Homicide Desk Settings and Languages
Ten interface languages, English and Arabic audio, RTL, scanlines, Cloud, and demo versus retail.
Settings is a desktop icon, not a pause-menu afterthought. Homicide Desk is a CRT-era police OS: scanlines, a world clock, weather on the taskbar, and a language stack that actually matters because interrogation is typed text. Shu’la Lab LLC shipped ten interface languages on September 1, 2026. Only English and Arabic include full audio. Arabic also gets right-to-left layout. This page is how to set that stack, what the Steam demo is, and what Cloud will and will not save.
First boot still belongs in Getting Started. Mouse habits belong in controls. If the window is black or ollama.exe will not die, that is not a language problem — use system requirements and the local interrogation model page.
The ten languages, audio, and RTL
Interface and subtitles ship in English, Arabic, Simplified Chinese, French, German, Spanish (Spain), Japanese, Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, and Turkish. Full audio is English and Arabic only. The other eight are text. This wiki covers English, French, German, and Spanish because those are the mainstream set the template keeps for a non-Roblox Steam game; it does not ship Simplified Chinese or Russian pages.
Open Settings before you touch Cases if you are not playing in English. Patch 1.3.8 is the translation catch-up. Before that build, Case #000 had no overlay for French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Turkish, so those players saw English prompts. Later-added lines in cases 001–003, including the arrest-warrant charge line, had been followed in Arabic only. 1.3.8 fills those files. If you started the pawnshop before 1.3.8 in one of the seven overlay-missing languages, reopen the tutorial screens so you are not following leftover English HR text by habit.
Arabic is a first-class layout, not a pasted font. Enable it in Settings, confirm RTL on windows and Case Files, and expect full audio. English audio plus a French interface is a valid mix if that is how you read faster. The booth still wants you to type; the local model phrases replies from handwritten facts. Changing UI language does not change who is guilty.
Scanlines, CRT glow, and volume live in the same app. They are comfort, not difficulty. If the desktop is unreadable on a dim panel, drop the overlay before you blame forensics UV. The UV lamp is a desktop right-click, not a Settings toggle.
Demo versus the full desk
The Steam demo is app 4983690. It is Case #000 The Pawnshop Key: Westgate Pawn & Loan at 44 Corbett Street, Longines tag HV-0417, Edwin Hollis, Tommy Vale, Dana Brook, counter receipt 26-0893. Retail keeps that file as mandatory field certification. Buying the $5.99 game does not skip the robbery. Finish it, get certified, then Morrison drops a homicide.
A late demo update tightened interrogation: suspects kept knowledge and consistency instead of inventing holes. Onboarding moved to the in-game phone. Whitmore’s HR messages replaced popup tooltips. Retail 1.3.x is that patched desk, not the first public demo build. If a YouTube clip from July 2026 shows a tooltip tour, treat patch notes as current.
The full release adds homicides 001–003, the living precinct (salary, Store, Game Room, City Atlas dispatch, Gazette, promotions), Steam Achievements (22), Family Sharing, and the same local model at about 13 GB. The demo is a handshake. The overtime file is the job. Spoiler-safe case pages: training case and The Overtime.
Cloud, saves, and what Settings will not fix
Steam Cloud is on. Quota on the app is modest; do not treat the desk as a screenshot dump. There is no multiplayer slot and no shared Cloud with a partner. Family Sharing works for the license. Steam Deck compatibility is unknown at launch — do not buy this as a verified handheld title.
Settings will not raise RAM. The interrogation model still wants the spec sheet. Settings will not stop a leftover llama-server.exe on a pre-1.3.9 build. Settings will not localize a case you have not updated. Settings will not open a sealed strongbox.
Use Notebook for codes you earn. The OS will not tattoo a passphrase on the taskbar. Use Personnel File before you pay for a dossier you already had. Use Email for Morrison and Whitmore, not as a second Gazette.
Official channels, Discord, and mail sit on links. Language bugs after 1.3.8 belong there with your UI language and build number. Buyer questions about the $5.99 launch price and the 17 percent intro offer through 15 September 2026 sit in the review.
Set the language, read Whitmore, close the pawnshop, then open a homicide. The CRT is a workplace. Treat Settings like the first drawer you open, not the last.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers for detectives still on the clock.
Which languages have full audio?
English and Arabic. The other eight store languages are interface and text. Arabic also uses right-to-left layout. Enable both in Settings.
Why is my tutorial still in English after I picked French?
You are probably on a build before 1.3.8. That patch adds Case #000 overlays for seven languages and fills later-added lines in cases 001–003. Update, then reopen the tutorial screens.
Does the demo skip into the full game?
No. The demo is The Pawnshop Key. Retail still requires you to close it and get field-certified. See the training case.
Is Simplified Chinese or Russian on this wiki?
No. The wiki is English, French, German, and Spanish. The game itself still ships those store languages in the client.
Does Steam Cloud save interrogation state?
Cloud is on for the Windows build. Keep a clean quit so 1.3.9 can stop the local model process. Details: local interrogation model.
Can I mix English audio with a German interface?
Yes. Audio and UI are separate. Full voice-over still exists only in English and Arabic.