Game fails to load "modded strings text files" from Local Mods

:arrow_forward: GAME INFORMATION

:point_down: These details are CRITICAL; DO NOT skip them or your issue may not be reviewed.

  • GAME BUILD #: #99404
  • GAME PLATFORM: Steam
  • OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 10

:arrow_forward: ISSUE EXPERIENCED

:point_down: DESCRIBE THE ISSUE IN DETAIL (below). LIMIT TO ONE BUG PER THREAD.

“key-value-modded-strings-utf8” text files (ruling custom strings in mods and campaigns) from Local Mods conflict with Subscribed Mods.
Basically, the game fails to load “key-value-modded-strings-utf8” files when it has to load this file from a Local Mod. It works fine if the game only has to load Subsribed Mod(s). But as soon as you try to load a Local Mod that includes a modded strings text file, the game fails to load all of these, both for Local and Subsribed Mods.

So custom names ruled by custom strings are not displayed, and the renamed objects instead display the code name.

:arrow_forward: FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

:point_down: How often does the issue occur? CHOSE ONE; DELETE THE REST!

  • 100% of the time / matches I play (ALWAYS)

:arrow_forward: REPRODUCTION STEPS

:point_down: List CLEAR and DETAILED STEPS we can take to reproduce the issue ourselves… Be descriptive!

Here’s the steps to reproduce the issue:

  1. Have a Local Mod that includes a custom strings text file (key-value-modded-strings-utf8.txt).
  2. Make sure the Mod is enabled and launch the game.
  3. See that the custom strings (custom names) don’t load and don’t work. Everything else from the mod, including sound files, do load properly, only the custom strings text file won’t load.

:arrow_forward: EXPECTED RESULT

:point_down: What was SUPPOSED to happen if the bug you encountered were not present?

Local Mods should load “key-value-modded-strings-utf8.txt” consistently, and thus display the correct strings attributed via the editor.

“key-value-modded-strings-utf8.txt” file should load from Local Mods regardless, and shouldn’t interfere with subscribed mods that included a “key-value-modded-strings-utf8.txt” either.

I believe that this issue has something to do with the latest modifications towards mods created from Steam Accounts, which authors still cannot access at this point.

:arrow_forward: IMAGE

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:arrow_forward: GAME FILES (SAVE / RECORDING)

:point_down: Attach a SAVE GAME (.aoe2spgame) or GAME RECORDING (.aoe2record) of the match where you encountered the issue. Link it below if using an external file service.

Hi @MLC8896
Thanks for your report, this issue is in our list and we’ll investigate it :slight_smile:

This bug still persists as of March 03, 2024

2 Likes

Don’t use generic notepad to write the your .txt files, it might encode them as a UTF-8-BOM which the game cannot read (only UTF-8), I read this on another forum.

I had the same issue but I downloaded something like Notepad++ to write my .txt files instead, you can control how its encoded when you save them and now my .txt files are loading properly.

1 Like

This happens still in build 162286 (Steam, Windows)

The file key-value-modded-strings-utf8.txt does not always apply as intended. When switching between languages, mods can fail, and even the default strings may bug out. I am using the LOCAL folder to test the mod, and still haven’t uploaded it.

For example, I use Latin American Spanish, and I started creating my own custom strings. The issue is that sometimes the game loads English strings instead of using the standard “Latin American Spanish” string file.

In those cases, certain strings are completely overlooked and are not loaded from the BASE .txt file, but instead from the ENGLISH string file, causing inconsistencies in localization.