# So, where do I start?

**URL:** <https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-where-do-i-start/2206>\
**Category:** Translations Team Discussion\
**Created:** [July 14, 2013, 11:29am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-where-do-i-start/2206 "2013-07-14T11:29:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 12\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Drakasin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/drakasin/32/850_2.png) [@Drakasin](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Drakasin)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 11:29am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-where-do-i-start/2206/1 "2013-07-14T11:29:49Z")

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Well, I’ve been thinking of translating the game into czech (cs\_CZ) and I am eager to get started, but I need some help first. I know that some of the answers to the following questions are somewhere on this forum/in this section, but I would like to have it all in one thread.

1. Where do I start? Where do I apply?
2. Where do I get the template file?
3. Where should I post the translation (github etc.) or/and to whom I should send it to?
4. Do I need some special permisson or something to get started?

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**Author:** ![CIB](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/cib/32/903_2.png) [@CIB](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/CIB)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-where-do-i-start/2206/2 "2013-07-15T00:11:40Z")

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You can find a lot of info here: [https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/blob/master/TRANSLATING.md](https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/blob/master/TRANSLATING.md)

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**Author:** ![Drakasin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/drakasin/32/850_2.png) [@Drakasin](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Drakasin)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 8:46am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-where-do-i-start/2206/3 "2013-07-15T08:46:13Z")

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Uh, I don’t have Linux. Could someone on Linux generate the .po file for me, please?

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**Author:** ![yobbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b9e5f3/32.png) [@yobbo](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/yobbo)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 12:18pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-where-do-i-start/2206/4 "2013-07-20T12:18:53Z")

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You can actually just copy the “cataclysm-dda.pot” file to “cs\_CZ.po” and that will work. It doesn’t set the header up correctly, but you can do that fairly easily by copying the relevant parts from one of the other .po files. (Plural forms aren’t used yet, so that part can be ignored.)

If you use a po file editor, i think they can convert it for you too, but it might depend on the editor.

I would make a cz\_CZ.po file now but there seem to be some changes to cataclysm-dda.pot in an open pull request… better to wait for that to go thru.

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**Author:** ![Drakasin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/drakasin/32/850_2.png) [@Drakasin](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Drakasin)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 12:44pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-where-do-i-start/2206/5 "2013-07-20T12:44:10Z")

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[quote=“yobbo, post:4, topic:2206”]You can actually just copy the “cataclysm-dda.pot” file to “cs\_CZ.po” and that will work. It doesn’t set the header up correctly, but you can do that fairly easily by copying the relevant parts from one of the other .po files. (Plural forms aren’t used yet, so that part can be ignored.)

If you use a po file editor, i think they can convert it for you too, but it might depend on the editor.

I would make a cz\_CZ.po file now but there seem to be some changes to cataclysm-dda.pot in an open pull request… better to wait for that to go thru.[/quote]

Alright then.

Hmm… I should get linux anyway, just for compiling and trying it out before rolling it out in the future cata versions.

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**Author:** ![yobbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b9e5f3/32.png) [@yobbo](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/yobbo)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 12:52pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-where-do-i-start/2206/6 "2013-07-20T12:52:06Z")

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Oh, and to actually answer your questions:

1. Saying that you’re translating here on the translation forum is probably enough to make sure no one else tries to translate the same stuff at the same time, so just starting is fine.
2. the template file is lang/po/cataclysm-dda.pot, you can just copy it to cs\_CZ.po i think. Technically you can edit cs\_CZ.po by hand, but using a po file editor is probably easier, and that editor can probably initialize the translation file for you (i assume).
3. a pull request on github is the easiest way to submit the translation (you can do this with half-finished translations just fine, then another when more is done, etc etc) but you have to know your way around github and git. Alternatively the translations can be posted here in the forums and someone will merge them, although it might take a while (i’m pretty busy right now). You can also probably ask on IRC and someone there will help.
4. not really, just posting and checking other posts to make sure no one else is working on the same thing is fine. Don’t want anyone duplicating effort is all.

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**Author:** ![vultures](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/vultures/32/69_2.png) [@vultures](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/vultures)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-where-do-i-start/2206/7 "2013-07-23T16:10:23Z")

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I’m almost done with final-checking of my translation, and I remembered I had a problem.  
I don’t have a clue how to translate the term for the entity known as Manhack.  
It is not as rare as I thought, considering futuristic fiction lore, but other than brief descripts and depictions to the artificial being. Any help would be appreciated, even if you finally find a reason to write about 'em somewhere. They’ve also been featured in some games, such as HL2.

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**Author:** ![AerialK7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@AerialK7](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/AerialK7)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 12:08am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-where-do-i-start/2206/8 "2013-07-24T00:08:32Z")

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[quote=“vultures, post:7, topic:2206”]I’m almost done with final-checking of my translation, and I remembered I had a problem.  
I don’t have a clue how to translate the term for the entity known as Manhack.  
It is not as rare as I thought, considering futuristic fiction lore, but other than brief descripts and depictions to the artificial being. Any help would be appreciated, even if you finally find a reason to write about 'em somewhere. They’ve also been featured in some games, such as HL2.[/quote]

Could you not just conjoin the 2 words together? Like the word for man/human then a - then the word for hack? Or is czech not as flexible as English like that and it wouldnt make sense?

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**Author:** ![vultures](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/vultures/32/69_2.png) [@vultures](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/vultures)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-where-do-i-start/2206/9 "2013-07-24T00:21:11Z")

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I don’t need to sound smart, but you are talking about the meaning of words, while there is an issue that concerns ethimology. What I wanted to say, I need to know where that word, Manhack, came from and what does it represent at the core.  
I know its basic purpose - to keep curious bystanders from using service entrances, and equipment to. So what is it, some kind of a mini-sentinel unit with blades for a propeller? Does it spin extremelly fast, does it make a buzzing noise? Is it blue, or dreadfully black with only a single led light to tell of its presence?  
Please don’t let me call it Goofy or Winnie the Pooh.

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**Author:** ![BMacZero](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/bmaczero/32/926_2.png) [@BMacZero](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/BMacZero)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 2:36am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-where-do-i-start/2206/10 "2013-07-24T02:36:07Z")

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It’s from Half-Life.  
[http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Manhack](http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Manhack)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![AerialK7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@AerialK7](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/AerialK7)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 5:20am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-where-do-i-start/2206/11 "2013-07-24T05:20:43Z")

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Yeah, Id just go for the HL description

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![vultures](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/vultures/32/69_2.png) [@vultures](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/vultures)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-where-do-i-start/2206/12 "2013-07-25T01:19:30Z")

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C’mon, a little help, I don’t want my robot to be some gay-arse Johnny Appleseed.  
Does it spin, does it cut, is it slashing that he’s all about? I think sometime I’ve heard a reference to a manhack, that had something medieval, fantastic and terrible, scary yet sensible. Dig it?