PORTING

Updated: March 2005

In order to successfully port Metal Blob Solid to another platform you will need,

* SDL
* SDL Image
* SDL Mixer
* SDL TTF

There are a few considerations when porting to other platforms,

- In the makefile you should remove the -DUNIX define if you are not running 
  on a *nix system. If you don't it is likely you will only get compile time errors
  so you'll be reminded to remove it.
  
- Most non *nix systems do not have access to a function called strtok_r() which, to
  my knowledge, is a threaded version of the strtok() function. Since MBS makes some
  small use of this function I've had a try and replicate it. The replicated version
  is very half arsed and is only intended to work. Speed and efficiency aren't a 
  concern here. If you get some grief about "flag tokens" to it is most likely to
  be related to this function. It can be found in CEngine.cpp
  
- On a similar note there is a define called IGNORE_FLAGTOKEN_ERRORS which can also
  be set to hopefully aid in the pharsing of the flag tokens whilst also ignoring
  any errors thrown. Consider adding to this the build script if you experience
  issues.
  
- To create the PAK file you can run "make buildpak" after running "make". This will
  be required if you are building the game from source on non *nix platforms (note that
  make install builds the pak file).
  
When you've successfully ported the game to another platform drop me an email and let me
know. Please DO NOT email me the port without asking permission.
  
After having said all that, please report gameplay problems as well! Because of the 
nature of the game (a platform game with multiple objectives and the ability to 
return to previous missions), there are likely to be a few problems. Just let me know
what the problem is, what level it is on and where abouts you encountered it.

Stephen Sweeney
stephen.sweeney@parallelrealities.co.uk
http://www.parallelrealities.co.uk

(NB: This email address does not accept HTML formatted messages. Plain text only)
