Edit subtitles and menu text

2026-10-09 22:36:46 +02:00
parent 5d6c2447f7
commit ef68edbe45
40 changed files with 105877 additions and 1291 deletions
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ Batman: Arkham City (PC) audio toolkit + editor. Read `NOTES.md` first (status,
  Speech/ambience: in place, never larger than the original WEM; music packs: any size (`docs/formats/wad.md`).
  In-memory sounds (archive BANK, loose `.bnk` + `.upk` packages): in place into every copy; a bank file is always
  rebuilt from the store's original copy + the applied replacements (`docs/formats/banks.md`, `upk.md`).
+  Texts go through `Workspace.texts` (subtitles in packages, in place and NUL-padded; menu `.int` files).
 - Never use Steam "verify integrity". Keep game files original after tests (`ackit status`, `ackit revert --all`).
 - Real-game checks: `ackit verify` (offline), `ackit verify --catalog [--quick]` (catalog vs game files),
  `ackit verify --ingame [--banks]` (Windows; needs Steam running and logged in, WinDbg; ~1.5 min; reverts and
--- a/NOTES.md
+++ b/NOTES.md
@@ -27,7 +27,11 @@
     rebuilt from a mandatory full original copy); editor shows bank + copies. `ackit verify` PASS (300/300
     BANK WEMs rebuilt identically); `ackit verify --ingame --banks` PASS (loaded, no crash, revert identical;
     audible check not possible without input: findings 18).
-  4. [ ] Subtitles + menu text: find/document formats, `ackit` parse/write with backup/revert.
+  4. [x] Subtitles = RDialogueEvent objects in packages (9,016 lines x 11 languages, 168k copies; parser
+     `ackit/subtitles.py`, catalog SUB_<LANG>.csv + SUB_locations.csv.gz, 92 % linked to speech sounds via
+     events); menu text = Localization/<LANG>/*.int (`ackit/loctext.py`, ~7,000 strings/language).
+     `Workspace.texts` (ackit/texts.py): states, apply/revert, conflicts, mod packages; CLI `ackit text`.
+     Subtitles in place (NUL-padded, limit = original length); decision + reasons in decisions.md 4c.
  5. [ ] Editor: Subtitles section linked to audio, separate Menu text section, revert, mod export/import.
  6. [ ] Final e2e (audio + text), packaged build, REPORT.md.
 - OPEN: channel order for >2 channels unverified; speech and in-memory sounds *heard* in-game (need gameplay;
@@ -105,3 +109,7 @@
  runs (no compressor needed). Bank-file conflicts use the whole-file SHA-1 (the cheap guid+chunk-table
  fingerprint missed same-size edits in tests). Name collisions in the WAD catalogs (2 per language) are shown as
  NAME#i. `soundcard` comes from the `verify` extra (was missing from the venv).
+- 2026-10-09 (mission 3, stage 4): subtitle links by name were wrong for most multi-variation entries (WEMs are
+  stored in media-ID order, not _NN order): links come only from events. Numbered event names (Speech_X_04)
+  live in export tables, not in name tables: the bank scan now collects export names (+40 named BANK sounds,
+  links 71 % -> 92 %). Version*.int (build IDs) are not treated as UI text.
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -33,13 +33,16 @@ ackit find joker tape                            # search by name, category or c
 ackit extract Speech_TAPE_JOKER_1_4 orig.wav     # listen to the original
 ackit replace Speech_TAPE_JOKER_1_4 my_line.wav --match-loudness
 ackit revert Speech_TAPE_JOKER_1_4               # or: ackit revert --all
+ackit text find --lang ITA protocollo            # subtitles and menu texts (keys SUB:... / MENU:...)
+ackit text set "MENU:ITA:FRONTEND.ITA:Menu:Start" "Premi Invio"
 ```
 More: `ackit status`, `ackit list --character Joker`, `ackit export-mod my.acmod` / `ackit import-mod`,
 `ackit verify` (offline self-check), `ackit game` (detected install, language, store). `ackit -h` lists all
 commands. The game folder is found through Steam (Windows, Linux, Flatpak, Proton); otherwise pass `--game DIR`.

 Rules worth knowing: speech/effects replacements must fit in the original's size (the tool squeezes or refuses
-with the maximum length); music can be any length. Close the game before writing.
+with the maximum length); music can be any length. Subtitles must fit the original text's length (menu text:
+any length). Close the game before writing.

 ## Where things are
 ```
--- a/ackit/banks.py
+++ b/ackit/banks.py
@@ -155,23 +155,6 @@ class Scan:
        self.issues = []                     # (kind, detail)


-def _package_names(pkg, start, data):
-    """Name table of an uncompressed package."""
-    out = []
-    o = pkg.name_offset - start
-    for _ in range(pkg.name_count):
-        n = struct.unpack_from("<i", data, o)[0]
-        o += 4
-        if n > 0:
-            out.append(bytes(data[o:o + n - 1]).decode("latin-1"))
-            o += n
-        else:
-            out.append(bytes(data[o:o - 2 * n - 2]).decode("utf-16-le", "replace"))
-            o += -2 * n
-        o += 8
-    return out
-
-
 def _bkpk_tables(data, packs):
    """BKPK tables (docs/formats/wad.md) embedded in a package: WAD entry -> media offsets/sizes."""
    import re
@@ -187,8 +170,9 @@ def _bkpk_tables(data, packs):
            packs[entry][mid] = (off, size)


-def scan(cooked, progress=None, cooked_banks=None, files=None):
-    """Scan every loose bank and package of the game (minutes), or only `files`. Returns a `Scan`."""
+def scan(cooked, progress=None, cooked_banks=None, files=None, visit=None):
+    """Scan every loose bank and package of the game (minutes), or only `files`. Returns a `Scan`.
+    `visit(rel, package, start, data)` is called for every package (other scans share the decompression)."""
    sc = Scan()
    files = bank_files(cooked) if files is None else files
    if cooked_banks is None:
@@ -206,8 +190,12 @@ def scan(cooked, progress=None, cooked_banks=None, files=None):
            sc.issues.append(("unreadable", "%s: %s" % (rel, e)))
            continue
        if isinstance(r, Package):
-            sc.names.update(_package_names(r, start, data))
+            names, _, exports = r.tables(data, start)
+            sc.names.update(names)                      # base names ...
+            sc.names.update(x.name for x in exports)    # ... and numbered object names (Speech_X_04)
            _bkpk_tables(data, sc.packs)
+            if visit:
+                visit(rel, r, start, data)
            banks = list(find_banks(data))
        else:
            try:
--- a/ackit/catalog.py
+++ b/ackit/catalog.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import re
 import struct
 from dataclasses import dataclass, asdict

-from . import banks, classify
+from . import banks, classify, subtitles
 from .game import wad_fingerprint
 from .inject import pack_bnk_path
 from .pack import Pack
@@ -228,9 +228,13 @@ def bank_sounds(sc, characters=None):


 def head_owners(game, sc, archives=None):
-    """{prefetch media id: WAD sound key} -- the speech line (one language) each prefetch head belongs to,
-    found through the per-language BKPK tables of the packages (docs/formats/banks.md)."""
-    want = {m for m, e in sc.media.items() if banks.PREFETCH_HEAD in e["kinds"]}
+    """{prefetch media id: WAD sound key} -- the speech line (one language) each prefetch head belongs to."""
+    return media_owners(game, sc, {m for m, e in sc.media.items() if banks.PREFETCH_HEAD in e["kinds"]}, archives)
+
+
+def media_owners(game, sc, want, archives=None):
+    """{media id: WAD sound key} for streamed speech media, found through the per-language BKPK tables of
+    the packages (docs/formats/banks.md): every language has its own media IDs for the same WAD entry."""
    out = {}
    for a in archives or [x for x in game.archives if x != "SFX"]:
        wad = Wad(game.wad(a))
@@ -250,14 +254,61 @@ def head_owners(game, sc, archives=None):
    return out


-def scan_banks(game, progress=None, characters=None):
+def scan_banks(game, progress=None, characters=None, visit=None):
    """Full scan of the game's banks -> ([Sound], [Location] with WAD keys on prefetch heads, Scan)."""
-    sc = banks.scan(game.cooked, progress)
+    sc = banks.scan(game.cooked, progress, visit=visit)
    owners = head_owners(game, sc)
    locs = [l._replace(sound=owners.get(l.media, "")) if l.kind == banks.PREFETCH_HEAD else l for l in sc.locations]
    return bank_sounds(sc, characters), locs, sc


+def subtitle_links(game, sc, speech_names):
+    """{speech event name: {language: WAD sound key}}: event -> actions -> containers -> sounds -> the
+    per-language media of the streamed speech line (exact, no name matching)."""
+    ev = banks.event_media(sc)
+    want = {m for n in speech_names for m in ev.get(n, ())}
+    owners = media_owners(game, sc, want)
+    out = {}
+    for n in speech_names:
+        keys = {}
+        for m in ev.get(n, ()):
+            k = owners.get(m)
+            if k:
+                keys.setdefault(k.split(":")[0], k)
+        if keys:
+            out[n] = keys
+    return out
+
+
+def scan_text(game, progress=None, characters=None):
+    """One pass over every package: (bank sounds, bank locations, Scan, {lang: [SubLine]}, [SubLoc], issues)."""
+    col = subtitles.Collector()
+    snd, locs, sc = scan_banks(game, progress, characters, visit=col)
+    links = subtitle_links(game, sc, list(col.dialogues))
+    texts, sublocs = subtitles.rows(col, links)
+    return snd, locs, sc, texts, sublocs, col.issues
+
+
+def load_subtitles(game, lang, progress=None):
+    """([SubLine], {SUB key: [SubLoc]}) of one language: shipped catalog when the game matches it, else a
+    cached or fresh scan of the packages (several minutes)."""
+    fp = banks.game_fingerprint(game.cooked)
+    shipped = _shipped_index().get("SUB", {})
+    t = os.path.join(catalog_dir(), "SUB_%s.csv" % lang)
+    loc = os.path.join(catalog_dir(), subtitles.LOCATIONS)
+    if shipped.get("fingerprint") == fp and os.path.exists(t) and os.path.exists(loc):
+        return subtitles.read_texts(t, lang), subtitles.read_locations(loc, lang)
+    cache = os.path.join(user_dir("cache"), "scan_SUB_%s_v%d" % (fp, SCAN_VERSION))
+    if not os.path.exists(cache + ".locations.csv.gz"):
+        _, _, _, texts, sublocs, _ = scan_text(game, progress)
+        for lg, rows in texts.items():
+            subtitles.write_texts(cache + "_%s.csv" % lg, rows)
+        subtitles.write_locations(cache + ".locations.csv.gz", sublocs)
+    t = cache + "_%s.csv" % lang
+    return (subtitles.read_texts(t, lang) if os.path.exists(t) else []), \
+        subtitles.read_locations(cache + ".locations.csv.gz", lang)
+
+
 def load_banks(game, progress=None):
    """([Sound], {media: [Location]}) of the in-memory sounds: shipped catalog when the game's bank set
    matches it, else a cached or fresh scan (several minutes)."""
--- a/ackit/cli.py
+++ b/ackit/cli.py
@@ -171,7 +171,9 @@ def cmd_revert(a):
    ws = _workspace(a)
    if a.all:
        done = ws.revert_all(progress=print)
-    else:
+        texts = ws.texts.revert_all(progress=print)
+        print("reverted %d sound(s) and %d text(s)" % (len(done), len(texts)))
+        return
    done = ws.revert([ws.sound(n) for n in a.names], progress=print)
    print("reverted %d sound(s)" % len(done))

@@ -179,29 +181,72 @@ def cmd_revert(a):
 def cmd_status(a):
    ws = _workspace(a)
    keys = ws.modified_keys()
-    if not keys:
-        print("no sounds modified; game audio is original")
+    texts = ws.texts.modified()
+    if not keys and not texts:
+        print("no sounds or texts modified; game files are original")
        return
    for k in keys:
        s = ws.catalog.by_key.get(k)
        st = ws.state(s) if s else "(other language)"
        print("%-50s %s" % (s.name if s else k, st))
+    for k in texts:
+        print("%-50s %s" % (k, ws.texts.state(k)))


 def cmd_export_mod(a):
    from .modpack import export_mod
    ws = _workspace(a)
    keys = [ws.sound(n).key for n in a.names] if a.names else ws.modified_keys()
+    texts = [] if a.names else ws.texts.modified()
    n = export_mod(ws, a.out, keys, a.title or os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(a.out))[0], a.author or "",
-                   a.description or "")
-    print("wrote %s (%d sounds)" % (a.out, n))
+                   a.description or "", texts=texts)
+    print("wrote %s (%d sounds, %d texts)" % (a.out, len(keys), n - len(keys)))


 def cmd_import_mod(a):
    from .modpack import import_mod
    ws = _workspace(a)
-    for im in import_mod(ws, a.file, force=a.force, progress=print):
+    items, texts = import_mod(ws, a.file, force=a.force, progress=print)
+    for im in items:
        print("%-8s %-46s %s" % (im.how, im.item.get("name"), im.note))
+    for k, _, problem in texts:
+        print("%-8s %-46s %s" % ("text", k, problem or "applied"))
+
+
+def cmd_text(a):
+    """Subtitles and menu text: find, show, set, revert."""
+    ws = _workspace(a)
+    tx = ws.texts
+    lang = (a.lang or ws.game.language()).upper()
+    if a.action == "find":
+        words = [w.lower() for w in a.args]
+        rows = []
+        if a.kind in ("all", "subs"):
+            rows += [(subtitles_key(s), s.text) for s in tx.subtitles(lang)]
+        if a.kind in ("all", "menu"):
+            rows += [("MENU:" + e.key, e.value) for e in tx.menu(lang)]
+        hits = [(k, v) for k, v in rows if all(w in (k + " " + v).lower() for w in words)]
+        for k, v in hits[:a.limit]:
+            print("%s\n    %s" % (k, v))
+        print("%d match(es)%s" % (len(hits), "" if len(hits) <= a.limit else " (first %d shown)" % a.limit))
+    elif a.action == "show":
+        for k in a.args:
+            print("%s\n    now: %s\n    original: %s\n    state: %s%s" % (
+                k, tx.current(k), tx.original(k), tx.state(k),
+                "" if tx.limit(k) is None else "\n    room: %d characters" % tx.limit(k)))
+    elif a.action == "set":
+        if len(a.args) != 2:
+            raise GameError("usage: ackit text set KEY \"new text\"")
+        tx.apply({a.args[0]: a.args[1]}, force=a.force, progress=print)
+        print("set %s" % a.args[0])
+    elif a.action == "revert":
+        done = tx.revert_all(progress=print) if a.all else tx.revert(a.args, progress=print)
+        print("reverted %d text(s)" % len(done))
+
+
+def subtitles_key(s):
+    from .subtitles import key
+    return key(s.lang, s.speech, s.line)


 # --- advanced ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -321,6 +366,12 @@ def build_parser():
    s = add("revert", cmd_revert, "put original sounds back", aliases=["restore"])
    s.add_argument("names", nargs="*"); s.add_argument("--all", action="store_true")
    add("status", cmd_status, "list the sounds you modified")
+    s = add("text", cmd_text, "subtitles and menu text: find WORDS | show KEY | set KEY TEXT | revert KEY/--all")
+    s.add_argument("action", choices=["find", "show", "set", "revert"])
+    s.add_argument("args", nargs="*")
+    s.add_argument("--kind", choices=["all", "subs", "menu"], default="all", help="with find: what to search")
+    s.add_argument("--limit", type=int, default=40); s.add_argument("--all", action="store_true")
+    s.add_argument("--force", action="store_true", help="overwrite texts changed outside this tool")
    s = add("export-mod", cmd_export_mod, "save your changes as a shareable .acmod package")
    s.add_argument("out"); s.add_argument("names", nargs="*", help="default: everything you modified")
    s.add_argument("--title"); s.add_argument("--author"); s.add_argument("--description")
--- a/ackit/loctext.py
+++ b/ackit/loctext.py
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+"""Menu and UI text: the game's localization files BmGame/Localization/<LANG>/<File>.<lang>
+(UE3 .ini format; docs/formats/text.md).
+
+Files are UTF-16LE with a BOM and CRLF line ends (two small ones are plain ASCII). Lines are `[Section]`,
+`Key=Value` (the value may be in double quotes) or comments (`;`). A key can repeat inside a section, so an
+entry is identified by (file, section, key, occurrence). Writing changes only the value part of the edited
+lines; every other byte of the file (BOM, encoding, quotes, line ends, comments) stays as it was.
+"""
+import os
+import re
+from collections import namedtuple
+
+# key: "<LANG>:<File>:<Section>:<Key>" + ("#n" for the n-th repeat, n >= 2)
+Entry = namedtuple("Entry", "key lang file section name occurrence value quoted line")
+
+LANG_DIRS = ("INT", "ITA", "FRA", "DEU", "ESN", "ESM", "POL", "POR", "RUS", "JPN", "KOR")
+
+
+class TextError(ValueError):
+    pass
+
+
+def _decode(raw):
+    if raw[:2] == b"\xff\xfe":
+        return raw[2:].decode("utf-16-le"), "utf-16"
+    if raw[:3] == b"\xef\xbb\xbf":
+        return raw[3:].decode("utf-8"), "utf-8"
+    return raw.decode("cp1252"), "cp1252"
+
+
+def _encode(text, enc):
+    if enc == "utf-16":
+        return b"\xff\xfe" + text.encode("utf-16-le")
+    if enc == "utf-8":
+        return b"\xef\xbb\xbf" + text.encode("utf-8")
+    return text.encode("cp1252")
+
+
+_KV = re.compile(r"^([^=;\[\s][^=]*?)=(.*)$")
+
+
+def parse(raw, lang, fname):
+    """Entries of one file's bytes."""
+    text, _ = _decode(raw)
+    out = []
+    section = ""
+    seen = {}
+    for i, line in enumerate(re.split(r"(?<=\n)", text)):
+        body = line.rstrip("\r\n")
+        s = body.strip()
+        if s.startswith("[") and s.endswith("]"):
+            section = s[1:-1]
+            continue
+        m = _KV.match(body)
+        if not m or s.startswith(";"):
+            continue
+        name, value = m.group(1), m.group(2)
+        quoted = len(value) >= 2 and value[0] == '"' and value[-1] == '"'
+        if quoted:
+            value = value[1:-1]
+        k = (section.lower(), name.lower())
+        seen[k] = seen.get(k, 0) + 1
+        n = seen[k]
+        key = "%s:%s:%s:%s" % (lang, fname, section, name) + ("#%d" % n if n > 1 else "")
+        out.append(Entry(key, lang, fname, section, name, n, value, quoted, i))
+    return out
+
+
+def write(raw, lang, fname, values):
+    """New file bytes with {entry key: new value} applied (keys not in the file raise TextError)."""
+    text, enc = _decode(raw)
+    lines = re.split(r"(?<=\n)", text)
+    by_key = {e.key: e for e in parse(raw, lang, fname)}
+    for key, value in values.items():
+        e = by_key.get(key)
+        if e is None:
+            raise TextError("no text %s in %s" % (key, fname))
+        if "\r" in value or "\n" in value:
+            raise TextError("a menu text cannot contain line breaks (use the game's own markers, e.g. \\n)")
+        line = lines[e.line]
+        end = line[len(line.rstrip("\r\n")):]
+        head = line[:line.index("=") + 1]
+        lines[e.line] = head + ('"%s"' % value if e.quoted else value) + end
+    out = "".join(lines)
+    try:
+        return _encode(out, enc)
+    except UnicodeEncodeError:
+        raise TextError("%s is stored as %s and cannot hold these characters" % (fname, enc)) from None
+
+
+def files(loc_root, lang):
+    """{file name: path} of one language folder (case-insensitive): localization files, without the
+    Version*.int build IDs (not UI text)."""
+    d = next((os.path.join(loc_root, x) for x in os.listdir(loc_root) if x.upper() == lang.upper()), None)
+    if not d:
+        return {}
+    return {f: os.path.join(d, f) for f in sorted(os.listdir(d))
+            if os.path.splitext(f)[1].lower() == "." + lang.lower() and not f.lower().startswith("version")}
+
+
+def languages(loc_root):
+    return sorted(x.upper() for x in os.listdir(loc_root) if os.path.isdir(os.path.join(loc_root, x)))
+
+
+def load(loc_root, lang):
+    """All entries of a language: [Entry]."""
+    out = []
+    for f, p in files(loc_root, lang).items():
+        out += parse(open(p, "rb").read(), lang.upper(), f)
+    return out
--- a/ackit/modpack.py
+++ b/ackit/modpack.py
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ A package is a zip:
  items/NNN.flac     the same audio, decoded (used to re-encode when the target differs, e.g. another
                     language whose original has a different size)
 Each item records archive, target, name, group and the SHA-1 of the original it replaced.
+  "texts": [{"key", "text", "original"}]   edited subtitles / menu texts (keys: ackit/texts.py); optional,
+                                           so packages without texts stay valid
 """
 import io
 import json
@@ -22,9 +24,17 @@ from .originals import sha1_16
 FORMAT = 1


-def export_mod(ws, path, keys, name="", author="", description=""):
-    """Write the applied versions of `keys` (from the originals store) into a package."""
+def export_mod(ws, path, keys, name="", author="", description="", texts=()):
+    """Write the applied versions of sound `keys` and text keys `texts` (from the originals store) into a
+    package. Returns the number of entries."""
    items = []
+    recs = ws.texts.records()
+    text_items = []
+    for k in texts:
+        r = recs.get(k)
+        if not r or r.get("applied") is None:
+            raise ValueError("%s is not modified" % k)
+        text_items.append({"key": k, "text": r["applied"], "original": r["orig"]})
    with zipfile.ZipFile(path + ".tmp", "w", zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED) as z:
        for i, key in enumerate(keys):
            e = ws.store.get(key)
@@ -43,9 +53,10 @@ def export_mod(ws, path, keys, name="", author="", description=""):
                          "wem": base + ".wem", "audio": base + ".flac", "meta": e.get("meta", {})})
        z.writestr("manifest.json", json.dumps({"format": FORMAT, "name": name, "author": author,
                                                "description": description, "created": time.time(),
-                                                "game": "Batman: Arkham City (PC)", "items": items}, indent=1))
+                                                "game": "Batman: Arkham City (PC)", "items": items,
+                                                "texts": text_items}, indent=1, ensure_ascii=False))
    os.replace(path + ".tmp", path)
-    return len(items)
+    return len(items) + len(text_items)


@dataclass
@@ -89,6 +100,20 @@ def match_mod(ws, path):
    return man, out


+def match_texts(ws, man):
+    """[(key, text, problem or '')] for the package's texts in this game (problem: why it cannot be applied)."""
+    out = []
+    for it in man.get("texts", []):
+        k, text = it["key"], it["text"]
+        try:
+            ws.texts.current(k)
+            ws.texts.check(k, text)
+            out.append((k, text, ""))
+        except Exception as e:  # missing key, too long, characters the file cannot hold
+            out.append((k, text, str(e)))
+    return out
+
+
 def prepare_import(ws, path, items, progress=None):
    """Fill `wem` for matched items: reuse the packaged WEM when it targets the very same original,
    otherwise re-encode the packaged audio for the local sound."""
@@ -110,11 +135,15 @@ def prepare_import(ws, path, items, progress=None):


 def import_mod(ws, path, force=False, progress=None):
-    """Match, prepare and apply a package. Returns the list of ImportItem (see .how/.note)."""
-    _, items = match_mod(ws, path)
+    """Match, prepare and apply a package. Returns ([ImportItem] (see .how/.note), [(key, text, problem)])."""
+    man, items = match_mod(ws, path)
    prepare_import(ws, path, items, progress)
-    changes = [(im.sound, im.wem, {"source": "mod:" + path.replace("\\", "/").split("/")[-1]})
-               for im in items if im.wem]
+    source = {"source": "mod:" + path.replace("\\", "/").split("/")[-1]}
+    changes = [(im.sound, im.wem, source) for im in items if im.wem]
    if changes:
        ws.apply(changes, force=force, progress=progress)
-    return items
+    texts = match_texts(ws, man)
+    ok = {k: v for k, v, problem in texts if not problem}
+    if ok:
+        ws.texts.apply(ok, force=force, progress=progress, meta=source)
+    return items, texts
--- a/ackit/subtitles.py
+++ b/ackit/subtitles.py
@@ -0,0 +1,255 @@
+"""Subtitles: the RDialogueEvent objects inside the game's packages (docs/formats/subtitles.md).
+
+Each dialogue object references its speech event (an export named like the speech line, e.g.
+'Speech_CHURCH_B1_Ch2_POST_Explosion_BM_Cash_04') and holds the subtitle text of every language:
+  LocalizedSubtitles: array of {Language: FString, Subtitles: array of {Text: FString, (float @0x0c)}}
+in Rocksteady's compact tagged-property format (u16 type, u16 field offset, value; structs and arrays with
+a byte size; struct elements end with a u16 0).
+
+A dialogue object can be stored in several packages; a subtitle edit is written into every copy, in place:
+the new text replaces the bytes of the old FString and is padded with NUL characters (the game stops at the
+first NUL), so no size field, export or package layout changes. The text must therefore fit the original
+string's bytes (Latin-1/cp1252 strings: one byte per character; UTF-16 strings: two).
+"""
+import csv
+import gzip
+import io
+import os
+import re
+import struct
+from collections import defaultdict, namedtuple
+
+from .upk import Package
+
+CLASS = "RDialogueEvent"
+T_STRUCT, T_STRING, T_OBJECT = 0x09, 0x0D, 0x10
+
+# one subtitle string inside a package: pos = absolute uncompressed offset of the FString length field,
+# size = bytes of the whole FString (length field included), enc 'a' (cp1252) or 'w' (UTF-16)
+Field = namedtuple("Field", "lang index text pos size enc")
+Dialogue = namedtuple("Dialogue", "speech export fields")   # speech: name of the referenced speech event
+
+
+class SubtitleError(ValueError):
+    pass
+
+
+def read_fstring(b, o):
+    """-> (text, end offset, enc)"""
+    n = struct.unpack_from("<i", b, o)[0]
+    if n >= 0:
+        raw = bytes(b[o + 4:o + 4 + n])
+        return raw.split(b"\0", 1)[0].decode("cp1252", "replace"), o + 4 + n, "a"
+    raw = bytes(b[o + 4:o + 4 - 2 * n])
+    return raw.decode("utf-16-le", "replace").split("\0", 1)[0], o + 4 - 2 * n, "w"
+
+
+def encode_fstring(text, size, enc):
+    """The FString bytes (length field included) for `text`, exactly `size` bytes long (NUL padded).
+    Raises SubtitleError when the text does not fit."""
+    if "\0" in text:
+        raise SubtitleError("the text must not contain NUL characters")
+    if enc == "a":
+        try:
+            raw = text.encode("cp1252")
+        except UnicodeEncodeError:
+            raise SubtitleError("this subtitle is stored as Latin-1 text; '%s' cannot be written"
+                                % next(c for c in text if not _cp1252(c))) from None
+        n = size - 4
+        if len(raw) + 1 > n:
+            raise SubtitleError("the text is %d characters long but this subtitle has room for %d"
+                                % (len(raw), n - 1))
+        return struct.pack("<i", n) + raw + bytes(n - len(raw))
+    raw = text.encode("utf-16-le")
+    n = (size - 4) // 2
+    if len(raw) // 2 + 1 > n:
+        raise SubtitleError("the text is %d characters long but this subtitle has room for %d" % (len(raw) // 2, n - 1))
+    return struct.pack("<i", -n) + raw + bytes(2 * n - len(raw))
+
+
+def _cp1252(c):
+    try:
+        c.encode("cp1252")
+        return True
+    except UnicodeEncodeError:
+        return False
+
+
+def room(field):
+    """Maximum number of characters for a subtitle string."""
+    return (field.size - 4 - 1) if field.enc == "a" else (field.size - 4) // 2 - 1
+
+
+def _parse_lines(b, o, end, base, lang):
+    """Subtitles array content [o, end) -> [Field]."""
+    count = struct.unpack_from("<I", b, o)[0]
+    o += 4
+    out = []
+    for i in range(count):
+        # element: props until u16 0; the text is the string at field offset 0
+        while True:
+            t, fo = struct.unpack_from("<HH", b, o)
+            if t == 0:
+                o += 2
+                break
+            if t == T_STRING:
+                text, e, enc = read_fstring(b, o + 4)
+                if fo == 0:
+                    out.append(Field(lang, i, text, base + o + 4, e - (o + 4), enc))
+                o = e
+            elif t == 0x04:               # 4-byte value (the line's time)
+                o += 8
+            else:
+                raise SubtitleError("unexpected property type %#x in a subtitle line" % t)
+            if o > end:
+                raise SubtitleError("subtitle line overruns its array")
+    if o != end:
+        raise SubtitleError("subtitle array size mismatch")
+    return out
+
+
+def parse_dialogue(b, base, names_idx):
+    """Fields of one RDialogueEvent export (bytes `b` starting at uncompressed offset `base`)."""
+    ls, sub = names_idx
+    i = b.find(struct.pack("<II", ls, 0))
+    if i < 4 or struct.unpack_from("<H", b, i - 4)[0] != T_STRUCT:
+        return []
+    size = struct.unpack_from("<i", b, i + 8)[0]
+    o, end = i + 16, i + 16 + size
+    count = struct.unpack_from("<I", b, o)[0]
+    o += 4
+    fields = []
+    for _ in range(count):
+        lang = None
+        while True:
+            t, fo = struct.unpack_from("<HH", b, o)
+            if t == 0:
+                o += 2
+                break
+            if t == T_STRING:
+                lang, o, _ = read_fstring(b, o + 4)
+            elif t == T_STRUCT:
+                nm, _nn, ssize, _ai = struct.unpack_from("<iiii", b, o + 4)
+                c0 = o + 20
+                if nm == sub:
+                    fields += _parse_lines(b, c0, c0 + ssize, base, lang)
+                o = c0 + ssize
+            else:
+                raise SubtitleError("unexpected property type %#x in a localized subtitle" % t)
+    if o != end:
+        raise SubtitleError("localized subtitle size mismatch")
+    return fields
+
+
+def _speech_ref(b, exports, imports):
+    """Name of the object referenced by the dialogue's first object property (its speech event)."""
+    m = re.search(rb"\x10\x00\x2c\x00", b)
+    if not m:
+        return ""
+    ref = struct.unpack_from("<i", b, m.start() + 4)[0]
+    if ref > 0 and ref <= len(exports):
+        return exports[ref - 1].name
+    if ref < 0 and -ref <= len(imports):
+        return imports[-ref - 1][1]
+    return ""
+
+
+class Collector:
+    """`visit` hook for banks.scan: collects the dialogue objects of every package."""
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.dialogues = defaultdict(list)       # speech name -> [(file, Dialogue)]
+        self.issues = []
+
+    def __call__(self, rel, pkg, start, data):
+        try:
+            for d in scan_package(pkg, data, start):
+                self.dialogues[d.speech].append((rel, d))
+        except (SubtitleError, struct.error, ValueError, IndexError) as e:
+            self.issues.append(("subtitles", "%s: %s" % (rel, e)))
+
+
+# --- catalog files: SUB_<LANG>.csv (texts) + SUB_locations.csv.gz (every copy) ------------------
+LOCATIONS = "SUB_locations.csv.gz"
+TEXT_FIELDS = ["speech", "line", "text", "room", "enc", "sound"]
+SubLine = namedtuple("SubLine", "lang speech line text room enc sound")      # sound: linked WAD sound key
+SubLoc = namedtuple("SubLoc", "lang speech line file pos size enc")
+
+
+def key(lang, speech, line):
+    return "SUB:%s:%s:%d" % (lang, speech, line)
+
+
+def rows(collector, links):
+    """({lang: [SubLine]}, [SubLoc]) from a Collector; links: {speech: {lang: sound key}}."""
+    texts = defaultdict(list)
+    locs = []
+    for speech in sorted(collector.dialogues):
+        copies = collector.dialogues[speech]
+        rel0, d0 = copies[0]
+        for f in d0.fields:
+            ln = links.get(speech, {})
+            snd = ln.get(f.lang) or ln.get("INT", "")
+            texts[f.lang].append(SubLine(f.lang, speech, f.index, f.text, room(f), f.enc, snd))
+        for rel, d in copies:
+            for f in d.fields:
+                locs.append(SubLoc(f.lang, speech, f.index, rel, f.pos, f.size, f.enc))
+    return dict(texts), locs
+
+
+def write_texts(path, lines):
+    with open(path + ".tmp", "w", encoding="utf-8", newline="") as fh:
+        w = csv.writer(fh, lineterminator="\n")
+        w.writerow(TEXT_FIELDS)
+        for s in lines:
+            w.writerow([s.speech, s.line, s.text, s.room, s.enc, s.sound])
+    os.replace(path + ".tmp", path)
+
+
+def read_texts(path, lang):
+    with open(path, encoding="utf-8", newline="") as fh:
+        return [SubLine(lang, r["speech"], int(r["line"]), r["text"], int(r["room"]), r["enc"], r["sound"])
+                for r in csv.DictReader(fh)]
+
+
+def write_locations(path, locs):
+    raw = io.StringIO()
+    w = csv.writer(raw, lineterminator="\n")
+    w.writerow(["lang", "speech", "line", "file", "pos", "size", "enc"])
+    for l in sorted(locs, key=lambda l: (l.lang, l.speech, l.line, l.file, l.pos)):
+        w.writerow([l.lang, l.speech, l.line, l.file, "%X" % l.pos, l.size, l.enc])
+    with open(path + ".tmp", "wb") as fh:
+        with gzip.GzipFile(fileobj=fh, mode="wb", mtime=0) as gz:
+            gz.write(raw.getvalue().encode("utf-8"))
+    os.replace(path + ".tmp", path)
+
+
+def read_locations(path, lang=None):
+    """{SUB key: [SubLoc]} (only `lang` if given)."""
+    out = defaultdict(list)
+    with gzip.open(path, "rt", encoding="utf-8", newline="") as fh:
+        for r in csv.DictReader(fh):
+            if lang and r["lang"] != lang:
+                continue
+            l = SubLoc(r["lang"], r["speech"], int(r["line"]), r["file"], int(r["pos"], 16), int(r["size"]), r["enc"])
+            out[key(l.lang, l.speech, l.line)].append(l)
+    return dict(out)
+
+
+def scan_package(pkg, data=None, start=None, tables=None):
+    """[Dialogue] of one package (empty if it has none)."""
+    if data is None:
+        start, data = pkg.read_all()
+    names, imports, exports = tables or pkg.tables(data, start)
+    cls = {-(i + 1) for i, (c, o, _) in enumerate(imports) if c == "Class" and o == CLASS}
+    if not cls or "LocalizedSubtitles" not in names or "Subtitles" not in names:
+        return []
+    idx = (names.index("LocalizedSubtitles"), names.index("Subtitles"))
+    out = []
+    for e in exports:
+        if e.cls in cls and e.size > 0:
+            b = data[e.offset - start:e.offset - start + e.size]
+            fields = parse_dialogue(b, e.offset, idx)
+            if fields:
+                out.append(Dialogue(_speech_ref(b, exports, imports), e.name, fields))
+    return out
--- a/ackit/texts.py
+++ b/ackit/texts.py
@@ -0,0 +1,222 @@
+"""Subtitles and menu text: reading, states, apply and revert (shared by the CLI and the editor).
+
+Keys (also used in mod packages):
+  SUB:<LANG>:<speech event>:<line>                  a subtitle string (docs/formats/subtitles.md)
+  MENU:<LANG>:<File>:<Section>:<Key>[#n]            a menu/UI text (docs/formats/text.md)
+Records live in the originals store (data["texts"]): {key: {"orig", "applied", "files", ...}}. The files
+holding the texts are derived files of the Workspace: each is rebuilt from its original copy plus every edit
+applied now (sounds and texts), so reverting the last edit restores it byte-for-byte.
+"""
+import os
+import time
+
+from . import loctext, subtitles
+from .catalog import load_subtitles
+from .game import GameError
+
+ORIGINAL, MODIFIED, LOST, CHANGED, FOREIGN = "original", "modified", "lost", "changed", "foreign"
+
+
+class TextConflictError(GameError):
+    def __init__(self, keys):
+        self.keys = keys
+        super().__init__("These texts were changed outside this tool (Steam update or 'verify', or another mod "
+                         "tool): %s.\nRevert them or confirm to overwrite." % ", ".join(keys[:5])
+                         + (" ..." if len(keys) > 5 else ""))
+
+
+class Texts:
+    def __init__(self, ws):
+        self.ws = ws
+        self._subs = {}          # lang -> ([SubLine], {key: [SubLoc]})
+        self._menu = {}          # lang -> [Entry]
+        self.loc_root = _find_dir(ws.game.root, "BmGame", "Localization")
+
+    # --- languages and lists ---------------------------------------------------------------------
+    def menu_languages(self):
+        return loctext.languages(self.loc_root) if self.loc_root else []
+
+    def subtitle_languages(self):
+        from .catalog import _shipped_index
+        langs = sorted(_shipped_index().get("SUB", {}).get("lines", {}))
+        return langs or self.menu_languages()
+
+    def subtitles(self, lang, progress=None):
+        """[SubLine] of a language (original texts from the catalog; use `current` for the game's text)."""
+        if lang not in self._subs:
+            self._subs[lang] = load_subtitles(self.ws.game, lang, progress)
+        return self._subs[lang][0]
+
+    def subtitle_locations(self, key):
+        lang = key.split(":")[1]
+        self.subtitles(lang)
+        return self._subs[lang][1].get(key, [])
+
+    def for_sound(self, sound):
+        """Subtitle lines of a speech sound in its own language (or the INT line for other languages)."""
+        lang = sound.archive if sound.archive in self.subtitle_languages() else None
+        if not lang:
+            return []
+        return [s for s in self.subtitles(lang) if s.sound == sound.key]
+
+    def menu(self, lang):
+        """[loctext.Entry] of the game's current files (the values the game shows now)."""
+        if lang not in self._menu:
+            self._menu[lang] = loctext.load(self.loc_root, lang) if self.loc_root else []
+        return self._menu[lang]
+
+    def is_menu_file(self, path):
+        return bool(self.loc_root) and os.path.normcase(os.path.abspath(path)).startswith(
+            os.path.normcase(os.path.abspath(self.loc_root)) + os.sep)
+
+    # --- values and states ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+    def records(self):
+        return self.ws.store.data.setdefault("texts", {})
+
+    def modified(self):
+        return [k for k, r in self.records().items() if r.get("applied") is not None]
+
+    def _menu_entry(self, key):
+        lang = key.split(":")[1]
+        raw = key[len("MENU:"):]
+        for e in loctext.load(self.loc_root, lang):
+            if e.key == raw:
+                return e
+        raise GameError("no menu text %s" % raw)
+
+    def files(self, key):
+        """Absolute paths of the files holding a text."""
+        if key.startswith("SUB:"):
+            return sorted({self.ws.bank_path(l.file) for l in self.subtitle_locations(key)})
+        e = self._menu_entry(key)
+        return [loctext.files(self.loc_root, e.lang)[e.file]]
+
+    def current(self, key):
+        """The text in the game files now."""
+        if key.startswith("SUB:"):
+            locs = self.subtitle_locations(key)
+            if not locs:
+                raise GameError("no subtitle %s" % key)
+            from .banks import open_file
+            l = locs[0]
+            b = open_file(self.ws.bank_path(l.file)).read(l.pos, l.size)
+            return subtitles.read_fstring(b, 0)[0]
+        return self._menu_entry(key).value
+
+    def catalog_text(self, key):
+        """Original text according to the shipped catalog (subtitles only), or None."""
+        if not key.startswith("SUB:"):
+            return None
+        _, lang, rest = key.split(":", 2)
+        speech, line = rest.rsplit(":", 1)
+        for s in self.subtitles(lang):
+            if s.speech == speech and s.line == int(line):
+                return s.text
+        return None
+
+    def original(self, key):
+        r = self.records().get(key)
+        return r["orig"] if r else self.current(key)
+
+    def state(self, key, current=None):
+        cur = self.current(key) if current is None else current
+        r = self.records().get(key)
+        if r:
+            if r.get("applied") is not None and cur == r["applied"]:
+                return MODIFIED
+            if cur == r["orig"]:
+                return LOST if r.get("applied") is not None else ORIGINAL
+            return CHANGED
+        cat = self.catalog_text(key)
+        if cat is not None and cur != cat:
+            return FOREIGN
+        return ORIGINAL
+
+    def limit(self, key):
+        """Maximum characters for a subtitle (None = no limit: menu text)."""
+        if not key.startswith("SUB:"):
+            return None
+        return min((subtitles.room(subtitles.Field(l.lang, l.line, "", l.pos, l.size, l.enc))
+                    for l in self.subtitle_locations(key)), default=0)
+
+    def check(self, key, text):
+        """Raise SubtitleError / TextError if `text` cannot be written for `key`."""
+        if key.startswith("SUB:"):
+            for l in self.subtitle_locations(key):
+                subtitles.encode_fstring(text, l.size, l.enc)
+        else:
+            e = self._menu_entry(key)
+            path = loctext.files(self.loc_root, e.lang)[e.file]
+            loctext.write(open(path, "rb").read(), e.lang, e.file, {e.key: text})
+
+    # --- writing --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    def apply(self, changes, force=False, progress=None, meta=None):
+        """changes: {key: new text}. Every file holding one of them is rebuilt once."""
+        for k, v in changes.items():
+            self.check(k, v)
+        conflicts = [k for k in changes if self.state(k) in (CHANGED, FOREIGN)]
+        paths = {p for k in changes for p in self.files(k)}
+        changed = set(self.ws.changed_files(paths))
+        conflicts += [k for k in changes if k not in conflicts and set(self.files(k)) & changed]
+        if conflicts and not force:
+            raise TextConflictError(conflicts)
+        for p in paths:
+            self.ws._keep_original(p)
+        recs = self.records()
+        now = time.time()
+        for k, v in changes.items():
+            if k not in recs:
+                recs[k] = {"orig": self.current(k), "files": [self.ws.game.rel(p) for p in self.files(k)],
+                           "first_modified": now, "applied": None}
+            recs[k].update(applied=v, applied_at=now, meta=meta or {})
+        self.ws.store.save()
+        self._sync(paths, progress)
+
+    def revert(self, keys, progress=None):
+        recs = self.records()
+        keys = [k for k in keys if k in recs]
+        paths = {p for k in keys for p in self.files(k)}
+        for k in keys:
+            recs.pop(k)
+        self.ws.store.save()
+        self._sync(paths, progress)
+        return keys
+
+    def revert_all(self, progress=None):
+        return self.revert(list(self.records()), progress)
+
+    def _sync(self, paths, progress):
+        self._menu.clear()
+        self.ws.sync_files(paths, progress)
+
+    # --- derived-file hooks (called by Workspace.sync_files) ------------------------------------
+    def subtitle_edits(self, rel):
+        out = []
+        for k, r in self.records().items():
+            if r.get("applied") is None or not k.startswith("SUB:"):
+                continue
+            for l in self.subtitle_locations(k):
+                if l.file == rel:
+                    out.append((l.pos, subtitles.encode_fstring(r["applied"], l.size, l.enc)))
+        return out
+
+    def menu_content(self, path, orig_raw):
+        fname = os.path.basename(path)
+        lang = os.path.basename(os.path.dirname(path)).upper()
+        values = {}
+        for k, r in self.records().items():
+            if r.get("applied") is None or not k.startswith("MENU:"):
+                continue
+            _, lg, f, _rest = k.split(":", 3)
+            if lg == lang and f == fname:
+                values[k[len("MENU:"):]] = r["applied"]
+        return loctext.write(orig_raw, lang, fname, values) if values else orig_raw
+
+
+def _find_dir(root, *parts):
+    d = root
+    for p in parts:
+        if not d or not os.path.isdir(d):
+            return None
+        d = next((os.path.join(d, x) for x in os.listdir(d) if x.lower() == p.lower()), None)
+    return d if d and os.path.isdir(d) else None
--- a/ackit/upk.py
+++ b/ackit/upk.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ Patching rewrites only the blocks that contain changed bytes (stored as one LZO
 lzo.compress_stored) and moves the chunks after them; every other byte of the file stays identical.
 """
 import struct
-from collections import OrderedDict
+from collections import OrderedDict, namedtuple

 from . import lzo

@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ class PackageError(ValueError):
    pass


+Export = namedtuple("Export", "index cls outer name size offset entry")   # entry: table position (uncompressed)
+
+
 class Block:
    __slots__ = ("chunk", "uoff", "usize", "coff", "csize")

@@ -52,6 +55,7 @@ class Package:
        f12 = struct.unpack_from("<12i", b, o)
        self.name_count, self.name_offset = f12[1], f12[2]
        self.export_count, self.export_offset = f12[3], f12[4]
+        self.import_count, self.import_offset = f12[5], f12[6]
        o += 48
        self.guid = b[o:o + 16]
        o += 16
@@ -106,6 +110,42 @@ class Package:
            return self.file_size
        return self.chunks[-1][0] + self.chunks[-1][1]

+    # tables (need the uncompressed data: `read_all`) ---------------------------------------------
+    def tables(self, data=None, start=None):
+        """(names, imports, exports) of the package. imports: [(class name, object name, outer)],
+        exports: [Export]. Layouts: docs/formats/upk.md (licensee 101 adds one u32 to each export)."""
+        if data is None:
+            start, data = self.read_all()
+        buf = memoryview(data)
+        names = []
+        o = self.name_offset - start
+        for _ in range(self.name_count):
+            n = struct.unpack_from("<i", buf, o)[0]
+            o += 4
+            if n >= 0:
+                names.append(bytes(buf[o:o + n - 1]).decode("latin-1"))
+                o += n
+            else:
+                names.append(bytes(buf[o:o - 2 * n - 2]).decode("utf-16-le", "replace"))
+                o += -2 * n
+            o += 8                                   # name flags
+        imports = []
+        o = self.import_offset - start
+        for _ in range(self.import_count):
+            _pkg, _pn, cls, _cn, outer, nm, nn = struct.unpack_from("<7i", buf, o)
+            imports.append((names[cls], names[nm], outer))
+            o += 28
+        exports = []
+        o = self.export_offset - start
+        for i in range(self.export_count):
+            cls, sup, outer, nm, nn, arch, _x = struct.unpack_from("<7i", buf, o)
+            size, off = struct.unpack_from("<ii", buf, o + 36)
+            ngen = struct.unpack_from("<i", buf, o + 48)[0]
+            exports.append(Export(i + 1, cls, outer, names[nm] + ("_%d" % (nn - 1) if nn else ""), size, off,
+                                  o + start))
+            o += 72 + 4 * ngen
+        return names, imports, exports
+
    def fingerprint(self):
        """Cheap identity of the package contents: guid + chunk table (changes with any re-cook/patch)."""
        import hashlib
--- a/ackit/verify/catalogcheck.py
+++ b/ackit/verify/catalogcheck.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import hashlib
 import os
 import random

-from .. import banks, classify
+from .. import banks, classify, subtitles
 from ..catalog import (Catalog, available_archives, bank_sounds, hash_names, head_owners, is_shipped, load_characters,
                       scan_archive)
 from ..inject import read_target
@@ -102,7 +102,9 @@ def check_banks(rep, game, rows, locations, characters, quick=False, sample=40,
        pk = [f for f in files if f.lower().endswith(".upk")]
        rnd = random.Random(1)
        files = [f for f in files if f.startswith("SFX/")] + sorted(rnd.sample(pk, min(sample, len(pk))))
-    sc = banks.scan(game.cooked, progress, files=files)
+    col = subtitles.Collector()
+    sc = banks.scan(game.cooked, progress, files=files, visit=col)
+    check_subtitles(rep, game, col, set(files), quick)
    owners = head_owners(game, sc)
    index = collections.defaultdict(set)
    for m, ls in locations.items():
@@ -135,6 +137,44 @@ def check_banks(rep, game, rows, locations, characters, quick=False, sample=40,
                rep.add(banks.ARCHIVE, "copies", "%08X" % m, "prefetch head without a speech line")


+def check_subtitles(rep, game, col, files, quick):
+    """Subtitle copies found in the scanned packages vs SUB_locations + the SUB_<LANG>.csv texts."""
+    from ..catalog import _shipped_index, catalog_dir
+    loc_path = os.path.join(catalog_dir(), subtitles.LOCATIONS)
+    if not os.path.exists(loc_path) or not is_shipped(game, banks.ARCHIVE):
+        return
+    index = collections.defaultdict(set)
+    for k, ls in subtitles.read_locations(loc_path).items():
+        for l in ls:
+            if l.file in files:
+                index[k].add((l.file, l.pos, l.size))
+    found, texts = collections.defaultdict(set), {}
+    for speech, copies in col.dialogues.items():
+        for rel, d in copies:
+            for f in d.fields:
+                k = subtitles.key(f.lang, speech, f.index)
+                found[k].add((rel, f.pos, f.size))
+                texts[k] = f.text
+    for k in sorted(set(found) | set(index)):
+        if found.get(k, set()) != index.get(k, set()):
+            rep.add("SUB", "copies", k, "index %d, game %d" % (len(index.get(k, ())), len(found.get(k, ()))))
+    langs = sorted(_shipped_index().get("SUB", {}).get("lines", {}))
+    for lang in langs:
+        p = os.path.join(catalog_dir(), "SUB_%s.csv" % lang)
+        rows = subtitles.read_texts(p, lang)
+        rep.checked["SUB_" + lang] += len(rows)
+        seen = set()
+        for s in rows:
+            k = subtitles.key(lang, s.speech, s.line)
+            if k in seen:
+                rep.add("SUB", "duplicate", k)
+            seen.add(k)
+            if k in texts and texts[k] != s.text:
+                rep.add("SUB", "text", k, "catalog %r, game %r" % (s.text[:40], texts[k][:40]))
+            if s.sound and not s.sound.startswith(lang + ":") and not s.sound.startswith("INT:"):
+                rep.add("SUB", "language", k, "linked to %s" % s.sound)
+
+
 def run(game, archives=None, quick=False, log=print, progress=None):
    """Check the given archives (default: all). Returns a Report."""
    rep = Report()
--- a/ackit/workspace.py
+++ b/ackit/workspace.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ from .game import Game, GameError
 from .inject import inject, read_target, parse_target, pack_bnk_path, SizeLimitError
 from .originals import OriginalsStore, sha256, sha1_16
 from .pack import Pack
+from .texts import Texts
 from .paths import user_dir
 from .wad import Wad

@@ -51,6 +52,7 @@ class Workspace:
        self.store = OriginalsStore(store_root or default_store_root(self.game), self.game.root)
        self.catalog = Catalog(self.game, archives, progress)
        self.full_backup = full_backup
+        self.texts = Texts(self)

    # reading -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    def sound(self, name_or_key):
@@ -153,9 +155,9 @@ class Workspace:
        """items: [(sound, new_bytes, meta, is_revert)] all in one archive."""
        if archive == banks.ARCHIVE:
            return self._write_banks(items, progress)
-        heads = sorted({l.file for s, _, _, _ in items for l in self.locations(s)})
-        for rel in heads:
-            self._keep_original_file(rel)
+        heads = sorted({self.bank_path(l.file) for s, _, _, _ in items for l in self.locations(s)})
+        for path in heads:
+            self._keep_original(path)
        wad = self.game.wad(archive)
        self.game.check_writable(wad)
        packs = {parse_target(s.target)[0] for s, _, _, _ in items if s.is_pack_media}
@@ -181,43 +183,44 @@ class Workspace:
            else:
                self.store.record_applied(s.key, data, meta)
        self.store.save()
-        self._sync_bank_files(heads, progress)
+        self.sync_files(heads, progress)

-    # bank files (in-memory sounds, prefetch heads) ----------------------------------------------
-    def _bank_files(self):
-        return self.store.data.setdefault("bank_files", {})
+    # derived files: bank files and packages (in-memory sounds, prefetch heads, subtitles) and the
+    # localization files (menu text). Each is rebuilt from its original copy + every edit applied now.
+    def _derived(self):
+        return self.store.data.setdefault("derived", {})

    def _fingerprint(self, path):
-        """Content hash of a bank file (whole file: any change by another tool is detected)."""
+        """Content hash of a file (whole file: any change by another tool is detected)."""
        h = hashlib.sha1()
        with open(path, "rb") as f:
            for c in iter(lambda: f.read(1 << 22), b""):
                h.update(c)
        return h.hexdigest()

-    def _keep_original_file(self, rel):
-        """Before the first change to a bank file: verified full copy + its fingerprint."""
-        rec = self._bank_files().get(rel)
+    def _keep_original(self, path):
+        """Before the first change to a derived file: verified full copy + its fingerprint."""
+        rel = self.game.rel(path)
+        rec = self._derived().get(rel)
        if rec:
            return rec
-        path = self.bank_path(rel)
        self.game.check_writable(path)
-        self.store.full_backup(path, self.game.rel(path))
-        rec = self._bank_files()[rel] = {"orig_fp": self._fingerprint(path), "written_fp": None}
+        self.store.full_backup(path, rel)
+        rec = self._derived()[rel] = {"orig_fp": self._fingerprint(path), "written_fp": None}
        self.store.save()
        return rec

-    def changed_files(self, sounds):
-        """Bank files of `sounds` changed since we last wrote them (Steam update/verify, other tool)."""
+    def changed_files(self, paths):
+        """Derived files changed since we last wrote them (Steam update/verify, another tool)."""
        out = []
-        for rel in sorted({l.file for s in sounds for l in self.locations(s)}):
-            rec = self._bank_files().get(rel)
-            if rec and self._fingerprint(self.bank_path(rel)) not in (rec["orig_fp"], rec["written_fp"]):
-                out.append(rel)
+        for path in sorted(set(paths)):
+            rec = self._derived().get(self.game.rel(path))
+            if rec and self._fingerprint(path) not in (rec["orig_fp"], rec["written_fp"]):
+                out.append(path)
        return out

-    def _edits(self, rel):
-        """[(offset, bytes)] that the replacements applied now need in bank file `rel`."""
+    def _audio_edits(self, rel):
+        """[(offset, bytes)] that the sound replacements applied now need in bank file `rel` (cooked-relative)."""
        out = []
        for key, e in self.store.entries.items():
            if not e.get("applied"):
@@ -235,24 +238,31 @@ class Workspace:
                out.append((l.offset, payload))
        return out

-    def _sync_bank_files(self, rels, progress=None):
-        """Rebuild each bank file from its original copy and the replacements applied now."""
-        for rel in rels:
-            path = self.bank_path(rel)
-            rec = self._keep_original_file(rel)
+    def _build(self, path, orig):
+        """Content of derived file `path` from its original copy `orig`."""
+        if self.texts.is_menu_file(path):
+            return self.texts.menu_content(path, open(orig, "rb").read())
+        rel = os.path.relpath(path, self.game.cooked).replace(os.sep, "/")
+        edits = self._audio_edits(rel) + self.texts.subtitle_edits(rel)
+        return banks.open_file(orig).patched(edits) if edits else open(orig, "rb").read()
+
+    def sync_files(self, paths, progress=None):
+        """Rebuild each derived file from its original copy and the edits applied now (atomic writes)."""
+        for path in sorted(set(paths)):
+            rec = self._keep_original(path)
            orig = self.store.full_copy(self.game.rel(path))
            if orig is None:
-                raise GameError("the original copy of %s is missing from the store" % rel)
+                raise GameError("the original copy of %s is missing from the store" % self.game.rel(path))
            if progress:
-                progress("writing %s" % rel)
-            edits = self._edits(rel)
-            data = banks.open_file(orig).patched(edits) if edits else open(orig, "rb").read()
+                progress("writing %s" % os.path.basename(path))
+            data = self._build(path, orig)
            self.game.check_writable(path)
            tmp = path + ".ackit-tmp"
            with open(tmp, "wb") as f:
                f.write(data)
            os.replace(tmp, path)
-            rec["written_fp"] = self._fingerprint(path) if edits else None
+            same = data == open(orig, "rb").read()
+            rec["written_fp"] = None if same else self._fingerprint(path)
        self.store.save()

    def _write_banks(self, items, progress=None):
@@ -262,9 +272,9 @@ class Workspace:
                raise GameError("no copy of %s was found in the game's banks" % s.name)
            if not is_revert and len(data) > min(l.size for l in locs):
                raise SizeLimitError(s.target, min(l.size for l in locs), len(data))
-        files = sorted({l.file for s, _, _, _ in items for l in self.locations(s)})
-        for rel in files:
-            self._keep_original_file(rel)
+        files = sorted({self.bank_path(l.file) for s, _, _, _ in items for l in self.locations(s)})
+        for path in files:
+            self._keep_original(path)
        for s, data, meta, is_revert in items:
            if is_revert:
                self.store.forget(s.key)
@@ -273,7 +283,7 @@ class Workspace:
                                             self.current_bytes(s))
                self.store.record_applied(s.key, data, meta)
        self.store.save()  # the store says what the files must contain before they change
-        self._sync_bank_files(files, progress)
+        self.sync_files(files, progress)

    def apply(self, changes, force=False, progress=None):
        """changes: [(sound, wem_bytes, meta dict)]. One atomic rewrite per WAD / bank file."""
@@ -281,9 +291,9 @@ class Workspace:
        for s, _, _ in changes:
            if self.state(s) in (CHANGED, FOREIGN):
                conflicts.append(s)
-        changed = set(self.changed_files([s for s, _, _ in changes]))
+        changed = set(self.changed_files([self.bank_path(l.file) for s, _, _ in changes for l in self.locations(s)]))
        conflicts += [s for s, _, _ in changes
-                      if s not in conflicts and {l.file for l in self.locations(s)} & changed]
+                      if s not in conflicts and {self.bank_path(l.file) for l in self.locations(s)} & changed]
        if conflicts and not force:
            raise ConflictError(conflicts)
        by_arch = defaultdict(list)
@@ -328,8 +338,9 @@ class Workspace:
            shutil.copy2(src, tmp)
            os.replace(tmp, dst)
            out.append(rel)
-        for rec in self._bank_files().values():
+        for rec in self._derived().values():
            rec["written_fp"] = None
+        self.store.data["texts"] = {}
        self.store.data["entries"] = {}
        self.store.save()
        self.store.gc()
--- a/data/catalog/BANK.csv
+++ b/data/catalog/BANK.csv
--- a/data/catalog/README.md
+++ b/data/catalog/README.md
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
 |------|---------|
 | `<ARCHIVE>.csv` | every sound of one audio archive: `ITA`, `INT`, `FRA`, `DEU`, `ESN` (speech WADs, one per language), `SFX` (music, ambience and effects streamed from the SFX WAD) and `BANK` (in-memory sounds stored inside soundbanks: footsteps, foley, combat, weapons, UI, efforts; `docs/formats/banks.md`) |
 | `BANK_locations.csv.gz` | every stored copy of the `BANK` sounds, and the prefetch heads of speech lines (below) |
+| `SUB_<LANG>.csv` | subtitles of the speech lines, one file per language (11 languages; `docs/formats/subtitles.md`) |
+| `SUB_locations.csv.gz` | every stored copy of each subtitle string (dialogue objects in the packages) |
 | `characters.csv` | `name,character`: verified speaker per sound name (language independent) |
 | `index.json` | per archive: fingerprint of the game files the CSV was built from (`ackit/game.py: wad_fingerprint`, `ackit/banks.py: game_fingerprint`) and counts |
 | `source/<lang>/*.txt` | **the curated original lists** (one file per character, one wemscan-style file name per line, e.g. `Speech_TAPE_JOKER_1_4.wem`). `Files.txt` = all files, `Stats.txt` = counts, `Checkpoint.txt` = progress marker. Never edited by tools. |
@@ -40,6 +42,19 @@ All CSVs are UTF-8 with a header row. They contain only names and metadata (no g
 A replacement is written into every `m` copy of a BANK sound; replacing a speech line also rewrites its `p`
 heads (`docs/formats/banks.md`).

+## `SUB_<LANG>.csv` columns
+| column | meaning |
+|--------|---------|
+| `speech` | the speech event of the line (e.g. `Speech_CHURCH_B1_Ch2_POST_Explosion_BM_Cash_04`) |
+| `line` | 0-based line of a multi-line subtitle |
+| `text` | original subtitle text |
+| `room` | maximum length of a replacement in characters (it is written in place) |
+| `enc` | `a` = cp1252 string, `w` = UTF-16 string |
+| `sound` | key of the linked speech sound (this language's WAD, or `INT:` for languages without speech WADs); empty when no event reaches a sound |
+
+`SUB_locations.csv.gz`: `lang, speech, line, file, pos` (hex, uncompressed offset of the FString), `size`, `enc`.
+Menu text has no catalog: the localization files are read directly (`docs/formats/text.md`).
+
 The editor uses these files directly when the installed game matches `index.json`; for another game build it
 scans the game itself and applies the same rules (no checksums then; the bank scan takes a few minutes).
 `ackit verify --catalog` cross-checks the catalog in use against the game files (`--quick` samples packages).
--- a/data/catalog/SUB_DEU.csv
+++ b/data/catalog/SUB_DEU.csv
--- a/data/catalog/SUB_ESM.csv
+++ b/data/catalog/SUB_ESM.csv
--- a/data/catalog/SUB_ESN.csv
+++ b/data/catalog/SUB_ESN.csv
--- a/data/catalog/SUB_FRA.csv
+++ b/data/catalog/SUB_FRA.csv
--- a/data/catalog/SUB_INT.csv
+++ b/data/catalog/SUB_INT.csv
--- a/data/catalog/SUB_ITA.csv
+++ b/data/catalog/SUB_ITA.csv
--- a/data/catalog/SUB_JPN.csv
+++ b/data/catalog/SUB_JPN.csv
--- a/data/catalog/SUB_KOR.csv
+++ b/data/catalog/SUB_KOR.csv
--- a/data/catalog/SUB_POL.csv
+++ b/data/catalog/SUB_POL.csv
--- a/data/catalog/SUB_POR.csv
+++ b/data/catalog/SUB_POR.csv
--- a/data/catalog/SUB_RUS.csv
+++ b/data/catalog/SUB_RUS.csv
--- a/data/catalog/SUB_locations.csv.gz
+++ b/data/catalog/SUB_locations.csv.gz
--- a/data/catalog/index.json
+++ b/data/catalog/index.json
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@
  },
  "copies": 93910,
  "files": 1499,
-  "named_by_event": 6416,
+  "named_by_event": 6456,
  "prefetch_heads": {
   "lines": 396,
   "copies": 2101,
@@ -81,5 +81,37 @@
  },
  "issues": []
 },
+ "SUB": {
+  "fingerprint": "3f9766af425b8eef",
+  "lines": {
+   "DEU": 9638,
+   "ESM": 9476,
+   "ESN": 9468,
+   "FRA": 9540,
+   "INT": 9379,
+   "ITA": 9352,
+   "JPN": 9016,
+   "KOR": 9229,
+   "POL": 9352,
+   "POR": 9450,
+   "RUS": 9469
+  },
+  "speech_lines": 9016,
+  "linked": {
+   "DEU": 8884,
+   "ESM": 8712,
+   "ESN": 8741,
+   "FRA": 8790,
+   "INT": 8637,
+   "ITA": 8623,
+   "JPN": 8318,
+   "KOR": 8510,
+   "POL": 8613,
+   "POR": 8700,
+   "RUS": 8724
+  },
+  "copies": 168122,
+  "issues": []
+ },
 "_info": "unmodified game files"
 }
--- a/docs/README.md
+++ b/docs/README.md
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 | [building.md](building.md) | building the editor and its installer (Windows, Linux) |
 | [formats/wad.md](formats/wad.md) | WWAD archives, grouped entries, BKPK stream packs |
 | [formats/banks.md](formats/banks.md) | soundbanks and the in-memory sounds not covered yet (footsteps, foley, effects) |
+| [formats/subtitles.md](formats/subtitles.md) | subtitles: dialogue objects in the packages, link to the speech sounds |
+| [formats/text.md](formats/text.md) | menu and UI text: the localization files |
 | [formats/upk.md](formats/upk.md) | UE3 packages: summary, LZO chunks, how ackit reads and patches them |
 | [formats/wem.md](formats/wem.md) | WEM layout the game accepts, setup stripping, hash and decode-alloc formulas |
 | [reverse-engineering/decoder.md](reverse-engineering/decoder.md) | BatmanAC.exe decoder functions and addresses |
--- a/docs/decisions.md
+++ b/docs/decisions.md
@@ -79,6 +79,19 @@ tables): high risk for little gain, not done.
  packages' name tables (FNV-1 of the name = event ID), following event -> action -> containers -> sounds
  (6,416 sounds); the rest are numbered per bank. Categories use the bank name.

+## 4c. Subtitles and menu text
+- **Subtitles** are written in place into every copy of the dialogue object, NUL-padded inside the original
+  string (the game stops at the first NUL), so nothing in the package moves; the limit is the original
+  string's length ("room"). Moving the object to the end of the package (new export offset/size and an extra
+  chunk) would lift the limit, but no dialogue is loaded on the title screen, so the result could not be
+  checked automatically in the game: not done.
+- **Links** subtitle -> speech sound come from the soundbanks (event -> ... -> per-language media -> WAD), not
+  from names: the `_NN` suffixes do not follow the WEM order inside WAD entries.
+- **Menu text** files are plain UTF-16 text: no size limit; only the edited values change.
+- Both use the originals store like sounds: texts are recorded as strings (`texts` in store.json) and every
+  file is rebuilt from its original copy + the applied edits (sound and text edits combine in one package).
+- Keys (`SUB:<LANG>:<speech>:<line>`, `MENU:<LANG>:<File>:<Section>:<Key>`) are stable and used in mod packages.
+
 ## 5. Catalog
 - Shipped CSVs per archive (names, categories, characters, original size + checksum) make loading instant and
  enable change detection; any other build is scanned at runtime (header reads only, cached).
--- a/docs/formats/subtitles.md
+++ b/docs/formats/subtitles.md
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+# Subtitles (`RDialogueEvent` objects in the packages)
+
+There are no subtitle files: every speech line has a dialogue object (class `RDialogueEvent`, Rocksteady) inside
+the UE3 packages (`upk.md`), holding the subtitle text of all 11 languages. ackit reads them with
+`ackit/subtitles.py` and writes them through `Workspace.texts` (`ackit/texts.py`).
+
+## Inventory (buildid 3718300)
+- 14,743 dialogue objects in the packages for 9,016 speech lines (a line's object is copied into every package
+  that uses it; all copies are identical).
+- 11 languages: INT, FRA, ITA, DEU, ESN, ESM, POL, POR, RUS, JPN, KOR (the speech WADs exist only for INT, FRA,
+  ITA, DEU, ESN; the other languages play the INT voices with their own subtitles).
+- ~9,400 subtitle strings per language: 94 % of the subtitles have one line, the rest up to 5 lines.
+- Strings are stored as cp1252 (positive FString length) or UTF-16 (negative length): RUS, POL, JPN, KOR
+  and some INT/ESN/FRA/DEU strings are UTF-16.
+
+## Object layout (compact tagged properties)
+The export data is a list of properties `u16 type, u16 field offset, value`, ended by `u16 0`. Types seen:
+`0x10` object reference (i32 export/import index), `0x0D` FString, `0x09` struct/array (name i32+i32 = struct
+or property name from the name table, i32 byte size, i32 array index, then `size` bytes), `0x04` 4-byte value,
+`0x03` bool, `0x01` enum. Relevant properties:
+
+| field | content |
+|-------|---------|
+| `0x10` @ `0x2C` | the speech event this line plays, e.g. export `Speech_CHURCH_B1_Ch2_POST_Explosion_BM_Cash_04` |
+| `0x0D` @ `0x34` | speaker, e.g. `Batman` |
+| `0x09 LocalizedSubtitles` | u32 count, then per language: `0D 00 00 00` FString language code, `09 00 0C 00 Subtitles` struct, `00 00` |
+| `Subtitles` | u32 line count, then per line: `0D 00 00 00` FString text, `04 00 0C 00` 4-byte value, `00 00` |
+
+The sizes add up exactly in all 14,743 objects (checked by the parser: `SubtitleError` otherwise).
+
+## Link to the speech sound
+The speech event name is hashed (FNV-1) to the Wwise event ID, followed through the soundbanks (event ->
+action -> containers -> Sound) to the streamed media, and that media ID is looked up in the per-language
+BKPK tables (`banks.md`) to find the WAD entry and variation of each language. This is exact; the `_NN`
+suffix of the event name does **not** match the variation order inside the WAD entry (WEMs are stored in
+media-ID order). Linked: ~92 % of the strings (e.g. INT 8,637 / 9,379); the rest have no event that reaches a
+streamed media (unused or placeholder lines such as `..._TEMP_29`) and stay editable without a sound link.
+Event names with a number (`Speech_X_04`) exist only as export names, not in the name table.
+
+## How ackit writes them
+- In place, into **every copy** (`data/catalog/SUB_locations.csv.gz`): the new text replaces the FString's
+  bytes and is padded with NUL characters, keeping the length field. The game stops at the first NUL, so no
+  size field, export or package layout changes. Limit: the new text must fit the original string's bytes
+  (cp1252: one byte per character; UTF-16: two) - shown as "room" in the CLI and the editor.
+- A cp1252 string can only hold cp1252 characters; UTF-16 strings can hold any character.
+- Packages are rebuilt from the store's original copy + all applied sound and text edits (`docs/decisions.md`).
--- a/docs/formats/text.md
+++ b/docs/formats/text.md
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# Menu and UI text (`BmGame\Localization\<LANG>\*.<lang>`)
+
+The menus, HUD, character bios, riddles, credits and other UI strings are UE3 localization files, one folder
+per language (INT, ITA, FRA, DEU, ESN, ESM, POL, POR, RUS, JPN, KOR), ~37 files and ~7,000 strings each
+(`FRONTEND`, `GFxUI`, `Bios`, `Credits`, `PC`, `RIDDLER`, ...). ackit reads and writes them with
+`ackit/loctext.py` through `Workspace.texts`.
+
+## Format
+- UTF-16LE with a BOM (`FF FE`), CRLF line ends; the first line is empty. (`INT\Version.int` and
+  `VersionData.int` are plain ASCII build IDs, not UI text: ackit ignores them.)
+- `[Section]` lines, `Key=Value` lines, `;` comments. A few values are in double quotes (`Quit="Quit game"`).
+- File extension = language code (`FRONTEND.int`, `FRONTEND.ITA`); case varies, lookups are case-insensitive.
+- Markers inside values (e.g. `\n`, button tags) are the game's own; ackit keeps them as plain text.
+
+## Keys and writing
+- Key: `MENU:<LANG>:<File>:<Section>:<Key>` (`#n` for a repeated key; none in the shipped files).
+- Writing replaces only the value part of the edited lines (quotes kept); BOM, encoding, other lines and line
+  ends stay byte-identical. Values cannot contain line breaks; characters must fit the file's encoding.
+- The files are rebuilt from the store's original copy + the applied edits, so reverting restores them exactly.
--- a/tests/synth.py
+++ b/tests/synth.py
@@ -89,10 +89,11 @@ def pack(media):
    return bytes(hdr) + bank, bytes(payload)


-def bank(bank_id, media, name=None, extra_sources=(), prefetch=()):
+def bank(bank_id, media, name=None, extra_sources=(), prefetch=(), events=()):
    """A v56 soundbank holding `media` {id: wem} in memory (DIDX/DATA, 16-byte aligned) with one HIRC
    Sound object per media; extra_sources: [(media id, bank id, off, size)] for sources of other banks;
-    media ids in `prefetch` get a prefetch source (their DIDX data is the head of a streamed WEM)."""
+    media ids in `prefetch` get a prefetch source (their DIDX data is the head of a streamed WEM);
+    events: [(event name, streamed media id)] -> event -> action -> streamed Sound object."""
    data = bytearray()
    didx = b""
    for m in sorted(media):
@@ -108,10 +109,18 @@ def bank(bank_id, media, name=None, extra_sources=(), prefetch=()):
        objs.append((m, bank_id if m not in prefetch else 0x1234, data_pos + off, len(media[m]),
                     2 if m in prefetch else 0))
    objs += [x + (0,) for x in extra_sources]
-    hirc = struct.pack("<I", len(objs))
+    from ackit.bnk import fnv1
+    hirc_objs = []
    for i, (m, b, off, size, stream) in enumerate(objs):
-        body = struct.pack("<7I", 0x100 + i, 0x00040001, stream, m, b, off, size) + bytes(6)
-        hirc += bytes([2]) + struct.pack("<I", len(body)) + body
+        hirc_objs.append((2, struct.pack("<7I", 0x100 + i, 0x00040001, stream, m, b, off, size) + bytes(6)))
+    for i, (ev, m) in enumerate(events):
+        sid, aid = 0x300 + i, 0x400 + i
+        hirc_objs.append((2, struct.pack("<7I", sid, 0x00040001, 1, m, 0, 0, 0) + bytes(6)))
+        hirc_objs.append((3, struct.pack("<III", aid, 0x4011, sid) + bytes(8)))
+        hirc_objs.append((4, struct.pack("<III", fnv1(ev), 1, aid)))
+    hirc = struct.pack("<I", len(hirc_objs))
+    for t, body in hirc_objs:
+        hirc += bytes([t]) + struct.pack("<I", len(body)) + body
    out = head + b"DATA" + struct.pack("<I", len(data)) + bytes(data) + b"HIRC" + struct.pack("<I", len(hirc)) + hirc
    if name:
        nm = name.encode()
@@ -120,9 +129,10 @@ def bank(bank_id, media, name=None, extra_sources=(), prefetch=()):
    return out


-def package(path, body, block_size=0x1000, chunk_blocks=3):
+def package(path, body, block_size=0x1000, chunk_blocks=3, tables=(0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0)):
    """A fully LZO-compressed UE3 package (docs/formats/upk.md) whose uncompressed data area is `body`.
-    Small blocks so that tests cross block and chunk boundaries."""
+    Small blocks so that tests cross block and chunk boundaries. `tables`: (NameCount, NameOffset,
+    ExportCount, ExportOffset, ImportCount, ImportOffset) as absolute uncompressed offsets."""
    from ackit import lzo
    folder = b"None\x00"
    nblocks = max(1, _a(len(body), block_size) // block_size)
@@ -130,7 +140,7 @@ def package(path, body, block_size=0x1000, chunk_blocks=3):

    def summary(chunks):
        s = struct.pack("<IHHi", 0x9E2A83C1, 805, 101, 0) + struct.pack("<i", len(folder)) + folder
-        s += struct.pack("<12i", 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0) + b"GUID-synthetic!!"
+        s += struct.pack("<12i", 0, *tables, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0) + b"GUID-synthetic!!"
        s += struct.pack("<i3i", 1, 0, 0, 0) + struct.pack("<3I", 7748, 0, 2)
        s += struct.pack("<i", len(chunks)) + b"".join(struct.pack("<4i", *c) for c in chunks)
        return s + struct.pack("<Ii", 0x12345678, 0)
@@ -157,6 +167,69 @@ def package(path, body, block_size=0x1000, chunk_blocks=3):
    return header_u


+HEADER_U = None   # uncompressed summary size of synthetic packages (fixed; computed on first use)
+
+
+def _header_u():
+    global HEADER_U
+    if HEADER_U is None:
+        import tempfile
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as d:
+            HEADER_U = package(os.path.join(d, "x.upk"), b"\0" * 16)
+    return HEADER_U
+
+
+def ue_package(path, objects, prefix=b""):
+    """A package with name/import/export tables. objects: [(class name, object name, bytes or callable)]:
+    a callable gets {name: index} and the export index map and returns the object's bytes.
+    Returns {object name: (absolute offset, size)}."""
+    classes = sorted({c for c, _, _ in objects})
+    names = ["None", "Core", "Class", "LocalizedSubtitles", "Subtitles"] + classes + [n for _, n, _ in objects]
+    idx = {n: i for i, n in enumerate(names)}
+    exp_index = {n: i + 1 for i, (_, n, _) in enumerate(objects)}
+    blobs = [o(idx, exp_index) if callable(o) else o for _, _, o in objects]
+    nt = b"".join(struct.pack("<i", len(n) + 1) + n.encode() + b"\0" + bytes(8) for n in names)
+    it = b"".join(struct.pack("<7i", idx["Core"], 0, idx["Class"], 0, 0, idx[c], 0) for c in classes)
+    base = _header_u() + len(prefix)
+    name_off, imp_off = base, base + len(nt)
+    exp_off = imp_off + len(it)
+    data_off = exp_off + 72 * len(objects)
+    et, pos, offs = b"", data_off, {}
+    for (c, n, _), b in zip(objects, blobs):
+        et += struct.pack("<7i", -(classes.index(c) + 1), 0, 0, idx[n], 0, 0, 0) + bytes(8)
+        et += struct.pack("<ii", len(b), pos) + bytes(4 + 4 + 16 + 4)
+        offs[n] = (pos, len(b))
+        pos += len(b)
+    body = prefix + nt + it + et + b"".join(blobs) + bytes(64)
+    package(path, body, tables=(len(names), name_off, len(objects), exp_off, len(classes), imp_off))
+    return offs
+
+
+def _fstr(text, wide=False):
+    if wide:
+        return struct.pack("<i", -(len(text) + 1)) + text.encode("utf-16-le") + b"\0\0"
+    return struct.pack("<i", len(text) + 1) + text.encode("cp1252") + b"\0"
+
+
+def dialogue(speech_object, texts, wide=()):
+    """An RDialogueEvent export (compact tagged properties, docs/formats/subtitles.md) referencing the
+    export `speech_object`; texts: {lang: [line, ...]}; languages in `wide` are stored as UTF-16."""
+    def build(idx, exp_index):
+        content = struct.pack("<I", len(texts))
+        for lang, lines in texts.items():
+            sub = struct.pack("<I", len(lines))
+            for ln in lines:
+                sub += struct.pack("<HH", 0x0D, 0) + _fstr(ln, lang in wide) + struct.pack("<HHf", 4, 0x0C, 1.5)
+                sub += struct.pack("<H", 0)
+            content += struct.pack("<HH", 0x0D, 0) + _fstr(lang)
+            content += struct.pack("<HHiiii", 9, 0x0C, idx["Subtitles"], 0, len(sub), 0) + sub + struct.pack("<H", 0)
+        b = bytes(4) + struct.pack("<HHi", 0x10, 0x2C, exp_index[speech_object])
+        b += struct.pack("<HH", 0x0D, 0x34) + _fstr("Batman")
+        b += struct.pack("<HHiiii", 9, 0x9C, idx["LocalizedSubtitles"], 0, len(content), 0) + content
+        return b + struct.pack("<H", 0)
+    return build
+
+
 def make_game(root):
    """Create the folder; returns the dict of original WEMs by target."""
    cooked = os.path.join(root, "BmGame", "CookedPCConsole")
@@ -175,6 +248,7 @@ def make_game(root):
    originals["%08X" % SINGLE_ENTRY] = single
    originals.update({"%08X/%08X" % (PACK_ID, m): w for m, w in music.items()})
    originals.update(make_banks(cooked, v))
+    make_localization(root)
    return originals


@@ -213,5 +287,35 @@ def make_banks(cooked, speech_wems):
    synth_b = filler[:1000] + bank(fnv1(names[3]), gui) + filler + bank(fnv1(names[2]), foley) + filler
    package(os.path.join(cooked, "Synth_A.upk"), synth_a)
    package(os.path.join(cooked, "Synth_B.upk"), synth_b)
+    # dialogue (subtitles) in two packages; the first one also holds a bank with an in-memory sound and the
+    # event that links the dialogue's speech event to INT variation 1 of SPEECH_ENTRY
+    dlg = dialogue(SPEECH_EVENT, SUBTITLES, wide=("RUS",))
+    dlg_wem = wem(0.3, 1400)
+    ev_bank = bank(fnv1("NPC_SynthDialogue"), {DLG_MEDIA: dlg_wem}, name="NPC_SynthDialogue",
+                   events=[(SPEECH_EVENT, LINE_MEDIA[1])])
+    objs = [("AkEvent", SPEECH_EVENT, bytes(8)), ("RDialogueEvent", "Radio_02", dlg)]
+    ue_package(os.path.join(cooked, "Synth_Dialogue.upk"), objs + [("AkBank", "NPC_SynthDialogue", ev_bank)])
+    ue_package(os.path.join(cooked, "Synth_Dialogue2.upk"), objs, prefix=bytes(3000))
+    with open(os.path.join(cooked, "CookedBanks.txt"), "a", newline="\r\n") as f:
+        f.write("NPC_SynthDialogue\n")
    out = {"%08X" % m: w for m, w in list(foot.items()) + list(foley.items()) + list(gui.items())}
+    out["%08X" % DLG_MEDIA] = dlg_wem
    return out
+
+
+SPEECH_EVENT = "Speech_Synth_Radio_02"
+SUBTITLES = {"INT": ["Scanner line two.", "Second part."], "ITA": ["Riga due dello scanner."],
+             "RUS": ["Строка два"]}
+DLG_MEDIA = 0x0E000001
+MENU = {"INT": ("FRONTEND.int", "\r\n[Menu]\r\nStart=Press any key\r\nQuit=\"Quit game\"\r\n; comment\r\n"
+                                "[Tips]\r\nTip=Use the grapnel\r\nTip=Glide over the city\r\n"),
+        "ITA": ("FRONTEND.ITA", "\r\n[Menu]\r\nStart=Premi un tasto\r\nQuit=\"Esci\"\r\n"
+                                "[Tips]\r\nTip=Usa il rampino\r\nTip=Plana sulla citta\r\n")}
+
+
+def make_localization(root):
+    for lang, (fname, text) in MENU.items():
+        d = os.path.join(root, "BmGame", "Localization", lang)
+        os.makedirs(d, exist_ok=True)
+        open(os.path.join(d, fname), "wb").write(b"\xff\xfe" + text.encode("utf-16-le"))
+    open(os.path.join(root, "BmGame", "Localization", "INT", "Version.int"), "wb").write(b"[ID]\r\nUnreal=SYNTH\r\n")
--- a/tests/test_app.py
+++ b/tests/test_app.py
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ def test_bank_sound_apply_revert_in_editor(win, tmp_path):
    w, root, originals = win
    before = files(root)
    w.cmb_arch.setCurrentText("BANK")
-    assert w.proxy.rowCount() == 5
+    assert w.proxy.rowCount() == 6
    assert w.select_name("CHR_SynthFoley_1")
    ed = w.editor
    assert "bank CHR_SynthFoley (2 copies)" in ed.meta.text()
--- a/tests/test_banks.py
+++ b/tests/test_banks.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ def test_bank_catalog(synth_game, tmp_path):
    root, originals = synth_game
    ws = _ws(root, tmp_path)
    bank = {s.target: s for s in ws.catalog.sounds if s.archive == "BANK"}
-    assert set(bank) == {"%08X" % m for m in synth.FOOT + synth.FOLEY + synth.GUI}
+    assert set(bank) == {"%08X" % m for m in synth.FOOT + synth.FOLEY + synth.GUI + (synth.DLG_MEDIA,)}
    foot = bank["%08X" % synth.FOOT[0]]
    assert foot.bank == "CHR_SynthFootsteps_Media" and foot.name == "CHR_SynthFootsteps_Media_1"
    assert (foot.group, foot.category) == ("SFX", "Footsteps")
--- a/tests/test_catalog.py
+++ b/tests/test_catalog.py
@@ -57,7 +57,13 @@ def test_characters_csv_covers_user_lists():


 def test_shipped_csvs_are_consistent():
+    from ackit import subtitles
    for f in os.listdir(catalog_dir()):
+        if f.startswith("SUB_") and f.endswith(".csv"):
+            lines = subtitles.read_texts(os.path.join(catalog_dir(), f), f[4:7])
+            assert len({(s.speech, s.line) for s in lines}) == len(lines), f
+            assert all(len(s.text) <= s.room for s in lines), f
+            continue
        if f.endswith(".csv") and f != "characters.csv":
            rows = read_csv(os.path.join(catalog_dir(), f))
            keys = {r.key for r in rows}
--- a/tests/test_catalogcheck.py
+++ b/tests/test_catalogcheck.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ def test_clean_synthetic_catalog_passes(synth_game):
    root, _ = synth_game
    rep = catalogcheck.run(Game(root), log=lambda *a: None)
    assert rep.ok, rep.issues
-    assert rep.checked["BANK"] == 5 and rep.checked["INT"] == 4
+    assert rep.checked["BANK"] == 6 and rep.checked["INT"] == 4


 def test_corrupted_catalog_is_reported(synth_game):
--- a/tests/test_texts.py
+++ b/tests/test_texts.py
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+"""Subtitles (dialogue objects in packages) and menu text (localization files): parse, apply, revert."""
+import hashlib
+import os
+
+import pytest
+
+import synth
+from ackit import loctext, subtitles
+from ackit.game import Game
+from ackit.texts import MODIFIED, ORIGINAL, TextConflictError
+from ackit.workspace import Workspace
+
+SUB_KEY = "SUB:INT:%s:0" % synth.SPEECH_EVENT
+
+
+def _sha(p):
+    return hashlib.sha1(open(p, "rb").read()).hexdigest()
+
+
+def _ws(root, tmp_path):
+    return Workspace(root, store_root=str(tmp_path / "store"), archives=["INT", "SFX", "BANK"])
+
+
+def _files(root):
+    d = os.path.join(root, "BmGame")
+    return {os.path.join(a, f): _sha(os.path.join(a, f)) for a, _, fs in os.walk(d) for f in fs}
+
+
+# --- formats ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+def test_fstring_encoding():
+    b = subtitles.encode_fstring("Hi", 10, "a")
+    assert b == b"\x06\x00\x00\x00Hi\0\0\0\0" and subtitles.read_fstring(b, 0)[0] == "Hi"
+    w = subtitles.encode_fstring("Привет", 4 + 2 * 8, "w")
+    assert subtitles.read_fstring(w, 0) == ("Привет", 20, "w")
+    with pytest.raises(subtitles.SubtitleError):
+        subtitles.encode_fstring("too long", 10, "a")
+    with pytest.raises(subtitles.SubtitleError):
+        subtitles.encode_fstring("→", 10, "a")                      # not in cp1252
+
+
+def test_menu_parse_and_write():
+    fname, text = synth.MENU["INT"]
+    raw = b"\xff\xfe" + text.encode("utf-16-le")
+    es = {e.key: e for e in loctext.parse(raw, "INT", fname)}
+    assert es["INT:FRONTEND.int:Menu:Start"].value == "Press any key"
+    assert es["INT:FRONTEND.int:Menu:Quit"].quoted and es["INT:FRONTEND.int:Tips:Tip#2"].value == "Glide over the city"
+    assert loctext.write(raw, "INT", fname, {}) == raw
+    new = loctext.write(raw, "INT", fname, {"INT:FRONTEND.int:Menu:Quit": "Leave", "INT:FRONTEND.int:Tips:Tip#2": "Fly"})
+    assert new.decode("utf-16") == text.replace('"Quit game"', '"Leave"').replace("Glide over the city", "Fly")
+    with pytest.raises(loctext.TextError):
+        loctext.write(raw, "INT", fname, {"INT:FRONTEND.int:Menu:Start": "two\nlines"})
+
+
+# --- subtitles through the workspace ------------------------------------------------------------
+def test_subtitle_catalog_and_link(synth_game, tmp_path):
+    root, _ = synth_game
+    ws = _ws(root, tmp_path)
+    lines = ws.texts.subtitles("INT")
+    assert [(s.speech, s.line, s.text) for s in lines] == [(synth.SPEECH_EVENT, 0, "Scanner line two."),
+                                                          (synth.SPEECH_EVENT, 1, "Second part.")]
+    line = ws.catalog.by_key["INT:%08X:1" % synth.SPEECH_ENTRY]
+    assert [s.text for s in ws.texts.for_sound(line)] == ["Scanner line two.", "Second part."]
+    assert ws.texts.subtitles("ITA")[0].sound == line.key            # no ITA speech WAD here: INT line
+    assert ws.texts.subtitles("RUS")[0].enc == "w"
+    assert sorted(os.path.basename(p) for p in ws.texts.files(SUB_KEY)) == ["Synth_Dialogue.upk", "Synth_Dialogue2.upk"]
+    assert ws.texts.limit(SUB_KEY) == len("Scanner line two.")
+
+
+def test_subtitle_apply_revert_every_copy(synth_game, tmp_path):
+    root, _ = synth_game
+    ws = _ws(root, tmp_path)
+    before = _files(root)
+    ws.texts.apply({SUB_KEY: "Line two.", "SUB:RUS:%s:0" % synth.SPEECH_EVENT: "Две"})
+    assert ws.texts.current(SUB_KEY) == "Line two." and ws.texts.state(SUB_KEY) == MODIFIED
+    for p in ws.texts.files(SUB_KEY):                                # every copy
+        ws2 = _ws(root, tmp_path / "other")
+        assert ws2.texts.current(SUB_KEY) == "Line two."
+    with pytest.raises(subtitles.SubtitleError):
+        ws.texts.apply({SUB_KEY: "This line is far too long for the room"})
+    ws.texts.revert([SUB_KEY])
+    assert ws.texts.current(SUB_KEY) == "Scanner line two." and ws.texts.current("SUB:RUS:%s:0" % synth.SPEECH_EVENT) == "Две"
+    ws.texts.revert_all()
+    assert _files(root) == before and ws.texts.state(SUB_KEY) == ORIGINAL
+
+
+def test_subtitle_and_sound_in_one_package(synth_game, tmp_path):
+    root, _ = synth_game
+    ws = _ws(root, tmp_path)
+    before = _files(root)
+    s = ws.catalog.by_key["BANK:%08X" % synth.DLG_MEDIA]
+    ws.apply([(s, synth.wem(0.1, 1900), {})])
+    ws.texts.apply({SUB_KEY: "Both."})
+    assert ws.texts.current(SUB_KEY) == "Both." and ws.state(s) == "modified"
+    ws.revert([s])
+    assert ws.texts.current(SUB_KEY) == "Both." and ws.state(s) == "original"
+    ws.texts.revert_all()
+    assert _files(root) == before
+
+
+# --- menu text through the workspace ------------------------------------------------------------
+def test_menu_apply_revert(synth_game, tmp_path):
+    root, _ = synth_game
+    ws = _ws(root, tmp_path)
+    before = _files(root)
+    assert "INT" in ws.texts.menu_languages()
+    keys = {e.key: e for e in ws.texts.menu("INT")}
+    assert "INT:Version.int:ID:Unreal" not in keys
+    k = "MENU:INT:FRONTEND.int:Menu:Start"
+    ws.texts.apply({k: "Press Enter"})
+    assert ws.texts.current(k) == "Press Enter" and ws.texts.state(k) == MODIFIED
+    assert {e.key: e.value for e in ws.texts.menu("INT")}["INT:FRONTEND.int:Menu:Start"] == "Press Enter"
+    ws.texts.revert([k])
+    assert _files(root) == before
+
+
+def test_menu_changed_underneath(synth_game, tmp_path):
+    root, _ = synth_game
+    ws = _ws(root, tmp_path)
+    k = "MENU:INT:FRONTEND.int:Tips:Tip#2"
+    ws.texts.apply({k: "Glide"})
+    path = ws.texts.files(k)[0]
+    raw = open(path, "rb").read()
+    open(path, "wb").write(loctext.write(raw, "INT", "FRONTEND.int", {"INT:FRONTEND.int:Menu:Start": "Other tool"}))
+    with pytest.raises(TextConflictError):
+        ws.texts.apply({k: "Soar"})
+    ws.texts.apply({k: "Soar"}, force=True)
+    assert ws.texts.current(k) == "Soar"
+    ws.texts.revert_all()
+    assert open(path, "rb").read() == open(ws.store.full_copy(ws.game.rel(path)), "rb").read()
+
+
+# --- real game (read-only) ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+def test_real_subtitles_and_menu(real_game_dir, tmp_path):
+    ws = Workspace(Game(real_game_dir), store_root=str(tmp_path / "store"), archives=["ITA"])
+    lines = ws.texts.subtitles("ITA")
+    assert len(lines) > 9000
+    s = next(x for x in lines if x.sound)
+    assert ws.texts.current(subtitles.key("ITA", s.speech, s.line)) == s.text
+    menu = ws.texts.menu("ITA")
+    assert len(menu) > 7000 and all(e.lang == "ITA" for e in menu)
--- a/tests/test_workspace.py
+++ b/tests/test_workspace.py
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ def test_mod_export_import_roundtrip(synth_game, synth_template, tmp_path):
    ws2 = ws_for(other, store_root=str(tmp_path / "store2"))
    _, items = match_mod(ws2, pkg)
    assert [i.how for i in items] == ["exact", "exact"]
-    res = import_mod(ws2, pkg)
+    res, _ = import_mod(ws2, pkg)
    assert all(i.note == "exact copy" for i in res)
    assert ws2.current_bytes(ws2.catalog.by_key[a.key]) == wa
    assert ws2.current_bytes(ws2.catalog.by_key[b.key]) == wb
--- a/tools/build_catalog.py
+++ b/tools/build_catalog.py
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ Outputs
  data/catalog/<ARCHIVE>.csv    every sound of one archive (schema: data/catalog/README.md)
  data/catalog/BANK.csv         in-memory sounds (soundbanks in SFX/*.bnk and the .upk packages)
  data/catalog/BANK_locations.csv.gz   every stored copy of them + the prefetch heads of speech lines
+  data/catalog/SUB_<LANG>.csv   subtitles of the speech lines (one file per language)
+  data/catalog/SUB_locations.csv.gz    every stored copy of each subtitle string
  data/catalog/index.json       fingerprints the CSVs were built from + counts
 Run it only on clean game files (`ackit status` must say nothing is modified).
 """
@@ -20,8 +22,8 @@ import sys
 import time

 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))))
-from ackit import banks, settings  # noqa: E402
-from ackit.catalog import scan_archive, scan_banks, write_csv, hash_names  # noqa: E402
+from ackit import banks, settings, subtitles  # noqa: E402
+from ackit.catalog import scan_archive, scan_text, write_csv, hash_names  # noqa: E402
 from ackit.classify import USER_LABELS  # noqa: E402
 from ackit.game import Game, default_game_dir, wad_fingerprint  # noqa: E402
 from ackit.inject import read_target  # noqa: E402
@@ -113,7 +115,8 @@ def main():

    # in-memory sounds: loose SFX\*.bnk + banks inside the .upk packages (a few minutes)
    t0 = time.time()
-    sounds, locs, sc = scan_banks(game, progress=lambda k, n: print("  banks: %d/%d files" % (k, n), flush=True)
+    sounds, locs, sc, texts, sublocs, sub_issues = scan_text(
+        game, progress=lambda k, n: print("  banks + subtitles: %d/%d files" % (k, n), flush=True)
        if k % 500 == 0 else None, characters=charmap)
    write_csv(os.path.join(out_dir, "%s.csv" % banks.ARCHIVE), sounds)
    banks.write_locations(os.path.join(out_dir, banks.LOCATIONS), locs)
@@ -128,6 +131,23 @@ def main():
        "issues": ["%s: %s" % i for i in sc.issues]}
    print("%s.csv: %d sounds %s, %d copies in %d files, %d prefetch heads (%.0fs)"
          % (banks.ARCHIVE, len(sounds), dict(g), len(locs) - len(heads), len(sc.files), len(heads), time.time() - t0))
+
+    # subtitles (dialogue objects in the packages), one CSV per language + every stored copy
+    for f in os.listdir(out_dir):
+        if f.startswith("SUB_") and f.endswith(".csv"):
+            os.remove(os.path.join(out_dir, f))
+    for lang, rows in texts.items():
+        subtitles.write_texts(os.path.join(out_dir, "SUB_%s.csv" % lang), rows)
+    subtitles.write_locations(os.path.join(out_dir, subtitles.LOCATIONS), sublocs)
+    any_lang = next(iter(texts.values()), [])
+    index["archives"]["SUB"] = {
+        "fingerprint": banks.game_fingerprint(game.cooked),
+        "lines": {lang: len(rows) for lang, rows in sorted(texts.items())},
+        "speech_lines": len({s.speech for s in any_lang}),
+        "linked": {lang: sum(1 for s in rows if s.sound) for lang, rows in sorted(texts.items())},
+        "copies": len(sublocs), "issues": ["%s: %s" % i for i in sub_issues]}
+    print("SUB_*.csv: %d languages, %d subtitle strings, %d copies"
+          % (len(texts), sum(len(r) for r in texts.values()), len(sublocs)))
    # flatten for catalog.load_archive
    flat = {a: v for a, v in index["archives"].items()}
    json.dump(dict(flat, _info=index["built_from"]), open(os.path.join(out_dir, "index.json"), "w", newline="\n"), indent=1)