Rebel wrote:
I know that there isn't much interest to this, but I . . .
Interest may arise at the most unexpected moment.

Is it possible to unload titles into a single text file, separated by special characters. And, the possibility of embedding back the already translated text?
Much the same as with subtitles in the mkv container.
That is, the sequence number in the container for the sound to be changed will be indicated in the unloaded / loaded file. The phrases are separated by line feeds. Phrase completion - setting a special character that means the end of the test for this sound.
Rebel wrote:
Just out of curiosity did anyone ever rewrite the captions on any of the tpas?
I started to translate into Russian. To warm up, I started with one of the mods.
True, while I was practicing using programs not from this topic, but - TPA_Reader and TPA_Player. For a not very large-scale project - feasible, but for a long time. Since you have to do a lot of the same type of operations, at the same time, make sure that you do not accidentally change the wrong file.
Now I want to try the program from this topic, since I aimed at the sound bank of the main game (I translated the text a long time ago, it remains to implement it in *.cau).
The only thing there is a nuance that everyone who wants to translate into a language that uses a character code table different from US and Western Europe will face.
- Spoiler: show
- Apparently, this has been the case since the main game in 1998, since in the version released in Russia, the translators had to create a special font, and write the localization text based on the use of this font.
I suspect that tpass-ce is rigidly tied to the c_1252.nls file, regardless of the regional settings of the system, or the parameters specified in the Windows registry.
I have not seen the source code, but I suspect that somewhere there is a hard-coded parameter responsible for the used code table.
There are 2 options for solving this problem.
1) "Simple" in implementation, but has a serious disadvantage. The user must have local administrator rights on the computer being used. The user must replace the c_1252.nls code table file with the one used in his regional system settings in accordance with the ANSI identifier (GetACP). The localizers that released the version of the game in Russia did not take such a step, since it is bad form to change the system files of the user's operating system without his knowledge. Therefore, they tried to go the other way (drawing their own font, etc.)
However, this method is still practiced by users (however, usually it is enough to change the regional settings in the system, or change the registry settings. Replacing system files is used in especially difficult cases). Microsoft promised to fix the problem with region code tables and did a little bit with it ... but didn’t solve it 100%
2) It is necessary to make changes to the source code of the program, removing the hard link to the file of the code table used in the USA and Western Europe (c_1252.nls). Either use the parameter specified in the registry, or take the necessary values from the * .ini file.
Or, compile several versions of the program for each code table: 874, 932, 936, 949, 950, 1251, 1252, 1253, 1254, 1255, 1256, 1257.
machf wrote:
No, no captions whatsoever, just dubbed voiceovers.
Voice acting is already attracting people with a suitable voice. Good reproduction of intonation ... This all requires material investment.
People are not always willing to donate to such projects. Alas.
Especially when a lot of time has passed since the release.
If there was a re-release in GOG - maybe it could improve the situation.
There is an option using voice engines. Some even sound good. And, the demo mode allows you to read out a fairly large amount of text. But, there are nuances associated with licensing agreements. And getting the right intonation from the voice engine is not always so easy. For a small project - maybe, but for a large one .... not sure.