Translator for mod

[Guido91ra]

Hello everyone, i hope i'm writing in the right section.
I realize that modders despite all their extraordinary effort won't be able to do translations in many languages.
I personally tried to translate the expanded food mod manually into italian, but 16648 lines to translate are really a lot.
However i want my favorite mods to be translated into my language and that other compatriots of mine can enjoy these translations,
the same goes for everyone because i think that having the game and the mods translated
into your own language makes the experience more satisfying.
So at the moment I'm working on a python script with a multilingual interface (limited), where you can load the JSON files
of the mods to do the translation.
The script does an automatic translation, which is not always correct, so at the end of the translation
a sort of screen appears that asks you line by
line if the translation is correct, if it is wrong in the header field you write the correct translation,
which will be saved in the internal dictionary that will help in future translations. Example an addition to a mod,
we will not have to redo everything from scratch but we will only work on the new part. This will be possible because
in addition to the dictionary that we will compile there is also a memory cache where all the translations are saved.
I made this choice to keep the script free so that anyone can use it.
Logically with access to DeepL premium or the Google Translate API the translations
would be much more correct but they would have a cost.
I tried to maintain a good balance between free and automatic, unfortunately a bit of time to check and correct will be needed,
but at least it greatly reduces the time it takes to do a manual translation.
As soon as I have a raw but working version I will try to share it with instructions on how to use it.
The languages it can translate into are all those present in google translate.
My idea is to create an application in .exe to make it easier to use because python with the command prompt is inconvenient and
I think it is not within everyone's reach.

I hope it can be useful to you.

 

Edited April 23, 2025 by Guido91ra

[meico]

9 hours ago, Guido91ra said:

Google Translate API

Yeah, that was literally the first thing I thought of too – but paying for something that doesn’t really pay for itself just feels kinda pointless

As for alternatives:

•     Community glossaries could help a ton. If modders and players contribute known translations for specific terms, it could cut down a lot of repetitive work.
•     Semi-automatic review rounds – maybe using a system where the community votes or approves translations? Not perfect, but better than starting from scratch each time.
•     Lightweight desktop apps with GUI instead of scripts might get more casual users on board too. If it’s easy to open and click through, more people might help out.

    And of course... the good ol’ method of just teaming up with a few native speakers. Even just a few helping hands can make 16,000 lines a bit less terrifying

Anyway, super cool initiative – looking forward to seeing the script once it’s out!

[Guido91ra]

Hi, for now it is designed to work locally.

Inside it has:

• Translation cache: it is used to store translations, reuse them in case of recurrence to speed up the process and limit requests to deep_translator (google translate).
• Internal dictionary: editable by the user and is update at the end of the translation after the user makes changes to the badly translated lines in the GUI.

Logical structure:

1. Loading the JSON file;
2. Load Dictionary
3. Load Cache
4. Translation logic:  before Dictionary->Cache->Deep_translator
5. Complete translation without altering keys
6. When the automatic translation is completed, the manual correction interface opens. The GUI shows the original code line by line and the translation made next to it, if correct it is confermed while if it needs to be modified you manually write the translation and it updates it and saves the change in the dictionary.

I basically made it self-learn from our changes.

To keep it free i had to use deep_translator which is a sort of google translate module but unlike the browser it doesn't interpret the sentences but translate them in a simple and in some cases a bit stupid way. With a paid API the quality would improve but it would be a limitation for those who don't want or don't have the possibility to pay and i don't like this.

I will start by saying that i am less than a novice in programming and i am helping myself with AI to solve the bugs or mistakes that i make, however the first version work in a very basi way and i am trying to implement it.