RPG Maker MV turned 10 years old — a decade of creativity, unforgettable projects, and a thriving community. To honor that milestone, I'm excited to introduce rpg_locale is a lightweight, developer-friendly i18n system built specifically for RPG Maker MV.
It gives you fast, flexible multi-language support, tools to extract and edit text, and an offline automatic translation option so you can localize quickly and privately — no internet required.
Why you need it?
Localization shouldn't slow you down. Whether you're building an indie RPG or updating an older project, rpg_locale helps you:
Reach more players with multi-language support.
Speed up translation workflows with smart extraction tools.
Translate securely and quickly without depending on online services.
Core features
Translation Helper — automatically extract text from your JSON files so you can send clean, organized payloads to translators or translation tools.
Editable Translation UI — review and edit every string inside an editor-friendly interface, perfect for manual refining and context-aware corrections.
Local Automatic Translator — a built-in offline translator that supports many languages without internet access; ideal for rapid prototyping and private, local builds.
rpg_locale.js plugin — ready to install via the RPG Maker MV Plugin Manager for instant multi-language support; includes automatic word-wrap support that inserts line breaks where appropriate to preserve layout and readability.
Designed for creators
RPG Locale is built with RPG Maker MV conventions in mind:
Easy integration: drop the plugin into your project and it detects standard JSON structures used by MV.
Non-destructive workflow: extracted strings are tracked separately so your original files remain intact until you apply changes.
Extensible: add custom translation backends or export formats to fit your pipeline.
How to get started
Install the plugin in your project's js/plugins folder.
Run the Translation Helper to extract strings from your JSON assets.
Edit translations using the built-in editor, or export the bundle for external translators.
Use the local automatic translator for quick bulk translations, then refine manually for best results.
Use cases
Rapid multi-language playtests during development.
Community-driven localization with clear extraction and import tools.
Private, offline translation workflows for studios that need local-only processing.
Part of RPG Maker MV Ace
rpg_locale.js is part of the RPG Maker MV Ace project — an effort to modernize the MV engine with current web technologies and meaningful quality-of-life improvements for game developers.
Learn more on the RPG MV Ace project page .
How you can help
Your support keeps projects like this alive. Here’s how you can make a difference today:
Share the plugin in community spaces: share demos, post showcases, and spread the word.
License & Usage
Author: RyanBram
License: Apache License (royalty-free for commercial use)
A big thanks to the RPG Maker community for a decade of creativity, feedback, and inspiration.
Best regards,
(RyanBram)
Notes
This GUI for creating user interface is designed with WxFromBuilder using internal script to convert the result into generated html code followed by manual adjustment. A critical part of this plugin requires patching the core RPG Maker MV scripts (like command 101, command 102, command 105, etc.) to intercept text rendering and load strings from generated *_i18n.json file instead. AI was used as an advanced analysis tool to deconstruct and understand the text-rendering pipeline within the RPG Maker MV codebase. This AI-assisted analysis was essential for me to gain the necessary insights to author the precise, clean, and efficient patches required to hook the localization system into the engine.