Port Of An Open Source Bejeweled Clone

[kbranch]

I've finally gotten around to making a port (if you can call a simple recompile a port, anyway) of a Bejeweled clone I made a few months ago called Gem Heist.  I got fed up with the Palm OS and trying to get SDL and GCC to cooperate with it, so I figured I'd take a stab at a Zaurus version.

Anyway, I'd appreciate it if somebody could download this file, extract it somewhere and see what happens if you run the 'gemheistarm' executable.  You'll need libSDL installed.  I don't have any kind of ARM Linux device to test this on at the moment, so this is entirely untested.  Everything seems to compile fine, though, so I think it should stand a chance of working.  If it fails for some reason, please post the error it gives, if any.

[Hrw]

Could you provide source? Not everyone run 2.95 based enviroment on Zaurus.

[kbranch]

I knew I was forgetting something.  You can get the source from here.  This was my first attempt at compiling for the Zaurus, so I forgot about the different versions of GCC.

Edit: Which ROMs use the newer GCC versions these days?  It's been a while since I've had a Zaurus, but is it still just OZ with the new stuff?

[kbranch]

So... does the binary I linked to work for anybody?  This was mainly a test of my cross compiler, not of the game itself.  I just want a simple yes or no here.

[raybert]

I just tried it but apparently I'm missing one of the SDL libs: libSDL_image-1.2.so.0

I'll have to try again later when I have time to find that lib...

~ray

[kbranch]

Well, I guess that means that I compiled it for the right platform at least.  I should probably just use bitmaps and remove the libSDL_image requirement, but for now I've hosted the version of it that I compiled this against.  You can get it here.  I'm not entirely sure on where the Zaurus would want that extracted, but /usr/lib/ is a good bet.

[kbranch]

I have to say that I'm losing interest in writing Zaurus games pretty quickly here.  I know that this particular forum doesn't get that much traffic, but there have been well over 100 views and at least 10 people have downloaded the game.  If I can't get people to even tell me if it works or not, then why should I bother to write more?

Did I post this in the wrong place or something?  Is the problem that people don't know what to do with the file since it's not a pretty IPK?  Are people just not interested in new Zaurus games?

[chal]

I have to say that I'm losing interest in writing Zaurus games pretty quickly here.  I know that this particular forum doesn't get that much traffic, but there have been well over 100 views and at least 10 people have downloaded the game.  If I can't get people to even tell me if it works or not, then why should I bother to write more?

Did I post this in the wrong place or something?  Is the problem that people don't know what to do with the file since it's not a pretty IPK?  Are people just not interested in new Zaurus games?
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The "pretty ipk," thing is my problem with it. I really don't know what to do with anything else, unless there are detailed and clear step by step instructions of what to do and where to do it. I'm not a newbie to the Z or to Linux, but I'm not a programmer or developer and I do need some place to start. I was watching and hoping someone with a little more knowledge would provide a clue to that starting place. Thanks for the effort.

[waalkman]

Did I post this in the wrong place or something?  Is the problem that people don't know what to do with the file since it's not a pretty IPK?  Are people just not interested in new Zaurus games?
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That leads me to a question/request/complaint(?)

When I see a new program for the Z that I would like to try out, it usually ends up being for the ROM that I'm not currently using. That's not so bad, I don't expect people to cater to me.

But as a general rule, what stops me from even trying out new programs is that I usually end up with something that was never intended for my ROM in the first place (and therefore doesn't work).

So, what ROM does this work under and what libs will I need? (just libSDL?).


And, sincerely, many thanks for your efforts

[bluedevils]

and another reason less people are trying might be because there is another bejeweled clone called  "same".  It works for all sharp roms and is reasonably entertaining.

[kbranch]

Well, that clarifies some things.  I guess I incorrectly assumed that most Zaurus users are comfortable with the command line.  To test this out, you have to extract the .tar.gz (tar xzf gemheist.tar.gz) to a directory (doesn't matter which) and run the 'gemheistarm' executable (./gemheistarm while in the directory).  This version should just need libSDL and libSDL_image.  It should work on any ROM that uses GCC 2.95 (any Sharp based ROMs and older OZ ROMS as far as I know, although things could have changed since I last had a Z).

I also wasn't aware of another Bejeweled clone, so I guess that explains some of the lack of interest too.  This was mainly just a test to see what it would take to get a full SDL game ported to the Zaurus.  I'm planning on writing a space shooter (similar to Tyrian) and perhaps porting the RTS I'm working on (the link in my sig is broken at the moment).

Edit: A report on whether this works or not would still be much appreciated.  

[lardman]

should work on any ROM that uses GCC 2.95

This is the issue for me, I've not used a 'ROM' built with GCC 2.95.3 for a long time.

When I have a bit of time, I'll look at adding it to OE (unless hrw's already doing that) or building it with a newer toolchain and then try it out.

Don't get dis-heartened we need people writing new things for the Zaurus.


Si

P.S. Part of the reason I've not tried it yet, is that bejewelled is horribly addictive and I really need to finish writing my thesis...

[bluedevils]

I agree with lardman and keep up the effort.  If you keep it up, there will be return.

[Hrw]

sorry - I dont have time currently to chek it - too much other projects.

[kbranch]

So is it still just OZ that's built with newer versions of GCC or have things like Cacko switched now? (does Sharp even give you the source so that you can rebuild it?)

And where can I find newer versions of the cross compiler?  The links I found in the "Getting Started" sticky under the OE development forum are broken.  Would the generic ARM link at the bottom of this page work?  I've played around with cross compilation a bit, but the only time I've compiled GCC is through Gentoo (where you just say 'emerge gcc').