Linux Air Combat / Discussion / General Discussion: You don't have to compile LAC anymore! UNIVERSAL BINARY for x86

bbosen - 2021-11-05

We have been experimenting with a new way of distributing LAC in a single file that works on (almost) all popular desktop versions of LINUX. This is new to us, and we expect to make it better over time, but it looks like all of the basics are working already!

Our current work results in a precompiled, executable binary program that launches Linux Air Combat Version 8.51 from a self-contained, self-extracting, multi-file archive containing all prerequisites. It is configured according to the well-known "AppImage" conventions for (almost) universal compatibility among many popular LINUX distros using industry-standard "x86" architecture.

Accordingly, if you just want to run LAC without compiling it, this is probably your best, simplest option. Just download it, mark it as "executable" according to well-known LINUX norms, and then execute it. If your hardware is based on x86 architecture and if your LINUX distro is "mainstream" and has been updated since about December of 2020, it will start right up!

NOTE THAT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE HAVE EVER EXPERIMENTED WITH APPIMAGES, SO THIS IS "BETA TEST" SOFTWARE. IT MIGHT NOT WORK FOR YOU, AND IT MAY BE TRICKY TO INTEGRATE IT INTO YOUR DISTRO'S MENU SYSTEM. YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE BEST SUCCESS IF YOU EXECUTE IT FROM A BASH SHELL.

You can learn more about AppImages and LAC from our new "LAC Distributed in universal, binary AppImage format" forum at:

https://sourceforge.net/p/linuxaircombat/discussion/lacandappimages

Last edit: bbosen 2021-11-09

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bbosen - 2021-11-09

UPDATE: On 08Nov2021 we discovered a significant bug in the first Beta-Test version of the LAC AppImage described above (designated "lac851a-x86_64.AppImage"). Fortunately, there is an easy fix for this.

It goes like this:

Everything starts up as expected and seems to work. However, upon entry into most of the missions, terrain, ocean, airfield, lake, and mountain altitudes are incorrect. Sometimes the ocean levels are so high that you can't avoid ditching in the water immediately upon mission startup. Sometimes airfields are under water or under ground. There are random terrain changes with every new LAC session.

This happens when LAC cannot find the ~home/.LAC/DefaultHeightMap.LAC file. That file contains the default terrain elevations. When it is missing, LAC generates new terrain at random, which never matches the hard-coded locations of mission airfields. This problem was once rather commonplace, but since 2019 or 2020 the production versions of LAC had eliminated the problem unless something went wrong during the earliest installation steps.

As described in our FAQ #44, in order to fix this problem, you need to copy that "DefaultHeightMap.LAC" file into the new, hidden folder named ".LAC", located in your home directory.

If you've already been using a prior, production version of LAC, then you should already have that file in the proper place and you won't suffer from this bug.

If you find you are suffering from this bug as described above, CLICK HERE for an online copy of the proper "DefaultHeightMap.LAC" file that you can download and copy into your hidden ".LAC" folder.

After downloading that file you will probably find it in your "Downloads" folder. Move or copy it into the new, hidden folder named ".LAC" that is placed in your Home directory when LAC is installed or upon LAC's first execution. Thereafter you will find that the terrains will properly match up with the intended design of each of our missions.

Last edit: bbosen 2021-11-09

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bbosen - 2021-11-10

I just published new version lac851b-x86_64.AppImage, which fixes the bug described above. Look for it in the "FILES" section of our SourceForge.net pages according to the usual pattern.

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bbosen - 2022-02-21

Update 21Feb2022:

We just published a new AppImage version of Linux Air Combat. Designated "Lac861-x86_64.AppImage", this new version incorporates all of the recent, small improvements from all of these versions of LAC:

Lac08p52
Lac08p54
Lac08p56
Lac08p58

Hereafter, you will always be able to download the latest LAC AppImage from the "Files" area of our SourceForge.net page according to the usual pattern. Here's a link:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/linuxaircombat/files/Choose%20Your%20Platform/Precompiled%20binaries%20%28no%20source%20code%29/

Note: that download does NOT include source code because our AppImages are already compiled and ready to run on any of the most popular desktop LINUX distros.

Last edit: bbosen 2023-04-26

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bbosen - 2023-02-03

[kick]

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You don't have to compile LAC anymore! UNIVERSAL BINARY for x86

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You don't have to compile LAC anymore! UNIVERSAL BINARY for x86

You don't have to compile LAC anymore! UNIVERSAL BINARY for x86

Combat Flight Simulator for LINUX. WW2. Network and VOIP. Open-source.

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You don't have to compile LAC anymore! UNIVERSAL BINARY for x86