How to Compile on Linux

While its been said in other places, this being the new linux forum. I wanted to start throwing down some topics that are going to be frequently asked going forwards for new users.

First you need to get a copy of the Linux download or Windows download, get them onto your linux box as effectively as you can. While not a big fan of SAMBA, it works really well for this process.

cd engine/compilers/make

Here you need to make a decision about which compilers, which targets, and such.

If you run make you'll get some instructions if things are not already set

Makefile:5: *** Configuration file not defined.  Please run make -f configure.mk

run make -f configure.mk

make -f configure.mk

Get more instructions

ERROR: OS variable not set or is an illegal value
ERROR: COMPILER variable not set or is an illegal value
ERROR: BUILD variable not set or is an illegal value

Current Configuration: this config is INVALID
         OS: 
   COMPILER: 
      BUILD: 
    DIR.OBJ: out

To change the current configuration type:

make -f configure.mk {arguments, ...}

required arguments:
  OS={WIN32 BEOS LINUX OpenBSD FreeBSD Solaris}
  COMPILER={CW6 VC6 GCC2 GCC3 GCC3.4 GCC4}
  BUILD={DEBUG RELEASE}

optional arguments:
  DIR.OBJ={path to store intermediate obj files}

Note: all arguments are case sensitive.

Here you'll need to decide a few things about your system.

1. Which OS you'll be using "WIN32 BEOS LINUX OpenBSD FreeBSD Solaris"

For my system I have LINUX

2. Which Compiler your using. "CW6 VC6 GCC2 GCC3 GCC3.4 GCC4"

For my systems I have both GCC3 and GCC4 But Im testing GCC3 right now so I'm going to use it.

3. Build Type. "DEBUG or RELEASE"
I always attempt DEBUG releases first. So thats what I'll use here.

Redo your make command with the following based on your choices

make -f configure.mk OS=LINUX COMPILER=GCC3 BUILD=DEBUG

Once this is ran, it will echo your responses back to you and show you if they are valid or not.

Current Configuration: this config is VALID 
         OS: LINUX
   COMPILER: GCC3
      BUILD: DEBUG
    DIR.OBJ: out

at this point your ready to attempt a build.

just run make

make

Now keep an eye on things.. you'll see some warnings about the extra line GCC likes not being on alot of files with a message like warning: no newline at end of file. This is a safe warning to ignore in most cases.

If you get through the compile, your binary will get linked and tossed into games directory at the top of the tree.

cd /home/rrindels/tgb/games

here I simply run my binary... and enjoy..

./TGB_DEBUG.bin

I know there are some other things to consider. If I missed any due diligence steps , please feel free to add them in, correct me, or flame me as is expected of a good linux community.

--Rod