Translation Mod Guide

We added some tools to simplify the process of creating a translation mod, without having to directly edit configuration JSON files. This guide will take you through the steps for creating and updating a translation mod.

A note about fonts
A note from the dev team about fonts: our fonts may not support all characters in all languages. If you are creating a translation mod and find that some or all of the characters in your language are not supported, please let us know. You can contact us on the Steam Workshop discussion boards. We can introduce new fonts into the game in the upcoming patches

Step by step
Follow these steps to create a translation mod. Each step is described below in more detail.


 * 1) Open the localization modding tools from the mods window in the game.
 * 2) Export the texts to CSV files. See below for more information.
 * 3) Open the CSV files with Microsoft Excel and edit them, add your translation.
 * 4) Save the excel file as a Unicode file.
 * 5) Generate JSON configuration files using the localization modding tools.
 * 6) Follow the instructions in the Mod Creation Checklist in the Modding Guide to create the mod, edit its metadata, and upload to Steam Workshop.

Exporting texts to CSV
The first step to create a translation mod is to export the game's texts to a CSV file for easy editing with Excel (or another spreadsheet app).

First, open the localization modding tools in the game. In the mods menu, there's a button for opening these tools just outside the top-right of the mods window.

In the localization tools, click the "Export CSV" button. This will let you select which language to export in addition to English. If you are just getting started with the mod, select "New Translation". If you already translated some of the texts and created a mod, when that mod is active you will be able to select that language and export the texts with the existing translation, and then add the missing texts.

Editing the CSV files
In this guide we will explain how to use Microsoft Excel to edit the CSV language files, but you can use another spreadsheet program that can open CSVs and save it as a tab-separated unicode file.

There are two files that you need to edit - Texts.csv and TutorialTexts.csv. Open the file in Microsoft Excel, and you will see 3 columns - a key (which you shouldn't touch), an English column that contains the original text in English, and a column for your translation. You should only edit your translation column, add the text in your language for every cell in the spreadsheet.

Tips for editing the CSV file:

 * Before you start editing, organize the file in a comfortable way. You can expand or hide the key column, you will not need it but it must be there for the importer to work.
 * Expand the English and Translated columns, and activate "Wrap Text" so that the text is fully visible within the cell.
 * Save your spreadsheet as an XLSX file, not a CSV. That way it will keep all the formatting adjustments that you made when you open it again. When you create a Unicode file for the importer (see below), you can create another copy, but still keep the XLSX file.
 * You can press ALT + Enter in Excel to enter a new line. Line breaks are important in many of the text values so they are readable in the game, make sure you copy them as is.
 * Some texts are keywords that should not be change. These include words that appear within <> such as and, as well as varialbe placeholders - {0} and {1}.
 * Variable placeholders {0} and {1} will be replaced with a context-relevant text. This text may vary from entry to entry, if you're not sure what goes there, the best way is to test it in the game.

Saving as a Unicode file
When you're done with your edit and want to create a mod that you can test in the game, you'll need to save the Excel / CSV file as a Unicode tab-separated file. In Microsoft Excel, simply click "File" -> "Save As", then select a folder, and when entering the file name, you'll have a drop down for "Save as type". Select the "Unicode Text" option.

Name the files Texts.txt and TutorialTexts.txt, and copy them to the game installation folder where the original CSVs were exported to.

Generating JSON files for your mod
Once you have your unicode files in the game installation folder, it's time to generate the files that you will be using in your mod.

Open the localization mod tools in the game again, and this time click the "Generate JSON from CSV" button. This will prompt you to enter a language code for your translation. A language code is a 2-letter code that represents the language. You can find your language code here (we prefer the 2 letter code when possible, but 3 letters are ok too). While you can enter any code for you language, it is preferable to enter the official code to prevent conflicts with other translation mods that may use the same code.

Once you enter the language code, the game will search if a translation for that code already exists. If you already have an active mod for this language, it will find it and use the existing language name, otherwise it will ask you to enter the language name. This name should be entered in the original language so that players who speak that language will understand it. This is what the players will see in the language selection menu.

The game will then generate 3 JSON files - one for each CSV file with the translated texts, and another file called Languages.json that will include the language code and name, so that the game will know to include it in the language selection list. Copy all 3 files to your mod folder as explained in the Modding Guide (use these files for step 2 of that guide), and follow the rest of the instructions to finish setting up your mod.