Game Mechanics Text-Component-Based Client-Sided Localization

This is an alternative way at tackling the localization problem, allowing the problem to be solved much easier.

Currently, client-side mods that operate on game text such as Voices of Wynn and WynnLang must match on text directly. This has problems though:
1. Much of the game's content is one-time only, which causes the translations of these contents to be practically unverifiable.
2. Every patch may contain changes to the game's text, which, even if insignificant, will cause the client translations to fail.
These problems cause any attempt at making a localization mod for the game extremely infeasible, and so people have to rely on largely inaccurate machine translations to play the game.

To solve this problem, instead of directly sending text to clients, the game can instead make full use of Minecraft's text component system and send translatable text components instead, and use the resource pack or fallback for text. With this method, the client can use the resource pack to change game text to whatever they want. (I'm sure this isn't a thing yet since Voices of Wynn still matches text directly)

Since translation fallback was added in 1.19.4 and WynnCraft is now using 1.20.5, it is now completely possible to not reveal secret information until someone encounters it and it is sent to the client. For non-secret information though, it is probably better to either completely use the resource pack instead, or release an official English-only translation resource pack, for ease of translation and avoiding the verifiability problem.

Some examples and proposals, with the corresponding original text components extracted from the game:

Spoiler: Quest Dialogue Example: Cook Assistant Stage 1

Spoiler: Original text components (formatting removed)

Code:

{
  "text": "[1/5] ",
  "extra": [
    {
      "text": "The Cook: "
    },
    {
      "text": "I can't believe what is happening to me."
    }
  ]
}

{
  "text": "[2/5] ",
  "extra": [
    {
      "text": "The Cook: "
    },
    {
      "text": "The King ordered me to bake cakes for all those new recruits!"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "text": "[3/5] ",
  "extra": [
    {
      "text": "The Cook: "
    },
    {
      "text": "Unfortunately, a Grook took my last cake, and I ran out of ingredients!"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "text": "[4/5] ",
  "extra": [
    {
      "text": "The Cook: "
    },
    {
      "text": "Now can you help..."
    }
  ]
}

{
  "text": "[5/5] ",
  "extra": [
    {
      "text": "The Cook: "
    },
    {
      "text": "That's the Grook! Go chase it down and get my cake back!"
    }
  ]
}

Spoiler: Proposed text components (formatting removed)

Code:

{
  "text": "[1/5] ",
  "extra": [
    {
      "translate": "npc.the_cook",
      "fallback": "The Cook"
    },
    {
      "text": ": "
    },
    {
      "translate": "quest.cook_assistant.1.1",
      "fallback": "I can't believe what is happening to me."
    }
  ]
}

{
  "text": "[2/5] ",
  "extra": [
    {
      "translate": "npc.the_cook",
      "fallback": "The Cook"
    },
    {
      "text": ": "
    },
    {
      "translate": "quest.cook_assistant.1.2",
      "fallback": "The King ordered me to bake cakes for all those new recruits!"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "text": "[3/5] ",
  "extra": [
    {
      "translate": "npc.the_cook",
      "fallback": "The Cook"
    },
    {
      "text": ": "
    },
    {
      "translate": "quest.cook_assistant.1.3",
      "fallback": "Unfortunately, a Grook took my last cake, and I ran out of ingredients!"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "text": "[4/5] ",
  "extra": [
    {
      "translate": "npc.the_cook",
      "fallback": "The Cook"
    },
    {
      "text": ": "
    },
    {
      "translate": "quest.cook_assistant.1.4",
      "fallback": "Now can you help..."
    }
  ]
}

{
  "text": "[5/5] ",
  "extra": [
    {
      "translate": "npc.the_cook",
      "fallback": "The Cook"
    },
    {
      "text": ": "
    },
    {
      "translate": "quest.cook_assistant.1.5",
      "fallback": "That's the Grook! Go chase it down and get my cake back!"
    }
  ]
}

Spoiler: Item Name & Lore Example: Morrowind

Spoiler: Original text components (formatting removed)

Code:

{
  "custom_name": {
    "text": "Morrowind"
  },
  "lore": [
    ...,
    {
      "text": "One of many lost artifacts"
    },
    {
      "text": "from the legendary Wind"
    },
    {
      "text": "Fortress, the engraving"
    },
    {
      "text": "appears to be a cryptic clue"
    },
    {
      "text": "to where the Fortress fell."
    },
    {
      "text": "\"We shall be found among the"
    },
    {
      "text": "dark winds of the morrow.\""
    }
  ]
}

Spoiler: Proposed text components (formatting removed)

Code:

{
  "custom_name": {
    "translate": "item.wand.morrowind",
    "fallback": "Morrowind"
  },
  "lore": [
    ...,
    {
      "translate": "item.wand.morrowind.lore.1",
      "fallback": "One of many lost artifacts"
    },
    {
      "translate": "item.wand.morrowind.lore.2",
      "fallback": "from the legendary Wind"
    },
    {
      "translate": "item.wand.morrowind.lore.3",
      "fallback": "Fortress, the engraving"
    },
    {
      "translate": "item.wand.morrowind.lore.4",
      "fallback": "appears to be a cryptic clue"
    },
    {
      "translate": "item.wand.morrowind.lore.5",
      "fallback": "to where the Fortress fell."
    },
    {
      "translate": "item.wand.morrowind.lore.6",
      "fallback": "\"We shall be found among the"
    },
    {
      "translate": "item.wand.morrowind.lore.7",
      "fallback": "dark winds of the morrow.\""
    }
  ]
}

Note that item lore may be slightly problematic as Minecraft doesn't handle newlines properly in item lore and thus translations need to fit in the same number of lines used in English.

Spoiler: Entity Example: Pink Sheep of Greatness

Spoiler: Original text components (formatting removed)

Code:

{
  "text": "Pink Sheep of Greatness"
}

Spoiler: Proposed text components (formatting removed)

Code:

{
  "translate": "entity.pink_sheep_of_greatness",
  "fallback": "Pink Sheep of Greatness"
}

 

Interesting suggestion. I don't have the programming knowledge to know if it's feasible. Suppose you'll have to wait for CT to chime in (it's the Devs who'd know whether this is possible, and there's only 2 of them, neither active on Forums - they're probably overworked anyway).

 

Changed quest dialogue and item name/lore examples, and added a simple entity example