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Translations: Testing via Google Sheets

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Chris McFarland edited this page Jan 5, 2021 · 7 revisions

Tallowmere 2 supports translation testing via Google Sheets.

Requirements:

Note:

  • After creating a copy of the spreadsheet, ensure the sheet's sharing permissions are set to Anyone with the link (Viewer), so your game client can download the sheet when testing.

How to test

To test a translation, you need to let the game know which language you're translating to, what the sheet ID of your Google Sheet is, and what your Google API Key is.

Required arguments

  1. LanguageToDownload – use one of the following language names:

    • ChineseSimplified, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, PTBR, Russian, Spanish, Turkish
    • (if a language you'd like to translate is not listed above, please contact me)

  2. LanguageToDownload_GoogleSheetID – the long string of alphanumerics in the public URL when viewing the sheet in a web browser.

  3. LanguageToDownload_GoogleSheetsApiKey – an API Key generated by the Google API Console. You can create an API Key yourself, but if you would like me to generate a key for you, please contact me.

Setting the required arguments

To have Tallowmere 2 download your translated spreadsheet, you can either modify a LocalSettings.ini file, or define Launch Options in the Steam client.

Method A: LocalSettings.ini

Start Tallowmere 2, then exit Tallowmere 2; a LocalSettings.ini file will be created on your hard drive.

On Windows 10, LocalSettings.ini should be created within:

C:\Users\%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Chris McFarland\Tallowmere 2\SteamAccounts\%STEAMID%\LocalSettings.ini
  • %USERPROFILE% is your Windows user folder.
  • %STEAMID% will be a bunch of numbers, which is unique to every Steam account.

Example lines to add to the end of the LocalSettings.ini file:

LanguageToDownload = Russian
LanguageToDownload_GoogleSheetID = XXxxXXxxXXxx
LanguageToDownload_GoogleSheetsApiKey = YYyyYYyyYYyy

Method B: Launch Options

Alternatively, you can add the required arguments as "Launch Options" via the Steam client:

  1. Open Steam, click LIBRARY, and navigate to Tallowmere 2.
  2. Right-click Tallowmere 2 → Properties → General tab → Set Launch Options button.
  3. Next, you need to enter the three required arguments.
    • Example text to enter:
-LanguageToDownload Russian -LanguageToDownload_GoogleSheetID XXxxXXxxXXxx -LanguageToDownload_GoogleSheetsApiKey YYyyYYyyYYyy

Steam Launch Options example

Launching and testing

Once the required arguments are in place, launch the game.

Upon startup, an in-game alert will say the language is being downloaded:

Downloading Language alert box

You should then be able to select the language from the in-game Options menu:

Options > Language tab

To see if there are any warnings or errors, press F2 to show the Debug Log.

Tips & Tricks

If a string needs to start with +

If a cell is not getting parsed as a string properly (eg the Google Sheet gives warnings about the formula being incorrect), you can try wrapping your string as an equation.

For example, if you have a string that starts with +:

+1 Luck

Try changing the entry to:

="+1 Luck"

Errors & Known Issues

Unable to find INI file / list.Count mismatch

Symptoms:

  • When starting the game, it says it's downloading the language, but then says it can't find the language's INI file.
  • Opening the Debug Log by pressing F2 shows an error message:
LanguageImporter.ImportNonEnglishStringsFromGoogleSheets: ERROR: list.Count mismatch.

Problem: Your spreadsheet probably has some blank lines at the end of Column C.

Solution: Make sure the last cell in Column C is not blank; just enter a . into the cell.

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