ETWs in game languages

[Fisherking]

This should make it harder for me to get off topic.

CA has promised us that soldiers in the game will speak the language of their factions.

I sure hope they do, but I don’t know how much thought they actually gave this.

I am sure once the game is out we will be sharp shooting this in serious detail.

As I pointed out in another thread the Brits and Americans sounded British.

At the time there was not much difference in the way they sounded…but it was more like Americans than Estuary British we here today.

Next…Just wait until the German speakers get hold of the game! If the Austrians and Bavarians sound like the Hanoverians or the Prussians… well I am sure they are going to hear about it…And I haven’t even brought in the Swiss yet…

And what about the Native American factions? If the Sioux and the Iroquois are speaking the same language…well some of us will know!

This might tend to get really nasty if you know what I mean…Languages are great and having the right one is special…I hope we see their efforts. And I hope they were at least some what conscientious in their efforts.

But if past games are any indicator, every tiny mistake is going to be pointed out to them.

I hope the men from Courland and Poland aren’t speaking the same language…And Ben Franklin had better not sound like Winston Churchill….

[Vuk]

This should make it harder for me to get off topic.

CA has promised us that soldiers in the game will speak the language of their factions.

I sure hope they do, but I don’t know how much though they actually gave this.

I am sure once the game is out we will be sharp shooting this in serious detail.

As I pointed out in another thread the Brits and Americans sounded British.

At the time there was not much difference in the way they sounded…but it was more like Americans than Estuary British we here today.

Next…Just wait until the German speakers get hold of the game! If the Austrians and Bavarians sound like the Hanoverians or the Prussians… well I am sure they are going to hear about it…And I haven’t even brought in the Swiss yet…

And what about the Native American factions? If the Sioux and the Iroquois are speaking the same language…well some of us will know!

This might tend to get really nasty if you know what I mean…Languages are great and having the right one is special…I hope we see their efforts. And I hope they were at least some what conscientious in their efforts.

But if past games are any indicator, every tiny mistake is going to be pointed out to them.

I hope the men from Courland and Poland aren’t speaking the same language…And Ben Franklin had better not sound like Winston Churchill….

If they do not have Hungarian troops speak Maygar I will stand outside their fricking study and protest! Actually, I will bring some of my friends from Magyarorszag to the study and have them volunteer to do the voices for free. Then they would have no choice but to put out a Magyar voice fix patch. :D Something like that is really important, so I hope that they do not have them speaking OstDeutsch or something. :P

[Marten]

I do have a question:

CA has promised us that soldiers in the game will speak the language of their factions.

Only in battles or does it mean also on campaign map? No more "cheap porn movie talk" from a french general (in german with a daffy accent)?

[Marten]

My biggest concern is that this from of address will get lost in the localization, just read the mission description: "You are requested and required to ..."

[Vuk]

My biggest concern is that this from of address will get lost in the localization, just read the mission description: "You are requested and required to ..."

Could I see a larger version of that please?

[Marten]

Could I see a larger version of that please?

Of course, here is the link to the screenshots from the 4players.de preview:

http://www.4players.de/4players.php/...Total_War.html

Use the arrow on the right to scroll down to this specific screen.

[Fisherking]

I do have a question:



Only in battles or does it mean also on campaign map? No more "cheap porn movie talk" from a french general (in german with a daffy accent)?

I have never played the German version and so far as I know the voices my only be in the English version.

The Prussians could easily sound like they came from the Allguä or the Austrians came from Hanover.

I am sure they will still have funny things to say however…we will just see…

[Freedom Onanist]

This should make it harder for me to get off topic.As I pointed out in another thread the Brits and Americans sounded British.

Well at the time they would've sounded much closer to each other, though not how either sound today. In as much as they the settlers were colonial Brits they would've sounded British, certainly for gameplay purposes it makes sense.

[Vuk]

Well at the time they would've sounded much closer to each other, though not how either sound today. In as much as they the settlers were colonial Brits they would've sounded British, certainly for gameplay purposes it makes sense.

At that time though, British sounded much CLOSER (though not exactly like) to modern Americans than to modern British. It was a very raw and growling language and they graged their vowels out really long. That is the opinion of most important lingual experts I have heard at least.

[Freedom Onanist]

At that time though, British sounded much CLOSER (though not exactly like) to modern Americans than to modern British. It was a very raw and growling language and they graged their vowels out really long. That is the opinion of most important lingual experts I have heard at least.

I am not arguing witht he fact that British English evolved more in the intervening 200 years than US English. After all, for a large part of that time there was a larger population speaking and introducing evolutionary steps into the language in Britain than the US. However, also there are many, many different accents in the UK, even patois, these became mixed in the US.

I am just saying that people speaking English in N America and Britain 2-300 years ago wouldn't have sounded as far apart as we do today. Whether that sounded more like "American" today is a bit irrelevant because then it was British. It doesn't make sense to have Brits sounding like americans to today's audience, so the British sounding Americans (in context).

Gosh! Here we go again!

Yes colonials in 1775 sounded just like the home land…

It was the homeland that changed the way they spoke, not the colonials who became the US…

What do Canadians sound like?

The Brits changed their friggen accent not the other way around!!!!

So it might be best if the Americans sound American rather than have an accent that didn’t exist yet!

Oh dear As per above. Thanks for agreeing with me (in large bold CAPS ) that the Americans of the day sounded like the Brits of the day....

[Barkhorn1x]

Oh my. These posts just prove my point. People will be disappointed no matter what.

[Vuk]

Unless they are willing to put serious research and consult serious linguists about the way that the language would have sounded (which would seem pretty absurd and hard to understand for today's audiences) I think that the easiest and most accurate thing for them to do would be to just give them American accents. The intonation of the American accent is much closer than the British would be.

[Fisherking]

I am not arguing witht he fact that British English evolved more in the intervening 200 years than US English. After all, for a large part of that time there was a larger population speaking and introducing evolutionary steps into the language in Britain than the US. However, also there are many, many different accents in the UK, even patois, these became mixed in the US.

I am just saying that people speaking English in N America and Britain 2-300 years ago wouldn't have sounded as far apart as we do today. Whether that sounded more like "American" today is a bit irrelevant because then it was British. It doesn't make sense to have Brits sounding like americans to today's audience, so the British sounding Americans (in context).

Oh dear As per above. Thanks for agreeing with me (in large bold CAPS ) that the Americans of the day sounded like the Brits of the day....

It is most certainly not irrelevant that Estuary English did not sound as it does today!

That is simply silly. Armor evolved into Tanks…should we have had Roman Tanks in RTW?

Of course not!

So if the modern British accent is portrayed in the game (which it should not be) then it should not be given to the American Colonials!

Language and accents are very touchy subjects…If you give Americans British accents…there are a whole lot more Americans and Canadians to get upset then there are speakers of that accent in a part of the British Isles…

And I am sure that the Scots and Irish would be just as upset if you gave it to their factions should they emerge…

[Rufus]

Washington probably had something close to a Virginia Tidewater accent today, one of the older American accents (based on the isolated Chesapeake communities like Tangier Island that speak the strongest version of it) - a kind of softer, more aristocratic, maybe more "British" version of a Southern accent, with some pronunciation idiosynchrasies like "oot" for out and "hoos" for house.

As for the 18th century Brits, wasn't that right around the time today's "Queen's English" accent started really taking hold, especially among the elites? In that case, E:TW should probably err on the side of traditional "British" accents for the British characters, and modern American ones for the American characters (but if George Washington has a Virginia Tidewater accent, I will be very happy).

[Sir Beane]

The problem is that if the British were given American accents in ETW, no matter how accurate it is, thousands upon thousands of fans would be outraged.

Very few people know much about linguistics, and even fewer know about language change and how the American and British accents have developed over time. To them having the British sound American would seem silly.

CA have to play to what the public percieve is 'accurate'. That means Queen's English Brits, Snooty Frenchman, etc.

It's a bit of a catch 22 situation really. To be 'accurate' in the public eye they have to be deliberately innacurate. Either way one group is going to be offended, it just happens to be linguists because there are fewer of us.

Pleae try not to get too involved in this discussion. Arguing with fellow members isn't going to make CA put better accents in game. Keep your points calm and civil please.

[Fisherking]

Well at the time they would've sounded much closer to each other, though not how either sound today. In as much as they the settlers were colonial Brits they would've sounded British, certainly for gameplay purposes it makes sense.

Gosh! Here we go again!

Yes colonials in 1775 sounded just like the home land…

It was the homeland that changed the way they spoke, not the colonials who became the US…


What do Canadians sound like?

The Brits changed their friggen accent not the other way around!!!!

So it might be best if the Americans sound American rather than have an accent that didn’t exist yet!


This narrow topic has its own thread.

Please feel free to contribute, agree, disagree, or rant there…


https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=112364

Of course we can continue here also if you like…

Other wise I wouldn’t stared yet another language thread…





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