FAQ for FreeCraft Version 1.18


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			  T H E   W A R   B E G I N S
	   FreeCraft - A free fantasy real time strategy game engine

(C) Copyright 1998-2003 by The FreeCraft Project. Distributed under the "GNU General Public License"


For any questions not mentioned here, please visit http://freecraft.org.

Q: I am getting the error "gzseek already defined or undefined!" ?
A: You have an old version of libpng, install the libpng1.0.X or later. You get it here: http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/libpng.html

Q: Does FreeCraft work with ALSA?
A: Yes, FreeCraft works with the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) Driver if you compile FreeCraft using SDL and SDL was compiled to support ALSA (--enable-alsa). It has been tested with versions 0.3.2 to 0.9.0.

More informationcan be found here: http://www.alsa-project.org

Q: Can I use the original CD without expansion?
A: Yes. Only difference is there are more graphics and sounds in the expansion CD version. It works without problems with the german version. If you are still not sure, just try it. It should work without problems.

Q: Why does the cursor react after several seconds when i move it?
A: We didn't find the real problem. Currently use the threaded sound support and enable it (in data/ccl/sound.ccl) or add to the line

"-DSLOW_INPUT" to:

"DFLAGS= $(THREAD) $(CCL) $(VERSION) $(VIDEO) $(ZDEFS) $(DSOUND) $(DEBUG)" in Rules.make

Q: I want to play without having the CD in the drive, can i copy files from CD to hdd ?
A: After running 'build.bat' (WINDOWS) or 'build.sh' (UNIX) the CD is no longer needed. This script converts the data on CD into our own format.
A: You don't need to copy, the installation did it for you.

Q: Why does the game become very slow under X11?
A: Give your X11 server a higher priority than the clients.

renice -5 <pid-of-your-x11-server>

newer linux distributions (debian) does this automatically, or start freecraft with

nice -n 5 ./freecraft

Q: Can I use FreeCraft to join a W*rcr*ft 2 network game?
A: Sorry, FreeCraft use its own network protocol. You can only join FreeCraft network games.

Q: Is it planned to support joining a W*rcr*ft 2 network game?
A: Both network protocols are in such a way, that this would be impossible.

Q: I only have the original BNE version, can I use it?
A: No. Nobody has written a converter for this, if you want to write it, please contact us. It is only a question of time and you must understand writing C.

Q: Why do I get only a black window after I installed it on windows?
A: Try installing FreeCraft to C: drive.

Q: Can I compile FreeCraft with VC++?
A: Yes. Follow the instructions in development.html.

Q: Can I compile FreeCraft with Borland C++?
A: This C compiler isn't supported yet, you can build a project, write the instrutions and than mail it to us.

Information on how to use MingGW and libSDL for cross development and native development:

http://www.libsdl.org/Xmingw32/

Compiler package for windows built by Sam Lantinga:

http://www.libsdl.org/Xmingw32/mingw32.zip

Based on the above this is our build. It contains SDL 1.2.4, libpng, zlib and zziplib. Install this and download the newest FreeCraft source and start FreeCraft development with windows:

http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/freecraft/freecraft-compiler-020322.zip

Q: What port or ports did FreeCraft use for network play?
A: As default the only port used is 6660 UDP for both the client and server side.

Q: Why are there some grayed out fields in the FreeCraft menus?
A: The grayed out menu entries are planned features which aren't finished yet. You are welcome to write them.

Q: Why do I get the following compiler failure:
network.c:282: initializer element is not constant
network.c:282: (near initialization for `CommandsIn[0].first')
A: This is a bug in the GNU C Compiler 2.96, downgrade to GCC 2.95.x or upgrade to GCC 3.xx (expect many wrong warnings). If you are using the Redhat distribution 7.2, you can change CC=gcc to CC=kgcc in Rules.make.

Q: Can I play FreeCraft in fullscreen?
A: Yes fullscreen is supported with SDL. Click on the Options button from the main program menu. In addition, in game use ALT-F or CTRL-F to switch between fullscreen and windowed mode. You can also use the commandline option -F to start the game in fullscreen mode.

Last changed: $Id: faq.html,v 1.36 2003/02/05 00:35:01 jsalmon3 Exp $
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The FreeCraft Project