Building freeciv for win32 
("native" build)
-------------------------------------------
Requirements: a unix environment with gcc and binutils for windows (mingw32)
              for the native win32 client: libz and libpng
              (from ftp://ftp.freeciv.org/pub/freeciv/requirements)

Autoconf and co:
If you build from cvs, you will have to replace ./configure with ./autogen.sh 
in the following lines.
You will have trouble with the paths (especially with the localedir) if you 
use autoconf2.52.
So autoconf 2.13 is the preferred version. 

Configuring the source:
-----------------------
1. with the cygwin utils:
You need the mingw and the w32api package. 

export CC="gcc -mno-cygwin"
./configure --with-included-gettext --prefix=.

2. cross compiling from a real unix.
replace X with a number which you have choosen when you have configured your 
cross compiler.

export CC=iX86-mingw32-gcc
export AR=iX86-mingw32-ar
export RANLIB=i386-mingw32-ranlib
./configure --host=iX86-mingw32 --build=$(./config.guess) --with-included-gettext --enable-client=win32 --prefix=.


Buld and install:
--------------------
make
make DESTDIR=absolute_install_path bindir=./ install

absolute_install_path must be  the path where you want to install freeciv.
It must be absolute and must end with a slash.

Now it is time to cleanup the stuff a bit.
cd into your install dir. Then check if the executables have the .exe suffix and if you want, strip them.
I suggest to move the data dir:

mv share/freeciv data

The final step is to convert the gfx to png. Use your favorite gfx program in
order to do that. You can use a combination of ImageMagick and pngquant for
that.  But it is really important that you check the result. Check every file.
The alpha channel (transparency)  often magically disappears. There is no 
reliable script for that.