Creatures in a given world do not have necessarily the same language nor the same way to express themselves.
In order to manage the differences between languages, we introduce a 'language' attribute in messages.
On receiving a message, a creature will have to verify that it knows the language in which this message is formulated, before being able to read it. If this is not the case, the message text will appear encrypted (and so unintelligible) to the player or to the script/AI which receives it.
A creature can anyway memorize a message which it do not understand (language problem). To the contrary, it cannot memorize a message if it does not possess the sense required for the perception of the message.
In order to face the objective of a multilingual game (English, French, Spanish, German...), it is required that dialogs be the same as much as we can.
The solution would consist in integrating in the messages the same version of the text in various languages.
It would concern messages sent by bots but also the texts of player aliases.
Example 22. Multilingual example
job -> ("What's your name?", "Comment t'appelles-tu~?", "Wie heisst du~?")
Therefore players could read messages from the desired version if this version is available, otherwise it will be the default version (which is always available). On the other hand, players will of course not have to formulate their messages in several languages.
The internal representation of standard keywords (name, job...) will always stay the same but it is not out of the question that these keywords be translated by the interface. Other keywords will definitely have to be translated in several languages by world creators or translators.
The following example shows well the necessity of translating some keywords:
Example 23. Example of the baker
in English
>Job Raoul: I am the baker. >baker Raoul: I cook breads, pies and cakes. >cakes Raoul: My cakes are the best in Midgaard.
In French
>Job Raoul: Je suis le boulanger. >boulanger Raoul: Je fais du pain, des tartes et des gâteaux. >gateaux Raoul: Mes gâteaux sont les meilleurs de Midgaard.
If we do not translate the keywords
baker |
cakes |
Example 24. Bad translation
>Job Raoul: Je suis le boulanger. >boulanger Raoul: Je ne connais pas. >gateaux. Raoul: Je ne connais pas.
This is a trap into which translators must not fall.
Finally, we specify to avoid any misunderstanding, that a keyword in French does not mean that the answer will be merely in French, and ditto for other languages. In all events, the answer must remain multilingual so that the other players who listen to the message and who use another language, may understand. Actually, there will be only a set of keywords associated to a set of answers:
(boulanger, baker)->("Je fais du pain, des tartes et des gâteaux.", "I cook breads, pies and cakes.")