-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 0
Translation Editor
The language editor is used to translate existing text data into another language. This page will guide you through the setup and how to translate a format given to you by a developer. If you are a dev, and are interested in creating such a format file, follow the Installation below and then head over to the devmode guide
The program runs on DotNET 5.0, which as of yet is not included in Windows 10, so you'll have to download and install the runtime over at Microsofts official download page. (The runtime should set up very fast, as it only takes up ~150 mb)
Then, go to the releases section of this repository and look for the latest LE release (e.g. LE-1.0). Simply download the .zip and unpack it at a preferred location. Then start TranslationEditor.exe and you are good to go!
You should have received a format file (.json) from a developer. If not, you should ask for one. The format file is needed, as it contains the text-keys and default texts for the game.
Start the editor and load the format under File->Load Format. If you don't always want to open the format manually, you can set a path for a default format (that opens upon loading the program) in the settings. Now you are ready to start translating!
The main content of a format file consists of "string" blocks (a string is the technical term for a collection of characters/letters, aka a "text"). A string block consists of:
- The Key - the name by which the developers get the text
- The Value - the text to translate
- The Description - a description for the text, to help translating it. If you didn't disable it in the settings, then you should also see the original, untranslated text below the description in bold text
There can also be groupings, which help with organizing the format. They have a lighter background compared to the string blocks. For example, a game can may have 3 menus, each with their own texts. A developer could group each menus' texts together to help the translators with translating. Grouping are solely for the translation program, and as such they won't need to be translated (not that you can, even if you wanted).
It's as simple as it can get: Select the text of a string-block, and edit it. Done! While having a text selected, you can hit CTRL+R to reset it to its original text.
Each block has a status:
- Red: Not translated
- Yellow: Needs retranslation (when format was updated)
- Blue: Was retranslated
- Green: Translated
Groups will show the lowest state of all blocks inside of it (for example, if all blocks inside a group are green but one is red, it will be red). The program also shows the overall status in the bottom right corner.
NOTE: The program checks whether a text has been translated by comparing it with the default text. If the translated text is the same as the default text, then the program will not recognize it as translated
Below the head of the window are a few text fields:
- Author: This is where you enter your name/synonym (as the translator). It also allows multiple names
- Language: The language you translated the contents into
- File Version: If a language file was loaded, this will show its version
- Target name: Target name set by the developer inside the format
- Format version: Version of the loaded format. Also set by the developer
To save a file, go to File->Save or File->Save As. If you haven't edited an existing file (or selected save as) it will open a dialog for you to select a destination to save the files to. The program creates 2 files:
- The .lang file: Holds meta data and the translated texts. This is the file you will need to send to the developers when done!
- The .langkey file: This holds the text-keys, so that the translation program knows how to read the .lang file.
The reason the files are split up is, that a developer will only need one .langkey file and have one .lang file for each supported language! You yourself will still need to keep your .langkey file, as it is important to open your .lang file. Always keep it in the same folder as the .lang file!
To open a file, you need to make sure you have the correct format open. Once you do, go to File->Open and select the .lang file you want to open. It will not work if the .langkey file is not located in the same folder!