Adding Custom Languages to the Core Languages

[Kamarathin]

Hi folks,

 

I am familiar with how to add custom languages to HD by using custom templates, but that removes the standard Earth languages.

 

What I want to do is to add additional languages that are not from Earth, but retain all of the core languages.

 

Is there a way to do that?

[Simon]

When you define an existing element in a rules template, you're overwriting the built-in definition. If you want to keep the built-in definition and add to it (as in your case), you need to copy the built-in definition into your extension template and use that as your starting point.  That's going to be a LARGE copy/paste for Languages, but should be a one time thing and let you add to existing languages and modify the language familiarity chart accordingly.

[Kamarathin]

Totally ok with a large copy and paste, TBH.

Which leads into the next question, where can I access that built-in definition of languages, so I can copy it?

[Simon]

You can pull slightly dated versions from the Downloads section of this site or go the direct route and pull them out of the main HD6.jar file (it will open with any compression software -- WinZip, WinRAR, etc.)

[Kamarathin]

Awesome! Thank you. I remember having done that in the past, but couldn't remember how to open the JAR files.

[unclevlad]

Just FYI, the languages section is several THOUSAND lines long.  In Main6E, it starts at line 714, and ends at line 10555.

 

Note that there are some huge swathes of languages that aren't what I'd call core.  HD has the complete, expanded list, it's over 600 languages, IIRC.  There's definitely sections where the micro-detail is probably not necessary.  If you're making your own languages template anyway...it can be worth trimming.  The sheer length always irritates me, given that the HD control doesn't support matching as you type a string in, or even jump to a current entry (when there is one) when editing.