Devastation Net 0.1.4.0
2008, June 3rd 7:18 PM
Time for another release!
Version 0.1.4.0 is now here, with two new exciting features.
First: Linux support! I've done my best at getting a functional Linux package together, and I think I have one. This ought to plug straight into a vanilla Ubuntu installation. If you want to install it on any other distribution . . . well, hopefully you can figure it out. Is there a better way to package it? Maybe. If so, please let me know, since I'm really kind of in the dark here. You will need some kind of 3d acceleration support, just to warn you – software rendering is, shall we say, slow.
Second: Editor support! I've included the level editor I use for all the levels and much of the 3d geometry. It's undocumented and largely unsupported, and there are many issues with it (such as the lack of copy/paste) but it does work, and it is usable. If you want to make your own levels, or edit the existing levels, now you can. I'm certain there are ways you can make invalid levels that will cause the game to crash, but I'm OK with that because invalid levels should really be spitting out useful error messages instead of just crashing.
As for the game itself, it's mostly only been changed with a few small bugfixes and usability fixes. Finally, though, I'm moving onto actually improving the game itself, so with luck it'll get more exciting soon.
As a side note, I'd love to make an OSX version. However, I don't have a Mac. If anyone has an ancient OSX-capable Mac system that they'd be willing to donate or loan, I promise I'll get an OSX build working just as soon as I have a platform I can run it on :)
Download the Windows version and the Linux version, and if you're getting the Linux version, please tell me if it works!
David
2008, June 4th 6:20 AMThe effort involved in figuring out how to install a .deb on my RPM-based system is higher than my desire to play the game. :P
Possibly just a plain tarball would be better.
Zorba
2008, June 4th 6:29 AMI've thought about providing a tarball also, but I don't want to delve into the mess of Linux shared object hell. I don't even know how that works on Linux since you don't have essentially guaranteed shared objects – how can I provide something that will interface with your windowing library when I have no idea what your windowing library is?
I'd probably have to distribute at least one library along with it, and I just don't know how that would work. If you have suggestions, though, I'm interested :)
Jer Warren
2008, June 5th 4:46 PMit installed fine, but can't find my 3d hardware. which i suspect is Ubuntu's fault, because my display is all fubard since i upgraded to Hardly. You'd think I'd learn after EVERY freaking ubuntu upgrade in the last 5 years has hosed my machine, but no…
Anyway, when I get around to the fresh install that I've been putting off for over a month I'll let you know how it works.
Zorba
2008, June 6th 7:00 AMI think I got a crash report from you :D
Just to confirm, do you have 3d hardware drivers installed? I know Ubuntu has software drivers since that's what I had to use for testing, but honestly I haven't gotten a shot at testing with hardware drivers yet (although, since all that happens inside SDL, it's unfortunately kind of a black box to me – one problem with using third-party libraries.)
jer@nyquil.org
2008, June 6th 1:22 PMIndeed you did. I did have hardware drivers installed before I let ubuntu upgrade itself, and Compiz is nice and snappy, so I'm pretty sure hardware is doing its job, but I would not be at all surprised if Hardly borked it up. I have been having display quirks, so I'm pretty sure something is broken on my end.
Endolith
2008, July 29th 9:01 PMYou just got a crash report from me, too. I have an Nvidia 3D card, and I can use it in Ubuntu (Compiz with black windows, for instance), but it doesn't find it and I have no idea about hardware drivers vs software drivers.