Arsenal Documentation | Creating Packs

Create a complete Arsenal language pack from a folder, manifest, and translations.

This guide walks you through creating a complete language pack for Arsenal from scratch.

Prerequisites

Before starting:

Arsenal installed
Text editor (VS Code recommended for JSON)
Basic understanding of JSON format
Flag image for your language (64x64px recommended)

Set Up Your Language Pack

Navigate to your Arsenal installation and create a new folder:

hd2arsenal/resources/locale/xx-XX/

Replace xx-XX with your language and country codes:

xx = ISO 639-1 language code (lowercase)
XX = ISO 3166-2 country code (uppercase)

Language	Folder Name
German (Germany)	`de-DE`
French (France)	`fr-FR`
Spanish (Spain)	`es-ES`
Japanese	`ja-JP`
Portuguese (Brazil)	`pt-BR`

Then copy the contents of en-GB as your starting template:

_manifest.json

flag.png

dialogs.json

menus.json

misc.json

notifications.json

onboarding.json

settings.json

tutorials.json

ui.json

Note

This structure is a recommended starting point, but you can organize your translations differently-just make sure to update the files array in _manifest.json accordingly.

Configure Manifest and Flag

Edit _manifest.json with your language details:

{
    "label": "Deutsch",
    "languageCode": "de",
    "countryCode": "DE",
    "flag": "flag.png",
    "files": [
        "translations/notifications.json",
        "translations/dialogs.json",
        "translations/settings.json",
        "translations/ui.json",
        "translations/menus.json",
        "translations/onboarding.json",
        "translations/tutorials.json",
        "translations/misc.json"
    ]
}

Field	Description	Example
`label`	Display name in language selector	`"Deutsch"`
`languageCode`	ISO 639-1, lowercase	`"de"`
`countryCode`	ISO 3166-2, uppercase	`"DE"`
`flag`	Path to flag image	`"flag.png"`
`files`	Array of translation file paths	`[...]`

Important

The files array must include all translation files. You can organize translations in a single file or any structure you prefer, as long as all required keys are present and all files are listed.

Finding codes: ISO 639-1 Languages | ISO 3166-2 Countries

Replace flag.png with an appropriate flag image (64x64px PNG recommended). Download flags from flagcdn.com:

https://flagcdn.com/w40/{countrycode}.png

Translate Files

Open each translation file and replace English text with your translations.

Original (English):

{
    "navbar-label-home": "HOME",
    "navbar-label-mod-management": "MOD MANAGEMENT",
    "tooltip-deploy": "Deploy active mods"
}

Translated (German):

{
    "navbar-label-home": "STARTSEITE",
    "navbar-label-mod-management": "MOD-VERWALTUNG",
    "tooltip-deploy": "Aktive Mods bereitstellen"
}

Rules:

Keep keys unchanged - Only modify the values (right side)
Preserve formatting - Keep uppercase/lowercase patterns
Maintain placeholders - Keep {variable} markers exactly as-is
Check JSON validity - No trailing commas, proper quotes

Testing Your Pack

After completing the steps above:

Save all files - Ensure valid JSON
Restart Arsenal - Required to detect new packs
Open Settings - Go to language selection
Select your language - It should appear in the list
Verify translations - Navigate the interface

Troubleshooting

Language Doesn't Appear

Check manifest:

Verify _manifest.json exists
Ensure valid JSON syntax
Confirm all required fields present

Check folder:

Verify folder is in resources/locale/
Confirm folder name format xx-XX

Missing Translations

Check files:

Verify all files listed in manifest exist
Ensure file paths match exactly
Check JSON syntax in each file

Broken Characters

Encoding issues:

Save files as UTF-8
Avoid special encoding characters
Test with common special characters

Placeholder Errors

Symptoms: {count} appears as literal text

Fix: Ensure placeholders are preserved exactly:

Correct: {count}
Wrong: { count }, [count], %count%

Creating Packs

On this page