New UPDATE Request - Translation of Meta Description`s Game in other Language

[marcosgaming]

Hi Jason and my favorite team,

i`m waiting a new Update that translates meta description for every game in other language.

In my case italian, but i think this NEWS can be very appreciated from all LaunchBox and BigBox lovers.

I think not is so difficult.... I hope in you and your team. Great Guys! 🤩

@Jason Carr read this post ❤️

[C-Beats]

Right now the database doesn't support multiple languages. We don't have any fields in place to say, "This text is in a specific language" which would need added. Then we'd need to change every web page we have to allow for the selection (and modification) of the field in the alternate languages, THEN we'd to change how the metadata file that we use to scrape games is created to include additional language information (which could raise bloat issues as that file is already HUGE) in a way that doesn't break older LB builds, and THEN once ALL of that is done we still have to modify the application to USE the new file moving forward. All of that is also completely ignoring the fact that users would have to supply translated metadata after those changes were made before you could even use all of that hard work.

Not saying it'll never happen, but "is not so difficult" is about the biggest understatement imaginable and we have to plan accordingly before any major change like that can ever be developed. In the meantime I'd look into Skraper and see if their offering can help you out in your endeavors.

[marcosgaming]

Hi, not exist others way for to do this? 

Is possible to tell to skraper at first that language must be in Italian? 

I have a big game's collection. This feature will be great update. 

Maybe exist other method. 

I don't know. 

Bye bye. 

 

[C-Beats]

Yeah, in the meantime you can try Skraper. I know several users in our community do without too many issues. Some of their default settings (namely the backup settings) can wreak havoc and break things, but they are pretty well documented on the forums.

[marcosgaming]

Sarebbe meraviglioso poter leggere la trama del gioco nella lingua madre. Magari con qualche plugin potrebbe realizzarsi il sogno per tutti. 

[TOnino83]

hello, I had also made the request and I imagine that it is not a priority given the complications that it can cause.
I am French and it is true that a description in our respective language is always more valuable.
concerning skrapper I had only problems it works for a while but the double entry games do not work and it created some bugs for me.
But a simplified integration of data collected on skraper (the xlm files) would perhaps be an alternative that could satisfy everyone, even if it should be up to them (skraper) to make the compatibility more optimal.
all in all, it would be cool if one day we could use their database more easily with launchbox (against payment for their good service and to support them)
anyway thank you for the work launchbox is a fantastic tool and the integration of retroarch is just perfect.
sorry if my english is not perfect i use google translate, good evening

[Lechuso]

I too am interested in this happening. Skraper is not an option, it doesn't work with multidiscs and if you have several games from different regions (it creates duplicate entries for each region). I think that the issue of the community would not be a problem... many people would be willing to contribute their translated information.

Let's hope they cheer up soon and give us good news.

Launchbox right now is the best front-end out there for emulation and we thank you for all of that.

PS: Translated from Spanish to English by google translate.

Edited August 20, 2023 by Lechuso

[marcosgaming]

Hi guys, yes sure. I think that all people would like give contribute for translation or maybe programmer developer would can help for a new plugin. 

Launchbox is the best! 100% ❤️

[Sbaby]

It would be really nice to have this in Italian, I hope in the future we can 😅

[brunotarcisio]

I managed to translate my entire collection into PT-BR, with a python script and using a Google translate api key. I don't know anything about Python and I did everything using chatgpt. Result was excellent.

[Nixx]

French too and interested.

But from my point of view, what we really need is not so much Translation, but to have inside the launchbox id, for each games, links to other database : Skraper, but also ign, gamefaqs, HowLongToBeat, IGDB, pcgamingwiki, StrategyWiki ...
With that, it would be a piece of cake to make plugin that use info from other database.

But i can totally understand that's not C-Beats priority.

Edited December 13, 2023 by Nixx

[100dedo]

 

[eonder87]

@marcosgaming we can share each other to different platform xml files for that. I'm a Turk and we have added translation to Turkish already. If we can create and share specific XML files it will be awesome.

[100dedo]

1 hour ago, eonder87 said:

@marcosgaming we can share each other to different platform xml files for that. I'm a Turk and we have added translation to Turkish already. If we can create and share specific XML files it will be awesome.

 

On 12/29/2023 at 11:05 AM, 100dedo said:

 

 

Yesterday I posted this script that translates XML files, and consequently changes the description language of games and platforms, to the one you are interested in.

It is possible to use both the executable and run the script itself via Python.

[eonder87]

Yeah, I came with another perspective because we are nearly playing the same game lists. And if lists are the same why we cannot share each other? 1G1R sets are not easy to create. And maybe a little bit better than Google Translate.

Yours is a good answer and a good tool. 

[capidel]

This is my favorite request. The possibility of translating the notes into other languages. Screenscraper has great translations into Spanish, French, Italian, etc. It would be awesome to be able to access them when you scrape in Launchbox.

[Daliant]

On 12/13/2023 at 3:00 AM, brunotarcisio said:

I managed to translate my entire collection into PT-BR, with a python script and using a Google translate api key. I don't know anything about Python and I did everything using chatgpt. Result was excellent.

Can you share how to achieve this?

[Malakito]

Long time ago I made a tuto in a Spanish forum using the plugin "Copy metadata".

This is the tuto (Google translated):

*For this tuto we will use the descriptions from the "Screenscraper" page.

Nowadays Launchbox does not allow to add more languages to its database, so when we scrape the games we always get the descriptions in English. In Screenscraper they do have the database in Spanish and they have a program to massively modify the launcbox, but the bad thing is that "bursts" the list. If you compare the platform.xml you will see that they are very different.

That means that with modifications that are made in the launchbox, errors may arise.
But there is a "simple" way to put the official playlist in Spanish and thus have the good of both worlds.

Mini tutorial is coming [smile].
(All this process its done with Launchbox closed)
The first thing is to make a backup copy of our platform.xml files. These files are located in the launchbox folder which by default is installed in:
C:\Usuarios(here your name)\Launchbox\Data\Platforms.
There we will see "Sega Dreamcast.xml" "Super nintendo.xml" etc... (All the lists of which you have imported games will appear).
We copy those files and we leave them safely, since those we are going to burst them.

Now it's time to install the skraper program:

https://www.skraper.net/

Once installed, we choose a console to work with. For the example I am going to use the Dreamcast.
We choose the directory of the roms and we specify platform, like this:

In "Game list" we put it like this:

In "Metadata" we leave it by default, and in "Media" we erase everything. That is to say, we mark "Use special configuration for Dreamcast" and we erase everything pressing the scissors. A warning pops up, we say yes, and it stays this way:

And press play.
Now in the folder "platforms" we will have 2 Dreamcast lists.
- Sega dreamcast backup.xml (this will be in english)
- Sega dreamcast.xml (this will be in spanish, but it won't be like the original playlist).

We take this "Sega dreamcast.xml" in english to a separate folder of your choice by cut/paste.
Remember where you put it.
And rename the "Sega dreamcast backup.xml" to "Sega dreamcast.xml".
So that in the platforms folder there is only an original "Sega dreamcast.xml" in English.
With that we have finished with the Skraper program.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

In  Launchbox we install this plugin:

 

Basically it is to download the zip. Unzip it and copy the folder in the "Launchbox\Plugins" directory.
Open Launchbox and go to Sega Dremcast.
Select all the games by pressing the "control+A" key and click on "Tools".
We will see that below our installed plugin appears:

Now press  copy metada and in "Source" we choose the "Sega dreamcast.xml" that previously we have burst (the one that you have taken out of the folder and I have told you to remember where you put it XD).
We mark ONLY THE "Notes" BOX. The rest leave them alone. Like this:

Now press import and in less than a second it tells us that it has been a success.
We go to edit any game and voila:

Final result:

When finish, close the Launchbox and check in platforms folder there is only one "Sega Dreamcast.xml" and that it is in English (you can open it with notepad and check if the descriptions are in our language).

Sorry if the tuto sounds a little bit complicated. Actually it is very simple and it is only four clicks.
If you have any doubt I'm here.

 

Edit: Summing up: create a xml in your language, use the copy metada plugin for copy only the "Notes". Enjoy.

Edited June 29 by bande.bandido@gmail.com

[Daliant]

1 hour ago, bande.bandido@gmail.com said:

Long time ago I made a tuto in a Spanish forum using the plugin "Copy metadata".

This is the tuto (Google translated):

*For this tuto we will use the descriptions from the "Screenscraper" page.

Nowadays Launchbox does not allow to add more languages to its database, so when we scrape the games we always get the descriptions in English. In Screenscraper they do have the database in Spanish and they have a program to massively modify the launcbox, but the bad thing is that "bursts" the list. If you compare the platform.xml you will see that they are very different.

That means that with modifications that are made in the launchbox, errors may arise.
But there is a "simple" way to put the official playlist in Spanish and thus have the good of both worlds.

Mini tutorial is coming [smile].
(All this process its done with Launchbox closed)
The first thing is to make a backup copy of our platform.xml files. These files are located in the launchbox folder which by default is installed in:
C:\Usuarios(here your name)\Launchbox\Data\Platforms.
There we will see "Sega Dreamcast.xml" "Super nintendo.xml" etc... (All the lists of which you have imported games will appear).
We copy those files and we leave them safely, since those we are going to burst them.

Now it's time to install the skraper program:

https://www.skraper.net/

Once installed, we choose a console to work with. For the example I am going to use the Dreamcast.
We choose the directory of the roms and we specify platform, like this:

In "Game list" we put it like this:

In "Metadata" we leave it by default, and in "Media" we erase everything. That is to say, we mark "Use special configuration for Dreamcast" and we erase everything pressing the scissors. A warning pops up, we say yes, and it stays this way:

And press play.
Now in the folder "platforms" we will have 2 Dreamcast lists.
- Sega dreamcast backup.xml (this will be in english)
- Sega dreamcast.xml (this will be in spanish, but it won't be like the original playlist).

We take this "Sega dreamcast.xml" in english to a separate folder of your choice by cut/paste.
Remember where you put it.
And rename the "Sega dreamcast backup.xml" to "Sega dreamcast.xml".
So that in the platforms folder there is only an original "Sega dreamcast.xml" in English.
With that we have finished with the Skraper program.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

In  Launchbox we install this plugin:

 

Basically it is to download the zip. Unzip it and copy the folder in the "Launchbox\Plugins" directory.
Open Launchbox and go to Sega Dremcast.
Select all the games by pressing the "control+A" key and click on "Tools".
We will see that below our installed plugin appears:

Now press  copy metada and in "Source" we choose the "Sega dreamcast.xml" that previously we have burst (the one that you have taken out of the folder and I have told you to remember where you put it XD).
We mark ONLY THE "Notes" BOX. The rest leave them alone. Like this:

Now press import and in less than a second it tells us that it has been a success.
We go to edit any game and voila:

Final result:

When finish, close the Launchbox and check in platforms folder there is only one "Sega Dreamcast.xml" and that it is in English (you can open it with notepad and check if the descriptions are in our language).

Sorry if the tuto sounds a little bit complicated. Actually it is very simple and it is only four clicks.
If you have any doubt I'm here.

 

Edit: Summing up: create a xml in your language, use the copy metada plugin for copy only the "Notes". Enjoy.

Muchas gracias, es el tutorial que he seguido siempre para traducir mis juegos. Un 10 para ti.