Overview

CRYENGINE is able to localize text and sound for different languages. All of the necessary localization data is stored inside pak files, stored in the <root>/Localization folder (example: GameSDK/Localization/English_XML.pak).

Inside of the pak files all files contained in the Languages folder can be directly translated except dialog_recording_list.xml and ai_dialog_recording_list.xml. These two files are used by the dialog system and need further explanation.

The g_language console variable can be used to load a specific language, which is addressed by the name of the language pak file (example: g_language = german for German.pak).

The dialog recording lists as well as translated text are loaded and handled by the LocalizationManager class. Make sure that new files are correctly loaded in the CSystem::OpenLanguagePak() function.

Usage

Inside certain scripts shipped with the SDK, you'll find references to localization strings. One example can be found in the InteractiveEntity object: GameSDK/Scripts/Entities/Others/InteractiveEntity.lua

UseMessage = "@use_object",

The localization string for this reference is located inside: <root>\Localization\English_XML.pak\text_ui_ingame.xml

This table is used to define strings of text which are then displayed in game. When the player walks up to the InteractiveEntity Entity, "Use object" will be displayed on the screen.

If the string is defined in alternate languages and the player use using an alternate language, it will be displayed as such.

PAK/Folder structure

Using the localization files inside pak files allows you to create multiple language packs. For example, CRYENGINE SDK ships with 3 language packs, English (default), German and Korean. The structure of these pak files is the same for each language.

For testing purposes though, you are not required to use .pak files. You can place .xml files for example in the main Localization folder and the engine will read these by default (similar to extracting objects from pak files, the engine will prioritize external content).

Texture Localization

For detailed information on localizing textures, refer to the Texture Localization article.