Must have XXIII(23) Ken Wood Linux only

[NewWorldHero]

I have played this version almost daily for what seems like a decade.

My scenarios and skirmishes (single player mode only) are somewhat

modified and ONLY work w/ v23 Ken Wood. Have tried many times

installing a new or latest version for Linux thru the Mint repositories and

moving the maps etc to new version. Never works.

 

I have searched and read here and everywhere else for almost a year merely trying to

find the Ken Wood v23 in a Ubuntu .deb package to install on a new PC build. Running

Mint 22.2 now the repos and everywhere else only have the latest 0AD versions, or the tar gz versions

that I have no idea how to "compile" or install. Even tried a Debian version that of course will not

work in Mint 22.2.

 

Finally decided to ask for help and need a good Linux pro.

Thanks

 

 

[hyperion]

The easiest would probably be using the windows binary with wine / proton. You might see a warning at the start tho as wine doesn't support numa and as such the hardware detection will fail. Just click continue in that case.

[Genava55]

How many scenarios do you have? 

[Deicide4u]

Hello, you mentioned that you don't know how to compile, but that may be the only option if you want Linux native older 0 A. D. And it's not too hard to do. 

First, get the a23b tar source and data archives from this link:

https://releases.wildfiregames.com/

Then, follow the build instructions for Linux on this page:

https://gitea.wildfiregames.com/0ad/0ad/wiki/BuildInstructions

Obviously, instead of the latest source and data archives, you would use the a23b ones.

Good backup practices apply before compiling any large software from source. 

Edited 22 hours ago by Deicide4u

[Stan`]

There is an A23b appimage that might work too.

[NewWorldHero]

As feared this is turning into a nightmare fast.

Ive tried a wine/proton version before. This is a big difference when playing a windows version thru wine/Crossover etc vs a installed version in Linux. Appimage also. Not good.

 

I have dozens of customized scenarios/skirmishes. 

 

Again the compile option(s) ARE too hard and a mess to do. The build instructions in the link start by focusing on all the packages and additional  software you need to even consider compiling in Linux, and its ridiculous as the Windows versions are completed in the basic .exe install packages where anything Linux are raw and have to go thru the compile nightmare. Obviously previous Linux (Mint) versions of 0AD pumped into all the Linux Mint repositories were completed in a .deb format, and now are no where to be found.  

 

Just for FYI- my current install is in the outdated Mint 20.3. Ive even taken a good image of the entire install, placed on a new SSD on the new PC build, and it, of course will not work as the drivers built in the 20.3 kernels are outdated and do not work with new CPU and chipsets..  Doesnt matter if you 'forcibly' and manually install and try any of the new kernels in 20.3, same result.

 

 

 

 

[Gönndolsalv]

what about updating your maps and scenarios to the current or next release?

https://gitea.wildfiregames.com/0ad/0ad/wiki/PortA25ToA26

https://gitea.wildfiregames.com/0ad/0ad/wiki/PortA26ToA27

https://gitea.wildfiregames.com/0ad/0ad/wiki/PortA27ToR28

[Genava55]

6 minutes ago, Gönndolsalv said:

what about updating your maps and scenarios to the current or next release?

https://gitea.wildfiregames.com/0ad/0ad/wiki/PortA25ToA26

https://gitea.wildfiregames.com/0ad/0ad/wiki/PortA26ToA27

https://gitea.wildfiregames.com/0ad/0ad/wiki/PortA27ToR28

Editing directly in the XML files? Not very simple for most people. There are at least 8 python scripts in the pages you linked. 

[zyli]

@NewWorldBohate

You're exaggerating when you say compilation is difficult.

The description on the website:

https://gitea.wildfiregames.com/0ad/0ad/wiki/BuildInstructions#linux

may be confusing, but that's because it describes compilation cases for various distributions.
If you write down the commands, for example, on a piece of paper, it's not so bad.

I can help you with that—you just have to want it and show some good will.

Yes, compilation requires a lot of dependencies, which are normally unnecessary.

But compilation can be performed on a Live system running from a DVD or USB drive (it must be the same version as the one you have installed on your PC).
After completing the necessary steps, back up the necessary directories and shut down the computer.
All the "mess" (as you wrote) is gone – you only have what you need.
Transfer it to your PC and you're done.

A small note about 0ad.
You build the Live installation in a directory on an external drive, as this directory takes up a lot of space.
The drive must have Linux partitions (ext4).

If you connect a USB drive with a FAT32 or exFAT file system, for example, the build will fail because Windows file systems do not support symlinks.

Best regards.

[Dunedan]

What all of you seem to forget is that the instructions to compile a23 are quite different from the instructions to compile recent versions of 0ad and that the versions of some libraries a23 depends on aren't available on modern Linux distributions. In my opinion that makes compiling a23 on a modern Linux distribution quite complicated.

[Stan`]

If app image is a no go for you then you'll have to run the migration scripts on the maps. Stuff that handle renamed actors, modified xml and removed terrain types.

[zyli]

@Dunedan

Good.
If compiling older versions of 0ad is as you describe, there's another way.
Probably easier than compiling.
In Debian, version 23.1 of 0ad was available in Bullseye (11.x).

1.
Install Debian 11 Bullseye on a USB stick just like you would on a hard drive.

https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/archive/11.11.0/amd64/iso-dvd/

2.
Run the installed Bullseye from the USB stick on your computer.

Of course, unless it's a recent computer that the Bullseye kernel (5.10.x) can't handle.

3.
Since the Bullseye repository is already down (I think), 0ad and its dependencies (there aren't many) must be installed manually.

https://packages.debian.org/bullseye/0ad
The standard command:

apt install 0ad

will not work.

4.
Download the following:

http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/pool/main/0/0ad/0ad_0.0.23.1-5+b1_amd64.deb
http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/pool/main/0/0ad-data/0ad-data_0.0.23.1-1.1_all.deb
http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/pool/main/0/0ad-data/0ad-data-common_0.0.23.1-1.1_all.deb

5.
Try to install it:

dpkg -i 0ad-data_0.0.23.1-1.1_all.deb
dpkg -i 0ad-data-common_0.0.23.1-1.1_all.deb
dpkg -i 0ad_0.0.23.1-5+b1_amd64.deb

We're taking a look at what dpkg outputted.
The first two packages should install correctly, unless some fonts are missing, in which case they need to be installed.

https://packages.debian.org/bullseye/0ad-data-common

The last command will be the hardest, as dpkg will output something like:

"error – package xxx is missing".
You'll need to download this package manually, install it, and try again:

dpkg -i 0ad_0.0.23.1-5+b1_amd64.deb

And so on until you succeed.
After a few rounds of this, we have 0ad ver. 23.1 installed for good.
Now you can run 0ad and finally put the Bullseye + 0ad USB stick away.

Best regards.
Happy New Year

[Deicide4u]

1 hour ago, Dunedan said:

What all of you seem to forget is that the instructions to compile a23 are quite different from the instructions to compile recent versions of 0ad and that the versions of some libraries a23 depends on aren't available on modern Linux distributions.

I didn't really forget that. I've just assumed that those library versions were backwards-compatible (as they should be) and that he would need fewer libraries anyway since it's an older alpha release. 

But yes, that is one issue you inevitably hit while learning to compile. And this knowledge ia quite valuable in today's world. 

Edited 2 hours ago by Deicide4u
Spelling

[Stan`]

41 minutes ago, Deicide4u said:

2 hours ago, Dunedan said:

 

I didn't really forget that. I've just assumed that those library versions were backwards-compatible (as they should be) and that he would need fewer libraries anyway since it's an older alpha release. 

The hardest to compile is Spidermonkey 38 mainly because it relies on python 2.

Spidermonkey has very few minor versions that are ABI (backward compatible) sometimes they even break it in minor like 76.3 and .5