OpenClonk Wiki - User contributions [en]

C4Script Documentation

2021-07-05T17:18:05Z

Armin:

__NOTOC__
[[File:C4Script.png|right|frame]]
Like the previous Clonk titles, OpenClonk offers countless possibilites to create your own scenarios, objects and campaigns. Since [http://www.clonk.de/classics.php?lng=en Clonk 4], one of Clonk's most remarkable features has been it's extensibility. The complete content is scripted in C4Script, Clonk's own powerful scripting language, has been developed further since 1998. Now, it feels pretty much like a typical C-style scripting language. If you know other programming languages, you will have no problem to familarize yourself with C4Script and if you never programmed before, it can be a good introduction and practice to programming.

You may want to develop based on the latest game data there is. See the [https://www.openclonk.org/snapshots/ snapshots] page for the most current builds.

== [https://docs.openclonk.org/en/sdk/ OpenClonk Documentation] ==

[[File:Cpem.gif|left|link=https://docs.openclonk.org/en/sdk/]] The [https://docs.openclonk.org/en/sdk/ documentation] is a complete reference for everything you need to know about the script language C4Script and its data structures, how the the game data is organized and about the APIs for e.g. dynamic landscape generation, using the particle or the effect system.
Note that the documentation is also still [https://docs.openclonk.org/de/sdk/ available in German], however it lacks maintenance, so always refer to the English version for recent stuff.

== [https://wiki.openclonk.org/w/Developing_Content_with_Eclipse C4 Development Toolkit] ==

[[File:C4dt.png|left|52px|link=https://wiki.openclonk.org/w/Developing_Content_with_Eclipse]] The [https://wiki.openclonk.org/w/Developing_Content_with_Eclipse C4 Development Toolkit], or short C4DT, is a plugin for Eclipse. Using Eclipse with C4DT for Clonk development makes it very comfortable as the editor offers many useful features for editing and debugging scripts you might know from other IDEs.

== Tutorials series ==
* [[Tutorial: Scenario Creation]]
* [[Tutorial: Map Generator - The Basics]]

== Further links ==
* [[Artists Guide|Graphics]] - Render and texture 3D-models
* [[Artists_Guide#Sounds_.26_Music|Sounds and music]] - Include sound effects and music into the game
* [[C4Script Style Guidelines]]
* [https://forum.openclonk.org/board_show.pl?bid=7 Scenario & Object Development forum]
* [[Git Workflow]] - How to use our repository
* [[Developers Guide]] - For engine developers
* [[List Of Community Creations]] - List of community creations

GSoC2011Ideas

2019-08-25T08:31:25Z

Armin: The editor has been redesigned already.

This is a list of possible student projects for [[Google Summer of Code 2011]]. The game engine is written in C++ so you should be familiar with its basics for all the projects below. If there is something in OpenClonk you would like to work on in the scope of GSoC 2011 and which is not in this list then please contact us in [http://wiki.openclonk.org/w/Development IRC] or in the [http://forum.openclonk.org/ forums] and if it's a cool idea we can surely find a mentor and make it happen. Also if you have questions to any of the ideas below feel free to ask in IRC, in the forums or talk directly to one of the mentors listed.

'''Note:''' OpenClonk was not accepted as a mentoring organization in 2011. If you want to work on any of the ideas below without being paid you are still more than welcome of course, and the mentors mentioned would be happy to get you started and assist you where they can.

===Introduce DirectX support===
''Mentor(s)'': [http://forum.openclonk.org/user_info.pl?uid=18 ck], [http://forum.openclonk.org/user_info.pl?uid=27 PeterW]

When we introduced support for 3D mesh rendering we only did so for the OpenGL renderer. Since meshes are required to run the game the DirectX option is currently disabled. However there are many drivers which support DirectX better than OpenGL, and Window handling (such as Tabbing out) works better in DirectX mode, so it would be cool to have it back. The current implementation of the 3D mesh renderer loads meshes in the Ogre3D format and amongst others, supports uv-mapped textures, orthographic/perspective rendering, (bone) animations, an interface to C4Script (Clonk's script language) for attaching additional meshes to bones, change textures as well as play, mix and control different animations.

'''Difficulty:''' Easy

'''Resources:''' [http://bugs.openclonk.org/view.php?id=122 Bug]

'''Requirements:''' C++ knowledge, Windows OS, ideally some basic understanding of 3D computer graphics / DirectX API

===Mesh Rendering performance===
''Mentor(s)'': [http://forum.openclonk.org/user_info.pl?uid=18 ck], [http://forum.openclonk.org/user_info.pl?uid=27 PeterW]

Some players report poor FPS rates on their otherwise adequate hardware. This task involves finding potential bottlenecks and fixing them. Especially the new mesh rendering code is probably subject to more optimization. Ideas for things to investigate include re-using the depth buffer for multiple meshes, executing skeletal animation on the hardware or adding support for Level-of-Detail for meshes and/or textures.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium

'''Resources:''' [http://forum.openclonk.org/topic_show.pl?pid=11648#pid11648 A forum thread], [http://forum.openclonk.org/topic_show.pl?pid=10831#pid10831 Another thread]

'''Requirements:''' C++ knowledge, ideally some basic understanding of 3D computer graphics.

===Multi-Device support===
''Mentor(s)'': [http://forum.openclonk.org/user_info.pl?uid=18 ck], [http://forum.openclonk.org/user_info.pl?uid=27 PeterW]

With the overhauled controls in OpenClonk it became impossible to play the game in splitscreen mode because every player needs mouse control. Splitscreen mode can be re-introduced by allowing multiple mices to be used, one for each player. The generic splitscreen code is still in place, so the code that needs to be written needs to manage multiple input devices and propagate events correctly.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium to Hard

'''Resources:''' [http://forum.openclonk.org/topic_show.pl?tid=645 Some initial forum discussion], [http://bugs.openclonk.org/view.php?id=543 Bug]

'''Requirements:''' C++ knowledge, at least two mice/pointing devices :)

===Extend in-game GUI: Non-modal inventory windows===
''Mentor(s)'': [http://forum.openclonk.org/user_info.pl?uid=54 Maikel], [http://forum.openclonk.org/user_info.pl?uid=1 Newton]

The in-game inventory management is overhauled completely for the next milestone to be faster and more intuitive to use. This involves the implementation of generic non-modal windows which can interact with each other through an appropriate script interface. The generic windows are written in C++ while the specific (inventory) windows should be implemented using the script interface provided by the C++ implementation. To summarize, this project consists of three different areas of work: First, the construction and rendering of the windows and its contents, second, the interface to C4Script and third, the implementation of specific inventory (and other) windows in C4Script.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium

'''Resources:''' ''None yet''

'''Requirements:''' C++ knowledge, ideally knowledge about C4Script (Clonk's scripting language)

Release Steps

2017-11-27T13:58:41Z

Armin: Undo revision 1848. Not sure if it is enough to test this before release candidate.

__NOTOC__
This page contains all steps to release a new version of OpenClonk and is meant for developers to check whether all steps have been considered.

=== Before Release ===

Steps to do before the release, and after the feature freeze.

* If releasing from a stable branch: make sure all relevant commits have been cherry-picked from master.
* Fix all bugs related to this release, which can be found in the bugtracker's [http://bugs.openclonk.org/roadmap_page.php roadmap].
* Go the [http://londeroth.org/~ck/oc-release/oc-release.cgi release button] and perform a dry release to create a release candidate.
* Test this release candidate with few simple tests: download, check installer content, run game, play game, play network game.

=== Release ===

If it is made sure that the current [https://git.openclonk.org/openclonk.git master branch] or the current stable branch does not contain any bugs one can initiate the release procedure.

* Optional: Update all Version.txt files in planet/ to the new version number.
* '''Update the Version.txt''' to the new version number and put the extra version in Version.txt to FALSE. Commit and push push.
* '''Create a tag''' for the released changeset with the vX.Y tag (lightweight: git tag vX.Y).
* Then go to the '''[http://londeroth.org/~ck/oc-release/oc-release.cgi release button]''' and release from the correct branch.

=== After Release ===

* '''Create a stable branch''' named stable-X for bugfix releases.
* '''Make announcements''' in our blog and in our forum.
* Notify an openclonk.org admin to '''transfer the [https://git.openclonk.org/openclonk.git/archive/ source package]''' to www.openclonk.org/builds/release/X.Y/openclonk-X.Y-src.tar.bz2.
* Notify an openclonk.org admin to '''mark this version as released in the bugtracker''' and add the next version to the roadmap.
* '''Notify our Linux package maintainers''' for [https://packages.debian.org/de/sid/openclonk Debian], [https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/openclonk/ Arch], [http://www.freshports.org/games/openclonk/ FreeBSD] and [http://www.openclonk.org/download/ others] that a new version has been released.

=== Optional ===

* '''Update external websites''': [http://gamejolt.com/games/platformer/openclonk/44187/ Game Jolt], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenClonk wikipedia article],[https://www.reddit.com/r/freegames/ reddit/freegames], [https://www.youtube.com/user/OpenClonkProject YouTube].
* Spread the word! More advertisement!

Release Steps

2017-11-27T13:53:51Z

Armin: /* Before Release */

__NOTOC__
This page contains all steps to release a new version of OpenClonk and is meant for developers to check whether all steps have been considered.

=== Before Release ===

Steps to do before the release, and after the feature freeze.

* If releasing from a stable branch: make sure all relevant commits have been cherry-picked from master.
* Fix all bugs related to this release, which can be found in the bugtracker's [http://bugs.openclonk.org/roadmap_page.php roadmap].
* Go the [http://londeroth.org/~ck/oc-release/oc-release.cgi release button] and perform a dry release to create a release candidate.
* Test this release candidate with few simple tests: download, check installer content, run game, play game, play network game, use runtime join, save and load game, perform a runtime join.

=== Release ===

If it is made sure that the current [https://git.openclonk.org/openclonk.git master branch] or the current stable branch does not contain any bugs one can initiate the release procedure.

* Optional: Update all Version.txt files in planet/ to the new version number.
* '''Update the Version.txt''' to the new version number and put the extra version in Version.txt to FALSE. Commit and push push.
* '''Create a tag''' for the released changeset with the vX.Y tag (lightweight: git tag vX.Y).
* Then go to the '''[http://londeroth.org/~ck/oc-release/oc-release.cgi release button]''' and release from the correct branch.

=== After Release ===

* '''Create a stable branch''' named stable-X for bugfix releases.
* '''Make announcements''' in our blog and in our forum.
* Notify an openclonk.org admin to '''transfer the [https://git.openclonk.org/openclonk.git/archive/ source package]''' to www.openclonk.org/builds/release/X.Y/openclonk-X.Y-src.tar.bz2.
* Notify an openclonk.org admin to '''mark this version as released in the bugtracker''' and add the next version to the roadmap.
* '''Notify our Linux package maintainers''' for [https://packages.debian.org/de/sid/openclonk Debian], [https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/openclonk/ Arch], [http://www.freshports.org/games/openclonk/ FreeBSD] and [http://www.openclonk.org/download/ others] that a new version has been released.

=== Optional ===

* '''Update external websites''': [http://gamejolt.com/games/platformer/openclonk/44187/ Game Jolt], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenClonk wikipedia article],[https://www.reddit.com/r/freegames/ reddit/freegames], [https://www.youtube.com/user/OpenClonkProject YouTube].
* Spread the word! More advertisement!

List Of Community Creations

2017-06-24T08:04:27Z

Armin: Add new scenario.

Below a list of all scenarios and objects developed by the OpenClonk community and which do not appear in the main game. Download links to the latest version are provided if available as well as links to a repository. The OC Version indicates what version of OC is needed to play this creation.

{| border="1" class="wikitable"
|-
! Type
! Name
! DL
! Repository
! OC Version
! Main author(s)
|-
! [[File:Ocf.png|text-bottom|x18px|link=]]
! [http://wiki.openclonk.org/w/Base_Melees Base Melees]
!
! [https://github.com/MDT-Maikel/basemelees GitHub]
! [http://www.openclonk.org/nightly-builds/ snapshot]
! Maikel
|-
! [[File:Ocs.png|text-bottom|x18px|link=]]
! ClonkFest
!
! [https://github.com/clonkspot/ClonkFest.ocs GitHub]
! [http://www.openclonk.org/nightly-builds/ snapshot]
! Sven2
|-
! [[File:Ocf.png|text-bottom|x18px|link=]]
! [http://forum.openclonk.org/topic_show.pl?tid=3268 Knüppeln]
!
! [https://github.com/TheThow/OpenClonk-Stuff GitHub]
! [http://www.openclonk.org/nightly-builds/ snapshot]
! KKenny
|-
! [[File:Ocf.png|text-bottom|x18px|link=]]
! [http://forum.openclonk.org/topic_show.pl?tid=2817 Lands of Mystery]
!
!
!
! Sayned
|-
! [[File:Ocs.png|text-bottom|x18px|link=]]
! [http://wiki.openclonk.org/w/Tower_of_Despair Tower of Despair]
! [[File:Download.png|text-bottom|x18px|link=https://mwf-data.clonkspot.org/60/14860/OCTowerV0.5.ocs]]
! [https://github.com/MDT-Maikel/OCTower GitHub]
! [http://www.openclonk.org/nightly-builds/ snapshot]
! Maikel, Sven2
|-
! [[File:Ocd.png|text-bottom|x18px|link=]]
! Some object
!
!
!
!
|-
! [[File:Ocs.png|text-bottom|x18px|link=]]
! [http://forum.openclonk.org/topic_show.pl?pid=32527#pid32527 Winter food]
!
!
! [http://www.openclonk.org/nightly-builds/ snapshot]
! Armin
|-
|}

Please complete this list by adding your own creations. The list is sorted alphabetically according to the name of the creation.

Base Melees

2016-03-30T20:20:22Z

Armin: The word "destroyed" was in a weird place.

This article covers the BaseMelees scenario folder for OpenClonk. Base melees are scenarios in which players or teams battle each other and try to destroy enemy bases. This type of scenario combines the game play elements of settlement and combat and is therefore considered a different from regular melees. Usually base melees start with a short phase of building up a settlement to produce weaponry and improve defensive strongholds. In contrast to regular settlement scenarios this is sped up by allowing team leaders to create a small start up settlement. Then teams usually deploy aggressive strategies to weaken opponents and their bases, in order to oppress their production. The game ends for a team when all base buildings are lost. This goal is called domination and a team has won when all enemy bases are destroyed.

[[File:BaseMeleesTitle.png|400px]]

=== Downloads ===
The stable version can be found on [https://clonklorry.org/ Lorry] and should be compatible with the [http://www.openclonk.org/download/ latest release of OpenClonk]. A development version can be found on [https://github.com/MDT-Maikel/basemelees GitHub] and this is always kept up to date with the [https://git.openclonk.org/openclonk.git OpenClonk master branch], for which playable [http://www.openclonk.org/nightly-builds/ snapshots] are available.

== Medals ==
All the base melees in the BaseMelees folder have the [http://wiki.openclonk.org/w/Medal_System medal rule] activated, which means that players can achieve medals for original or courageous actions.

== Scenarios ==
The folder contains different scenarios based in different landscapes and suited for various team sizes. A list of the scenarios is provided here.
{| border="1" class="wikitable"
|-
! Scenario
! Nr. Teams
! Description
|-
! [http://wiki.openclonk.org/w/Base_Melee:_Ruby_Lake Ruby Lake]
| align="center" | 2
| Two opposing kingdoms battle for the giant pillar of rubies in the middle of a lake between their castles.
|-
! [http://wiki.openclonk.org/w/Base_Melee:_Cliff_Fight Cliff Fight]
| align="center" | 2
| Two teams have their bases on opposing cliffs, where in between there is a large body of water, providing an initial obstacle for attacks.
|-
! [http://wiki.openclonk.org/w/Base_Melee:_Skylands Skylands]
| align="center" | 4
| Teams have a base on large sky islands with various smaller islands around for mining resources or expanding the base.
|-
! [http://wiki.openclonk.org/w/Base_Melee:_Labyrinth Labyrinth]
| align="center" | 4
| An underground labyrinth constructed out of small caves and narrow paths. Teams have bases in larger caves and may find wealth in a large central gem reserve.
|-
|}

== Strategy ==
In contrast to regular melees, skill in controlling your clonks may not be playing the decisive role in which player wins a base melee round. Deploying the correct strategy tailored for the scenario and situation is more important. You need to find the right balance between gathering resources and production, building up defenses and attacking the opponent's base. In this section we discuss some general concepts regarding strategy. Advanced strategies per scenario can be found in the respective scenario articles and there is also an article on [http://wiki.openclonk.org/w/Base_Melee:_Advanced_Strategies advanced strategies for base melees].

=== Secure Base ===
During the start of the round the team leader is able to place a small base consisting of a few production buildings and some materials. Be sure to use these materials immediately to construct items or defensive structures. Also dig out patches of material to allow the team leader to place the structures more strategically, for example a foundry underground near some ore. Always aim to build a few defensive measures to prevent enemies from directly walking into your base. Usually the terrain already provides obstacles which can be made harder by digging or placing defense towers, walls or basements. Also make sure the opponent has no direct access to any explosives in or near the base, most importantly dig out patches of firestone material nearby.

=== Managing Clunkers ===
Gold management is the next important item to watch. Since crew members respawn at base structures when sufficient clunkers are available, it is essential to have at least enough clunkers to support 2-3 respawns. Also be sure to expand your base beyond two flagpoles in case one or two get destroyed. If a team looses all its base structures it is eliminated! Excess clunkers can be used to buy equipment, resources or food at the base buildings. For every scenario the items one can buy at the base differs, so make sure you know what you need to produce and set up production chains if needed. For example in map with sky islands you might want a plane to attack enemies, only to find out later that you can't buy it. Constructing a full production chain amid intense attacks from opponents is next to impossible.

=== Planning Attacks ===
Once you have set up a defense and have produced weapons, it is time to attack. Always plan your attacks carefully, there is no point in attacking a base with only a sword. A sword is suited for killing clonks, not to destroy enemy base buildings or production lines. Also coordinate attacks with other players. If, for example, you decide to fly an airship to another base be sure to take some team members with you. Airships are expensive and fragile so you better make that probably single trip counts. If you decided to attack an enemy base with explosives and you stumble upon an enemy carrying a sword, you either run back or directly to the base. There is no point in engaging in a fight with that opponent since he has superior melee weapons and you only end up loosing your valuable explosives.

=== Optimal Attacks ===
When preparing and performing attacks, try to be decisive. A perfect attack inflicts maximal damage to the enemies base, production or crew. Remember that destroying a single base building might be much more valuable than killing a single clonk. A simple calculation shows that a clonk roughly costs 50 clunkers (25 for the clonk and maybe another 25 for what it is carrying). On the other hand, destroying a wind generator and a flagpole costs roughly the same, but might disrupt the production infrastructure and takes a lot of time to rebuild. Also try to coordinate attacks with team members, if an enemy has only two flagpoles left, it is essential to destroy them both at the same time, which probably requires two clonks with explosives.

=== More Information ===
This guide can only teach you so much and give some directions rather than tell you how to win a base melee round. So just try it out, have fun and improve yourself by playing. Also read the [http://wiki.openclonk.org/w/Base_Melee:_Advanced_Strategies advanced strategies] and the scenario specific strategies for more in-depth hints and tricks.

== Development ==
Development of the BaseMelees scenario folder is done on [https://github.com/MDT-Maikel/basemelees GitHub]. You can browse the source there, [https://github.com/MDT-Maikel/basemelees/issues report bugs], or submit patches and contribute.

Missing sounds

2015-05-09T15:44:57Z

Armin: /* Object sounds */ I think Grab.WAV from Clonk Rage was a good "feedback" sound

The acoustic parts of our game are pretty shabby. Here are some ideas for sound polishing. Feel free to contribute sounds from the list or to contribute your own ideas to this list by editing this page.

== Environmental sounds ==
* Forest: Tree leaves, birds, cicadas
* Night sounds: Howling wolves at midnight/full moon
* Ocean: Sea waves, seagulls
* Underwater: Bubbles, fish sonar echoes
* Caves: Dripping water

== Object sounds ==
* Construction site: Hammering, sawing, ...
* Large explosion sound
* Item construction sounds for tools workshop, chemical lab [boiling.ogg?], inventor's lab - could also be used for NPC village ambience sounds
* Destruction sounds for collapsing buildings
* Put/Hit sounds for barrel and bucket
* Grab sound for touching /releasing touchable objects like the lorry

== Engine sounds ==
* Game start sound in the lobby (currently Blast3 I think)

== General Objects ==
* The music controller object should also do sounds (forest/village/underwater/etc. ambience) (Better performance if sound search is done per player)

== Engine features ==
* Automatic frequency adjustment when player is underwater
* Fix left/right pan
* Echo for caves

Building with Windows

2014-10-19T12:26:00Z

Armin: /* Your First Build */

[[DE:Kompilieren unter Windows|German Version here]]

= Get the sources =

The source of OpenClonk is hold in a so-called version control system. Put simply, this is something that allows programmers to coordinate their work (see [[Git Workflow|the Git article]] for how that works). For the moment, it's just a couple of files you want to download.

== Install TortoiseGit ==

The notable difference to a simple download is that you need a special program to do it. Our version control system is Git, and we will use the [http://code.google.com/p/tortoisegit/ TortoiseGit] client. Follow that link and click "Download".

[[File:build_windows_tgit.png|860px]]

As the website tells you, the installation of TortoiseGit has two parts: TortoiseGit and msysGit. It also says that you should start with TortoiseGit, so let us get that installer first. Make sure to choose the right architecture for your version of Windows:

[[File:build_windows_tgit2.png|860px]]

And walk through the installation. Just selecting the default options should get you through alright.

''OpenClonk team members:'' If you want to use [http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html PuTTY] to push commits, make sure to select the appropriate option along the way. Do it again for the msysGit installation below.

[[File:build_windows_tgit4.png]]

Next, you need msysGit, which is what actually does all the work behind the scenes. Following the [http://code.google.com/p/msysgit/downloads/list?can=2&q=%22Full+installer+for+official+Git+for+Windows%22 "Full installer for official Git"] link will get you to another download page:

[[File:build_windows_tgit3.png|860px]]

This installation will ask even more confusing questions. But again default options won't cause anything to break, I would just recommend deactivating some GUI options, as TortoiseGit already offers them:

[[File:build_windows_tgit5.png]]

After a bit of waiting and (if you're lucky) not a single request to restart your computer, this should have given you a working TortoiseGit installation.

== Clone ==

Okay, now we are going to download the sources. Git calls this "cloning" because it's actually a lot more than just the sources you get. After you're done, you can check the [[Git Workflow]] page for how to work with your clone.

For now, just find a place where you want the source to be, open the context menu by right-click and select "Git Clone..." from the TortoiseGit menu:

[[File:build_windows_tgit6.png]]

A dialog will appear asking for the repository URL and the destination path. In our case, we want the source to be the OpenClonk repository. The URL you need is normally "git://git.openclonk.org/openclonk.git". Here's how it should look like:

''OpenClonk team members:'' Use "ssh://git@git.openclonk.org/openclonk.git" instead and activate the option to auto-load the PuTTY key for maximum convenience.

[[File:build_windows_tgit_pub.png]]

After pressing "OK", TortoiseGit will work for a while. After watching a tortoise somersaulting for a while, it should finish. Congratulations, you now have the bleeding edge of OpenClonk development on your hard drive!

[[File:build_windows_tgit_finish.png]]

This a lot of stuff and most likely you won't understand much of it. Here's a quick orientation guide of the actually important bits:
* "docs" - the sources of our [http://docs.openclonk.org/en/sdk/ documentation]
* "planet" - these are the game resources - scripts, graphics and everything to explain how to make a game out of them
* "src" - all the source code of the game engine. Lots of C++ ahead.

= Get it to Compile =

This is nice, but we are interested in seeing the game run, aren't we? For this, we need a program that will take all those C++ files and make an executable file out of it. Unfortunately, programming is complicated stuff so even setting up the tools and the environment has become a bit of science. But this won't stop us.

== Get Microsoft Visual Studio ==

You can say what you want about Microsoft, but they sure make nice development environments. And they are even giving a lot of it away for free. We will use [http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/downloads#d-2012-express Visual Studio C++ 2012]. Follow that link, find the 2012 Express Edition '''for Windows Desktop''', then download the [http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9816758 web installer]:

[[File:msvc11_web_download.png|860px|Make extra sure you got the "Windows Desktop" variant.]]

Run it, accept the licensing terms, click the big "Install" link and accept the UAC prompt.

Then go make a coffee because the install will probably take a while. If the setup asks you to restart your computer, do so; it will continue when you log back in.

== Get Dependencies ==

Like most big programs, OpenClonk doesn't stand on its own. Some things (like opening PNG images) were already programmed by other programers far better than we could ever do. This is why we have to get a few so-called "libraries" before Clonk can be built.

You could expend some effort try to find, download, and compile all those libraries by yourself, but that would take quite some time. Instead, just download one of the packages we've provided for your convenience. If you're trying to build a 32-bit binary of OpenClonk or you don't really know what this is all about, use [http://www.nosebud.de/~nh/openclonk/openclonk-deps-vc110-i386.zip the x86 package]; for a 64-bit binary, use [http://www.nosebud.de/~nh/openclonk/openclonk-deps-vc110-amd64.zip the amd64 package]. Then unpack the .zip archive and put the "deps" folder into the directory where you also want your build files.

== Get CMake ==

Before all this becomes useful, we still need something that tells the compiler ''how'' all those sources and libraries should be compiled together.

For this, Visual C++ needs a project file. But there is none - we have to consult ''another'' program to generate it for us. This might seem confusing - but the point is that there are a lot of build environments besides Visual Studio, and having all those project files next to each other would become a problem in the long run.

What we need is [http://www.cmake.org/cmake/resources/software.html#latest CMake]. Follow that link and download the installer:

[[File:build_windows_cmake1.png|860px]]

You know what to do.

[[File:build_windows_cmake2.png]]

After the installation, start the CMake GUI from the start menu. Put the path you cloned the repository into the source code path field.
You can set the build path to any directory you want, but it is important that the "deps" folder from the last step is also in that directory.

[[File:build_windows_cmake3.png]]

Now click the "Configure" button in the lower left. It will ask what compiler we want to use. Select the compiler you want to use; either "Visual Studio 11" if you downloaded the 32-bit library package above, or "Visual Studio 11 Win64" if you got the 64-bit package.

[[File:build_windows_cmake4.png]]

If you get some error messages (in red), you're probably missing some dependencies. Don't worry if cmake complains about some missing paths, it shouldn't affect you.

The last step is to click the "Generate" button.

== Your First Build ==

Okay, now we have everything needed to make OpenClonk run for the first time. Go into the source directory and double-click on the "openclonk.sln" file that should now have appeared:

[[File:build_windows_build1.png]]

Visual C++ should open and look similar to this:

[[File:build_windows_build2.png]]

We only want to build the engine, so select "openclonk" from the list, right-click and select "Set as Start-Up project".

[[File:build_windows_build3.png]]

Now press F5 (or, if you prefer, click the "Local Windows Debugger" button in the tool bar). Visual Studio will notice that you don't actually have a current compiled version of OpenClonk yet. Tell it to build one, and if you like also tell it to always just automatically build a new version using the check box.

[[File:build_windows_outofdate.png]]

If all goes well, after a couple of minutes you'll be looking at the OpenClonk main menu.

[[File:Openclonk_first_start.jpg]]

In case you are wondering why OpenClonk suddenly starts in some kind of pseudo windowed mode: This is because we just built a debug build (note the "dbg" after the version?). This build is a bit slower but allows you to get a better look at the internals of the engine while it's running. Maybe we'll have another article about that soon.

File:CrabRock1.png

2014-07-08T19:55:58Z

Armin:

File:CrabRock2.png

2014-07-08T19:55:33Z

Armin: