Zapotec Civilization Audio

[AssassinsQtip]

Hello, I am the one who had first ported over the standalone Zapotec mod for Empires Ascendant from 0.26 to 0.27.  Recently, I had not only ported over to 0.28, but also finalized all the unfinished aspects, such as missing progression actor/templates for the mercs and the zapotec scout units.  Yes, even the lack of cavalry is not an impediment anymore, though you'll have to try it yourself or have someone else try it against you to see what I mean .

For those who wish to try it:
https://github.com/Yet-Again-He/0ad_zapoteca_0.28

As fun as playing the mod has been, that is not the point of this post.  In finishing the mod, I had also finished an ambitious goal for it, one still incomplete for even some of the base 0ad factions: I made a voice pack for it.  It is a full voice pack made with real people for the basic commands as well as alternate phrases for some of them.  As a result of this, two ideas have come into my head.
1.):  I can submit the audio for the Delenda Est mod so that their Zapotec faction (the original foundation for the standalone) can have voices.
2.): As far as I am aware, the zapotec faction is complete and designed for full integration into standard gameplay, even down to having edited duplicates of various json files so that I am not making unnecessary original technologies/auras.  This means that theoretically, the Zapotecs could be added with minimal fuss into Empires Ascendant.

So I wish to ask.  Who do I talk to about potentially adding the voice pack for Delenda Est, and who can I talk to about the possibility of Zapotecs for the base game?

[Thalatta]

16 minutes ago, AssassinsQtip said:

full voice pack made with real people for the basic commands as well as alternate phrases for some of them.

How did you deal with the problems of Proto-Zapotec tonal reconstruction? Which one have you followed?

The list of commands and a reference to their reconstruction would be nice to see.

[guerringuerrin]

1 hour ago, AssassinsQtip said:

 Who do I talk to about potentially adding the voice pack for Delenda Est, and who can I talk to about the possibility of Zapotecs for the base game?

@wowgetoffyourcellphone

[AssassinsQtip]

39 minutes ago, Thalatta said:

How did you deal with the problems of Proto-Zapotec tonal reconstruction? Which one have you followed?

The list of commands and a reference to their reconstruction would be nice to see.

Ah, I should clarify more on the voicepack.

It is all done in nahuatl, I completely avoided the original Zapotec language for several reasons.  Actual hard data that was not guesswork was frankly lacking, and I only later found anything worthwhile after I decided to abandon my original approach.  The modern derivates of the Zapotec language display heavy hispanification and are hydra-headed, and I am no Hercules.  Part of my goal was to make a voicepack that could be potentially utilized by the Maya faction civilization too, and so the emphasis switched to a more universal tongue.

The list of commands I had voiced should be right here in this link:
https://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/Audio_Voice_List
Also as I mentioned in the above post, I made alternatives for several of them, though...that was due to confusing my memory of the list with the commands I was studying within Empires Ascendant itself.

[Thalatta]

3 minutes ago, AssassinsQtip said:

It is all done in nahuatl
Part of my goal was to make a voicepack that could be potentially utilized by the Maya faction civilization too, and so the emphasis switched to a more universal tongue.

I'm sorry, but this makes absolutely no sense.

Nahuatl appeared centuries after the time frame of Empires Ascendant.

The Maya didn't speak Nahuatl. They didn't even speak languages that are part of the broader Uto-Aztecan language family.

[Lopess]

58 minutes ago, AssassinsQtip said:

Ah, I should clarify more on the voicepack.

It is all done in nahuatl, I completely avoided the original Zapotec language for several reasons.  Actual hard data that was not guesswork was frankly lacking, and I only later found anything worthwhile after I decided to abandon my original approach.  The modern derivates of the Zapotec language display heavy hispanification and are hydra-headed, and I am no Hercules.  Part of my goal was to make a voicepack that could be potentially utilized by the Maya faction civilization too, and so the emphasis switched to a more universal tongue.

The list of commands I had voiced should be right here in this link:
https://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/Audio_Voice_List
Also as I mentioned in the above post, I made alternatives for several of them, though...that was due to confusing my memory of the list with the commands I was studying within Empires Ascendant itself.

First of all, I would like to commend you on your excellent work and dedication; I can imagine the challenges involved in this project. I believe this set would be extremely valuable for representing the Aztec civilization in a future mod set in the Middle Ages or the Early Modern period. However, I do not think it is suitable for the Zapotecs and Mayans, as they are distinct peoples with completely different languages. Given the available Zapotec material and the need to avoid Hispanic influences, I do not consider using Nahuatl to be the best approach for them.
I recall seeing some Zapotec dictionary projects; with a little help, perhaps we could get something close enough to be decent? The same approach would work for Mayan languages—which might actually be easier, given the more comprehensive linguistic studies available.

[Thalatta]

18 minutes ago, Lopess said:

I recall seeing some Zapotec dictionary projects; with a little help, perhaps we could get something close enough to be decent?

It has to be Proto-Zapotec. One has to be careful because there are also intermediate languages between Proto-Zapotec and the Zapotec variants like Southern Zapotec, as is Proto-Southern-Zapotec for example. A fast search led me to a short Spanish Proto-Zapotec dictionary at the end of this 1973 publication: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1264826 (an account with Google can be made), but hopefully there are other dictionaries around.

[Lopess]

5 minutes ago, Thalatta said:

It has to be Proto-Zapotec. One has to be careful because there are also intermediate languages between Proto-Zapotec and the Zapotec variants like Southern Zapotec, as is Proto-Southern-Zapotec for example. A fast search led me to a short Spanish Proto-Zapotec dictionary at the end of this 1973 publication: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1264826 (an account with Google can be made), but hopefully there are other dictionaries around.

That is exactly the one I meant to refer to; the ideal scenario would be a modern speaker pronouncing Proto-Zapotec—I think that would be the closest possible approximation today.

[AssassinsQtip]

Thank you Thalatta and Lopess for your input and your ideas.  I had a talk with the woman who voiced the female files, and she indicated she was willing to try it also for proto-zapotec.   And now I do not have to undergo the process of acquiring the necessary equipment, programs, and knowledge how to use the aforementioned equipment and programs.  Once I have the text for the commands, I can get this done within a month.

Of course, this requires having the commands, a process that will take awhile.  Any tips or help on the matter will be most appreciated.  In the meantime, I hope you all have a wonderful start to your autumn!

[Thalatta]

@AssassinsQtip, here my tips for you:

1) Start with extensive research, get your hands into whatever Proto-Zapotec reconstruction publications you can find.

2) Their words are now written with modern conventional characters, keep notes on how they should be pronounced.

3) Make a list of words that could be useful for the game (or all of them if you want), written in both English and those characters.

4) Come back here, and we can check, by then I could go through the previous points to see if I can fix or add something.

 

You should then write down things like

To hunt: *'ko?oti/a

This being an example of what units could say when ordered to hunt.

Edited 24 minutes ago by Thalatta