ZC Linux Alpha status

[vegeta1215]

Here's my status with testing the ZC Linux Alpha:

Linux distro: Mandrake 9.2 download edition
Kernel: 2.4.22-26mdk
XFree86 version: 4.3
Allegro version: 4.1.13 (I built it from the src.rpm found on Allegro's download page)
Graphics card: 16 meg Riva TNT - w/ Nvidia's kernel module
Sound card: SB-Live
Sound driver: snd-emu10k

- Both zelda-l and zquest-l work.
- Both open in a 320x240 window once launched. I cannot make either go fullscreen via the '-fullscreen' command line option - other command line options seem to work. zquest-l with go fullscreen if I select the menu option Etc->Fullscreen inside zquest, but that's the only way.
- Neither have sound or midi for me. I've tried a few other Allegro based games on my system and with some the sound/midi works, while for others it doesn't.

Other than that, everything works perfectly thus far. Any other linux testers please post your status.

[Thad_X_Boyd]

Quick post. I'm LIVING at the engineering building this week.

Distro: Gentoo
Kernel: 2.6.3-gentoo-r1 if I'm not mistaken. I've got 2.6.4 and 2.6.5-gentoo sitting in /usr/src but don't believe I've gotten around to compiling either one.
XFree86 version: 4.3
Allegro version: 4.1.13 (compiled from source from Allegro's page)
Graphics card: GeForce 3 Ti500 w/ Nvidia's kernel module
Sound card: Onboard CMedia
Sound driver: Alsa; forget what specific hardware driver (again, been awhile since my last compile and I don't have time to check right now)

Both zelda-l and zquest-l work. Fullscreen flag doesn't; I haven't tried the in-game toggle. Using command-line flags to change the resolution merely results in a bigger window with a 320x240 game space.

MIDI doesn't work (not compiled into my kernel correctly) but regular sound, digital music, MP3's, OGGs do (except Triforce music doesn't play at the end of a level).

Minor bugs I've noticed. I assume these are probably already known, but again, can't spare the time to look them up right now; I'll look through old bug reports when I have more time.

1. Link's hold-up item graphic doesn't usually display. I think the two-handed for the Triforce works but nothing else.
2. Related to above: I swung my sword while grabbing an item once. The hold-up item graphic DID work, but garbage came up on the screen in place of my sword beam.
3. When going down dungeon stairs (item or passage), Link displays for a split-second in the wrong place, usually the middle of the screen.
4. An exceptionally long .ogg cut off in the middle and started over at the beginning. Checked Occam's Razor on this one: not a problem with ZC at all but a screw-up in the ripping of the .ogg itself.
5. Both zquest-l and zelda-l take up a surprising amount of processor power, even with high-level functions like MP3 playback disabled. If I'm running, say, a filesharing client at the same time, gameplay is jerky; if I'm compiling something, game is almost unplayable.

I'll research and report these bugs better when time permits. Apologies for not doing a better job right now, but capstone is running late and I have to run to the engineering building for what will hopefully be our last all-night coding session.

[gdorf]

Is there a special group of linux testers? I am looking around and not seeing the download anywhere. my offer of slackware 9 still stands, if I am needed. (I used to DREAM of ZC in linux. :))

[Dark Nation]

There are Linux links in the Alpha 3 announcement thread.

[vegeta1215]

3. When going down dungeon stairs (item or passage), Link displays for a split-second in the wrong place, usually the middle of the screen...

5. Both zquest-l and zelda-l take up a surprising amount of processor power, even with high-level functions like MP3 playback disabled. If I'm running, say, a filesharing client at the same time, gameplay is jerky; if I'm compiling something, game is almost unplayable.

In response to 3, I noticed that too. It happened for me when coming out of the first dungeon entrance in the 1st and 2nd quests, but no where else thus far. It didn't happen in AlphaDawg's 3rd quest, so that leads me to believe the "reappear" spot for that screen in 1st and 2nd quests is incorrect.

In response to 5, I just checked, and yeah, both take up a lot of CPU power for me, like between 80-95%. Given I don't have a very fast processor (Pentium III 450, with 640 megs of RAM), that's still a lot.

As for sound, maybe the binaries only have the flag set inside to recognize alsa? I know the new 2.6 kernel uses alsa in a big way, but not everyone uses 2.6 yet. As for other bugs, I think at this point it would be worthwhile to test things related to getting ZC working on Linux correctly first.

gdorf, BigJoe hired a few beta testers to specifically test the Linux version of ZC, but that doesn't mean no one else can test it. It would be terrific if we had more people test it. So go for it :D And post how things go for you.

[Menokh]

Dang thing segfaults on my Mandrake 9.2 system.
I installed an RPM of Allegro 4.1.13, I'll try and compile the source for Allegro and see if that helps the problem.

According to the log file it segfaults as it is initializing Allegro.

[vegeta1215]

Did you download the support files too? Mine segfaulted before downloading them.

http://www.armageddongames.net/darknation/sejarah/zc193a3/zc193a3ls.tgz

[Menokh]

Yes, I did.
Still segfaults. When I'm bak at my desktop system(the Mandrake one) I'll recompile Allegro from source and see what happens. I don't want to run beta anything on my laptop, too many important files. Though I may try it anyways.

[Thad_X_Boyd]

New note: no monster ever drops a clock. "No random clocks" rule is unset. Not sure if this is the best thread, but there it is.

[Menokh]

Righty, I'm still alive.
I just got he beta working on my Linspire 4.5 Laptop. Damn Mandrake system hates me.

Anyhow, I have the exact same results the Vegeta reported in his first post, except that I have sound effects but no midi. The game is running full speed and I have not had it crash or slow down yet. More later.

[Thad_X_Boyd]

Just checking in. Haven't had a chance to work on ZC lately, or post here, obviously. Who'd have thought I'd be this busy on summer vacation?

I'll keep you guys posted when I get a chance. Apologies for being gone.

EDIT:


Anyhow, I have the exact same results the Vegeta reported in his first post, except that I have sound effects but no midi.

My best guess is that this is a kernel MIDI support issue.

I've NEVER gotten MIDI working properly under Linux.

[Thad_X_Boyd]

Pardon the double-post but I figure since my last post was six weeks ago it's all right.

Still no progress. Job's keeping me busy, plus I got a new video card and -- mistake! -- it's an ATI. As in, horrible Linux drivers. OpenGL is currently crippled; it seems to be a common bug for anyone trying to get these drivers to work with Asus boards with Intel or VIA chips.

So for any other Linux users who are in the market for a new video card, do yourself a favor and get an NVidia. Their drivers are bad, but unfortunately they're the best we've got.

[vegeta1215]

Nvidia drivers bad? I've never had any problems with Nvidia's drivers. In fact, they keep getting better. (their new installer is really nice)

I did learn about choosing Nvidia over ATI for Linux the hard way though. I spent $70 on a 32 meg Radeon 7000 PCI only to find that ATI provided no OpenGL drivers, and DRI wasn't supported with the PCI Radeons. I eventually wound up selling it on eBay and buying a 32 meg Nvidia Geforce 2 PCI for $50. I usually cheer for the under-dog (if ATI can still be considered the under-dog in the video card undustry, I don't know), but Nvidia's stuff works, and they have shown great dedication in supporting Linux imo.

btw, do you even need hardware acceleration to play ZC under Linux? I would think the generic X drivers would suffice.

[texasdex]

This is what I get with an unmodified SuSE 9.1 install. I don't know what version of Allegro comes with SuSE 9.1 by default.


[gdexter@liz zcbeta]$ ./zquest-l
Shutting down Allegro due to signal #11
Segmentation fault
[gdexter@liz zcbeta]$ cat allegro.log
ZQuest v1.93 Alpha (Build 3)
Allocating MIDI buffer (9.84k/9.84k)... OK
Allocating map buffer (185.94k/195.78k)... OK
Allocating string buffer (6.75M/6.94M)... OK
Allocating door combo buffer (159.50k/7.10M)... OK
Allocating dmap buffer (51.00k/7.15M)... OK
Allocating combo buffer (1.49M/8.64M)... OK
Allocating color data buffer (158.11k/8.80M)... OK
Allocating tile buffer (8.00M/16.79M)... OK
Allocating trash buffer (97.66k/16.89M)... OK
Allocating item buffer (6.00k/16.89M)... OK
Allocating weapon buffer (2.00k/16.90M)... OK
Allocating guy buffer (14.00k/16.91M)... OK
Allocating combo undo buffer (1.49M/18.40M)... OK
Allocating tile undo buffer (8.00M/26.40M)... OK
Allocating file path buffers (1.25k/26.40M)... OK
Initializing Allegro... OK
Loading data files:
ZQuest.Dat (internal)...OK
ZGP.Dat...OK
Fonts.Dat...OK
OK
Initializing sound driver... OK
[gdexter@liz zcbeta]$

[fatcatfan]

You may need to install Allegro 4.1.13. And if you build it yourself, make sure it is built with a version 3 gcc. GCC 2.95 is binary incompatible with other code built with version 3, from what I understand.

[Deviance]

By Any Chance does it work with Slackware 10 and Knoppix?

[Dark Nation]

No idea. Technically, it should, but I don't recall if anyone has tested on those distros or not.