Topic: What are bobs? (and how to translate them)

hjd Topic Opener Joined: 2011-06-12, 20:24 Posts: 158 At home in WL-forums Location: bugs.launchpad.net/widelands	Posted at: 2012-04-08, 17:44 In the map editor there is a section for placing animals and critters called "bobs". What does bob mean and how should it be translated? (Is this the origin?) Should it simply be translated one bob - several bobs (or whatever is appropriate for singular/plural in my language)? Also, wouldn't animals or creatures be a more descriptive name for this section? Ships! Top Quote

wl-zocker Joined: 2011-12-30, 17:37 Posts: 492 Tribe Member Location: Germany	Posted at: 2012-04-14, 15:31 I do not know where the name "bob" comes from, but the article describes well what they are. In German, it is translated to "object" and "nature" (in German of course), but in the tips for the editor, they talk of "natural objects (bobs)" (so the word-by-word translation of the English original). In French, "object" and "bob" are used. So: you can translate them like you think it fits. The problem is that there is a difference between (movable) bobs and immovable bobs (you should care about this when translating). I do not know if renaming is necessary, because the name is only shown in the editor. "Only few people know how much one has to know in order to know how little one knows." - Werner Heisenberg Top Quote

chuckw Joined: 2010-03-15, 16:23 Posts: 945 One Elder of Players Location: New York - USA	Posted at: 2012-04-14, 22:51 In WL, we use the term "bob" to refer to animated game graphics other than terrain tiles, workers, buildings and other immovables (stones, trees, etc.), in other words, "critters", the animals that wander about the game map. Here is an excerpt from the synonyms section of the Wikipedia article about sprites: BOB's, more often BLOB's or 'Blitter Objects', popular name for graphics objects drawn with the dedicated graphics blitter in the Amiga series of computers, which was available in addition to its true hardware sprites. I don't think any of our coders are still, if ever, working on Amiga's, but "bob" is a short, catchy phrase and fits how we use it in WL. Edit: - because "bob" is actually a technical acronym, I don't feel it has to be translated, but then again I am a native English speaker. Edited: 2012-04-14, 23:00 I see little people. Top Quote

Adamant Joined: 2012-10-11, 16:21 Posts: 180 Widelands-Forum-Junkie Location: Alemania	Posted at: 2013-02-23, 15:52 I wonder if Blitter Object, technicla Term from ComputerScience is the right Terminology we should use for the Editor. Is that Term impoprtant to understand how it works? Else I prefer Flora and Fauna resp WildLife and Animals. Who is Bob? Selection of Terms may factor in Audience. My Advice is to use Terms from simpler ExperienceWorld: Animal and Plant my Favor. Edited: 2013-02-23, 15:55 Ivan the Terrible is dead .. Genghis Khan is dead .. and I do not feel well, too. Top Quote