Question Reducing the app download size by splitting localized audio?

Hi.

We've released a game globally with about 340 MB download size from Google Play Store. Looking at the WebGL build, I can see that the localized voiceovers for the six supported languages take more than half of the game's size. I cannot however find a way to split the Play Store version (or the WebGL for that matter) into different language packs that only load on demand. I tried putting the audio files into .androidpack folder, but that instantly breaks every reference in the localization table. The game will also need to fully download the chosen language, as internet is not as accessible everywhere so everything could be just streamed when needed.

 

Thank you so much, worked like a charm. I'm guessing I need to upload the bundles for each platform separately, as iOS and Android might process the audio files differently? Also the loading seems to happen automatically right after changing locale. According to the document, by using Addressables.DownloadDependenciesAsync I could wait for the process to finish and show a download percentage to the user meanwhile. Is there a way to do this for the automatic download, or should I interrupt it somehow? Maybe download the package as the user presses the language button and changing the locale only after the download is complete?

 

Is there a way to check if a locale is already cached and up to date (so no download required) before trying to change to it? I need to prevent accidental downloads over mobile connection and instead show a message that a wifi is required. If this is impossible, I will probably need to make every locale change require wifi connection, even if it's not going to download anything. I tried looking over the localization API, but couldn't see anything relating to a locale implying if it is cached or not...

 

It would appear I can check this from the addressable download size, if it's 0, it's cached. Now, in the case the localization pack is not cached and there's no allowable connection to internet, is it possible to run a locale without all of it's packs? I have separate local string tables and remote voice files, since they take most of the size of the game. I could run the game while the voice pack was still downloading with no voiceover, but is there a way to prevent the game from trying to download the voice pack and continue without it? Or is the only option in such case to prevent the locale change, leaving the player with possibly wrong language?

 

So, a fallback version of each locale without the voice files? I would probably need to duplicate every column in localized string tables in that case, but at least I could give the player the proper language. How would I initiate this failure? Do I need to somehow block the localization system from accessing mobile connection?

 

Or just do something like if voicepack cannot be downloaded, instead use this voiceless fallback
locale?

 

Reading the manual better, fallback would be per missing string/asset... I can't mix the languages, so that's a no go for me. I guess I could change the locale if I can block the app from trying to download the missing file through mobile connection. But if locale change forces that, I don't think I can... or maybe if I change the remote address to 0.0.0.0 for the duration of the session preventing the app from finding anything. Sounds a bit hacky though.

 

Still haven't figured out if I can prevent the app from reaching internet through mobile data connection, so I thought I'd give the voiceless fallback approach a go. It seems to work well if I only enable string table fallback, so it doesn't try to get voiceovers. Unity's localization system works with fallback out of the box, but how should I make my custom scripts take the fallback into account?

Code (CSharp):

1. LocalizedStringTable lst = new LocalizedStringTable(tableReference);
2. var table = lst.GetTableAsync();
3. while (!table.IsDone)
4. {
5.     yield return null;
6. }
7. Debug.Log($"Loading localization from table {tableReference}");
8. foreach (var entry in table.Result.SharedData.Entries)
9. {
10.     keys.Add(entry.Key.ToString());
11. }
12.  

accessing a table made like this gives me a nullref.

 

I really just need the keys of said table here, to make random calls for them later in the code which I can manage through LocalizationSettings.StringDatabase.GetTableEntry like you suggested in this old post https://forum.unity.com/threads/can...rk-on-script-assigned-localized-text.1150613/
Is there a way to get that table, for example through a different locale, or do I have to make a reference list that's locale independent and remember to update that as well when adding entries to the localized table?