This guide was copied and edited from from TerraSleet’s guide on the WhalesDev forum. That guide was copied from a thread by Kimek on an older forum. The image file was originally made by Vucar Fikodastesh. This guide should make getting the game running on Windows relatively fast and easy.
This is a step by step guide for installing a version of Linux already configured for Cataclysm and with the possibility of updating it.
So, let’s get started:
Step 1 - Go to the VirtualBox download page and select the latest package for windows. This is the software that will emulate an installation of Linux OS on your machine, inside Windows.
Double click the setup file you downloaded, click Next a few times, and then Install. Windows will probably ask you to confirm installation of some Oracle Corporation stuff, just confirm.
Step 2 - Next, download the Tiny Core Linux Image. Once downloaded, extract the content of the rar fire to a folder of your choice.
Step 3 - Run VirtualBox, and on the upper left click on New. Type the name “Tinycore” for the virtual machine, and the OS should have changed to Linux, and the version to Oracle. If not, just change it. Click next, and let the default 512 MB of memory. Next again, and here choose ‘Use Existing Hard disk’, click on the little folder on the right and then select the vdi file you extracted in step 2. Click next, Create, and it’s done.
Step 4 - Now you should see “Tinycore” on the left of VirtualBox. Double click it to start. The OS will start and do a bunch of stuff, just wait until “tc@box:~$” appears on the screen. This is the command prompt.
While the OS is starting, VirtualBox will give you a few warning messages if it’s the first time. Just check “Don’t show this again” and confirm.
Step 5 - Time for the command magic. Just type “./install” after “tc@box:~$”.
(TIP: for keyboards not in the US, special characters are all messed up. The “/” key may be “-”, so try that, otherwise just type randomly until you find it. Check below to see how to fix this.)
It will download and compiling all the files, which can take a minute. Just wait until “tc@box:~$” shows up again.
Step 6 - It’s done! Now you just need to type “./run” to start Cataclysm!
To update the game type “./update”. It will then download any changes and ask you if you want to recompile the game. If it didn’t download any files it will say “Already up-to-date.” and you can type “n” to skip recompiling the game.
(TIP: Don’t turn off the virtual machine when you’re done playing. Close the window and choose “Save the machine state” instead. Next time you load it, it will be much faster. You can even do it with Cataclysm running, and next time you start the virtual machine, it will still be there!)
If you’d like to delete your save just type “./deletesave”. If you would like to delete the entire game type “./deletegame”.
How to change your keymap
If you’re not in the US, you’ll probably have some keys switched. To fix this, first go here and check for your country’s initials. Then, load Tinycore and on the prompt type
where kmap is the name of the .map.gz file on that list. For example, if your file was
You would type
After that, check if everything is ok. Some keys might still not work, but only the ones cataclysm use matter.
Also, when you reboot the virtual machine you’ll have to reload the kmap, so I advise using the “Save the machine state” option, since nothing is lost that way. Otherwise, you’ll have to type it everytime you load the machine.
Debug Mode
Posting crash information from debug mode greatly helps development and makes the game better for everyone.
To start the game in debug mode type “./debug”. If Cataclysm crashes you can type “bt” at the gdb prompt, hit alt+print screen, paste it into paint, save it as png, upload it to an image sharing site, and embed the image in your bug report on the forums.
After getting the crash’s backtrace, or when exiting Cataclysm normally, you can exit gdb by typing “quit”.
For information about setting up FTP and SSH to be able to transfer files to or from the virtual image from from Windows see the Original thread.
Command Glossary:
./install - Downloads and compiles the game files.
./update - Updates the files with the latest ones available.
./run - Starts Cataclysm:DDA.
./deletesave - Deletes your world, so next time you start a game it will be generated again.
./deletegame - Deletes Cataclysm:DDA
./debug - Runs Cataclysm:DDA in debug mode using gdb.