Freelords Localization Howto. (Andrea Paternesi 2004).

1) Create a new localization from scratch.

You must insert into the game code some special characters to indicate which
strings are to be translated.
As example we have the following C++ command in file main.cpp:

   cerr << "No modes available!\n;
   
you must add special characters to tell the compiler to stranslate the string:

   cerr << _("No modes available!\n);

The special characters _() are a macro for the gettext() function.
To create a new .po file you must use the comand "xgettext". Read the man to
understand its use.
A new messages.po will be created and you can edit and  save it with your
localization name (it.po as example).

2) Create a new localization from an existing one (recommended).

Just take the it.po file found int the /po directory and copy it onto a new
file "language".po (as example de.po or be.po or others).
Then replace the strings in italian with the strings in you local language.
The job should be finished.
When you recompile and install the game also the localization files will be 
compiled and installed as well.

3) Update your existing localization file.

You can use this tool "update.pl" found into the /po directory as described 
below: 
	./update.pl [OPTIONS] LANGCODE

By default, this script updates the pot file (the po template generated
from the source code) and merges it with the po files (translations).

For instance to do this for Italian language , type the following :

	./update.pl it
	
The file it.po will be updated with the new strings that you now must 
translate by hand.	

The script also supports other options :

  -V, --version     shows the version
  -H, --help        shows this help page
  -P, --pot         generates only the potfile
  -M, --maintain    search for missing files in POTFILES.in

Especially the --maintain option is very handy for package maintainers
to check if you included all the files that have marked strings in the
POTFILES.in, so they will be in the generated pot file (po template).

"update.pl" is copyright 2000 The Free Software Foundation 
and Kenneth Christiansen (kenneth@gnu.org,kenneth@gnome.org)
