Re: possibility

[Robert Rendell <rob@universe.serc.rmit.edu.au>]

Galen Johnson wrote:
} Dan hursh wrote:
} > 
} >         ANSI, or POSIX C libraries
} >         SDL (and dependancies)
} >         something for loading images? (Does SDL cover this well enough?)
} >         SDL-mixer (optional? maybe? It will make sound easier)
} >         something for mp3? (incase folks aren't happy with midi or mod)
} >         OpenGL & GLUT (FPS DEATHMATCH ON THE BATTLEFIELD!!!!) 8->
}
} We definitely want to stick with ANSI C as much as possible.  SDL
} actually can probably handle just about any part of the project well. 
} There are several "plug-ins" available.  And I am fairly certain it uses
} the libpng libraries as well.  I know it can handle xpms.  Check out the
} link I sent and let me know how you guys feel about it.

It can load PNGs, apparently, whether it uses libpng or another
implementation:

    Q: Does SDL support JPG, PNG, etc... 
    A: The BMP and WAV file loaders included with SDL are simple examples
    demonstrating how to load an image and sound format. You should be able
    to write your own reader for any format. The main library is suppose to
    be fast and small, and so does not include any additional loaders.  A
    sample image loader library is available from the SDL libraries page
    which supports loading BMP, PCX, GIF, JPG, and PNG images to SDL
    surfaces. 


} Mike, Rob? 
} your input would be welcome since you guys have done quite a bit of
} coding lately.

I wouldn't say I'd coded on it recently - I posted my patch recently, but I
did the coding late '99, and just took a long time to post about it...

Anyway, my opinion: SDL looks neat, and apparently can happily integrate
with gtk:

    Q: What kind of GUIs are there for SDL? 
    A: There are several GUI libraries available from the SDL libraries
    page.  There is also a demo on the SDL demos page of using GTk natively
    with SDL, which works really well for graphics output. [snip]

However, my feeling is that XArchon currently works in most ways that SDL
would help us with, with sound being the major exception.  If someone else
wanted to go to the effort of shifting the project over to work under SDL
for the sake of sound, I'd be perfectly happy, but I can work on the sorts
of things I'm interested in (the AI, making the game more configurable from
the theme, an Adept theme/mode) with the current implementation.

On the other hand, I think of myself as being more a dabbler on the
sidelines than a primary developer for XArchon.  True, I posted a large
patch recently, but that was just my accumulated dabblings over a long
time.  In that light, I don't know that my opinion should carry much weight
on fundamental strategic decisions for the project :)

							Have fun,
							 Rob R.
							  \((/
							  ~oo~
							  /))\