yes - all is better as my English

As long as the meaning is understandable your creativity will show through. Any grammatical errors can always be fixed later

speaking of creativity, the following videos are from a german bote star trek mod player (the mod is done by another bote player unrelated to our team), and when you watch it, even as someone not understanding german that much, you'll notice that many things are done let's say not in the best way it could. While you can see and hear in the videos that he has fun playing it, details of game controls and management are missed by him, e.g. he doesn't get the meaning of the food storage so he always builds vast amounts of food production buildings definitely not needed and wastes a lot of resources on that. Also he does not seem to catch the meaning of some upgrades like for example that it is totally useful to build ship yard upgrades before you start building lots of ships, especially when they otherwise take half the turns to build.

What I intend to say with this, well it is of course the basis to provide text and translations but we can also try to improve some UI aspects so that the player more easily catches basic things (the food thing I mentioned is so crucial, it unnecessarily makes him totally vulnerable if he used it in a multiplayer game against an opponent not making this mistake). We are currently discussing how to make the storage graphically or text-wise more prominent and make it obvious to the player, that having 20000 food in surplus is too much since the colony only takes 200 per turn if you would turn off all food production buildings so it's enough to have 1000-2000 in surplus. Especially in the beginning it is deadly to draw workers from science buildings off to the food area and neglecting engine tech to be able to explore more worlds sooner.

ideas for better handling of this (other than a million pop-ups ) are always welcome.

anyways, here are the videos:

Part 1: http://letsplayimpot.de/?v=24296
Part 2: http://letsplayimpot.de/?v=24369
Part 3: http://letsplayimpot.de/?v=24701
Part 4: http://letsplayimpot.de/?v=24724
Part 5: http://letsplayimpot.de/?v=24744

One thing I have always noticed in the game is that the same thing in different windows is displayed differently. The only thing I can think of off hand is the ship data. When you review the data in the research/ship design screen you can see the cost to maintain and a lot of details on the ships stats, but not the relative firepower, just what the weapons are called and level. In the construction queue you can't even see the maintenance cost. Once built you can see both these things in the highlight for the ship when moused over.

Also, there is no indication of what the relative merits of weapons are. The description for Chronoton torpedoes says they pass through shields, but that is about the most useful description there. Is a laser bank more powerful than a laser array? which fires more rapidly? Have they different accuracies vs more agile craft? does a rapid fire microtorpedoe bank fire fast enough to make it useful against a larger torpedo array, despite the lower firepower per hit? Most of the time I just play it by ear and hope I'm choosing the right ship when I pick them. Just having a ROF and accuracy in the stats for a ship weapon would help. There are indications that laser etc are better vs smaller more agile ships and torpedoes are better vs larger vessels, but this also isn't clear. Is that true vs micro torpedoes?

I'm pretty sure there are one or two other things that aren't shown from one window to another, but I can't think of them right now.

As to the food supply, perhaps making it a column with made/used right next to each other might help? Making them red and green would work, but might be awkward if you also have to put a third column in for the surplus/deficit. Three columns might be a bit much graphically, especially if the amounts get large! I've had 1000's of titanium and other minerals before and with 125,000 as the max supply on some stuff it might be a little packed over there

the firepower things and detailed explanations is reserved for the encyclopedia window, where advantages and disadvantages will be shown in necessary depth. We will likely add the maintenance costs to the build menu section but that should be enough there in order not to clog the view.

currently the user needs to look up things in the (german) manual pdf or visit http://www.botf2.com/bote/Wiki/Internal%20weapon%20systems.aspx where all weaponry things are explained (something like that, just a little more wrapped-up, will be in the encyclopedia later-on).

I guess this is something for Alpha 8, maybe 7 since the Star Mod already features this encyclopedia but we do not have access to the code in question.

Um, is the firepower that is listed on the pop up for a ship the damage it does, or the damage it does per second? As in a rough guide to how damaging that weapon is over time?

it is the maximum damage per 100 seconds combat time. as you can see at the bottom of page here http://www.botf2.com/bote/Wiki/Torpedo%20weapons.aspx the formula produces the values you see on screen like for example with the myotronic torpedos here http://svn.star-trek-games.com/birth/screenshots/han_outpost.png

it may be that the values on the botf2.com page are a bit outdated and were modified a little but in general when recalculating you get to similar values as shown in the popup.

for some questions german wiki might be helpful http://birth-of-the-empires.de/wiki/index.php/A-Z.
Most (100%??) of the pages have a link on the top to translate the page via google into english - if not don't hesitate to post it here viewtopic.php?f=14&t=4209 or do it yourself into german wiki

I took a look at the wiki last night. Very interesting, though some is still in German (Google translate doesn't do quite so well on things like 'shield regeneration' for some reason ) but it did help quite a bit. Yes, there is some out of date stuff there. Quantum torpedoes are listed as 675 dam, where in game they were 575 dam. Plus I don't remember seeing tractor beams anywhere (or was I just missing them?)

There was one torpedoe that I saw recently that I didn't see on the list. I was playing as Coalition and had 'TK pulse fire torpedoes' of some sort (I think that was the name) Did they get renamed or is it a new weapon type?

I do not know the types by heart but in the ship editor it should be listed somewhere. Sometimes it's because you got a minor with this type of torpedo that makes it available to be added to all your ship classes.

I did up a couple of reworkings on the Minor race descriptions. Let me know what you think.

Zarovians:
The planet Zarovia is unusual in that the Deritium deposits here are very near the surface. The biosphere has adapted to this in odd ways despite the toxicity to the local flora and fauna. The Zarovians themselves are a case in point. Their species biology is dependent on Deritum, despite the fact that they can now farm food stuff without the toxic mineral in it. Although they are dependant on Deritium it does still affect them, mostly in old age. Mostly it affects vision, usually with blindness, but other maladies are often found. Their dependance on Deritium has been used by other races as bribery, especially starfaring cultures that can refine it to a more 'tasty' form. Their bodies however do not process Deritium itself and it is passed out as waste. Even accounting for the Deritium in this waste being bound to biochemicals it is actually useable in starships for moderating antimatter reactions with little to no processing. No-one knows why the Zarovian metabolism should do this as it seems to have no biological advantage to the species.

Yimandarians:
The Yimandarians are famous as traders of information, specifically information that is hidden or hard to find. Selling their services out for espionage, sabotage and assassinations to the highest bidder they have become very good at their job. The means by which they procure their information on the galactic scene is unknown. Numerous times information from Yimandarian sources has yielded critical knowledge that has tipped the balance between major powers... and made them considerable sums of money selling the information. They keep relations with their customers close, mainly to insure their customers will defend them if need be. What is little known about this race is that the similarity to humans of the Coalition is not accidental. An early lost colony from Terra when they first developed space travel formed the start of the Yimandarians. The harshness of the early years after their seperation from Terra has caused them to vary enough in genotype to be considered a seperate species... not that they allow anyone access to their DNA to find out about their heritage.

tractor beams will not be implemented into BotE (plans to this were cancelled)

typo: Deritium, not Deritum

how about "Mainly it affects vision progressively causing blindness.

hm, thinking about the storyline, it would make sense if their bodies processed it so that it can't be reused from their "waste", i.e. bribery would not be possible then since a 100% re-use could be guaranteed by recycling waste. Let's say they metabolize it so that it can easily be used to form crystals for use in spaceships.

OK, how about:

The planet Zarovia is unusual in that the Deritium deposits here are very near the surface. The biosphere has adapted to this in odd ways despite the toxicity to the local flora and fauna. The Zarovians themselves are a case in point. Their species biology is dependent on Deritium, despite the fact that they can now farm food stuff without the toxic mineral in it. Although they are dependant on Deritium it does still affect them. It primarily affects vision but the effects are progressive leaving them often blind in their latter years. Their dependance on Deritium has been used by other races as bribery, especially starfaring cultures that can refine it to a more 'tasty' form. When their bodies metabolize the mineral it processes it into small crystals in their waste products that curiously is perfect for use in moderating antimatter reactions in starships. No-one knows why the Zarovian metabolism should do this as it seems to have no biological advantage to the species.

crystaluria, nice catch .

how about that (I'm thinking about building techlevel 13 with morale -2 and deritium-production 5) - Thanks for checking

In einer Typ 4 Raffinerie wird Deritium schnell und in großen Mengen aus Erzmaterial extrahiert. Der Bevölkerung sind die Risiken und Sicherheitsmängel im Zuge dieser gesteigerten Produktion zwar bekannt, aber nicht von ihr akzeptiert. Insofern kommt es immer wieder zu Protesten und Unruhen.

In a refinery type 4 Deritium is extracted quickly and in large quantities from ore material. People know about the risks and safety deficiencies in the wake of this increased production but don't accepted it totally. So it always comes back to protests and riots.

hazards statt deficiencies, and acceptance is accordingly low statt but don't..., Large-scale protests and even local riots have been continuously reported since the installment.

good idea btw.

Would this be a general tech or from a minor? I know the singularity plant doesn't have a moral negative (does it?) for the romu... I mean Rotharians but a higher one that does have a penalty would be interesting.

Suggestion on wording:
In a type 4 Refinery Deritium is extracted quickly and in large quantities from Deritium ore. People know about the risks and safety deficiencies in the wake of the increased production and don't totally accept it. The results are often protests and riots.

This would be a general tech for all 6 major races. BotE itself provides up to Tech 14, but atm it stopps at Tech 10.
My perceived progress is 78% changing buildings.data... I think firstly it will be a Tech14MOD, I hope later on it will be part of BotE.

Rotharians Singularity Plant only produces 1 Deritium, at Type 4 they do it quick and unsafe ! -> morale minus penalty

This reminded me that I'd volunteered to help a long time ago ... and promptly forgotten my promise.

I've also found this thread, which basically recommends translators work on the latest/greatest version of the datafiles, obtained from the codeplex. Do you still need translators?

sure. but actually it's best to download latest zip file from bote.codeplex.com under source-code where the really latest data files should be included. The ones in the thread are possibly outdated by now (I don't check every update on codeplex for that).

every help would be fine - Thanks a lot

a maybe short translation issues would be checking planned troop descriptions http://birth-of-the-empires.de/wiki/ind ... nfantry.29 - I can give access for direct editing (after you registered there)

....or edit it in the attached file
----
a quick check of this translations would be also nice http://birth-of-the-empires.de/wiki/index.php/Alien

I disappear for...um...two and a half years and the translation work goes on without me....fair enough !!

I tried sometimes ... people have to endure my English (Malvoisin sometimes corrected me ).

In addition to ingame data translations I began to work on Wiki in both languages e.g. http://birth-of-the-empires.de/wiki/ind ... one_minute

for ingame data we tried also Wiki e.g. for Troops http://birth-of-the-empires.de/wiki/ind ... _Forces.29 . Getting actual version of files from bote.codeplex.com as Malvoisin wrote is always the best way.

...it's a plenty of work left and my English needs surely to be improved so any improvements are welcome