localization

How to localize the game

To make the localization process easier, you can download debug builds from the releases page.

Step 1

• go to the locale directory: Linux: [game directory]/assets/locale/ Windows: [game directory]\locale\

• add language to the locales.json file, for example:

    "de": "DEUTSCHE"
  

• create a directory for localized files in locales directory, for example, de

• copy text.json from en (or other completed translation if you prefer) to the new directory

• translate text in the text.json file

For most languages, that's enough. The game will use TTF font 7-12-serif from the fonts directory and you can play the localized game.

If you want to use a different font, copy font.json from en to the localization directory (de in the example) and edit it:

• fontName - name of the directory in the fonts directory containing target font (you can add your own monospace fonts there).
• fontWidth and fontHeight - font size. You may need to experiment with these values because sometimes font rendered not as you expect.
• fontOffsetY - only used to align HUD (life, bombs, rope, and money count). Start with 0 and if HUD misaligned adjust it.
• messageBackground - if in-game messages hard to read, set to true, it will draw a black background behind the text.

At this point, you can send localized files to me any way you like and I'll do the rest. Also, you can skip step 2 (because it can be not so easy to do), create localized images (step 3), and then send me files. If you want to do everything yourself or you didn't find a TTF font that includes all characters you use in the translation and looks OK (can be the case for languages like Chinese and Japanese), read the rest of the instructions.

Step 2

• create charset text file:

  • for most languages just add all letter from your language alphabet to charset file (if not already there)
  • for languages with lots of characters (like Chinese or Japanese):
    • copy charset file from en and add characters that you use in your translation to it
    • OR if you have python installed on your PC or willing to install it, you can use generate_charset_text_file.py script:
      • place text.json and generate_charset_text_file.py into the same directory
      • run generate_charset_text_file.py
      • check the generated file for mistakes and adjust if required

• create charset.png and charset_small.png:

  • first way:
    • draw additional characters yourself (that's how charset for Russian was done)
  • second way (requires python and pillow library):
    • place generate_charset_image_file.py, charset text file and (any monospace) TTF font into the same directory
    • run generate_charset_image_file.py (maybe you have to adjust font_size inside the script)
    • edit output file, it's not usable as-is, you have to, at least, resize it (in the original font each character is 16x16px in charset.png and 8x8px in charset_small.png, so use something close to these values)

• go to the directory with localized files, in the example: .../locale/locales/de

• create charset directory and place charset, charset.png, and charset_small.png here

• if your fonts not 8x8 and 16x16, create font.json file with the following content (adjust values):

    {
        "fontSmallWidth": 8,
        "fontSmallHeight": 10,
        "fontLargeWidth": 16,
        "fontLargeHeight": 20,
        "fontOffsetY": -5
    }
  

Step 3

• copy images directory from en to the directory with localized files, in the example: .../locale/locales/de
• redraw images

Questions?

If something not clear, ask questions here or here.