Spelling, Grammar & Dialogue Solutions.

[AnjelWoW]

Greetings,

 

I've been playing FO3 since launch, but took a long break and only recently started playing again. I considered modding myself, something small - like a sniper shack along the road from Rivet City so I can take out the travellers from Wasteland Travellers mod on my evil character :devil:

 

After sitting looking at the G.E.C.K for several hours I came to the conclusion that no guides, help or advice are going to get my head around it - it's clearly not for everyone!

 

So I've taken to downloading about 50 'additional content' mods (where new NPC's, towns, buildings, factions are introduced) and I applaud those of you who succeeded in releasing a great mod. However we seem to have a recurring problem (not in all cases obviously) - bad spelling, grammar and to a lesser degree poor dialogue. It completely changes my perception of a mod and from what I see in the comments for the offending mods, I'm not the only one who feels this way.

 

I have no idea about how to insert script or dialogue into the game, but if you're working on something - make sure spelling, grammar and dialogue are near perfect. If you're stuck, run a spell check, ask a friend or send me a private message containing the original wording and I will do it for you - I don't want a mention in your mod (disclaimer, as I'm sure someone will troll me for it), I just want to play the excellent mods the community are releasing but in proper English. I check the forums every day so you'll not have to wait long for a response.

 

Thank you, and keep churning out those mods!

 

Angel.

[Callighan]

And the funny thing is, there's a built in spell checker in GECK.

[georgh]

You should have seen GECK bugging out when I tried to make a "Doom: Repercussions of Evil" note.

 

"NO, IT"S PALSMA! PALSMA!!!"

[gsmanners]

Actually, bad spelling and bad grammar are now a part of Fallout lore thanks to Bethesda's Fallout 3. It already has a huge number of errors, if you bother to notice. Those of us doing mods are therefore obliged to make error ourselves for the sake of consistency and unity of style. :banana:

[Callighan]

Really?

I hadn't noticed.

[BadPenney]

While I don't agree that nothing kills my enjoyment faster than spelling and grammar, I do applaud anyone who makes the effort to speak the King's English.

As far as being obligated to make errors in mods for the sake of lore, that is clearly nonsense. They are no more part of Fallout lore than are misplaced, floating rocks. I see them as failures in quality control, nothing more.

[AnjelWoW]

Callighan, there were so many buttons on the G.E.C.K I didn't really notice whether one was a spell check. I merely scratched my head whilst gazing at my monitor for about three and a half hours and then decided I'd best close it.

 

Georgh, try a Lemmings mod... no words.

 

Gsmanners, I honestly had not noticed bad spelling or grammar in the vanilla version. Maybe I should point Beth in the direction of this thread, and Beth, if you're reading - I DO want a mention in the credits if you take me up on my offer, not to mention a decent wage.

 

BadPenney, who is the King? Oh and I probably should have made it clearer, it should probably read "For me, nothing kills a mod faster than bad spelling and grammar", not everyone stops to read while there's big greenies to be exploding somewhere ;)

[Tony the Wookie]

bad planning will kill a mod faster than poor spelling will...

 

poor spelling will make you say... "wow, they didn't really take the time to double check this"

 

poor planning you will never see the mod in the first place to know that it has bad spelling and grammer

[BadPenney]

"The King's English" is not an uncommon phrase, but since you pretend ignorance of it... I believe that it originated with the English King Henry V. He claimed that his only language was that of the common soldier who said what he meant, and meant what he said. He was actually quite a silver tongued devil. Which devil that might be, I will leave for you and Google to decide.

 

Poor storylines, gameplay with no entertainment value and programming glitches rank higher as mod killers for me than poor spelling and grammar. I quite enjoy Mark Twain and William Faulkner because of their entertaining stories regardless of the grammar and spelling. But then, they wrote that way deliberately to represent the language of common people. Poor writing due to sloth is harder to take. "It all smacks of effort." said Bart Simpson.

 

The GECK does have a spell check, and it will automatically prompt you for an explanation when you try to save a line of dialogue that its dictionary does not recognize. It will also provide alternate word choices and the opportunity to add new words to its dictionary. I find it to be handy. You would need to deliberately avoid it in order to insert words that are spelled incorrectly. It does not evaluate grammar.

[Callighan]

Callighan, there were so many buttons on the G.E.C.K I didn't really notice whether one was a spell check.

It's actually automatic. If you edit a dialogue and write the wrong pronounciation, a spell checker opens. At least, that's how I know of it.

 

But this spell checker could be bypassed if you just click ignore. Perhaps this is why there are mods which dialogue are horrendous-the spell checker can be averted with a simple click.

 

I can understand if some characters is supposed have an accent and thus, different spelling in dialogue such as 'y'all'. But personally, horrifyingly bad spelling or grammar is the number 2 mod killer for me. So horrendous spelling will have me say 'poo I can't stand this, I'm uninstalling this'. Little eeks and ooks are passable, though.

 

 

However, accentuated english voice acting is alright. I can understand that a lot of us come from different parts of the world, brearing different accents.