Greetings, this is my first post in the new FFG Forums, and I'm gonna start it the way I already did in the old ones, with a question regarding translations.

I'm translating the game into Spanish, but I'm having a hard time translating several game concepts due to the lack of flavour texts and insufficient background (thematically-wise, that is).

For example.... what exactly is a FLARE, thematically speaking? At first I thought it was some kind of "solar flare" or "stellar flare", then I read the rules and changed my mind, believing it to be some kind of 'beacon", perhaps left behind by the Precursors in the game, though I fail to see how a beacon could be used to have those effects in game. Now I think it doesn't have to have a specific meaning (the game is quite abstract in its own way), but nevertheless I have to translate it, and I can't find any suitable definition in any of the different senses of the word "flare". Could anyone please help me? What is the exact meaning of the concept of 'flare' in this game?

Thanks a lot!!

EDIT: I also thought it could be some kind of metaphor describing a "sudden outburst" of alien potential, a "sudden increase and decrease" of skill, if you will (according to Merriam-Webster), but the little flavour the rules contain refers to them as "devices built by the alien races", so I'm at a loss here.

From the rulebook:

Flares are powerful and unique devices built by each alien to radically change the outcome of encounters. "

I've always thought of things this way:

Flares: recently re-discovered concepts/science that the main alien race uses to boost their strengths, but other aliens apply in unexpected (by the original alien race) and often highly powerful ways.

Artifacts: (formerly Edicts): proclamations & interventions from the inter-galactic council of all other aliens not involved in current hostilities. Sometimes they are doing alien-itarian aid (mobius tubes), sometimes they're interfering behind the scenes (force-field). I always thought of flares as a kind of "artifact", but now we've got this new naming convention...

Technology: This I think most resembles technology found on dead worlds from extinct races, or stolen from others who were experimenting with sciences forbidden in inter-galactic treaties. Or maybe just plain-old non-alien-specific R&D.

I don't know if that was at all useful, being a very subjective view of CE, but that's my two Lucre's worth.

Yeah, thanks for your remark, but I did noticed that part, it's just that I failed to say it in my first post.

However I still cannot see how any of the definitions of "flare" adjusts to that, and I just need to know it in order to translate it properly. I think I need some help at a lingüistic level here, because English is not my mother language. Sorry if I am not getting myself through clearly.

The fact is, how is a flare a "powerful and unique device that can change the outcome of encounters" when I cannot seem to find any definition whatsoever in any dictionary that refers to them as such (besides the aforementioned "beacon" meaning). I know it's just a game concept, it's just that I need to know the corrrespondence between the word "flare", the effect the concept has in the game mechanics, and the theme of the concept itself.

I apologize again, it's hard to explain yourself when you're not used to it.

EDIT: Thanks Robert, that actually makes a lot of sense and was more helpful than you think, I'm afraid I will have to make up some cool name and ignore the "lingüistic fidelity" this time.

Couldn’t you just name it similarly (if there is analogous word to “flare” that means something like “suddenly growing in intensity”), and describe it similarly? I mean, there isn’t an English word for “device created to boost alien powers” either, which is why “flare” was chosen to get the concept across of something that bursts forth suddenly, then subsides. I would think that you could just use the same terminology.

Yes, that's the point, and that's just the word I am looking for, but I wanted to make sure that FLARE didn't have a space-oriented meaning I dodn't know about. The fact is that yes, there ARE words in Spanish that mean something like "sudden increase of something", but to get a proper feeling for the game it should be another space-related word (as "flare" is for you English speaker guys ). And that was/is the issue.

Thanks a lot anyway for all your help, you were all most kind and helpful!

It is a reference to a SOLAR FLARE.

Almost everything in the game has space themed terms. A solar flare is when a huge burst of heat and different elements rise up and it literally looks like fire is jumping across the surface of a star, because it "flared up" or grew in power and expanded temporarily in that one spot. Hope that helps.

In the original Cosmic Encounter, each player had a star disc that he placed his alien power behind. There wasn't a very detailed story, everything was somewhat abstract. I believe the "flare" was meant to describe a solar (stellar) flare, which was metaphorical for the "outburst" of potential you spoke of. The new edition has a story but they retain the name "flare" just because that's what it was always called, I believe. I don't think it is meant to refer to an actual flare but instead just be a device the aliens decided to name "Flare" after solar flare. That may be a bit confusing, but to put it shortly: I would translate it according to the word for a solar flare and not worry about what the actual "device" is.