Japanese & Unicode Game Titles

RiptOPL supports displaying Japanese and other Unicode game names encoded in UTF-8 without switching from English menus. Install an optional CJK fallback font in your settings folder, then restart.

How to activate it

1. Use a RiptOPL build containing Unicode fallback support; an older ELF will not load the optional font.
2. Obtain a properly licensed Japanese/CJK-capable TTF or OTF font. Prefer a compact font subset to avoid exhausting PS2 RAM.
3. Name it font_CJK.ttf (recommended), font_CJK.otf, font_Japanese.ttf, or font_Japanese.otf. The names are tried in this order.
4. Place it directly beside your active settings_riptopl.cfg, not just in LNG/. If you cannot find the settings file, save RiptOPL settings first.
5. Fully exit and restart RiptOPL. Loading is automatic at startup; no language or font toggle is required.
6. Ensure game filenames actually contain valid UTF-8 text. Unicode fallback does not convert legacy Shift-JIS encoding.

Example files

mc0:/APPS/APP_RIPTOPL/
  RIPTOPL.ELF
  settings_riptopl.cfg
  font_CJK.ttf

The folder above is an example only. Your active settings home may be elsewhere, including the other memory card, USB, or HDD. Always use the directory where settings_riptopl.cfg is saved for that installation.

Two different Japanese font paths

If you have a suitable Japanese font in the language pack, you can copy it into the settings directory under the name font_CJK.ttf if the font's license permits. Leave the original language font in LNG/.

What is supported, and what is not

• Mixed Latin and Japanese characters in game titles, and missing glyphs that your own theme font does not provide.
• The game's startup ID, filename, Favorites identity, VMC, artwork mapping, storage-driver path and launch behavior remain unchanged.
• Automatic translation and Shift-JIS filename conversion are not included.
• Per-game CFG/<game-id>.cfg Title metadata is available to themed info screens, and replaces the game-list row only when Show CFG Titles in Game Lists is on. Do not overwrite #Name to force a translation.

Show CFG Titles in Game Lists (optional)

Settings → Interface → Show CFG Titles in Game Lists (off by default) makes each game row show the Title= line from that game's CFG, such as a Japanese title written by OPL Manager, instead of its file name. With Sort Games Alphabetically on (the default), lists sort by what they show.

• Display only. The file name stays the game's identity: renaming, Favorites, cover art, per-game settings and launching keep using it. Rows without a usable Title (missing, empty, not valid UTF-8, or containing control characters) show the file name. Titles are kept up to 127 bytes, cut on a character boundary.
• Japanese titles need a font: the optional font_CJK.ttf above, or the Japanese interface language, exactly like a Japanese file name.
• Renaming keeps the title. A PS2 game's CFG is keyed by its game ID, so a renamed game keeps its title. A PS1 (VCD) game's CFG is keyed by its file name, so renaming it leaves the old CFG, and its title, behind.
• Slower list loads. Every list refresh reads every game's CFG once in the background. Rows appear with their file names first, then switch to their titles and re-sort. That is why the setting is off by default: on SMB, MMCE and MX4SIO a large library takes noticeably longer to settle.
• Folders and the Apps list are not affected. Turning the setting on or off rebuilds the game lists.

Compatible build / test artifact

Download OPL-OFFICIALROLLING from the PR #917 Actions run (GitHub sign-in may be required). This is a compiled ELF ZIP with a build manifest, not a CJK-font bundle. Artifacts expire. You can also check Releases for builds containing the merged implementation. Hardware verification remains separate from successful CI. Back up your known-good ELF, settings and saves before updating.

Troubleshooting

Source reference: full documentation · wiki-ready page · interface languages.