A tool for extracting original text from, and patching translated text into, a variety of visual novel formats. Upgraded to .NET 8, now it can be compiled for linux, webassembly, etc.
Original repo: arcusmaximus/VNTranslationTools
Base fork: hentaitaku/VNTranslationTools
WIP WebUI based on the Web Assembly build: rafael-vasconcellos/VNTextPatch-web
- upgraded project to latest LTS .NET version
- Removed suport for KiriKiri SCN Scripts because FreeMote uses net4.8
- implemented multiplatform
ProportionalWordWrapper
System.Configuration -> Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration
Currently the following engines are supported:
| Engine | Extension(s) | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| AdvHD | .ws2 | |
| ArcGameEngine | .bin | |
| Artemis | .asb/.ast/.txt | Append --format=artemistxt to command line for .txt |
| Buriko General Interpreter/Ethornell | (none) | Append --format=ethornell to command line |
| CatSystem2 | .cst | |
| Cyberworks C,system | .a0 | |
| KaGuYa | message.dat | |
| Kirikiri | .ks/.scn/.txt | Append --format=kirikiriks to command line for .txt |
| Majiro | .mjo | |
| Musica | .sc | |
| Mware | .nut | |
| Propeller/Stuff Script Engine | .msc | |
| RealLive | .txt | Append --format=reallive to command line |
| Ren'Py | .rpy | |
| ShSystem | .hst | |
| Silky's/AI6WIN | .mes/.map | |
| Qlie | .s | |
| Softpal | script.src | Make sure text.dat and point.dat are available in the same folder |
| SystemNNN | .nnn/.spt | |
| TmrHiroAdvSystem | .srp/(none) | Append --format=tmrhiroadvsystemtext to command line in case of no extension |
| Whale | .txt | Append --format=whale to command line |
| YU-RIS | .ybn |
The tool can extract text into Excel workbooks (.xlsx) or JSON files (.json), and reinsert text from Excel, JSON, or Google Docs Spreadsheets. Working with .xlsx files does not require Microsoft Excel to be installed.
The command line syntax is as follows:
Excel:
VNTextPatch extractlocal <folder containing original game files> script.xlsx
VNTextPatch insertlocal <folder containing original game files> script.xlsx <folder to receive patched game files>
JSON:
VNTextPatch extractlocal <folder containing original game files> <folder to receive .json files>
VNTextPatch insertlocal <folder containing original game files> <folder containing .json files> <folder to receive patched game files>
Google Documents:
VNTextPatch insertgdocs <folder containing original game files> <Google Docs spreadsheet identifier> <folder to receive patched game files>
The input folder should only contain the original scenario files. If it contains files of another format, VNTextPatch may not be able to determine the input format to use.
Depending on the game, some customization in the tool's source code may be needed. For example, Kirikiri .ks files have no uniform way of indicating character names in dialogue lines, so you may need to extend KirikiriScript.cs to make the tool aware of the method your specific game uses.
To use insertgdocs, you need either a Google API key or a Google service account. Both can be created and managed on the Google Cloud Dashboard.
- If you want to use an API key, open VNTextPatch.exe.config and paste the key in the entry called "GoogleApiKey".
- If you want to use a service account, place the account's private key in a file called "google-service-account.json" next to VNTextPatch.exe.
The Google Spreadsheet API needs to be enabled for the API key/service account.
After running extractlocal, VNTextPatch will populate a file called names.xml with all the character names it encountered. If you add translations for these names inside this file and run extractlocal again, the newly extracted spreadsheet will have the translated names prefilled as a convenience.
Most visual novel engines do not support automatic word wrapping. While it's sometimes possible to change their code to add this support, it's generally easier to "precalculate" the word wrapping by adding explicit line breaks in the patched game files. VNTextPatch can add these line breaks automatically for both monospace fonts (MonospaceWordWrapper.cs) and proportional fonts (ProportionalWordWrapper.cs). Both classes can be configured in VNTextPatch.exe.config. You may need to adapt the tool's source code to make it use the wrapper you want.
Many visual novel engines use Shift JIS (more specifically Microsoft code page 932) to encode text, meaning they can't display characters not supported by this code page. Even in English, though, there are words such as "café" that contain such unsupported characters.
VNTextPatch offers a facility called "SJIS tunneling" for solving this problem. When patching a translation into a game file, it'll detect unsupported characters, replace them by unused SJIS code points (so they'll be accepted by the game), and store the mapping from the unused code point to the original character inside a separate file called "sjis_ext.bin". The proxy DLL (described in the section below) will then read this file, and whenever the game renders text on screen, replace any unused code points by their corresponding original character.
This approach makes it possible to have a large number of otherwise unsupported characters - enough to, say, translate a SJIS game to simplified Chinese. There's no need for the classic approach of shipping a modified font with the glyphs of certain Japanese characters replaced by those of another language.
By default, sjis_ext.bin is created inside the output folder, next to the patched game files. You can pass a fourth argument to insertlocal and insertgdocs to specify an alternative path (which should include the file name). The proxy DLL expects the file to be in the same folder as the game .exe.
