SDL and Lua support on WinXP

[vultures]

Oh, trouble ahead.

I’ve noticed you guys reorganized in-game folders, so I thought it would be fun to test v0.11 TileSetEditor. It didn’t miss a thing, and so mustn’t I… CataDDA_0.A.1351\cataclysm-tiles on WinXP, and it won’t run at all.

1. Are SDL libraries compiled within the .exe? I can’t find any of them, and I wouldn’t know how to pick a version if I was supposed to;
2. I couldn’t help but notice some LUA content. Is the support also bundled? Can these help (v5.2.1) ?

lua52.dll lua52.exe luac52.exe wlua52.exe
Thx for the help, dudes.

[CIB]

[quote=“vultures, post:1, topic:5864”]1) Are SDL libraries compiled within the .exe? I can’t find any of them, and I wouldn’t know how to pick a version if I was supposed to;
2) I couldn’t help but notice some LUA content. Is the support also bundled? Can these help (v5.2.1) ?[/quote]

Yes, both should be compiled into the .exe. What’s the error you get when running the game?

[vultures]

That’s the thing - no error, the game doesn’t load at all. There’s no error log within the game folders, and I wouldn’t know where to start if I was to run the game with a debug option of sorts. I’ve tried improving on the dead-end here, looking to start the game with a software renderer, fullscreen on/off and some more switch-play in the config and yet nothing happens.
I mentioned SDL/Lua because I haven’t played Tiles/Experimental in a long time; Curses builds always work flawlessly for me.

If you have any hints/solutions it would be appreciated, altough I could try and download a build newer than #1291.

[i2amroy]

I’d suggest trying a redownload. Occasionally we get a broken build (though it’s usually never for very long) and it’s possible you downloaded one of those few.

[vultures]

I’ll try and do that - I just wanted to check in once more to report this issue had happened to me prior to 0.9 final build, meaning it was one of the nigtly ones yet again. This led me to download the Curses build dated just the same immediately after the SDL/Tiles one, and I didn’t want to go down that rift since.
I doubt it’s an OS issue, really - WinXP.SP3 works fine with just about any SDL-tied game I’ve played in the meantime.
Though I will report back if I get another Experimental to work, could someone explain to me what exactly is the difference in rendering when perceiving a Curses build (that uses the OS’s console_emu) and a Tiles build (that should ask the OS for a type of renderer)?

[gimlet]

Just as a datapoint - I am on Windows XP (SP2) and have been running the tiled version of the game just fine. Most recently build 1301 and 1365 start fine with tiles with no changes required to Options. The only thing I usually do is boost up the Terminal Width/Terminal Height under Graphics, save the changes, quit, and start again to have the resize take effect…

One thing that did just start, since you mentioned the Tileset Editor - I couldn’t get some features (load missing tiles, generate ascii tiles) of the Tileset Editor to work with a recent experimental build (1365), but it did start and loaded the tiles of an existing tileset. It all worked OK with Build 1301 (about 10 days old). I do have to start the Tileset Editor .jar file directly, I don’t think the .exe has ever worked for me on XP.

[vultures]

Thanx for the feedback, gimlet; I appreciate it.
On the error’s end btw - it’s not less grim than it was. You mentioned the cfg file - and I get one (since the game generates no error to report with the system). I am in a few doubts that this is due to a link between SDL and DirectX; here’s why.
When you get a set-up Service Pack 3 edition of WinXP, you’re stuck with DirectX 9.0c. I’ve noticed that even the simplest of games made with SDL 2.0 may use DirectX controls and possibly the renderer. However, you would need to change the source code of the game and recompile it on your own machine in order to maintain full compatibility with (dated) WinXPSP3; when and if the build has been built using some libraries embedded with DirectX_10 and up, you could get only errors. What I wish to address here is that the situation is sometimes vice-versa; the good thing is that 9.0c was supported until summer 2010 and has updates;

***** IMPORTANT *****

If you’re using a 9.0c_capable video graphics adapter, some applications (games) could give you errors. You need to check if your Service Pack is the latest (3rd edition) and if you have all the modules registered/loaded with DXDiag. Once you’ve established the mainline, you can hope for some updates.
The latest (and last) update for DirectX 9.0c set of subroutines is named Redist_Jun2010 and it could be downloaded off the MS site; if you have this ~96mb installer you can just run it and it will “update if needed” so you won’t have to download any more.
There is a way to update your DirectX 9.0c online, and you need to obtain a web updater (also from the MS site). You can enjoy this one even better than the installer, because it simply downloads and runs needed updates for your DirectX 9.0c.
This “automatic” updater can show errors on some systems; this is when you might want to do some of the work manually. There is a comprehensive list on the issue on a web forum dedicated to Trainz; just Google for Redist_Jun2010 and you should bullseye the topic. It mentions some other methods, like updating from an offline (USB) device and even copying/registering certain modules.
Hope this helps one soul here or another, as I am still looking to resolve some of the issues mentioned here.

***** IMPORTANT *****