Different VO file counts for different languages and key files

Unreal Engine
1

Hi,

I’m working on a game with localised VO. In English, we have many variations of a single line - for example, an NPC in a crowd shouting “help me!”. Let’s say we have 10 different variations, and all these different variations are entered in a data table, so that one of them is picked at random to play when triggered. (I am working instead to pick any random file with a defined string in it [such as “Event_Help”], and have the game play any file that includes this in its name, rather than enter every single file key manually in this data table).

Each file has its own entry in keys.tx. For example:

  • Male_01_Event_Help
  • Male_01_Event_Help_alt01
  • Male_01_Event_Help_alt02
  • Male_02_Event_Help
  • Male_02_Event_Help_alt01

and so on.

The problem is that we have different amounts of these files for different languages. Let’s say in French, we only have Male_01_Event_Help and Male_01_Event_Help_alt01, and there is no Male_01_Event_Help_alt02.

Is there a somewhat simple way to implement this? Can 1 keys file be used for all languages, even though it includes an entry that exists in English but not in French? Can multiple keys files be used, one for each language, so that each key file only has lines in it for existing audio files?

It would be a shame to not use all the variations we have, because some languages will have no variations at all, so if we have to cut all variations in order to have the lowest common number across all languages, we would be missing out on quite a lot of variety.

Thanks!

2

Hi,

Yes, it’s entirely possible to use a separate keys file for each locale, and each of those keys files can contain only the files present for that locale. All you need to do is create an individual keys.txt file in each of the folders containing your localized audio. For example, the example project shipped with FMOD Studio has the following keys files:

./AudioTable/EN/keys.txt
./AudioTable/CN/keys.txt
./AudioTable/JP/keys.txt

Please take a look at the Keys section of the Dialogue and Localization chapter of the FMOD Studio manual for more info.

3

That’s great to know - thanks. This has saved me a bit of time!