String Editing and Localization

When editing strings in a game variant, it is usually possible to provide translations into multiple languages. (In some cases, this feature is not available due to technical limitations in the game variant file format.) Additionally, there is a "Library" button that you can click to access the localized string library, a collection of translations pulled from official Bungie content — both existing game variants and the base map files.

Round card preview

Many gametypes show an instructional "card" at the start of every round. The text shown can be controlled through scripting. However, the text is truncated to a relatively short length, and it isn't automatically word wrapped, so you have to insert line breaks manually.

If you have the Halo: Reach Editing Kit installed through Steam, and if you've properly extracted the bundled assets, then you'll have a copy of Halo: Reach's main fonts on hand. ReachVariantTool will detect this and allow you to open a preview window for the instructional "card," by checking the "Show round card preview" checkbox.

Because this preview uses the game's own font files, it should support every character set that the fonts themselves support. The game's font for body text, in particular, supports a fairly wide variety of Unicode symbols:

However, the game's special icon characters are not supported at this time. They aren't part of the normal font files; they get baked in via some alternate system.

Please also be aware that due to fundamental differences in how typical Windows programs render text, versus how Halo: Reach renders text, this is not an exact preview. It should be accurate enough if you don't try to press your text right up against the round card's right-side border.

Localized string library

The string library is shown below.

The lefthand column has a list of all available strings, along with a search box.

The righthand column allows you to preview the text of a given string in any supported language. Additionally, some strings allow you to specify options. As an example, the "x Points" string allows you to substitute in any number, with plurals handled for each language.

Several strings also have more detailed descriptions, which may contain notes about the context in which the string was used, or information specific to certain languages. For example, the "Turn Clock" string in Portugese is "Chess Clock," and this is noted in the description.