Cuve à antimatière" -> "Chambre à antimatière", because there is enough place in the GUI (v2.6, most recent build) to display the name properly now (& more space = Thank you, geever! I read on another thread that you found updating GUI was not your preferred task, so here is an incentive )
 b) "Réacteur nucléaire" -> "Centrale nucléaire", that is removing "reacteur" but keeping "nucléaire". Why? Because "centrale nucléaire" are the most used words to describe a power plant based on nuclear energy (cf. in game description), and because, in v2.6, this installation is a clear target when the base is attacked (there are hot spots that aliens try to reach). So I wanted to keep the "nucléaire" word so that a player keeps in mind that he must protect this place.

2- Some points that were not discussed before. Proposals are:
 a) New firemodes' translations for laser weapons
  "Tir en continu", as proposed in Rodmar's file
  "Tir en impulsion", as a found out after checking the precise use of laser beam ("pulsé", the previous solution, is more a cosmetic surgery word)
 b) New firemodes' translations for needler
  "Rafale courte" (unchanged)
  "Canonnade" -> "Mitraillage" (or "Bordée" ?)
  "Needle stream" -> "Torrent d'aiguilles" (or "Bordée", or "Déluge" ?)
 c) Shorter names for particle beam weapons, discarding the "à faisceau" part in names (but not in detailled descriptions)
  "Pistolet à faisceau de particules" -> "Pistolet à particules"
  "Fusil à faisceau de particules" -> "Fusil à particules"
  "Canon à faisceau de particules" -> "Minicanon à particules". I choose to use the word in your file, Rodmar, because I thought your last choice was your preferred choice. I still can change "Minicanon" in "Désintégrateur" (I prefer "minicanon") (I also tried "Couleuvrine à particules", but "Minicanon" sounds more as modern tech.)
 d) "Dispositifs aliens de guerre électronique" -> "Électronique militaire alienne" (because the description tells about the many functions of the device, which is more than an ECM system)
 e) A proposal for the "Fusil à canon scié" : "Tir simple canon" & "Tir double canon"; is it ok? (and should it be "Fusil à canons sciés"?)

3- The translations of all Phalanx aircraft
 Stingray -> "Pastenague" or "Manta" = Ok (no pref. on my own)
 Starchaser -> What about "Chasse-étoile"; exact translation, and no so ugly after all
 Firebird -> What about a real bird with red / orange feathers ? Example: "Piranga", "Cardinal", or...

4- Some proposal I did not retain:
 "Tir au poser" -> too specific, imho. I did not know these words, and could not find explanation when I quickly search for them. Translation is better when self-explaining, and "Tir visé" is much more clearer than "Tir au poser".
 "Transporteur" (for aircraft") -> No, "Transporteur" is much more used for people carrying something (="Convoyeur"), so I prefer keep this meaning (and "Transport" / "Avion de transport" is fine)
 "Démantèlement" when recycling part of an UFO -> No, because "Démanteler" implies a destructive process, whereas "Démontage" implies more an idea of recycling parts to reuse them later (even if this is not to rebuild an alien aircraft)

[Rodmar]

Hello!

2- New points:
2a - Laser fire modes:
MSGID #2128 - Wave Fire -> Tir continu (short for 'tir à onde continue')
MSGID #2129 - Pulsed Fire -> Tir pulsé
I would keep using 'tir pulsé' even when the surgery is less cosmetic.

2b - Needler fire modes:
MSGID #2079 - Short Burst -> Rafale courte
MSGID #2080 - Cannonade - > Tir de neutralisation (Suppression Fire)
MSGID #2081 - Needle Stream -> Rafale libre
Indeed, we could use the same as for the machine guns ('rafale courte', 'rafale libre'), and we only need to find a translation for the intermediate burst mode. A 'rafale libre' would occur when you spend about all your turn acting on the trigger.
I like 'Volée' but in game, all the fire modes work the same except there's more or less needles.
Note : 'tir de suppression' is not a military term in French.

2e - Shotgun:
MSGID #2145 - Shotgun -> Fusil à canons sciés
MSGID #2146 - Single barrel -> Simple coup
MSGID #2147 - Double Barrel -> Double coup
I think it's the usual naming for dual barreled hunting guns (you have two triggers).

3 - Aircrafts:
3a - Stingray: 'Manta' looks pretty appealing to me, even if the animal is slow and peaceful.
3b - Starchaser -> Chasse-étoile: yes, closest translation (the stars being those UFOs).
I think that both proposals are okay because the player has the possibility to rename its aircraft at will, so no offense would last for long!
3c - Firebird: this naming is not a genuine PHALANX one, anyways, so we could stay with the English word instead of translating it (and this would add some diversity).

4 - Not retained proposals:
4a - Aimed Shot -> 'Tir au poser': btw, 'tir au jeter' is the military jargon for 'tir instinctif', as it seems... It was a try, anyways. Let's stay with 'Tir visé' and 'Tir instinctif', then.
4b - Transport Ships: in English, we have a Dropship (MSGID #46), a Lifter (MSGID #48), and a Transport (MSGID #50). I kept Lifter -> Transporteur for diversity's sake, and because the Heracles is not a transport by itself, it lifts and conveys a detachable transport module like a flying truck would convey a container. Now, do we really need diversity here?
4c - Dismantling -> Démantèlement: you are right about the general destructive connotation. However, 'démontage' has two meanings: the separation of an element from a greater whole (unmount), and the disassembly of a system into parts. Both could be reversible. The later would correspond better to a dismantling. If you prefer, the UFO is 'désassemblé'  and during the process, some systems are secured, 'démontés de l'OVNI', and stored for later use, the rest being scavenged as "Alien Materials". So, what about 'désassemblage'/'désassembler' instead? This wouldn't prevent us to sometimes use 'démonter'/'démontage' in some few texts.

5 - The Excalibur project: did you see that the Excalibur project's paragraph is not used in French as so many times as it is in English (for all pre-invasion (starting) equipment texts)? Could it be that the French version was to long?

[Damyen]

Hi!

2a. Laser. I am hesitating now After reading the wikipédia article about laser I prefer "tir en continu" / "tir en impulsions"; moreover, "pulser" is usualy used for gases ("air pulsé" for example). (Ok, I am a little bit fussy here)

2b. Needler. Ok for "Rafale courte" & "Rafale libre", but not ok for "Tir de neutralisation": this is a tactical concept that doesn't exist in UFO:AI. So, if we use "Volée": "Short Burst -> Rafale courte" / "Cannonade - > Volée d'aiguilles" / "Needle Stream -> Rafale libre" ("Rafale libre" would be, such as other weapons, the firemode that uses the max. amount of ammo). But I can also do "Cannonade - > Rafale libre / "Needle Stream -> Volée d'aiguilles"  (to keep the "needle <-> aiguilles" connection).

2e. Ok.

3. Ok. Manta / Chasse-étoile / Firebird

4b. No, we don't need a lot diversity here, because there are few aircraft and there are clearly identified.
4c. I prefer "montage / démontage" because it is shorter (and fits better in the graphical interface). But I'll also use assemblage / désassemblage in descriptions.

5. Yes, I saw it because I did it For many reasons.
 - I wanted to remove duplicates because it is easier to write one template, and then copy-paste it where necessary rather than duplicating wrinting in many places.
 - I don't like theses repetitive sentences in articles: once is enough, and they prevent the reader from going to the point precisely (=info about the device or the building). The Excalibur Project should have its own entry in the UFOpedia.
 - (related to previous point) I generaly try to "compact" the wrinting, removing duplicates & repetitions. ("Monter en haut" -> "Monter", or "la vie extraterrestre dans l'univers" -> "la vie extraterrestre" - Of course extraterrestrial life is in the universe -) & trying to give a precise idea of the subject than to stick to every single word of the original version.