Let's get down to business. To get started, select "Files" and click "Download Esp"

Then select the esp file of the required mod and see the following table:

* Tab STRINGS- names of objects, names, designations, dialogues from the main character

* DLSTRINGS- Quests, notes, descriptions of skills and spells

* ILSTRINGS- NPC dialogues.

Here we immediately begin the translation process, regardless of what language the mod is in. Select the top line and make two mouse clicks on it. The following reveals itself to our eyes:

Pay attention to the bottom part. On the left is the original text, on the right is the one we will replace it with. Erase, enter the translation of the left text into the right and press “ok”. All translated lines are highlighted so that we don't get lost in them.

To localize books and other records, look at the top of the window that opens, click 2 times and the contents are transferred down for translation. We do not touch the formulas (highlighted in blue and green), except for the type " Text", these are the headlines.

As soon as you finish your work or want to take a break, be sure to save your work “Files” - “Save Esp/Esm”. Click “yes” on all pop-up notifications. The program will create a backup copy of the original esp file.

Let me remind you that this is an old version of the program, but it is quite sufficient and it is a little simpler than the new one.

We automate the translation of standard strings

Some mods use standard game files and change their names to English; there can be a thousand or more of these lines. Why do we need to translate all this if official localizers have already done it? Fortunately, the program allows you to do this automatically.

When you first launch the esp file in the TES Translator program, go to parameters (top menu) - languages ​​and settings. Settings opens. Select the source language: English, target language: Russian. Below is the path to our Strings files in the Skyrim folder. Select the full path: Skyrim/Data/Strings (the folder should contain Russian and English STRINGS files). You can also select the interface language here.

Please note that all lines should be green. If suddenly you do not have English STRINGS files in your Skyrim folder, you can download them from here. If the lines are red, you do not have the Dragonborn and Hearthfire DLC installed.

A message pops up, click OK. Now open the esp file of the mod that we are going to translate.

That's it, the original names are gone! All that remains to be translated is what is in fashion.

White lines mean everything has been translated well, but those marked with purple and pink means the program is not sure about them. We translate these lines, then select them with Shift, right-click - approve. The lines turn blue.

We translate all the lines and save the ESP file. The translation is ready.

Quacks instead of words

And one more moment. If you open an esp file in the program that has already been translated into Russian, then you need to go back to the parameters - language settings, and set the source language to Russian, and also set the translation language to Russian. Otherwise the names will be rubbish.

Another nice feature of the program: when translating identical strings, it immediately translates them all at once.

A new version of the mod has been released. What to do?

A new version of the mod was released, and we have already translated it. What to do? To do this, when exiting, the program asks you to save the text of the already translated mod in the dictionaries. Thus, by launching a new version, all old names will be pulled out of the dictionary and translated automatically. All that remains to be translated is new content, if any.

I advise always save esp to dictionaries. Often in a fashion there are identical esp files with minor differences. When you open one, it will automatically transfer. You won't have to translate the same strings again!

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Localizing plugins without an editor Creation Kit

Surely many of you have noticed that when you connect English-language esp files (plugins), some things acquire English names, just like objects, names of non-scripts, and even the names of locations. Of course, this has almost no effect on the outcome of the game, but at the same time, the English symbols somehow do not fit into the game, and sometimes they spoil the whole picture.

How can we correct this absurdity and return or give objects their understandable names in their native “great-mighty”? A developer editor would be ideal for these purposes, but, alas, its release is constantly being delayed, and somehow I’m not particularly keen on playing a Russian-English game.

For a relatively long time now, many modders and localizers have determined by scientific research that esp created on the basis of Skyrim have some technical similarity to esp based on Fallout 3/Fallout:NV. Accordingly, some of the tools for the last two games can be used for Skyrim.

In particular, for the localization of English-language esp, which will be discussed further, a fan-made software called FNVEdit /FO 3Edit (no difference) is best suited. It was created for editing (not for creating!) existing Fallout 3/Fallout :NV esp files, but nevertheless, it can also be used for editing Skyrim esp.

How to do it?

Of course, first of all you will need the program itself (FNVEdit can be downloaded right here, in the file archive of the TES GM website). You will also probably need the game Fallout 3/Fallout :NV installed, because... When loading, the program refers to the root folder of the game. There may be a way to use the software without the game installed, but I haven't tested it.

Next, you need to copy Skyrim .esm and English esp to the root folder (Data) of a particular game. Next, run the program, you should see the following window:

In the window that opens, check the box next to the desired esp; you don’t have to check anything in front of Skyrim .esm; if the esp has a dependency on it, the wizard will load automatically. As an example, I decided to show how PlayableGreybeardRobe.esp was localized.

Attention! Due to the fact that the software was not created for Skyrim files, the download process can take quite a long time (for me, for example, the download lasts about a minute) and is accompanied by errors related to the program’s refusal to load some esp details. But don't worry, it won't hurt to localize the mod. Wait until the message Background Loader: finished appears in the large right window at the very bottom. After this, you can safely start editing the mod.

The information we need is, of course, contained in PlayableGreybeardRobe.esp, so we study it. In this subsection we can also look in general at what exactly this mod affects, and it affects not only the Armor tab, but also the Container tab, because the author placed things in containers for merchants, as well as Object Effect, because some of these things have effects. But in this case, we only need the Armor tab, which contains all the added things whose names we need to translate.

Let's open it:

That, in fact, is all the things. In the left window we select the first item, in the right window all its characteristics appear: FormID, EditorID, full name FullName, paths to models, etc. We only need FullName. Double clicking on the name (or right-clicking - select Edit in the window that opens) will open a warning window.

Everything is fine, the program simply warns that the mod parameter will be changed - this window appears only 1 time. Click Yes to continue, and in the window that opens, in the name field, change “Greybeard Boots” to “Greybeard Boots” and click OK. The changed parameter is immediately highlighted in bold, i.e. it is already visible that it has been affected/changed:

In the same way we edit all other FullName names for items...

The program does not have a save button as such, but it overwrites the file when you try to close the program:

Remember that the edited esp remains in the Fallout 3/Fallout :NV root folder. It will need to be moved to the Skyrim root folder and connected in the standard way.

Editing parameters with the same nameFormID.

The FNVEdit /FO 3Edit programs have one very serious flaw. Due to the peculiar, yet incomprehensible, encoding, the program does not recognize the default name of the object. Instead of a name, we see a set of incomprehensible symbols in the editor. Because of this, editing esp parameters that have the same FormID may cause problems. For example, if a foreign author has changed the properties of one item, it will most likely already be registered with an English name, but its FormID will remain the same.

If there are few such objects, then you can easily navigate by the desired EditorID and thus fill in the gaps. But if there are 10-20-50 such objects? In this case, the most common cheat code directories, which contain the FormID of the object and its name, can help.

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim localization team answers questions from Igromaniya.ru visitors that could be asked in . We have selected 10 of the most interesting and relevant questions, the answers to which are presented below.

Readers: Why weren't the console versions of the project translated?

Localizers: The only reason is the reluctance to leave players on consoles without the opportunity to play Skyrim on the day of the game's worldwide release. We would be happy to release the full console localization on November 11, but due to the need to approve versions from the platform holders (Microsoft and Sony), we would have to delay the release of the fully localized console version for a month, or even more.

Of course, the option of only text console localization was considered, but even this would have to be delayed - according to forecasts, work on the text should have been completed no earlier than the end of sound recording. I didn’t want to release a console version with a month-old localization, compared to its PC counterpart.

Unfortunately, we do not have the technical ability to release the game in a localized form on consoles some time after the release, although such a decision suggests itself. Any localization of console games requires the intervention of the developer and foreign publisher, and after the release of Skyrim, Bethesda no longer has the temporary resources to help us complete the translation work, as it switched to other projects and fixing errors in Skyrim.

The followers of Ulfric Stormcloak became the Stormcloaks.

Readers: How long did it take to translate the entire game, from the start of the translators’ work to the dubbing by the actors in the studio?

Localizers: In total, localization took about 4 months - we didn’t have any more, we had to release the game every day. During this period, almost 6 megabytes of text had to be translated and edited, 60,000 lines had to be voiced, and all this had to be tested properly. I had to work a lot and sleep little to be in time for the game's release.

Readers: How many people were involved in localizing the Russian version?

Localizers: On the localization side, more than 20 people were involved in the project - translators, editors, testers, producers, sound producers and sound engineers. And 78 voice actors took part in the sound recording.

Readers: Are there people among the localizers involved in the translation or?

Localizers: There are no people involved in the translation of Morrowind, but several project participants worked on the “Golden Edition” of Oblivion. Some of the team did not work on the localization of games in the series, but are its big fans. And during his university years, the localization producer managed to work for two summers in the American office of Bethesda as an Oblivion tester, and also worked for a long time on a Russian fansite for the Elder Scrolls universe.

Readers: Which places in the game were more difficult to voice over than others and why?

Localizers: Due to the specific structure of the division of voices in the game, it was sometimes quite problematic to voice one or another character. In all games developed by Bethesda, only some of the voices are unique, while others are common. For example, in the recording script there is a “Male Nord” role and several minor Nordic playable characters are included in it. So it turns out that some of the Nords in the game are voiced by one actor, since it is impossible to divide this large role into several small ones - they have a certain set of common phrases that everyone pronounces.

It can also be difficult to understand how best to play an actor in a given moment, when one playable character within a role ends and another begins. You can only rely on the original sound and English comments, which often contradict each other. Therefore, for such general roles we have to stick to more neutral tones. Despite this, all the main characters are unique and voiced separately. And compared to Oblivion, there are several times more unique roles in Skyrim.

Some terms come straight from Oblivion Gold Edition, such as High Elves.

Localizers: Of course, for each role the race of the player character is initially clear. Khajiit caravanners should not speak like arrogant Thalmors: it is important for the actor to understand who he is at the moment, down to the smallest detail, otherwise he will not be able to voice the character believably. In addition, the casting of actors for specific roles is carried out according to their voice abilities: a person will never be called to play the role of an Argonian who cannot hiss for several hours in the studio.

For some of the roles, the developers kindly provided very detailed descriptions and pictures, and for some we had to rely only on English audio, since recording began much earlier than the playable version came into our hands. For roles such as Daedra Lords, it was easy to find descriptions and screenshots from previous games, but for some, the developers had to bombard the developers with a mountain of questions about the characters.

Readers: You localizers probably now know every plot twist in the game. Will you be interested in playing this game after it is fully translated?

Localizers: You can play a game like Skyrim endlessly. You still come across something new, although the completion time has long exceeded a hundred hours. It is a pleasure to be in such a unique and detailed world. In addition, playing your localizations is a very useful practice. If all companies did this, the overall quality of localizations produced would increase significantly.

Readers: Will you translate the DLC immediately or do what you did with Oblivion, adding them only in the “Gold Edition”?

Localizers: We are in favor of releasing localized DLC right away, but at the moment this issue has not been resolved - it all depends on the European publisher of the game.

And some were returned to their original Morrowind translation, such as the Daedra Lords.

Readers: The actors who voice older people are also aged, right? How did they feel about voicing a computer game?

Localizers: Yes, also aged. For most of the older actors, this is not the first game they have voiced. In general, the role in the game is the same role as any other. To make it work well, you need to get into character and play in such a way that people believe it.

Readers: Why do localizers quite often not give you a choice of which language to play in? Play, they say, either only with English voice acting, or only with Russian.

Localizers: Most often this is due to an agreement with Western publishers - not everyone wants to make the English version available at a low Russian price. We always try to leave English in the release whenever possible. With the advent of Steam and regional restrictions on game activation, it has become easier to negotiate such opportunities.

* * *

P.S. The Skyrim developers like to say that they make games that they themselves are interested in playing. So we tried to make a localization worthy of such a game, which is why we took on the full dubbing of the project. Although the timing of mastering the huge amount of content that had been carefully created over several years was clearly not in our favor, the game was still released on time entirely in Russian. In our opinion, it turned out well, although in some places it could have been better, and we are already working on this. Well, let the players give the final assessment of the localization!

I present, in fact, not even a mod, but Russian localization files for Skyrim Special Edition for the correct display of the Cyrillic alphabet in the Creation Kit.

Installation: unpack the contents of the archive into the Data folder in the game directory.

A little explanation

In the previous version of Skyrim, the encoding of localization string files was CP1251, which made it possible to work with the designer (CreationKit) in Russian. That is, it was not the constructor itself that was in Russian, but the localization of the game was correctly displayed in the constructor, and modders did not have any problems with incorrect display of Cyrillic characters in a game with Russian localization. The designer worked with CP1251 encoding and the game string files were in CP1251 encoding.

In the new version of Skyrim (SSE), the developers made localization string files in UTF-8 encoding. Using UTF-8 encoding, it is impossible to use the constructor with Russian localization, because all characters in Cyrillic become unreadable

These localization files are taken from SSE archives, in which the encoding has been changed. Although there is a misconception that classic Sky files are also suitable for SSE, a comparison of them suggests the opposite (in the screenshots).

I also ask modmakers and translators to pay attention to the message below. It comes from a modder , but I fully support him.

I quote the text of the appeal almost unchanged.

Open appeal to modmakers and translators

Skyrim Special EditionSSE

Let me start with the fact that the world of game modding, in the Russian segment, consists of two directions.
- First, these are the people who create modifications, that is, Russian authors.
- Second, these are people who translate ready-made foreign modifications.

The significant difference is that some create, while others, having studied a couple of translator programs, automatically translate other people's mods. It should be noted that there are a lot of very good foreign mods and I do not at all want to belittle the importance of their translations into Russian; moreover, I myself use many translated mods.

Now let's get to the point of my article.
- In the previous version of Skyrim, the encoding of localization string files was CP1251, which made it possible to work with the designer (CreationKit) in Russian. That is, it was not the constructor itself that was in Russian, but the localization of the game was correctly displayed in the constructor, and modders did not have any problems with incorrect display of Cyrillic characters in a game with Russian localization. The designer worked with CP1251 encoding and the game string files were in CP1251 encoding.
- In the new version of Skyrim (SSE), the developers, by mistake or for some other reason, made localization string files in UTF-8 encoding. I. If you play without modifications, then it doesn’t matter what encoding they used, if the game displays the Cyrillic alphabet normally.

But, because Skyrim is interesting, by and large, because it can be changed at the discretion of the mod author, but this creates a conflict of interest. Yes exactly.
There is a second direction, which I wrote about above, these are translators who, in principle (perhaps) do not care about Russian mod makers. They have a couple of software programs that include the translation of foreign mods. As a rule, the translators themselves are limited to knowledge only of these specialized programs and do not get involved in creating mods, so they did not immediately see the problem and began to translate mods for SSE in UTF-8 encoding, trying to get ahead of each other in quantity in order to get on their own resources as much as possible “traffic” of players and as usual... “if you hurry, you will make people laugh.” The fact is that, solely due to a lack of understanding of what they are doing, they distill mods into coding, which is not suitable for mod makers and translators at the same time.

And now I’ll tell you why this is wrong:
1. Using UTF-8 encoding, it is impossible to use the constructor with Russian localization, because all characters in Cyrillic become unreadable.
2. Using UTF-8 encoding, and without using the Russian localization of the constructor, we (modmakers) get a constructor with English localization and the ability to write NPC names, location names, lines of dialogue, etc. in Russian... everything would seem like nothing, but there is there is one BUT that makes this option unacceptable... This is that any location or any dialogue that was touched upon in the mod, but not changed into Russian, and this is primarily vanilla voice acting, becomes English in the Russian game. That is, for example... a modmaker changed, well, let's say the performance characteristics of some bow... and if he did not change its name into Russian, then the user will receive an improved bow in the game with an English name. Or, for example, let’s take vanilla phrases in the dialogues that we (modmakers) use in our mods... so, by creating some kind of dialogue and using vanilla, we will speak to the NPC in Russian, and he will respond in English (since the designer believes that the localization is English) Some NPCs will start making remarks in English.
That is, using UTF-8, translators hook players on this option and thereby kill Russian modding in the bud.

And now, I’ll tell you how to do it correctly:
1. You need to use CP1251* string files.
2. Everyone (modmakers and translators) needs to choose this format and do everything in one format, so that users don’t squeal about unreadable texts and English speech in their game.

*Why do I suggest using CP1251 encoding?
- Modmakers will have the game content fully localized into Russian, which will allow them to make modifications in Russian, without any English voiceovers or “crazy language”.
- For translators this is not a problem at all, just choose the correct encoding for saving the file when translating.
- Yes, the translators rushed and jeopardized Russian modding, I say this quite categorically, because the situation can still change.

Fortunately, for modmakers and translators, there is a format in which no one will interfere with anyone, and this is only CP1251. If mod translators remain on UTF-8 encoding, then they absolutely don’t care about users and modmakers, and they are only concerned about the speed of issuing mods... well, like “we got it earlier.”

I would like to be heard. Otherwise, in every fashion there will be a holivar on the topic of encodings, and while we are at the beginning of the SSE path, this can still be solved.