CivMods: Civ7 Mods Manager discussion v0.8.1

[Finwickle]

I agree with @beezany on this, especially for the mod name/title. I'm really not a fan of translating mod names, even by native speakers. For example, when the mod name is translated to, say, Chinese and later translated back to English, it might become a (totally) different name, causing a lot of confusion about which mod we're talking about. Even more so with several mods having somewhat similar names.
However, I can understand your issue here. If I had to navigate a list of mods that were all only in Chinese or Russian, I would get very lost as well. A translation behind or below the original mod name could be helpful, even if it's embarrassing.

CivMods isn't showing the mod description from the modinfo file, but the short description from the CivFanatics page. And CivFanatics is English only. So for this you'd have to rely on automated translations. The mod creators cannot provide this.

I think an auto translation feature would be nice, but please leave the original mod name there, and have a note somewhere that the translation are automatically generated and may be incorrect (and/or embarrassing).

Also, and slightly off topic: We need an easier way to bring willing volunteers and mod creators together for more complete localization of more mods. I've seen people providing translations for others mods in languages my mod still misses, but I'm not just gonna PM them and ask, because I don't want to beg and bother. Posting a thread about it gave me some localizations, but I'm still missing four and it still feels a bit like begging. So for my two other mods, that don't have any text in-game, I just never bothered with localization for the mod description. But that doesn't feel good either.

 

[leonardify]

It’s great to see this feature in development. However, I’d like to point out that the idea of relying solely on mod authors to provide localized translation files might not be ideal.

While translating many mods recently, I noticed a recurring issue: most authors only focus on translating in-game UI text, completely neglecting multilingual support for mod titles and descriptions in the mod manager interface.

In fact, when I translated a mod’s title and description and asked the author to integrate it, they responded: ‘I’m confused—my mod doesn’t modify any text, so why would it need translations? What am I missing?’

This highlights a key problem—your planned localization system might not work effectively, as most mod authors either ignore or misunderstand the need for translating metadata like titles and descriptions.

Therefore, I strongly recommend integrating external translation engines (e.g., Microsoft Translator) to automatically translate mod titles and descriptions in real time. This would bypass reliance on author-provided files and ensure accessibility for all users.

Here are the multilingual translations I’ve created for mod titles and descriptions over the past few days. From firsthand experience, I can tell you that very few mod authors actually provide multilingual support for their mod’s title and description. If you don’t believe me, just pick a few mods, open their configuration files, and check the code yourself—you’ll see it’s true.

Thanks for the detailed exposition, I'd like to point anyway some potential pitfalls:

1. Mod Authors are still the only one with ownership; even if it sounds trivial, we cannot just translate titles automatically without potential backlashes: think about "Leonardfactory's Policy Yields Previews" which translated in italian by Google translate is "La politica di Leonardfactory fornisce anteprime" which sounds like: "The policy of Leonardfactory gives previews" which is far apart the original meaning. I'd be furious seeing my mod name translated like this

2. Access to translation API is not free, especially since we're in a custom desktop application: it's not like using it a public website. We'd need to integrate it with the updater job, and keep it under control to avoid going out of the free plan. It's doable, for sure, but it's another task that requires care. If you've got more specific suggestions on hints on this topic, I'd be happy to hear them anyway!

Don't take me wrong: I fully understand your desire, being a) a non-native english speaker (as it should be clear given my english ) b) a passionate translator which loves to localize mods in italian in every game I've played. I just wanted to highlight the issues around the topic which should be considered before taking action

PS: I wrote this post before @beezany reply, which I fully share. Description translation could be an interesting path to take
PPS: And even before @Finwickle one , I love the idea of making it easier to contribute on localization. For another game I had the idea of "Central" localization platform for all the mods, but it's not so easy to setup. I'll try to think about it but Iet's keep the discussion open since I'm very curious about the community point of view.

 

[v480615]

Thanks for the detailed exposition, I'd like to point anyway some potential pitfalls:

1. Mod Authors are still the only one with ownership; even if it sounds trivial, we cannot just translate titles automatically without potential backlashes: think about "Leonardfactory's Policy Yields Previews" which translated in italian by Google translate is "La politica di Leonardfactory fornisce anteprime" which sounds like: "The policy of Leonardfactory gives previews" which is far apart the original meaning. I'd be furious seeing my mod name translated like this

2. Access to translation API is not free, especially since we're in a custom desktop application: it's not like using it a public website. We'd need to integrate it with the updater job, and keep it under control to avoid going out of the free plan. It's doable, for sure, but it's another task that requires care. If you've got more specific suggestions on hints on this topic, I'd be happy to hear them anyway!

Don't take me wrong: I fully understand your desire, being a) a non-native english speaker (as it should be clear given my english ) b) a passionate translator which loves to localize mods in italian in every game I've played. I just wanted to highlight the issues around the topic which should be considered before taking action

PS: I wrote this post before @beezany reply, which I fully share. Description translation could be an interesting path to take
PPS: And even before @Finwickle one , I love the idea of making it easier to contribute on localization. For another game I had the idea of "Central" localization platform for all the mods, but it's not so easy to setup. I'll try to think about it but Iet's keep the discussion open since I'm very curious about the community point of view.

If implementing real-time automated translation is challenging, perhaps consider creating an open **"Translation Hub"** to enable community-driven localization. Here’s the detailed proposal:

User Contribution Mechanism
Create a dedicated section on mod pages where users can upload translation files (e.g., translated mod titles/descriptions and in-game UI text).

Author Autonomy
Mod authors can selectively integrate translations from the Translation Hub into their mods.

User Freedom of Choice
Players can directly download language packs from the Translation Hub to apply translations themselves.

This approach avoids risks like mistranslations or author concerns about metadata modifications through **"optionality"** and **"community-driven"** features: authors retain control over their mods, while users gain access to crowd-sourced translations.

Core Advantages
▪ Decentralized Collaboration
Translators can work without relying on mod authors.

▪ Quality Control
Authors or trusted users can curate high-quality translations.

▪ Scalability
Supports multilingual expansion without burdening creators.

This system would effectively complement existing localization solutions, addressing the current reality that most mods lack multilingual metadata. (Many mods don’t even have a "Discussion" section, making it impossible to upload localized files for authors to see.)

 

[v480615]

thank you for your translations, @v480615!

i'd like to mention that mod authors are limited to the translations that we receive from volunteers. localization is a specialized professional skill that very few of us have. i can translate some text to some languages, but i cannot provide my own translations for my mod names. titles are difficult to translate, very important to get right, and very embarrassing to get wrong. i don't trust automatic translation to handle names like "Map Trix" and "Resource Re-sorts" so i'm dependent on the volunteer translators for that.

unfortunately, even the folks who translate in-game text mostly leave the mod names untouched, probably for the same reasons that i don't translate them myself. my mods have about 20 total localizations, and only 6 of those translate the mod name (including the 4 that you provided). we just don't have translations to offer.

i'm ok with automatic translation of my mod descriptions, but i've seen what Google Translate does to my mod names, and it's embarrassing. i use a lot of wordplay in my names, and the automatic translators tend to garble the meaning or just give up.

When installing mods in the past, I often struggled with foreign-language mod names and descriptions in the mod manager interface. Even if I translated their functions on the webpage before downloading, I’d quickly forget and end up confused in the mod manager later (forgive my poor memory).

Localizing mod names and descriptions into multiple languages would solve this issue. For local users, translated names are far more recognizable than incomprehensible foreign text. Even if the translation isn’t perfectly accurate, it still captures the essence of the mod, helping users roughly understand its purpose. Additionally, if a translated name is too brief or unclear, the mod’s description—when auto-translated—can provide context. Minor translation errors won’t hinder overall comprehension.

However, this might not matter anymore. As "leonardify" mentioned, automated translation APIs aren’t free, so this feature might be fundamentally unfeasible. I can’t expect a passion-driven project to shoulder extra costs for such a feature.

Thus, I proposed an alternative idea: Add a "Translation Hub" to each mod’s page. For specifics, please refer to my earlier message above.

 

[v480615]

I agree with @beezany on this, especially for the mod name/title. I'm really not a fan of translating mod names, even by native speakers. For example, when the mod name is translated to, say, Chinese and later translated back to English, it might become a (totally) different name, causing a lot of confusion about which mod we're talking about. Even more so with several mods having somewhat similar names.
However, I can understand your issue here. If I had to navigate a list of mods that were all only in Chinese or Russian, I would get very lost as well. A translation behind or below the original mod name could be helpful, even if it's embarrassing.

CivMods isn't showing the mod description from the modinfo file, but the short description from the CivFanatics page. And CivFanatics is English only. So for this you'd have to rely on automated translations. The mod creators cannot provide this.

I think an auto translation feature would be nice, but please leave the original mod name there, and have a note somewhere that the translation are automatically generated and may be incorrect (and/or embarrassing).

Also, and slightly off topic: We need an easier way to bring willing volunteers and mod creators together for more complete localization of more mods. I've seen people providing translations for others mods in languages my mod still misses, but I'm not just gonna PM them and ask, because I don't want to beg and bother. Posting a thread about it gave me some localizations, but I'm still missing four and it still feels a bit like begging. So for my two other mods, that don't have any text in-game, I just never bothered with localization for the mod description. But that doesn't feel good either.

I’m glad we share the same frustrations (the confusion when browsing foreign-language mod lists) and agree on the need for multilingual localization support. Adding a 'Translation Hub' section to mod pages sounds like an excellent idea. For specifics, please refer to my earlier replies to @leonardify in the previous messages above.

 

[beezany]

I’m glad we share the same frustrations (the confusion when browsing foreign-language mod lists) and agree on the need for multilingual localization support. Adding a 'Translation Hub' section to mod pages sounds like an excellent idea. For specifics, please refer to my earlier replies to @leonardify in the previous messages above.

yes, i sympathize too. i'm really happy when i can offer a good translation of my mod names. unfortunately, i rarely have access to usable translations for my mod titles, and there are only a couple of languages where i can reasonably provide my own.

 

[SeregaKR]

Thanks for the program. I tried to review the discussion quickly but couldn't find a request for the portable version. Is it possible to use it without installation?

I would also like to request a feature that matches the mods installed locally to their CivFanatics page, so I know when to update them manually. See "Craimasjien's Mod Pack - Religion Lens, UI fixes and more to come!"

 

[leonardify]

leonardify updated CivMods: Civ 7 Mods Manager with a new update entry:

v0.7.1 - Copy install link, add help section

Enhancements​

• Add a "Copy install link" action to the Mod menu: now you can share links to install specific mods with other players!
• Add an help section in the Settings with relevant links, like Discord / CivFanatics / GitHub

By the way, I've created a Discord server to provide another channel of support for players and to chat with modders about shaping the future of CivMods. Feedback is always welcome!

Read the rest of this update entry...

 

[Finwickle]

Let me just say (again probably) that I really, really love the profiles! I've been doing a lot of testing with different mods lately, and duplicating the empty profile I made, click the install for a mod and starting the game makes it so much easier/faster than all the manual copying and downloading and keeping track.

I've totally given up my control freakiness (well, on this specific aspect of life ) and use CivMods now as much as possible. I no longer care about folder names and such, CivMods can deal with it. So thanks again for making this!

 

[notque]

I want to point out how extremely helpful profiles were after the patch. Other mods were breaking, and I needed a fast way to just get rid of them all to work on the mod work i had to do after the patch.

Profiles enabled that with a breeze.

 

[The_goggles_do_nothing]

Thank you for this. Being able to switch between developing and playing profile is amazing.

I'm trying to figure out why one of my mods must be install manually. Any recommendations? Maybe it needs the "Civ 7" tag?

(I just realized just putting the raw link is best...)

Goggles Swiss Confederacy (Exploration)

Mar 12, 2025

Goggles-Swiss-Confederacy-Exploration

• The_goggles_do_nothing
• Civ7 - New Civilizations

Thread 'Goggle's Swiss Confederacy (Exploration)'

Mar 22, 2025

Goggles Swiss Confederacy (Exploration)​

Download

• The_goggles_do_nothing
• civ 7 custom civ
• Replies: 5
• Forum: Released Mods

 

[leonardify]

Thank you @notque and @Finwickle for the inspiring words! Furthermore you remembered me I need to add a “Create empty” profile, which I completely forgot!

@The_goggles_do_nothing thank you for posting here, I wanted to reach you but I haven’t got the time yet. The issue is with one file, a gameffect xml one, which has a ü character in its name and it’s breaking the parsing. I should really work on that, but in the meantime if you could just rename it removing the umlaut using an “u” it should work directly

If you want you can join the discord https://civmods.com/discord where there is a #mods-feed channel with the detailed errors

 

[leonardify]

leonardify updated CivMods: Civ 7 Mods Manager with a new update entry:

v0.8.0 - Dependencies, Variants, Cache, TCS integration, and more!

New Features​

• Add mod Dependencies support.
  • The mod dependencies are now automatically downloaded and installed when a mod is installed.
  • If you'll try to uninstall a mod that is a dependency for another mod, you'll be notified before uninstalling it.
  • Mods which dependencies are not installed will be marked as missing in the mod list.
• Add mod Variants support.
  • Now if a mod publishes multiple variants in...

Read the rest of this update entry...

 

[Finwickle]

Great update!

 

[LilBudyWizer]

If you're not actually in dark mode in windows then your title bar shows up as windows standard grey. I generally set individual apps to dark more rather than windows itself.

My thoughts on translations is a separate app that makes it easy to do translations. Even as a monolingual modder I would appreciate something that makes creating the English version easier. It seems a repository for sharing translations is best done by CivFantics. Particularly considering the volume of downloads you could potentially get. The only thing I see this app doing is managing a local store for the users translations and merging/replacing it with the mods translations on install. It seems you would have there's just no translations in the mod, there's missing translations or there's bad translations. What I mean by no translations is it implemented localization, but there's no translation file for a particular language. With missing translations, particular strings, you can just merge. With bad translations you want to replace. As a monolingual modder I don't put anything out there but English. With some it seems they put all 10 out there, but they're all in one language. I assume the reason for that is it makes it easy for someone to translate, just type over the string. That would qualify as bad translations. Missing isn't LOC_HELLO_WORLD, i.e. modder error, is appearing in game, but rather it's in some languages but not others.

So an app that makes doing translations easier. CivFanatics support for user created translations for a mod. This mod handling merge/replace. Considering how localizations apply across a lot of apps perhaps there's already an app for that.

The thought is that if CivFantics handles the repository then you get all the download counts, ratings and such of a regular mod. It seems as a modder you have to consider how much you trust someone providing you a translation. If it has lots of downloads and good ratings then it's either a safe translation or lots of people are having a laugh. It seems CivFantics could put in a disclaimer that by uploading this you are authorizing it being integrated into the mod. If nothing else it, at least, it gives you someone to contact and ask. I would imagine it would benefit CivFanatics to provide such support since it would seem to greatly expand their user base. City Hall is a great mod and I could see struggling through if it were only in a Romantic or Germanic language I don't know, but a logographic language just wouldn't be worth it to me. It seems with this app all that's really appropriate is applying it.

An editor for ModInfo might be nice. You seem to be in the ModInfo files already. Separately maybe standardize a config file. Like UserOptions.txt but javascript instead. Just stick it in an editor and let the user modify it, just verify it parses correctly and executes without throwing errors. If it were config.js then a config.html could provide a more user friendly option for configuration if present. Just popping up an editor or HTML viewer doesn't seem like it would take much. It could look really impressive if people create HTML editors for it though.

 

[The_goggles_do_nothing]

It would be nice if there was a "create empty profile" option. Not a high priority but would be helpful when moding.

 

[leonardify]

leonardify updated CivMods: Civ 7 Mods Manager with a new update entry:

v0.8.1 - Fix for Windows Insiders

Bug Fixes​

• Fix an issue with Windows Insiders/Beta channel (e.g., 24H2) where CivMods would start and remain active as a background process without displaying a window.

Read the rest of this update entry...

 

[LilBudyWizer]

I'm wondering why my mod is showing version unknown

LBW More Options

Monday at 8:57 PM

Allows setting select config file options in game

• LilBudyWizer
• configuration options ui-mod
• Civ 7 - UI Mods

 

[leonardify]

I'm wondering why my mod is showing version unknown

LBW More Options

Monday at 8:57 PM

Allows setting select config file options in game

• LilBudyWizer
• configuration options ui-mod
• Civ 7 - UI Mods

I need to check it, seems a weird bug but I'm not sure what's triggering it

 

[IvoRe]

Is it possible to add "last update" date alongside where "downloaded" and "ratting" are. At the moment it is couple of clicks if you want to see when mod was updated.