Added an i18n layer (tested with Chinese) — feel free to use

What

Add an internationalization (i18n) mechanism to PoB2 — a generic framework so the program can be displayed, typed, and searched in any language, driven by plain-text PO catalogs. Not a specific language; the mechanism itself.

Why

Localizing PoB2 was never hard technically — the blocker is volume: tens of thousands of strings no single maintainer can translate. That's understandable, and it's why upstream never shipped translations. But that volume is exactly the part that doesn't need a developer. The one-time developer job is adding the i18n layer; after that, translating is ordinary text-editing the community can crowdsource, in any language.

The mechanism (three sides)

A real localization needs more than display, so the mechanism covers all three:

• Display — UI, items, skills, passives, stat lines render in the chosen language at display boundaries.
• Input — input fields patched so non-ASCII (CJK) text can be typed directly; the base engine couldn't accept this before.
• Search — search matches translated text too, so entries are findable by their localized name.

Plus Unicode font fallback for CJK glyph rendering. Data boundaries stay raw: builds, import/export codes, trade values, and calculation internals remain English, so everything stays upstream-compatible.

Reference / proof

I built a working fork and used Chinese (zh_TW) as the test case to prove the mechanism end-to-end (display + input + search), including a portable build people can run:
https://github.com/woolkingx/PathOfBuilding-PoE2-i18n
Chinese is just the test vehicle — the same layer works for any language.

• Lua display/search layer + engine-level CJK input patch (SimpleGraphic).
• Source-only patch against upstream b8048682; the i18n change is isolated in its own commits for easy review.

Feel free to use any of it if it's useful.

Start by reviewing the linked PathOfBuilding-PoE2-i18n fork and its source-only patch against upstream commit b8048682, especially the isolated i18n commits. Check how the Lua display/search layer and SimpleGraphic CJK input patch address display, input, search, and font fallback. Done means a generic PO-catalog mechanism supports those three surfaces while build data, import/export codes, trade values, and calculations remain raw.