WHAT IS CROSSFIRE? This is a multiplayer graphical arcade and adventure game made for the X-Windows environment. It runs on a client/server model. The client runs with X11, GTK, or SDL within a gtk window. A windows client is available, and a java client is under development. It has certain flavours from other games, especially Gauntlet (TM) and Nethack/Moria. Any number of players can move around in their own window, finding and using items and battle monsters. They can choose to cooperate or compete in the same "world". This README is for the server, the client, which is downloaded separately, has it's own README. REQUIREMENTS For UNIX, an ANSI C compiler (with some C99 features, such as snprintf()) is needed to compile the server. GCC is recommended. You also need Perl to generate the archetype files. This is only done at build time. There are some optional dependencies: * Support for dynamically loaded libraries. Most modern systems have this. * SQLite3 - For cflogger and cfnewspaper. * Python 2.4 or later - For cfpython. This is highly recommended. A lot of items, maps and quests won't work without Python. * Check - For unit tests. This is required for developers, normal users don't need to bother about this. For Windows: Someone with Windows: please fill this in. COMPILING Crossfire has been known to compile on a wide variety of systems. It should compile on most all ANSI C and POSIX compliant systems. To get directions on compilation for UNIX/LINUX, read the INSTALL file. For Windows: Someone with Windows: please fill this in. USAGE Crossfire runs on a client/server model. You will also need the client to play. You can either connect to a server someone else has set up, or run your own server and connect to that. The client package has information for connecting to servers. To run your own server, you need to make the crossfire binaries and install them, and then run the crossfire program. This now creates a server which you/other people can connect to. The map files will need to get downloaded and installed for the server to run properly. The maps should be unpacked in the $(TARGET)/share/crossfire directory - after unpacking, you should have a $(TARGET)/share/crossfire/maps directory. If you plan to run a long term server, you should use one of the scripts provided that will re-run crossfire if it dies for some reason. MAILING LIST For the latest subscription for crossfire mailing lists, go to: http://crossfire.real-time.com/mailinglists/index.html From there you should be able to subscribe/unsubscribe any of the mailing lists. Links to archives of the mailing lists can be found there, as well as at: http://gmane.org/find.php?list=crossfire FTP SITES FTP-sites where you can look for the latest versions are: http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/crossfire/ ftp://ftp.real-time.com/pub/games/crossfire Changes made since the latest release can be found at the SVN repository. Information on anonymous SVN access and browsing the repository can be found at: http://sourceforge.net/svn/?group_id=13833 WEB SITES: The following web addresses have crossfire information that you may find useful: http://crossfire.real-time.com/ real-time is the main crossfire site. REPORTING BUGS First, check the INSTALL file for common problems, and see if yours is mentioned. Bugs should be filed at the sourceforge web site: http//sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=13833&atid=113833 When reporting bugs, make sure you include the following: o If you have a sourceforge login, make sure you are logged in. This way, if there are questions about the bug, you will be notified about the request for more information. o What version of crossfire did you use? o What type of computer did you use (CPU type) o What is the version of the OS? o What compiler (and its version) did you use (ie, gcc, icc, etc)? o Which flags did you give it? o If the bug happens when compiling crossfire, send an EXACT copy of the compiler line, as well as the errors it puts out. Sending bugs of the sort 'it failed with a line like ...' doesn't help at all. o If you are using any of the plugins, what version(s) of Python and SQLite do you have installed? o If the bug happened while running crossfire: - Include any output before to the bug. - Give a description of what you did before the bug occurred. The better detailed the description, the better chance we have of figuring out where the bug happened, or how we can recreate the bug. - If possible, a stack trace from gdb (or other debugger) is very helpful. The more information provided, the better chance of the bug being fixed in a timely fashion. Further debugging information can be found at http://crossfire.real-time.com/debugging_tips.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SUBMITTING PATCHES: See the doc/programming_guide file. The patches should be submitted to the patch tracker on sourceforge: http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=13833&atid=313833 PUBLIC SERVERS: The best way to find a server to play is to run the client. It will contact the metaserver and present a list to choose from. You can also see a list at http://crossfire.real-time.com/metaserver/ COPYRIGHT Don't get scared by the below, it's included just for "safety" reasons 8) (Don't want anyone to start selling the game) Copyright (C) 2000,2006 Mark Wedel Copyright (C) 1992 Frank Tore Johansen This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. The author can be reached via e-mail to crossfire-devel@real-time.com