Rocket Duel - now on Mac!

Trumgottist · 07-20-2007, 12:57 PM

Just a quick note to let you know that I've ported my old action game to MacOS X. Rocket Duel is a game for two players on a split screen. It can be quite fun if you have someone fun to play with.

Erwin_Br · 07-20-2007, 02:00 PM

Interesting... Did you built it from scratch, or could you somehow recompile the original source?

--Erwin

Trumgottist · 07-20-2007, 03:39 PM

It uses a cross-platform game-programming library called Allegro, which finally supports the Mac well. So the process of porting was something like this:

1. Compile and install Allegro on my Mac.
2. Figure out a couple more things about XCode, frameworks and stuff. (I'd used it before, but I learned more useful things from doing this.)
3. Replace the sound library FMOD with BASS. (The version of FMOD I'd used isn't available for OSX and the new version is quite different, so I chose to go with BASS which I have used a bit before.)
4. Replace a few Windows-specific assumptions and functions, and replace some deprecated Allegro functions. (The code was already mostly platform-independent C and pretty clean, so this was an easy and quick step.)
5. The game finally compiles and links... and runs!
6. Test the game. - Discover two small bugs in Allegro's OSX code.
7. Get the bugs fixed. (One of them - one of the sticks on my gamepad didn't work as expected - I actually was able to fix myself and send in a patch for. I'm proud of that.)
8. Test the game some more.
9. Learn how to package a Mac app, and put it in a nice-looking dmg complete with a new icon for the app and a background image for the dmg. (Including making some silly mistakes in the process, of course, but I really like the neatness of the .app and dmg packaging of things. That's something Apple has done well.)
10. Release it.

It took me a week, with plenty of time included for practising tuba, reading, lawn-mowing and so on. A guess might be that I spent 15-20 hours in total on it. Including the testing and learning.

jacog · 07-22-2007, 01:27 PM

Allegro games compile well for me under Linux. Could I have the source to have a stab at it?

Trumgottist · 07-22-2007, 02:36 PM

I don't have any rational reason for it, but no, I'd like to keep the source to myself. (At least at this time.) Thanks for showing interest, though.

jacog · 07-23-2007, 12:31 AM

The only time I ever wish to keep source code to myself is when I write embarrassingly bad code. ;-)

07-20-2007, 12:57 PM	#1
Trumgottist Game Creator Hobbyist Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Stockholm (or Gotland) Posts: 2,609	Rocket Duel - now on Mac! Just a quick note to let you know that I've ported my old action game to MacOS X. Rocket Duel is a game for two players on a split screen. It can be quite fun if you have someone fun to play with. Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ Play my game: Frasse and the Peas of Kejick. The Special Edition is now available! (Mac OS X or Windows.)

07-20-2007, 02:00 PM	#2
Erwin_Br Under pressure. Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Apeldoorn, The Netherlands Posts: 3,773	Interesting... Did you built it from scratch, or could you somehow recompile the original source? --Erwin Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ > Learn more about my forthcoming point & click adventure: Bad Timing! > Or... Visit Adventure Developers: Everything about developing adventure games.

07-20-2007, 03:39 PM	#3
Trumgottist Game Creator Hobbyist Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Stockholm (or Gotland) Posts: 2,609	It uses a cross-platform game-programming library called Allegro, which finally supports the Mac well. So the process of porting was something like this: 1. Compile and install Allegro on my Mac. 2. Figure out a couple more things about XCode, frameworks and stuff. (I'd used it before, but I learned more useful things from doing this.) 3. Replace the sound library FMOD with BASS. (The version of FMOD I'd used isn't available for OSX and the new version is quite different, so I chose to go with BASS which I have used a bit before.) 4. Replace a few Windows-specific assumptions and functions, and replace some deprecated Allegro functions. (The code was already mostly platform-independent C and pretty clean, so this was an easy and quick step.) 5. The game finally compiles and links... and runs! 6. Test the game. - Discover two small bugs in Allegro's OSX code. 7. Get the bugs fixed. (One of them - one of the sticks on my gamepad didn't work as expected - I actually was able to fix myself and send in a patch for. I'm proud of that.) 8. Test the game some more. 9. Learn how to package a Mac app, and put it in a nice-looking dmg complete with a new icon for the app and a background image for the dmg. (Including making some silly mistakes in the process, of course, but I really like the neatness of the .app and dmg packaging of things. That's something Apple has done well.) 10. Release it. It took me a week, with plenty of time included for practising tuba, reading, lawn-mowing and so on. A guess might be that I spent 15-20 hours in total on it. Including the testing and learning. Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ Play my game: Frasse and the Peas of Kejick. The Special Edition is now available! (Mac OS X or Windows.)

07-22-2007, 01:27 PM	#4
jacog Kung Fu Code Poet Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: South Africa Posts: 701	Allegro games compile well for me under Linux. Could I have the source to have a stab at it? Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ http://www.screwylightbulb.com/

07-22-2007, 02:36 PM	#5
Trumgottist Game Creator Hobbyist Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Stockholm (or Gotland) Posts: 2,609	I don't have any rational reason for it, but no, I'd like to keep the source to myself. (At least at this time.) Thanks for showing interest, though. Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ Play my game: Frasse and the Peas of Kejick. The Special Edition is now available! (Mac OS X or Windows.)

07-23-2007, 12:31 AM	#6
jacog Kung Fu Code Poet Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: South Africa Posts: 701	The only time I ever wish to keep source code to myself is when I write embarrassingly bad code. ;-) Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ http://www.screwylightbulb.com/

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