BZFlag Port

[Guest moonscapex]

Hello Everybody,

I was just playing BZFlag (BZFlag Website) when I thought that it would be great to have on my Mio.  The source code is freely available and written mostly in C++.  I am a software developer in other languages but I'm learning C and C++ soon, so I can't port it.

Heres some info about porting (taken from the source code).

PORTING guide for bzflag




Follow these steps to port bzflag to a new platform.  Say the


new platform is named `foo'.




  * in src/platform/:


    * this step may be skipped if the platform you're porting to


      supports SDL and you do not want to have native graphics/audio,


      as there are preexisiting SDL* platform files.


    * implement the following files, as necessary, using an appropriate


      prefix instead of Foo.  it may be possible to use existing files


      as is, or to reuse existing code (by copying).


      * FooPlatformFactory


      * FooDisplay


      * FooMedia


      * FooVisual


      * FooWindow


    * add the platform dependent files to Makefile.am with appropriate


      'if' guards.




  * try building


    * modify configure.in for your platform - particularly


      to set the proper CFLAGS/CXXFLAGS and to insure that needed


      libraries (e.g. OpenGL, curses) can be found.


    * fix errors.  errors are typically caused by missing include


      files and a missing/different BSD sockets API.  make as few


      changes as possible to avoid breaking other platforms.


      avoid #if/#endif when you can.


    * fix warnings.  (most) warnings are there for a reason.


      listen to what they're saying and fix the code.  bzflag


      should compile cleanly (zero warnings).




  * in package:


    * create a makefile to build a package for your platform.


      a package includes all the files necessary for installing


      bzflag on the platform.  some platforms provide a standard


      software management tool (e.g. RPM on RedHat Linux and


      swmgr on Irix);  ideally, the package is built for that


      tool.  On UNIX, a gzipped tar file with an install shell


      script may be sufficient.  The Win32 package is a self


      extracting executable with a GUI front end.




Most of the bzflag code is portable C++, but there are two API's


that are not encapsulated:  OpenGL and BSD sockets.  The OpenGL


API should not present a problem, unless you intend to port to


some other graphics API for some reason, since it's identical


on all platforms.  GL/gl.h provides a #define to identify the


version of OpenGL.  All OpenGL code that's not version 1.0


compatible should be #ifdef/#endif guarded and, if possible,


also implemented with version 1.0 code for platforms that don't


support the later versions.




The BSD socket API may cause some trouble if you're not porting


to some flavor of UNIX.  Encapsulating network code is on the


to do list.




Some platform differences are handled using #ifdef/#endif


directives.  These are to be avoided when possible as they make


the code harder to read and can lead to platform differences


when code is updated for some, but not all, platforms.  Please


make use of autoconf's HAVE_* defines rather than


platform-specific predefines...code for features, not for


platforms.




Inherently non-portable code is under src/platform.  It


encapsulates windowing and audio subsystems.  (It also includes


code to read image and audio files, for historical reasons.)[/codebox]

Is a port possible?