Well, if I’m losing the part of the audience that can’t stand casual discussions about languages, I’ll count that as a win.
There’s also Inkarnate. But depends on what kind of a map (city bus line map is a different animal from world map, and whether or not you want to create random landmasses or know roughly the shape of your continents matter too).
I think most people will be ok with it, and even be interested in it, as long as anything important or particular interesting is understandable. Either by translating it into English or by giving the reader context clues.
An example of the latter would be terms of endearment. I don’t need to know what exactly the RO is calling my character, but I should be able to tell that it’s a term of endearment
Ohhhhh, nonono, what I meant about writing multilingually is more about using turns of phrases from one language translated word-for-word into English, characters going rounds trying to remember a word, and trying to translate things. Also multilidialectial puns. I have this one I’m super proud of, that I’m pretty sure not even 99,99% of Finns would get, so it’ll just look like a weird name for a corporation, not a funny name for a corporarion, but it’s there. The words should be understandable, even if the reader might be confused as to what was funny, or why a character curses with a number.
(Although yeah, I do have a character who uses terms of endearment in different languages depending on which one of their friends they’re talking to, based on what those friends’ native languages are.)
Also giving special language-related dialogue for MCs with specific backgrounds, where they observe things and comment on it differently. Sadly I have to limit that, since I don’t know many languages that deeply…
I think this would add an interesting flavor to the story. There could maybe be a character bio added somewhere in the menu for people who are really curious (even if it’s for the sake of not answering the same question over and over). Though my experience with people and reading any kind of etymology footnote, even in fiction books, is that it’s generally skipped over. Name puns might fly by some readers’ heads, but the majority will probably consider it a creative keysmash name and continue on lol.
For whatever reason, this talk of languages and names made me remember there’s a character called He Man in Romance of the Three Kingdoms (the original novel).
If I remember correctly, he runs in and dies like a paragraph later (or even in the same paragraph he appears?), but… yeah. It was quite funny.
Edit: No, it has to be seen, really.
“The commander He Man strode out of the lines and shouted to Cao Cao’s army, “I am He Man, the devil who shoots across the sky! Who dares challenge me!” Cao Hong dismounted and rushed out. They fought forty to fifty bouts, before Cao Hong fled, trailing his sword. He Man pursued. Cao Hong then swiftly turned and He Man, unable to react fast enough, was killed with a single blow from Cao Hong.”
I changed my profile picture because I was tired of my face AND I think Harris, Leia, and Kyle (on Bluesky) changing their profiles to match their latest game is kind of cute AND I’ve been missing my Moonrise werewolves lately.
This reminds me of the time I asked a non-asexual friend to explain undeniable attraction to me. 
I REALLY couldn’t understand the whole “oh, he’s so hot, so I can’t help sleeping with him” thing. Even today, mean/evil love interests are usually a hard sell for me, but I think I understand the phenomenon better.
With my surname, I would be legally obligated to get this Achievement. I would have to make it…cannon 
PLEASE indulge this urge
The phrasing is a little awkward. I’ve been reading erotica lately, so yeah, you’re not imagining the sexual connotations. I like people’s suggestions about Uptight vs Relaxed or Upright vs Lax. Could also do Strict vs Lax or use words like “Disciplined” “By-the-Book” and “Maverick.”
…you know, I might actually grant it straight away if you’ll make the MC’s surname Cannon. 
They don’t act evil towards the MC, so there’s that.
I don’t get it, but that’s the point in a multilingual joke, so I’ll appalaud that.
The point of a trilingual pun, at least in the way I use the word, is that the joke is in the translation. So, “Happy Chicken Bike Centre”.
I have never seen etymology footnotes in fiction books that involve real-world languages, so I’m definitely not going to do that.
Ah, that makes sense. I think it would be funny, even if I don’t get the joke. The incongruity of it would be enough to make anyone chuckle.
Two examples I can think of off the top of my head are Babel by R.F. Kuang and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. Not every footnote is etymological, though many are, whether it be for Latin, Italian, or Victorian/19th Century English.
It’s a fun concept for novels, but wouldn’t really work the same in IF format, probably. Though, a reoccurring joke/phrase could be set in a menu glossary if you chose. I guess it depends on how much effort you want to put in to including readers who might not speak the respective languages.
My point stands… those books clearly don’t happen in an environment the author lives in, and/or expects the audience to live in.
So, on that note:
I want to include them in the experience of reading a book where they aren’t the expected audience. Like reading a translated book from another country.
Then, I suppose you’ve solved your original conundrum. If you want readers to experience exclusion for narrative reasons, then that makes sense, especially if PC is a non-native to your setting. I’m not really sure on the details of your story setting outside of this thread, but it sounds like it would work if that’s your angle. 
That is a separate design choice, but they work in unison. 
I’m writing multilingually because I have a multilingual person’s brain, and I like writing multilingual characters in multilingual settings. What I explain to readers is separate from that, and one does not require another.
(I also wouldn’t call curiosity about data conundrum, but maybe that’s just my vocabulary failing.)
Would you mind unlocking my A Specter Over Kilerth and The Cruel Guardians threads for me, please? A Specter Over Kilerth [1 Chapter, 10k Words] and The Cruel Guardians [9 Chapters, 167k Words]
It looks like the Specter one was never locked? Unlocked the other one, though.
I’ve been having a much better and more intensive writing week this week - I’ve written about 11500 words over three days! Whew!
And I’m really pleased to be sharing the title and background of my new game aka Project Amble* after a few months’ development - it’s a fantasy game called The Earth Has Teeth 
*because the PC will end up travelling a lot, though perhaps at a more urgent pace than an amble in practice
Oh, hehe, thanks!
Heck yeah! That’s a great pun, great achievement.
I have an achievement currently named “Whoa There, Calm Down” that people can get by choosing violence at every possible turn in my seaside slice-of-life IF. Or, at least, I have the achievement planned. I have yet to actually write any punching options.
This title is so cool!! I’m very much looking forward to this.
I’ve been feeling somewhat out of sorts, low on spoons, for the past while, but I’ve been feeling particularly out of sorts the past two days, as I got a job interview and a chance at said job, gonna start work tomorrow. I know I’ll work hard and do a good job, but I also know I didn’t do great in the interview (too nervous at first, forgot words) so there’s inevitably a part of me that doesn’t feel entirely deserving. And there’s a part of me that’s worrying that I’m still dealing with long-term burnout and how much that’s gonna affect my work. And a handful of other worries.
I did think “it’ll be harder to find time to write” as well, but that’s not actually a big concern because it’s not like I’m writing much right now anyway. 
I’ve felt like I am not writing as much this month compared to last month, but that is mainly due to fixing reported bugs and making changes based on feedback.
However, I’m managing to not be saddened by that fact but making an 'executive" decision that my plan for the year is to spend one month writing a chapter, then next month solely bug fixing and adjustments based on feedback.
So the plan would be;
Jan - write chapter one
Feb - bug hunting and feedback adjusting
Mar - write chapter two
Apr - bug hunting and feedback adjusting
Etc…
Nice of Mary to chip in.
Grammarly “corrected” that 
This is exciting! I’m sharing my progress as a writer for the first time! So far, I’ve written 2,000 words. I’m a little worried that readers might get impatient since the prologue takes a while before introducing any choices, but every event in the beginning is crucial to the story. Hopefully, my writing can keep readers engaged until then!