# Battle-Brothers-CN: a community Chinese localisation of Battle Brothers

> Battle-Brothers-CN translates the tactical role-playing game Battle Brothers into Chinese and ships it as two data files you drop into the game's data directory, with the translation work coordinated on Paratranz and a Go tool that rewrites the game's scripts in place. It suits players who want the game in Chinese, and it is a translation of the base game rather than of every mod.

**shabbywu/Battle-Brothers-CN** — Battle Brothers(战场兄弟)中文翻译项目

- Repository: https://github.com/shabbywu/Battle-Brothers-CN
- Website: https://battle-brothers-cn.shabbywu.cn/
- Stars: 651 · Forks: 11
- Language: Squirrel
- License: GPL-3.0
- Published: 2026-10-21 · Updated: 2026-10-21 · Language: en
- Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/shabbywu-battle-brothers-cn

## What the project is: a translation of the base game, maintained by one person

Battle-Brothers-CN is the Chinese translation project for Battle Brothers, and the repository description states it plainly. The project lives under the GPL-3.0 licence, the homepage is a dedicated site for the localisation, and the last push to the repository was on 2026-10-08 with the repository not archived.

The README is candid about its own shape. It says that at present the localisation is essentially maintained by one person, with no short-term plan to start other projects, and that the way to help is either by starring the repository or by joining the proofreading of the original game's text, since that would free up time for other work. That is an honest statement of the constraint that matters for anyone considering depending on it: a single maintainer decides the roadmap.

The scope is the base game. A question-and-answer section addresses the Legends mod explicitly and the answer is that this is the localisation of the original game and that the Legends mod is not included, because that mod is too large in volume. So this is a translation of one game's text, not a localisation platform that covers the whole mod ecosystem.

The repository tree supports the tooling story. Alongside the README and the licence there is a Go module, shabbywu.com/battle-brother-cn, with cmd/, pkg/ and bin/ directories, a Makefile, a localization.manifest.json, a zh_Hans.po file, and a zh_CN.UTF-8 directory that holds the font assets the Chinese build needs. The package.json in the root is not for the game, it is for the all-contributors tooling that generates the contributor table in the README, and the badge in the README counts ten contributors.

## Installing the localisation: two archives in the data directory

The installation is three steps and no build.

First, download the attachments data_cn.zip and data_font.zip from the release page. Second, place the attachments in the game's data directory, at the same level as the other data_xxx.dat files, and there is no need to unpack them. Third, run the game.

That second step is the one worth reading carefully, because it explains the design of the whole project. Battle Brothers stores its scripts and data as files named data_xxx.dat in that directory, and the game loads them through a virtual filesystem library rather than reading them from disk in a plain way. The localisation follows the same convention, so the translated files sit next to the originals with the same naming pattern and the game picks them up without any patching, no launcher and no configuration.

The font archive is a separate file for a separate reason: the game's default font does not contain Chinese glyphs, so the large map support with Chinese characters, which the roadmap lists as done, requires shipping a font alongside the text.

The releases are dated versions rather than continuous builds. The most recent published release is v20240723, tagged bb-translator-v1.1.2, on 2024-07-29, preceded by v20240525 carrying bb-translator-v1.0.0 on 2024-05-24 and v0.7.0-beta.1 on 2024-04-28. The version tag therefore names the translation snapshot and the version of the translator tool bundled with it, which is the same pairing you see in the tool's own repository.

## How the translation work happens: Paratranz and two sync commands

The collaboration model moved to Paratranz, and the README says so directly: the online collaboration method for this project has migrated to paratranz, where there are two ways to take part in proofreading, online translation and local translation, with online translation recommended.

The two paths are mirror images of each other. With online translation you work in the Paratranz project and then push the result back to the git repository with the sync-from-paratranz command. The README notes that this step is not strictly required, because the repository syncs from Paratranz on a schedule. With local translation you edit the git repository directly, which means you first sync the latest progress with sync-from-paratranz to avoid conflicting with the online work, and then push your progress back to the online project with push-to-paratranz afterwards.

The local path has a conflict resolution procedure that the README spells out with a flowchart, and the shape of it is worth understanding. If the push to Paratranz finds a conflict, you force-sync the latest translations into the git repository, resolve the differences with git diff, commit, and force-sync once more so that the online project is not overwritten by your local copy. Only after that does the git push happen, and the README adds the important rule that a local change needs a pull request, and that the translation only takes effect once the pull request is merged.

Those two commands are built from this repository by the Makefile:

```bash
	go build -o bin/push-to-paratranz${BINARY_SUFFIX} -trimpath ./cmd/push-to-paratranz
	go build -o bin/sync-from-paratranz${BINARY_SUFFIX} -trimpath ./cmd/sync-from-paratranz
```

Both are separate binaries in cmd/, and the Makefile picks a .exe suffix on Windows. The repository also carries an ai-translation target that builds a third command from cmd/ai-translation, and the Go dependencies include the OpenAI Go client, which is what an automated translation pass would use.

## bb-translator: the tool that rewrites the game's scripts

The translation is not a set of pre-rendered text blobs. It is produced by a separate tool, bb-translator, which lives in its own repository and is the piece most people will find interesting.

The README describes it as the text translator for Battle Brothers, using the term files of the localisation project to translate the game scripts in the data directory. Its listed characteristics are the design decisions.

It uses physfs to read the files, implementing the same loading method and the same order as the game. That is the detail that makes the tool work at all: Battle Brothers loads its data through a virtual filesystem with a specific ordering, and a translator that read the files in a different order would produce a build the game cannot parse.

It supports translating both .nut and .cnut files, which covers the script formats the game ships in. It can translate the scripts of historical game versions, provided the term file has the matching translation for that version. And it can in principle translate mods, again provided the term file contains the corresponding Chinese text.

It also has a GUI, so the tool is usable without touching a command line, which matters for a community project that wants proofreaders rather than programmers.

The repository tree reinforces that the tooling is the substance of the project: pkg/ holds the shared code, cmd/ the three commands, and the localization.manifest.json plus zh_Hans.po describe the term catalogue that the translator consumes.

## Roadmap, mods and what is still untranslated

The roadmap in the README is a checklist, and reading it tells you where the project actually stands. Done: the basic full-text translation, the accompanying bb-translator tool, adaptation of commonly used mods, which the README notes requires using bb-translator to generate the localisation in real time, and Chinese character support on the large map. Two named mod adaptations appear as completed items, a modding script hooks mod and the Smart Recruiter mod, with an ellipsis suggesting more followed.

Not done: refined translation. The remaining item is a careful polishing pass, which is the least visible and most labour-intensive part of localisation work, and it is exactly the kind of task that a single maintainer with a proofreading community can only advance as fast as people volunteer.

The mod story is the clearest limitation and the README does not hide it. Two entries are listed, a modding script hooks mod and the Smart Recruiter mod, with an ellipsis suggesting more followed. The FAQ states that the Legends mod is not included because its volume is too large, and the roadmap says that adapting a mod requires using bb-translator to generate the localisation live for that mod. So the architecture supports mods, but each mod needs work, and the biggest one is explicitly out of scope for now.

The practical reading is that the base game is covered, common mods have been handled, and the long tail of the mod scene is not. Anyone whose interest lies in a specific mod should check whether that mod is in the adapted list before expecting the translation to apply.

## Maintenance, licences and where this project is the wrong answer

The licence is GPL-3.0, with a LICENSE file in the repository root, which is the expected choice for a localisation project whose source term files and tooling are meant to be reused.

On maintenance, the picture is mixed and worth reading carefully. The repository itself is active, with the last push on 2026-10-08 and the scheduled Paratranz sync keeping the two sides in step. The published release assets, however, stop in 2024, with the newest release dated 2024-07-29. That gap means the downloadable data files are a snapshot of the translation at that date, while the repository's term files have continued to move since. For a player, that is mostly harmless, since a slightly older translation still reads well. For anyone building an automated pipeline that pulls the newest assets, there is no obvious mechanism for that in the README.

The tooling dependency is the other consideration. The Makefile builds three Go commands, the Go module declares version 1.23.4 with toolchain 1.23.6, and the dependency list includes an archive library, an HTTP client wrapper, the OpenAI Go client and pflag. The Makefile also exposes a help target that prints the available commands, which is a small sign of a toolchain that expects to be run by people who did not write it.

The realistic alternative for a player who wants Battle Brothers in Chinese is one of the existing community translation mods for the game, or a machine-translation patch. The difference in approach is that this project treats the translation as data, produced by a tool that understands the game's file format and ordering, with a proofreading workflow behind it. That is a slower route to a result than machine translation, and it produces a result that a player can trust, which is why the roadmap still lists the polishing pass as unfinished rather than declaring the job done.

## Conclusion

Battle-Brothers-CN is a good fit for a player who owns Battle Brothers and wants the interface and story text in Chinese, since installing it is a file drop rather than a mod framework. It is not a fit for anyone expecting mod content to be covered, because the README says the largest mod's texts are not included, and it is not a fit for a reproducible release pipeline, since the last published assets date from 2024 while the repository itself is still receiving work. Verify first that your game version's scripts are covered by the shipped term files, that the two archives belong in the data folder without being unpacked, and that the font archive is included if you want Chinese characters on the large map.

## FAQ

### How do I install the Battle Brothers Chinese translation?

Download the attachments data_cn.zip and data_font.zip from the release page, place them in the game's data directory alongside the other data_xxx.dat files, and there is no need to unpack them. The game then loads the translated files alongside the originals.

### Does the translation cover mods of Battle Brothers?

The README says the project is the localisation of the original game and that the Legends mod is not included because its volume is too large. The roadmap lists adaptation of some commonly used mods, and notes that adapting a mod requires using bb-translator to generate the localisation for it.

### How do I contribute translations to Battle-Brothers-CN?

The online collaboration has moved to the Paratranz project, where you can work online or locally. The local route means syncing the latest translations with sync-from-paratranz, editing the repository, pushing back with push-to-paratranz, resolving any conflict, and opening a pull request, since the translation only takes effect once it is merged.

### What does bb-translator do?

It is the text translator for Battle Brothers, using the term files of the localisation project to translate the game scripts in the data directory. It reads files with physfs in the same way and order as the game, supports the .nut and .cnut formats, can translate historical versions of the scripts, offers a GUI, and can translate mods when the term file contains the matching text.

### Is there an automated translation tool in the repository?

The Makefile carries an ai-translation target that builds a command from cmd/ai-translation, and the Go dependencies include the OpenAI Go client. The main commands the README documents are sync-from-paratranz and push-to-paratranz, which move translations between the git repository and Paratranz.

### Under what licence is the Battle Brothers Chinese localisation released?

GPL-3.0, with the licence text in the LICENSE file at the root of the repository. The most recent published release assets are dated 2024-07-29, although the repository itself continues to receive commits.

## Sources

- [License: GPL-3.0](https://github.com/shabbywu/Battle-Brothers-CN/blob/main/LICENSE)
- [Project website](https://battle-brothers-cn.shabbywu.cn/)
- [README](https://github.com/shabbywu/Battle-Brothers-CN/blob/main/README.md)
- [Releases](https://github.com/shabbywu/Battle-Brothers-CN/releases)
- [shabbywu/Battle-Brothers-CN on GitHub](https://github.com/shabbywu/Battle-Brothers-CN)

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Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/shabbywu-battle-brothers-cn