Thread: [Tuxracer-checkins] CVS: tuxracer README,1.10,1.11
Status: Beta
Brought to you by:
jfpatry
From: Jasmin P. <jf...@us...> - 2000-10-03 07:45:15
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Update of /cvsroot/tuxracer/tuxracer In directory slayer.i.sourceforge.net:/tmp/cvs-serv23899 Modified Files: README Log Message: Updated for version 0.60. Index: README =================================================================== RCS file: /cvsroot/tuxracer/tuxracer/README,v retrieving revision 1.10 retrieving revision 1.11 diff -C2 -r1.10 -r1.11 *** README 2000/08/17 22:40:12 1.10 --- README 2000/10/03 07:45:12 1.11 *************** *** 1,393 **** Tux Racer ! Version 0.12.1 Copyright (C) 1999-2000 Jasmin F. Patry ! <jf...@cg...> - Contents - -------- ! * Introduction ! * Requirements ! * Getting Tux Racer ! * Installation ! * Configuring Tux Racer ! * Notes for Voodoo Owners ! * Playing Tux Racer ! * Creating New Courses ! * Mailing Lists ! * Reporting Bugs and Submitting Patches ! * No Warranty ! ! ! Introduction ! ------------ ! ! Tux Racer is a simple OpenGL-based racing game featuring Tux, the Linux ! Penguin. I wrote it as a final project for a graphics course I took in ! 1999. While I've made a few enhancements since then, the basic game ! hasn't changed much, which is to say it still needs a lot of work. :-) ! ! The game is currently incomplete, but is still playable. A roadmap ! has been created for version 1.0 of the game; you can view it (and ! monitor our progress) at http://tuxracer.sourceforge.net/plan.html . ! ! Requirements ! ------------ ! ! Tux Racer requires the following components in order to build and run: ! ! * The Tux Racer data files. This should be available from the same ! place that you got the Tux Racer source from. ! ! * A UN*X-like system (I've compiled previous incarnations of Tux ! Racer under Irix, Solaris, and -- of course -- Linux). ! ! * X11 libraries and include files. ! ! * An implementation of the OpenGL API version 1.1 or greater (Mesa 3.0 ! and 3.1 will both work; see http://www.mesa3d.org). ! ! * The GLUT library, version 3.7 beta or greater. This is ! distributed in the MesaDemos package, so if you have installed ! Mesa you probably also have GLUT. Otherwise, see ! http://www.opengl.org. ! ! * Tcl Version 8.0 or greater. ! ! * A (reasonably recent, fast, and supported) accelerated 3D video ! card. Tux Racer is not playable on most current systems without 3D ! acceleration. Unfortunately, cards without direct rendering ! support do not seem to give adequate performance. ! ! * GNU make (gmake). ! ! My development platform for Tux Racer is a Linux 2.2 system (SuSE 6.4) ! running on an Intel Celeron 366, with a Voodoo3 2000 video card, ! XFree86 4.0, and Mesa 3.2. I can make no guarantees about other ! configurations. However, patches that allow Tux Racer to compile and ! run on other platforms are much appreciated! ! ! ! Getting Tux Racer ! ----------------- ! ! The latest version of Tux Racer can be obtained from: ! http://tuxracer.sourceforge.net/ ! ! ! Installation ! ------------ ! ! 0) Install the tuxracer-data package (any location will do -- ! /usr/local/share/tuxracer is the default path used by the tuxracer ! program) ! ! 1) ./configure ! ! 2) make ! ! 3) make install (as root) ! ! That should do it for most people. If that doesn't work, try ! ./configure --help for a list of options. If that still doesn't work, ! please fix it and send me a patch. ;-) ! ! *** IMPORTANT ***: Once you've got the tuxracer executable compiled, ! try running it. THIS WILL FAIL if you've installed the data files ! someplace other than the default location. To fix this, edit ! ~/.tuxracer (which has just been created) to set the data_dir variable ! to the directory where you installed the Tux Racer data files. Then ! try running tuxracer again. ! ! ! Configuring Tux Racer ! --------------------- ! ! There are a number of options the control Tux Racer's execution. You ! can change these by editing the file ~/.tuxracer. Hopefully most of ! these are self-explanatory. Here's a quick rundown: ! ! * data_dir: The location of the Tux Racer data files ! ! * fullscreen: Set this to 1 to force the window to be the same ! size as your screen (for developers: this activates ``GameGLUT'' ! mode). Voodoo users: This is NOT what you want to use to ! activate fullscreen rendering on your card. See ``Notes for ! Voodoo{1,2} Owners'' below. ! ! * x_resolution, y_resolution: these specify the size of the window. ! ! * force_window_position: If true, then the Tux Racer window will ! automatically be placed at (0,0). ! ! * warp_pointer: If true, then the mouse pointer will be moved to ! the middle of the window at every frame. This is very handy if ! you're using a fullscreen-only card (like a Voodoo). Most ! people not using fullscreen mode will probably want to set this ! to false. ! ! * control_mode: currently unused. ! ! * *_key: These settings allow you to change the default ! keybindings. Alphabetic keys are case-insensitive. The ! following ``special'' keys are recognized: f1-f12, left, up, ! right, down, page_up, page_down, home, end, insert, tab, space, ! backspace, enter, delete, escape. You can bind multiple keys to ! an action by listing all of the keys, separated by a space ! (e.g., set quit_key "q escape" binds Q and Esc to the quit ! action). ! ! * display_fps: Set this to true to display the current framerate ! in Hz. ! ! * tux_slides_on_belly: As of version 0.12, Tux slides on his belly ! instead of his backside by default. If you prefer the old ! style, set this to false. ! ! * course_detail_level: This controls how accurately the course ! terrain is rendered. A high value results in greater accuracy ! at the cost of performance, and vice versa. This value can be ! decreased and increased in 10% increments at runtime using the ! F9 and F10 keys. To better see the effect, activate wireframe ! mode using the F11 key (this is a toggle). ! ! * forward_clip_distance: Controls how far ahead the course of the ! camera the course is rendered. Larger values mean that more of ! the course is rendered, resulting in slower performance. ! Decreasing this value is an effective way to improve ! framerates. ! ! * backward_clip_distance: Some objects aren't yet clipped to the ! view frustum, so this value is used to control how far up the ! course these objects are drawn. ! ! * tree_detail_distance: Controls the distance at which trees are ! drawn with two rectangles instead of one. ! ! * draw_tux_shadow: Set this to true to display Tux's shadow. Note ! that this is a hack and is quite expensive in terms of ! framerate. It looks better if your card has a stencil buffer ! (use the --enable-stencil-buffer configure option to enable the ! use of the stencil buffer). ! ! * tux_sphere_divisions: Higher values result in a more finely ! subdivided mesh for Tux, and vice versa. If you're experiencing ! low framerates, try lowering this value. ! ! * tux_shadow_sphere_divisions: The level of subdivision of Tux's ! shadow. ! ! * draw_particles: If true, then particles will be drawn to model ! the snow that is kicked up as Tux moves. Setting this to false ! should help improve performance. ! ! * draw_particle_shadows: If true, then each particle will cast a ! shadow. ! ! * nice_fog: If true, then the GL_NICEST hint will be used when ! rendering fog. On some cards, setting this to false may improve ! performance. ! ! * use_sphere_display_list: Mesa 3.1 sometimes renders Tux ! strangely when display lists are used. Setting this to false ! should solve the problem at the cost of a few Hz. ! ! * do_intro_animation: If false, then the introductory animation ! sequence will be skipped. ! ! * mipmap_type: Allows you to control which type of texture ! interpolation/mipmapping is used when rendering textures. The ! values correspond to the following OpenGL settings: ! ! 0: GL_NEAREST ! 1: GL_LINEAR ! 2: GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_NEAREST ! 3: GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_NEAREST ! 4: GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_LINEAR ! 5: GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_LINEAR ! ! On some cards, you may be able to improve performance by ! decreasing this number, at the cost of lower image quality. ! ! * ode_solver: Selects the ODE (ordinary differential equation) ! solver. Possible values are: ! ! 0: Modified Euler (fastest but least accurate) ! 1: Runge-Kutta (2,3) ! 2: Runge-Kutta (4,5) (slowest but most accurate) ! ! * fov: field-of-view in degrees. ! ! * debug: This is parsed as a space-delimited string of keywords, ! each of which may be preceeded with a `-'. Each keyword ! activates a set of debugging messages. Currently, the ! recognized keywords are: ! ! all: activates all debugging messages ! ode: ODE solver statistics ! quadtree: quadtree terrain LOD statistics ! control: messages related to player controls ! health: displays player's health (currently, health doesn't ! have any effect on gameplay) ! ! Preceeding a keyword with `-' will suppress those types of ! debugging messages. To see all debugging messages except for ! the ode messages, you would set debug to "all -ode". ! ! * warning_level: Valid values are between 0 and 100; 0 suppresses ! all warnings, while 100 displays all warnings. It is ! recommended that you leave this value at 100. ! ! Note that this file is re-written every time Tux Racer quits, so don't ! bother inserting comments or the like. This file is parsed as a Tcl ! script, so Tcl syntax applies. ! ! ! Notes for Voodoo Owners ! ----------------------- ! ! Assuming your Voodoo card is set up properly, Tux Racer should run ! properly on fullscreen-only Voodoo cards ``out of the tarball''. ! There are some settings in the .tuxracer file that apply particularly ! to Voodoo owners, but these should have the proper default values: ! ! * fullscreen: Do NOT set this to true. This will make the Tux ! Racer window the same size as your X desktop, which is probably ! not what you want if you have a Voodoo card that can only render ! at 640x480. ! ! * force_window_position: This should be set to true. This is ! particularly useful if you usually have to manually position ! windows with the mouse -- the window will automatically be ! positioned at (0,0) if this is set to true. ! ! * warp_pointer: This should be set to true. This will prevent the ! Tux Racer window from losing the focus in X -- which can be a ! real pain to recover from. ! ! Note that I don't do fullscreen rendering with my Voodoo3 anymore, so ! I can't test this -- therefore, please report any inaccuracies or ! ommisions. ! ! I commonly get questions from people that can play Quake and other ! commercial games on their Voodoo cards at good rates, yet report very ! slow performance when playing Tux Racer. Almost invariably the ! problem is that Mesa hasn't been compiled with Voodoo support (Quake ! and other games come with their own Mesa-for-Voodoo libs, which is why ! it works for those games). If you got your Mesa from an RPM or other ! binary package, chances are it doesn't have Voodoo support. Download ! the source from http://mesa3d.sourceforge.net, read the documentation, ! and compile it with Voodoo support (make linux-glide, for example). ! Then read the documentation about installing the libraries and header ! files so that applications like Tux Racer will be able to find them. ! (There is now a standard location for these files: the libs go in ! /usr/lib and the header files go in /usr/include/GL. See ! http://oss.sgi.com/projects/ogl-sample/ABI/ for details.) ! ! ! Playing Tux Racer ! ----------------- ! ! The (current) object of the game is to get to the bottom of the course ! as quickly as possible; the elapsed time is displayed in the bottom left ! hand corner of the screen. ! ! You can steer Tux and make him ``hit the brakes'' to slow him ! down. When steering, you will notice that his left or right arm moves ! down to drag on the surface; when braking, both his arms will move down. ! Tux can also ``paddle'' to speed up, but note that above a certain ! speed paddling will actually slow Tux down! (In future versions of the ! game, paddling will also consume energy.) By default, these actions ! are bound to the following keys: ! ! J: turns left ! L: turns right ! K: paddle ! space: brake ! ! The viewpoint can be changed using the following keys: ! ! 1: Places the viewpoint behind and above Tux. This is the default. ! 2: Places the viewpoint behind Tux. ! 3: Places the viewpoint at Tux's head. ! ! If you get stuck on the course and can't make any forward progress, ! `Q' will quit the game. You can press this key at any time to stop ! the race. ! ! After the game ends, you will see a ``Game Over'' screen; hit any key ! to return to the start screen. ! ! During a race the game can be paused with the `P' key. ! ! Key bindings can be changed in the ~/.tuxracer file. ! ! ! Creating New Courses ! -------------------- ! ! Anybody can creating new courses. For an example, have a look at ! <tuxracer-data>/courses/1/course.tcl, which is fairly well-commented. ! Here are a few pointers: ! ! * The course elevation data is specified as a heightfield using a ! greyscale bitmap. White is high, black is low. ! ! * The terrain type is specified using another greyscale bitmap. ! White corresponds to snow, 50% grey corresponds to rock, and ! black corresponds to ice. You don't have to be exact here; the ! closest match is used. NOTE: this bitmap must have the same ! dimensions as the elevation bitmap. ! ! * Trees are specified using (yet another) bitmap. This bitmap can ! have arbitrary size. Black pixels correspond to ``no tree'', ! while ``non-black'' pixels correspond to trees. ``Non-black'' ! actually means any pixel with total intensity (measured as the ! sum of the (R,G,B) values of the pixel, each measured on a scale ! of 0-255) greater than 128. ! ! * Textures must have dimensions that are a power of 2, and should ! be limited to 256 pixels in each dimension. ! ! * All bitmaps are in the SGI RGB format (which can be read and ! created by The GIMP), and can be compressed or uncompressed. ! ! Please develop new courses! You don't need any special tools to do so ! (The GIMP is all that's needed), and you'll get fame and fortune for ! doing so (ok, maybe not, but you'll have my eternal gratitude :-). ! If you do develop a new course, please announce it on the ! tuxracer-devel mailing list (see below), and we'll incorporate it into ! the next Tux Racer release. ! ! ! Mailing Lists ! ------------- ! ! There are three mailing lists for Tux Racer: ! ! * tuxracer-main: This list is for Tux Racer users. If you have a ! question about Tux Racer that's not related to Tux Racer ! development, this is the place for it. ! ! * tuxracer-devel: This list is for people who wish to contribute ! to Tux Racer development. ! ! * tuxracer-announce: This is a very low-volume list where I'll ! announce new versions of Tux Racer. ! ! You can subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, or view the list ! archives from this page: https://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=2944 . ! ! ! Reporting Bugs and Submitting Patches ! ------------------------------------- ! ! If you have a question or wish to report a bug, please email the ! tuxracer-main mailing list <tux...@li...>. ! ! If you wish to submit a patch, please email the tuxracer-devel mailing ! list <tux...@li...>. --- 1,14 ---- Tux Racer + A Sunspire Studios Production ! Version 0.60 Copyright (C) 1999-2000 Jasmin F. Patry ! <jf...@su...> ! Tux Racer documentation, including full installation instructions and ! manual, can be found at http://www.tuxracer.com. A copy of the ! web site (excluding screenshots) is included in the html directory. |