Localization-System-Mini

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Localization System Mini for Unity

FEATURES | QUICK START | TOOLTIP | CSV FORMAT | FONTS | API | DEMO SCENE | NOTES | LICENSE | SUPPORT

CSV Table Import ScriptableObject Setup Method Calls Demo

A simple CSV-based text localization system for Unity projects using TextMeshPro. Reads a CSV file, returns the rows, switches fonts, and caches everything for optimization. Made for solo devs and indie teams who want to keep text strings out of scripts and manage translations through external editors.

Source: This is a simplified version of the localization system from Automatic Tutorial Maker asset.

Features

Tooltip Localization System Unity

Quick Start

1. Setup

  1. Import the package into your Unity project
  2. Locate the pre-configured InputData asset in Assets/CSV Localization/InputData
  3. Set Default Language in the Inspector (English by default)
  4. Assign your fonts in the Inspector:
    • Default Font for Latin-based languages
    • Language Special Fonts for CJK languages (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)
  5. Add translations to the included CSV file (see format below)

Note: You can create your own InputData asset (Right-click → Create → Localization System Mini → InputData) and CSV file if needed.

2. Initialize

using LocalizationSystemMini;

public class GameManager : MonoBehaviour
{
    [SerializeField] private InputStringsScriptableObject textStrings;
    
    void Start()
    {
        // Initialize localization system (loads saved language or sets default)
        textStrings.InitializeLocalizator();
    }
}

3. Connect to UI Buttons

In the Inspector → Button component → OnClick():

4. Use in Code

Row Indexing: Visual editors (Excel, Google Sheets) start from row 1, but code uses 0-based indexing. When specifying a row number, subtract 1 from what you see in the editor (e.g., row 2 in Excel = index 1 in code). Alternatively, use keys instead of row numbers. This is more reliable and allows you to swap table rows.

Static Mode – caches text objects, auto-updates on language change, handles font switching
Call once: on Start, or when spawning text objects

void Start()
{
// Simple text
textStrings.FillTextObject(2, textComponent);

// By key (uses column A)
textStrings.FillTextObjectByKey("settings_key", textComponent);

// With placeholders (requires manual re-call if variables change)
textStrings.FillTextObjectWithPlaceholders(2, textComponent, userName, score);

textStrings.FillTextObjectWithPlaceholdersByKey("row_key", textComponent, userName, score);
}

Dynamic Mode – reads on-demand, no font switching
Call in Update() or when data changes frequently

void Update()
{
    // By row index
    textComponent.text = textStrings.GetStringText(2);
    
    // By key
    textComponent.text = textStrings.GetStringTextByKey("greeting_key");
    
    // With placeholders
    textComponent.text = textStrings.ReplacePlaceholders(3, playerName, level);

    textComponent.text = textStrings.ReplacePlaceholdersByKey("row_key", playerName, level);
    
    // Manual font update (call once, if needed)
    textComponent.font = textStrings.GetCurrentFont();
}

Change Language – bind to UI buttons for language switching

// By enum
textStrings.ChangeLanguage(InputStringsScriptableObject.Language.Japanese);

// By string (recommended for custom languages)
textStrings.ChangeLanguage("Ukrainian");

Localized Tooltip Component

A component for automatic text localization directly on scene objects without writing code.

Setup

  1. Add LocalizedTooltip component to a GameObject with TextMeshPro
  2. Assign InputData to the Input Text Settings field
  3. Enter Connected Table Key (row key from CSV)
  4. Text automatically updates on Start and language change

Dynamic Parameters

For text with variables, use Parameter Selector:

  1. Click + in the Dynamic Parameters list
  2. Select Target Object (GameObject with the needed component)
  3. Select Component from dropdown
  4. Select Field/Property to display

Parameter Updates:

CSV Format

  A B C D E F …
1 Use keys Default English Chinese Japanese German …
2 greeting_key hello hello 你好 こんにちは hallo …
3 welcome_key Welcome, {name}! Welcome, {name}! 欢迎，{name}！ ようこそ、{name}！ Willkommen, {name}! …
4 yes_key Yes Yes 是 はい Ja …

Important: Placeholders are replaced by position, not by name. The system replaces the 1st placeholder with the 1st value, 2nd with 2nd value, etc., regardless of what’s inside the braces.

Example with call: ReplacePlaceholders(row, "John", 100)

✅ Correct:
EN: "Player {name} has {score} coins" → “Player John has 100 coins”
UA: "У гравця {name} є {score} монет" → “У гравця John є 100 монет”
(Same order: {name} first, {score} second)

❌ Wrong:
UA: "{score} монет у гравця {name}" → “John монет у гравця 100” (Reversed order: system replaces {score} with “John”, {name} with 100)

Font Management

For languages with special characters (Chinese, Japanese, Korean):

  1. In the InputData Inspector → Language Special Fonts:
    • Add language name: Chinese
    • Assign TMP_FontAsset: NotoSansTC-Regular SDF
  2. Set Default Font for all other languages

The system automatically switches fonts when language changes.

API Reference

Methods

Method Description Use Case
InitializeLocalizator() Load saved language or set default Call once on game start
ChangeLanguage(Language) Switch to enum language Testing in Inspector
ChangeLanguage(string) Switch by string name UI language buttons, custom languages
GetStringText(int row) Get text by row Dynamic reading
GetStringTextByKey(string key) Get text by key Dynamic reading
FillTextObject(int row, TMP_Text) Cache text object Static UI
ReplacePlaceholders(int row, params object[]) Get text with variables Dynamic with variables
FillTextObjectWithPlaceholders(int row, TMP_Text, params object[]) Cache text with variables Static with variables
ReplacePlaceholdersByKey(string key, params object[]) Get text with variables Dynamic with variables
FillTextObjectWithPlaceholdersByKey(string key, TMP_Text textToFill, params object[]) Cache text with variables Static with variables
GetCurrentFont() Get current language font Manual font management

Properties

_currentLanguageString – Current language as string. Track this to detect language changes in external scripts (e.g., if (language != textStrings._currentLanguageString)).

Localization System Mini code

Example Scene

Open DemoScene to see all features in action.

Watch the video

Language Switching

Dynamic Mode Examples

Static Mode Examples

Font Management

Learning Resources

Examine TextCallExamples.cs for implementation patterns:

Notes

License

Free to use in personal and commercial projects.

Support

For the full-featured version, visit: Automatic Tutorial Maker on Unity Asset Store

This system is used for localizing text tooltips, can additionally find a value by the closest match (without relying on a row number or key), and can export auto-generated or manually created texts to CSV from a Scriptable Object. The storage contains all built-in tooltips as well as additional texts created across all scenes and tutorial steps in the Unity project.

YouTube

ATM_full

P.S. There’s already a solution based on CSV: Localization Package from Unity, which includes most of the possible features. This system shows a simpler version for indie projects, with some unique advantages. For instance, it can cache a pair of TMP_Text and its string, so that when a translation is updated, all pairs are refreshed automatically, including the font. It supports languages with any name (you can add a column like “Elvish” and reference it by “Elvish”). And it uses only one ScriptableObject as a “middleman”, accessible from anywhere, so you don’t need to deal with a bunch of components.

Dev’s website: https://www.octantastudio.com/

Gmail: octantastudio@gmail.com

Discord: https://discord.gg/6SPxKpFZFC

FEATURES QUICK START TOOLTIP CSV FORMAT FONTS API DEMO SCENE NOTES LICENSE SUPPORT
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