# PLAN.md — Slovak translation of Outer Wilds

Roadmap for building the mod. Status markers: ✅ done · 🚧 in progress · ⬜ todo.

## Goal

Add **Slovenčina** as a fully selectable language to *Outer Wilds*, covering the
**base game and the *Echoes of the Eye* DLC**, distributed as an Outer Wilds Mod
Manager mod. Quality target: natural, consistent Slovak — not literal machine
output.

## Approach

- Built on **xen-42's Localization Utility / Interplanetary Polyglot**
  (`xen.LocalizationUtility`) — register a new language from one `Translation.xml`.
  No game files needed to build.
- **Translation:** machine-assisted first pass (clean-room, no third-party
  translation text reused), then a **Slovak-speaking human review pass**. Phased by
  category so partial releases are usable: **UI/menus → dialogue/text walls →
  ship log**.
- **Scope:** the single ~896 KB `Translation.xml` already contains base game + DLC
  strings together, so scope is "everything," sequenced internally by category.

## Phases

### Phase 1 — Repo scaffold & docs ✅
`README.md`, `CLAUDE.md`, `PLAN.md`, and MIT `LICENSE` in place.

### Phase 2 — Mod skeleton ✅
Created the OWML mod shell, modelled on
[`shippy/outer-wilds-czech`](https://github.com/shippy/outer-wilds-czech):

- `manifest.json` — `author: Homer`, `uniqueName: Homer.SlovakTranslation`,
  `name`, `version`, `owmlVersion`, `dependencies: ["xen.LocalizationUtility"]`.
- `ILocalizationAPI.cs` — interface copied from the utility.
- `SlovakTranslation.cs` — `ModBehaviour` calling
  `api.RegisterLanguage(this, "Slovenčina", "assets/Translation.xml")`.
- `SlovakTranslation.csproj` / `.sln`, `.gitignore`, empty `assets/`.
- Optional: GitHub/Gitea release workflow.

### Phase 3 — Import English source ✅
Imported the base English `Translation.xml` (896 KB, 2424 entries, keys == values)
from the utility repo into `assets/`. This is the file to translate.

> Build verified: `dotnet build -c Release` compiles against the `OWML` /
> `OuterWildsGameLibs` NuGet packages (no game install needed) and stages a
> loadable mod folder (`SlovakTranslation.dll` + `manifest.json` +
> `default-config.json` + `assets/Translation.xml`) in `bin/`.

### Phase 4 — Glossary ⬜
Write `docs/glossary.md` fixing SK renderings (or keep-in-English decisions) for
proper nouns and recurring terms, e.g.: Nomai, Hearthian, the Eye / Eye of the
Universe, Ash Twin Project, Vessel, Black Hole Forge, Quantum Moon, Sun Station,
ship log, Nomai statue, Ember Twin, Ash Twin, Timber Hearth, Brittle Hollow,
Giant's Deep, Dark Bramble, Interloper, Stranger (DLC), Owlk/"Owlks" (DLC).
Decide tone/register (informal *ty* vs. formal) and lock it here.

### Phase 5 — Translate `<value>` entries 🚧/⬜
Machine-assisted pass → human review, by category (UI/menus → dialogue → ship log),
base + DLC. Preserve all `&lt;color=…&gt;`/`&lt;i&gt;` markup, entities, and speaker
prefixes. Track progress and any hard-to-translate lines here or in issues.

### Phase 6 — Diacritic / font check ⬜
Verify the stock game font renders all Slovak glyphs
(á ä č ď é í ĺ ľ ň ó ô ŕ š ť ú ý ž). Only if any are missing: build a font asset
bundle in **Unity 2019.4.27f1** and wire `api.AddLanguageFont(...)`.

### Phase 7 — Build & in-game test ⬜
**Prerequisite:** install *Outer Wilds* + Outer Wilds Mod Manager + OWML (none are
on this machine yet). Then `dotnet build`, load via the Mod Manager, select
Slovenčina, and verify menus, dialogue, and ship log render correctly.

### Phase 8 — Release ⬜
Tag a Gitea release; optionally submit to the Outer Wilds mod database so the mod
appears in the Mod Manager for everyone.

## Open items / risks

- **Font coverage** for Slovak-specific glyphs (ľ ĺ ŕ ô ä) is unverified until
  in-game testing (Phase 6/7).
- **Translation volume is the real cost** — ~896 KB of source text. A
  Slovak-speaking review pass is essential, especially for DLC/dialogue nuance,
  puns, and Nomai text-wall length constraints.
- **In-game testing is blocked** until the game + Mod Manager are installed locally.
- Confirm the tone/register decision (Phase 4) early — reworking it later is costly.

## References

- Localization Utility / Interplanetary Polyglot (framework, MIT, source template):
  https://github.com/xen-42/outer-wilds-localization-utility
- Czech mod (structure reference): https://github.com/shippy/outer-wilds-czech
- OWML: https://github.com/ow-mods/owml
- Mod Manager: https://outerwildsmods.com/mod-manager/