Original Source
- Original title: XP How to get Cyrillic Characters in RPG Maker XP
- Original author: Partyhardy
- Original date: August 10, 2025
- Source thread: https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/threads/how-to-get-cyrillic-characters-in-rpg-maker-xp.179496/
- Source forum path: Game Development Engines > RPG Maker Tutorials > RMXP Tutorials
Summary
Brief: RPG Maker XP does not have any native Cyrillic support. If you've ever tried to input Cyrillic characters in RPG Maker XP, you'll quickly realise it replaces any such characters with "???". Fortunately with the help of somebody on Reddit we were able to find a workaround for this. The hope is to allow for more RPG Maker XP games to support languages such as Russian and Ukrainian. By the end of this guide you should be able to use Cyrillic Characters in your RPG Maker XP game. Please...
Archived First Post
RPG Maker XP does not have any native Cyrillic support. If you've ever tried to input Cyrillic characters in RPG Maker XP, you'll quickly realise it replaces any such characters with "???". Fortunately with the help of somebody on Reddit we were able to find a workaround for this. The hope is to allow for more RPG Maker XP games to support languages such as Russian and Ukrainian.
By the end of this guide you should be able to use Cyrillic Characters in your RPG Maker XP game.
Please note I will be assuming your operating on a blank RPG Maker XP project
Requirements:
There aren't much in terms of requirements for this tutorial. The most you'll need is the ability to access the script section of RPG Maker XP. You will also need to install a font aswell as a tool from another tutorial on these forums.
The General Idea:
The idea at the heart of this is we effectively write in "gibberish" english. A fontfile which maps ASCII characters to Cyrillic will then display the equivelant.
For example: "rt4itt" might map onto "Привет". Or more precisely:
A --> А
B -->Б
C --> Ц
The full list can be found here, if you're curious: https://pastebin.com/Z3Sz9HZe don't worry about mapping it all yourself and learning to write in this gibberish, we'll be automating this later on.
This is an effective solution to the lack of Cyrillic support.
The Tutorial:
Step 1:
Firstly, we'll need users to be able to use our fontfile without installing it onto their own computer. To do this I would follow the following amazing tutorial by Zeriab, this serves far better justice to the topic and includes a license. I do not think, both for simplicity and out of respect for the original author that it would be appropriate to place anything beyond a link here.
Distributing RPG Maker XP games with custom fonts
forums.rpgmakerweb.com
After following on those steps you should have a project which looks like this:
Step 2:
Next we'll need to download our mapping fontfile u/GlitteringUse390 on Reddit created.
CyrillicASCII - NotoSans
Insert this into the Fonts folder.
Step 3:
This is the final part of the basic tutorial:
Go to your "Main" script and insert the following code at the top:
Font.default_name = "CyrillicASCII - Noto Sans"
Congratulations your mostly done. Upon booting your game you should be met by:
Step 4: Automation
This isn't a very effective solution, you'll have to translate to your chosen language, then look at the map for the first character, write that down. Look at the map for your second character, write that down... It's all just a whole big mess.
The following python code can be run on most online websites or any IDE you have installed:
You can try it out on: https://www.online-python.com/
string = input("Enter Cyrillic Here: ")
cyrtoascii = {
"А": "A", "Б": "B", "В": "V", "Г": "G", "Д": "D", "Е": "E", "Ж": "J", "З": "Z",
"И": "I", "Й": "Y", "К": "K", "Л": "L", "М": "M", "Н": "N", "О": "O", "П": "P",
"Р": "R", "С": "S", "Т": "T", "У": "U", "Ф": "F", "Х": "X", "Ц": "C", "Ч": "H",
"Ш": "W", "Щ": "Q", "Ё": "^", "Ъ": "(", "Ы": ")", "Ь": "\"", "Э": "_", "Ю": "+", "Я": "?",
"а": "a", "б": "b", "в": "v", "г": "g", "д": "d", "е": "e", "ж": "j", "з": "z",
"и": "i", "й": "y", "к": "k", "л": "l", "м": "m", "н": "n", "о": "o", "п": "p",
"р": "r", "с": "s", "т": "t", "у": "u", "ф": "f", "х": "x", "ц": "c", "ч": "h",
"ш": "w", "щ": "q", "ё": "`", "ъ": "{", "ы": "}", "ь": "'", "э": "~", "ю": ";", "я": "/"
}
newstring = ""
for i in string:
if i in cyrtoascii:
newstring += cyrtoascii[i]
else:
newstring += i
print(newstring)
Testing:
Let's try to translate this Russian Proverb into our map "Волко́в боя́ться - в лес не ходи́ть.". I'll use the python link above for simplicity
In our output we get:
Now let's put that in our game:
Upon booting up our game we're greeted with:
Downloads / Referenced Files
Log in, then follow the RPG Maker Developers Group to see these download links.
Log in to downloadLicense / Terms Note
Firstly, we'll need users to be able to use our fontfile without installing it onto their own computer. To do this I would follow the following amazing tutorial by Zeriab, this serves far better justice to the topic and includes a license. I do not think, both for simplicity and out of respect for the original author that it would be appropriate to place anything beyond a link here. Distributing RPG Maker XP games with custom fonts Distributing RPG Maker...
Referenced Images / Attachments
Creator Claims / Removal
If you are the original creator and want this listing reassigned, edited, or removed, join BMMPlay and contact the moderators with proof that matches the original RPG Maker Web profile, linked GitHub, itch.io page, or another public creator identity.
Replies (0)
No replies yet.
Topic Summary
Loading summary...