Localisation of content

Overview of translatable content

  • Trains
  • Tracks
  • Libre Train Sim itself
    • Menus
    • In-game Messages
    • Tutorials

Warning

We are planning to move away from CSV files. The past prove them to be hard to maintain. The content on this page is subjected to change but nonetheless relevant for 0.9.

For 1.0 we plan to switch to a gettext based approach using a translation service like poeditor or weblate.

Step by step guide

Preparation

  1. A .csv editor like Libre Office is recommended. (Microsoft Excel won't work)
  2. Get the latest sources either by clicking the link or by cloning the repository
  3. Download Godot
  4. Extract both files
  5. Start Godot and scan in the repository folder
  6. Godot should have found Libre Train Sim. Double-click the entry to start the project
  7. Press F5 to run Libre Train Sim

Translation

Translations are stored using .csv files. Those files are found in: - /src/Trains - /src/Translations

The import and export settings should use , as separator and " as string separator. Libre Office default settings are fine. The file is encoded in UTF-8.

Danger

Earlier versions of the documentation declared the deletion of all columns except keys and en to be fine. However, this caused major headaches when we had to implement the files. So please, please, do not. Shrink or hide the columns instead.

Enter the desired language code into the first line of your column. Currently, there is no need to use country specific language codes. Please stick to the generic locales instead. For example use en instead of en_GB.

Info

The generic locale rule is in place to reduce the maintance burden. Every added translation needs to keep updated. If you feel like this rule discriminates against your language because there are significant differences, please raise an issue on GitHub.

You can enter new lines using \n and tabs using \t

Once you finished your file, save it with the same name as .csv file.

Testing

  1. Save the file as .csv
  2. Start Godot and launch Libre Train Sim
  3. Godot should automatically detect file changes.
  4. Press F5 and select your language in the settings.

Contribute the translation

There are two options to contribute the changes back upstream. The preferred option is easy on our side using a pull request. The process will be described in the yet-to-be-written dedicated guide. The other option is to create a new issue on GitHub with your changed files attached.