Nasty bug. Generates files inside engine directory. Corrupts engine installation.

[gnat]

I've noticed Easy Localization Tool generates a bunch of files (.locres, .locmeta etc) in C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_5.7\Engine\Binaries\Win64

Fairly certain this plugin should not be doing that.

This seems to corrupt the engine installation because every 5.7 project then breaks with the below error after running Easy Localization Tool on my large project, requiring me to re-install the engine.

I suspect the manifest or checksum checks are failing after doing so much work inside of the engine directory.

Fatal error: [File:D:\build\++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Core\Private\Modules\ModuleManager.cpp] [Line: 1827] 
Unable to read module manifest from '../../../Engine/Binaries/Win64/UnrealEditor.modules'. Module manifests are generated at build time, and must be present to locate modules at runtime.

[gnat]

Just a quick guess: if the Localization output directory is not specified, then the output directory becomes relative to UnrealEditor.exe ?

There really needs to be a sanity check to ensure the needed options are set before generating stuff.. even simply ensuring the path contains Content/Localization would be ok to prevent disasters.

Could be wrong, but that's my assumption as to what's going on here.

[gnat]

Ok, this can happen in mature projects if you've added/removed localizations previously through the typical Localization Dashboard.. you might end up with this in your Config/DefaultGame.ini

[Internationalization]
-LocalizationPaths=%GAMEDIR%Content/Localization/Game

it should be

[Internationalization]
+LocalizationPaths=%GAMEDIR%Content/Localization/Game

Otherwise, Easy Localization Tool will not find a correct output directory, will appear blank, and just trash your engine directory. 😆

Definitely need a sanity check in there.

[zompi2]

Hi.
Thank you for clear issue steps, it helps a lot, especially I haven't had the opportunity to test it on big projects that switches from one solution to another.
Some time ago someone else was reporting similar issues, but there the problem could be solved by simply removing old localization files (it's mentioned in the readme If you've been using built-in engine's Localization Dashboard clear the Localization directory first.)
I didn't know the default Localization Dashboard tries to add localizations to the engine directory, that sounds... bad.

The

[Internationalization]
+LocalizationPaths=%GAMEDIR%Content/Localization/Game

is in the BaseGame.ini and it IS the default localization path. Weird that the Localization Dashboard breaks it.

I will add a sanity check before the import checking if the Localization Paths are pointing into the game content directory.
Once again, thank you for finding this issue <3