# DazedMTLTool

An AI-powered game translation tool with a GUI. Translate RPG Maker, Ren'Py, Tyrano, Wolf RPG, Kirikiri, and other game engines from Japanese to English using GPT or compatible AI models.

## Table of Contents

- [Supported Engines](#supported-engines)
- [Requirements](#requirements)
- [Installing Python](#installing-python)
- [Quick Start](#quick-start)
- [Using the GUI](#using-the-gui)
- [Vocab & Prompt](#vocab--prompt)
- [Tips](#tips)
- [Folder Structure](#folder-structure)
- [Finding Untranslated Text (Snipping Tool OCR)](#finding-untranslated-text-snipping-tool-ocr)
- [RPG Maker Translation Workflow](#rpg-maker-translation-workflow)
- [Using Copilot & VSCode](#using-copilot--vscode)
- [Version Control with Git](#version-control-with-git)
- [Troubleshooting](#troubleshooting)

## Supported Engines

- RPG Maker (MV, MZ, Ace, and more)
- Wolf RPG Editor
- Ren'Py
- TyranoBuilder / TyranoScript
- Kirikiri
- NScripter
- CSV / Text files

---

## Requirements

- **Python 3.12 – 3.14** — See [Installing Python](#installing-python) below if you don't have it yet.
- **An AI API Key** — You'll need an API key from [OpenAI](https://platform.openai.com/settings/organization/api-keys), [Google Gemini](https://aistudio.google.com/apikey), or a compatible provider.

---

## Installing Python

If you already have Python 3.12–3.14 installed and working, skip to [Quick Start](#quick-start).

### Step 1 — Download

Go to [python.org/downloads](https://www.python.org/downloads/) and download **Python 3.13** (or any version from 3.12 to 3.14).

### Step 2 — Install (Important!)

When the installer opens, **check both boxes at the bottom before clicking Install**:

- ✅ **"Add python.exe to PATH"** — This is the most important step. Without it, your system won't be able to find Python.
- ✅ **"Use admin privileges when installing pip"**

Then click **Install Now**. The default settings are fine for everything else.

### Step 3 — Verify

Open a **new** terminal window (don't reuse an old one — it won't see the new PATH) and run:

```
python -V
```

You should see something like `Python 3.13.x`. Then check pip:

```
pip -V
```

You should see something like `pip 24.x.x from ...`.

### If `python` or `pip` is not recognized

This means Python wasn't added to your PATH. You have two options:

**Option A — Reinstall (easiest)**
1. Open the Python installer again (or redownload it).
2. Select **Modify**.
3. Click **Next** on the first screen.
4. On the Advanced Options screen, check **"Add Python to environment variables"**.
5. Click **Install**. Then open a **new** terminal and try again.

**Option B — Add to PATH manually**
1. Press `Win+R`, type `sysdm.cpl`, press Enter.
2. Go to the **Advanced** tab → **Environment Variables**.
3. Under **System variables**, find `Path` and click **Edit**.
4. Click **New** and add the path where Python was installed. Typically:
   - `C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python313\`
   - `C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python313\Scripts\`
5. Click **OK** on all dialogs, then open a **new** terminal and try `python -V` again.

> **Tip:** If `python` works but `pip` doesn't, try `python -m pip -V` instead. If that works, you can use `python -m pip install` anywhere you'd normally use `pip install`.

---

## Quick Start

### 1. Download the Tool

1. Click the green **Code** button at the top of this page and select **Download ZIP**.
2. Extract the ZIP to a folder of your choice (e.g., `C:\DazedMTLTool`).

### 2. Set Up Your API Key

1. Inside the tool folder, find `.env.example` and make a copy of it named `.env`.
2. Open `.env` in any text editor (Notepad works fine) and fill in your API details:
   - `key` — Your API key.
   - `organization` — Your organization key (make something up if using a self-hosted or non-OpenAI API).
   - `API_PROVIDER` — Set to `openai` or `gemini` depending on your provider.
3. The rest of the settings (wordwrap, batch size, etc.) can be left as defaults for now. You can tweak them later.

### 3. Launch the GUI

**Double-click `START.bat`**. It will:
- Create a virtual environment automatically.
- Install all dependencies.
- Launch the GUI.

That's it! From now on, just double-click `START.bat` to open the tool.

---

## Using the GUI

The GUI has several tabs that handle different parts of the translation process:

### Config Tab
This is where you configure your API settings, wordwrap widths, and other options. Most of these mirror what's in the `.env` file, but you can adjust them visually.

### Translation Tab
The main tab for translating files.

1. **Add files** — Place the game files you want to translate into the `files` folder (inside the tool directory).
2. **Select a module** — Pick the engine that matches your game (e.g., RPG Maker MV/MZ, Wolf RPG, Ren'Py, etc.).
3. **Click Translate** — The tool will process each file and output translated versions to the `translated` folder.
4. **Copy the results** — Move the translated files from `translated` back into your game's data folder.

### Engine Config Tab
Engine-specific settings. RPG Maker has the most mature support — you can toggle exactly which event codes to translate (dialogue, choices, variables, plugin commands, etc.). The defaults cover ~95% of a game's text out of the box. See the [RPG Maker Translation Workflow](#rpg-maker-translation-workflow) section for a detailed step-by-step guide.

Other engines (Wolf RPG, Ren'Py, Tyrano, etc.) have less granular support and may require more manual tweaking or post-editing depending on the game.

### RPG Maker / Wolf / CSV Tabs
Specialized tabs with extra options for those specific engines.

---

## Vocab & Prompt

### vocab.txt
This file gives the AI context about your game — character names, genders, recurring terms, etc. The better your vocab file, the more consistent the translation.

Open `vocab.txt` (or copy `vocab.txt.example` to `vocab.txt` if it doesn't exist) and add entries like:

```plaintext
# Game Characters
水無月 士乃 (Minazuki Shino) - Female
暗黒斎 (Dark Kokusai) - Male
フトシ (Futoshi) - Male
```

Format: Japanese name, English name in parentheses, then gender.

> **Note:** A very large vocab file can increase API costs and potentially reduce quality. Focus on the most important characters and terms.

### prompt.txt
This is the system prompt sent to the AI. A default `prompt.txt` is included and works well for most games. You generally don't need to edit it unless you want to customize the translation style.

---

## Tips

- **Check `log/translations.txt`** after a run to see what was translated. You can copy useful terms from it into `vocab.txt` for consistency in future runs.
- **Start small** — Translate a few files first to make sure the output looks good before doing the whole game.
- **Wordwrap** — If text overflows or looks awkward in-game, adjust the `width` setting in `.env` or the Config tab. `60` is a good default for most RPG Maker games.
- **Version control** — Using [Git](https://git-scm.com/) with the game folder is highly recommended. It lets you track every change the translation makes, compare with original files, and roll back if needed.

---

## Folder Structure

| Folder | Purpose |
|---|---|
| `files/` | Place game files here before translating |
| `translated/` | Translated output appears here |
| `log/` | Translation logs and cache |
| `modules/` | Engine-specific translation scripts |
| `gui/` | GUI source code |

---

## Finding Untranslated Text (Snipping Tool OCR)

When playtesting a translated game, you'll inevitably find text that was missed or needs fixing. The fastest way to grab Japanese text from the screen and search for it in the game files is with the **Windows 11 Snipping Tool** — its built-in OCR is far better than most dedicated OCR tools for Japanese text.

### How to Use It

1. Press **Win+Shift+S** to open the Snipping Tool and take a screenshot of the untranslated text in-game.
2. The screenshot opens in the Snipping Tool editor. Click the **Text Actions** button (the icon with lines of text) in the toolbar.
3. The tool will detect and highlight all text in the image. You can now **click and drag** to select specific text, or click **Copy all text** to grab everything.
4. Paste the copied Japanese text into VSCode's search (`Ctrl+Shift+F` to search across all files) to find exactly where it lives in the game data.
5. Fix or re-translate that file as needed.

### Why Snipping Tool?

- **Built into Windows 11** — no extra software to install.
- **Excellent Japanese OCR** — handles kanji, hiragana, and katakana very accurately, even from stylized game fonts.
- **Quick workflow** — screenshot → copy text → paste into search, all in a few seconds.

> **Tip:** If you're on Windows 10 or the Text Actions button doesn't appear, make sure Snipping Tool is updated via the Microsoft Store. Alternatively, [ShareX](https://getsharex.com/) with its OCR feature is a good free option.

---

## RPG Maker Translation Workflow

Here's the recommended step-by-step process for translating an RPG Maker MV/MZ game. This is also shown inside the GUI's RPG Maker tab.

| Step | Action |
|------|--------|
| **1** | **Parse speakers → vocab.txt** — Use the Parse Speakers feature to pull character names from the game files into `vocab.txt`. |
| **2** | **Identify speaker genders** — Figure out which characters are male/female and update `vocab.txt` accordingly. This helps the AI use correct pronouns. |
| **3** | **Translate Actors.json, MapInfos.json** — These are small files with character and map names. Good to do first. |
| **4** | **Translate Items, System, Weapons, etc.** — All the data files that aren't maps or events. Place them in `files/`, translate, then copy results back. |
| **5** | **Find speaker names** — Enable CODE 101 (Speakers), check for bracketed names, or use the "First Line = Speaker" option to capture speaker names properly. |
| **6** | **Replace `\n[0-999]` variables** — Some games use variable codes like `\n[1]` for character names. Replace these with the actual actor names so the AI can translate around them. |
| **7** | **Translate Maps & CommonEvents** — The bulk of the game's dialogue. Start with a small map to test, then do the rest. You can use **Estimate** in the GUI to check the cost before running. |
| **8** | **Edit plugins for menus/text** — Some UI text lives in `plugins.js` or plugin parameters. You may need to manually translate these in a text editor. |
| **9** | **Translate CODE 122 vars, 356 plugins as needed** — Enable these codes in the RPG Maker tab if the game stores dialogue in variables or plugin commands. |
| **10** | **Playtest → find issues → fix → repeat** — Play through the game, screenshot any untranslated text, search for it in the game files, and re-translate as needed. |

> **Note:** Some text (e.g., CODE 122 variables) may only update when starting a new save file.

---

## Using Copilot & VSCode

[VSCode](https://code.visualstudio.com/) is a free code editor, and with [GitHub Copilot](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=GitHub.copilot) you get an AI assistant built right into it. This is incredibly useful for translation work — you can ask the AI to help modify game files or even tweak the tool's modules without needing to know how to code.

### Setup

1. Install [VSCode](https://code.visualstudio.com/).
2. Install the **GitHub Copilot** extension (`Ctrl+Shift+X` → search "GitHub Copilot").
3. Sign in with your GitHub account (Copilot has a free tier).

### Editing Game Files with AI

Open your game folder in VSCode (`Right Click` → `Open with Code`) and use Copilot Chat (`Ctrl+Shift+I`) to ask for changes. Examples:

- *"Replace all `\n[1]` with `Shino` in this file"*
- *"Translate all the Japanese menu text in this plugins.js file to English"*
- *"This dialogue has broken line breaks — fix the formatting"*

You can also select a block of text, right-click, and choose **Copilot → Fix / Explain / Modify** to work on just that selection.

### Modifying Tool Modules

Open the DazedMTLTool folder in VSCode and ask Copilot to make changes to the translation modules. Examples:

- *"Add a new regex pattern to skip lines that start with //"*
- *"Change the wordwrap logic to break on full-width punctuation"*
- *"Make this module also handle .yaml files"*
- *"Explain what CODE 356 does in rpgmakermvmz.py"*

Copilot can read the surrounding code and suggest context-aware edits — you just review and accept. This makes it easy to customize the tool for specific games without deep Python knowledge.

### Tips

- Use **Ctrl+Shift+I** to open Copilot Chat and ask questions about any file you have open.
- Use **Ctrl+I** for inline editing — select code, describe what you want changed, and Copilot will rewrite it in place.
- Use [Git](https://git-scm.com/) with your game folder so you can always undo changes if something breaks. The [GitLens](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=eamodio.gitlens) extension makes this even easier.

---

## Version Control with Git

Git tracks every change you make to your game files, so you can compare translations against the originals and roll back mistakes. This is optional but **highly recommended** — it has saved countless hours of work.

### Install Git

1. Download and install [Git](https://git-scm.com/). The default settings during installation are fine.
2. Open a terminal and verify it's installed: `git -v`

### Set Up Git in Your Game Folder

1. Open your **game folder** (where `Game.exe` lives) in VSCode — right-click the folder → **Open with Code**.
2. Open the terminal in VSCode (`Ctrl+`` ` ``) and run:
   ```
   git init
   ```
   This creates a new Git repository in that folder.

### Create a .gitignore

Not every file needs to be tracked. Create a file called `.gitignore` in the game folder with contents like this:

```plaintext
# Ignore everything except text-based game files
*.*
# Allow these file types
!*.json
!*.txt
!*.js
!*.csv
!*.ks
!*.tjs
!*.yaml
!*.rb
!*.rvdata2
# Other useful files
!.gitignore
```

This tells Git to only track the file types that matter for translation.

### Save Your First Commit

1. Click the **Source Control** icon on the left sidebar (or press `Ctrl+Shift+G`).
2. You'll see all the game files listed. Type `Initial Commit` in the message box and click **Commit** → **Yes** (to stage all files).
3. Your original files are now saved.

### Create an "original" Branch

This lets you always compare your translated files against the untouched originals.

1. Press `Ctrl+Shift+P` → type **Create Branch** → name it `original` → press Enter.
2. Press `Ctrl+Shift+P` → type **Checkout** → select `main` (or `master`).

Now you're back on the main branch. Any translations you make here can be compared against the `original` branch at any time.

### Comparing Changes

After translating and copying files back into the game folder:

1. Open **Source Control** — you'll see all modified files listed.
2. Click any file to see a side-by-side diff of what changed.
3. Commit your changes with a message like `Translated Items, Weapons, Actors`.

To compare with the original untranslated files:
- Right-click any file → **Open Changes** → **Open Changes with Branch** → select `original`.

### Recommended Extension

Install [GitLens](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=eamodio.gitlens) (`Ctrl+Shift+X` → search "GitLens") for a much richer Git experience — commit history, file annotations, branch comparisons, and more.

---

## Troubleshooting

- **`START.bat` closes immediately** — Make sure Python 3.12–3.14 is installed and added to your PATH. Open a terminal and run `python -V` to check.
- **API errors** — Double-check your API key and organization in `.env`. Make sure you have credits/quota with your provider.
- **Missing dependencies** — Delete the `.venv` folder and run `START.bat` again. It will recreate the environment and reinstall everything.