We looked at source code and some of the basic tools used for working with source code last month. In this month’s column, the last of our three-part series on dealing with source releases, we’ll look at how to install a source release using the game XPilot as an example. Once you’ve mastered the procedure for installing a source release, you’ll have access to many useful and fun programs that are not yet available in binary form. So, roll up your shirtsleeves, and let’s get to it.
Figure One: The XPilot Game is like Asteroids on steroids.
We looked at source code and some of the basic tools used for working with source code last month. In this month’s column, the last of our three-part series on dealing with source releases, we’ll look at how to install a source release using the game XPilot as an example. Once you’ve mastered the procedure for installing a source release, you’ll have access to many useful and fun programs that are not yet available in binary form. So, roll up your shirtsleeves, and let’s get to it.
The XPilot Game
The increasingly popular game XPilot is a multi-player, network game that lets you pilot a spaceship. Think of XPilot as Asteroids on steroids, with ship-to-ship combat thrown in. Bjorn Stabell and Ken Ronny Schouten, who were undergraduate students at the University of Tromso in Norway, originally wrote the game. It is available at http://www.xpilot.org/. Figure One shows a typical game screen.
To install the source release of XPilot, we’ll follow these steps:
Install the compilation toolkit
Download the source
Uncompress and unpack the source
Read the instructions
Configure compilation options
Compile the program
Install the program
Install the Compilation Toolkit
…
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