Dev log · · v0.28.3
The tutorial now speaks Québec French
Every tutorial step is read aloud in English or French. The first French voice had an English accent; versions 0.28.2 and 0.28.3 replace it with a native Québec French voice.
Fjord is set in Québec, so French is not a translation we add at the end. Version 0.27.1 put the whole game in French, from the HUD to the race signals, with every sailing term checked against the OQLF’s Grand dictionnaire terminologique and Québec sailing usage: écoute, chariot, drisse, prendre un ris, en ciseaux.
A voice for every step
In 0.28.0 every tutorial step got a voice-over that follows the language setting. The spoken lines are shorter than the cards, because nobody wants to be read a paragraph while the boat is heeling. The lines are generated with ElevenLabs, and our script only regenerates the ones that changed.
We first used one voice, Sarah, for both languages. In English she is warm and clear. In French she had an English accent, which in a game about the Saguenay sounded wrong straight away.
Two French voices later
- 0.28.2: the 25 French lines moved to Jeanne Mance, a Québec French voice from the ElevenLabs voice library. The accent was right; the reading was flat.
- 0.28.3: the French lines now use Amélie, a younger and friendlier Québec French voice, with more expressive settings.
Every line is also loudness-normalised to the same level, so switching languages does not change the volume. English still uses Sarah.
The voice has its own setting under Settings, Audio.