WHAT IS CROSSFIRE? This is a multiplayer graphical arcade and adventure game, that runs on a client/server model. There are clients for Microsoft(R) Windows(TM) and POSIX systems such as Linux and *BSD. To get the most joyful experience, the Crossfire+ client should be used. This client is written in Perl and utilises SDL with OpenGL to provide you with the most immersive gameplay. Crossfire has certain flavours from other games, especially Gauntlet (TM) and Nethack/Moria. Any number of players can move around in their own window on the world, finding and using items and battle monsters. They can choose to cooperate or compete in the same "world". REQUIREMENTS For UNIX, a modern C++ compiler with some extensions is required to compile this game (g++ 4.x works). In addition, you will need the Perl development libraries along with the following Perl modules (the server is tested with perl 5.8.8 and 5.8-maint) and their dependencies. (the minimum versions below may not be up-to-date, the configure script will check them all, though). - AnyEvent >= v2.52 - BDB >= v0.1 **libdb4.5, libdb4.4 might work** - Compress::LZF >= v1.8 - Coro >= v3.62 **SEE IMPORTANT NOTICE BELOW** - Coro::Event >= v2.1 - Crossfire >= v0.99 - Digest::MD5 >= v2.0 - Event >= v1.08 - IO::AIO >= v2.4 - JSON::XS => v1.41 - Pod::POM >= v0.17 - Safe::Hole >= v0.10 - Storable >= v2.0 - Time::HiRes >= v1.0 - YAML::Syck >= v0.71 - YAML => v0.62 **NOTICE**: Crossfire uses an alternative signal stack, so you have to use either the "u"context method (slow) or "a"ssembly when configuring Coro. Furthermore, you will need the following programs and libraries: - gperf, the GNU perfect hash generator >= v3.0 - glib-2.0 >= v2.10 - libpng >= v1.2 - ImageMagick >= v6.0 (possibly higher, depending on its bugs) - optipng => v0.5.5 (http://optipng.sf.net) - pngnq >= v0.4 (http://freshmeat.net/redir/pngnq/53146/url_homepage/pngnq.html) - rsync >= v2.6 (a must have anyways) Your compiler must support the Library Technical Report 1 extensions and the upcoming typeof extension. The GNU C++ compiler >= version 4.0 does support all these. On Debian GNU/Linux, you might get away with something like this for many of the above dependencies: apt-get install gperf optipng pngnq rsync imagemagick libglib2.0-dev libpng12-dev apt-get install libpod-pom-perl libsafe-hole-perl libevent-perl If you want to get sensible backtraces for error conditions at runtime to be logged you also need the external addr2line program (part of GNU binutils) in your PATH. COMPILING Crossfire has been known to compile on a wide variety of systems. It should compile and run on most ISO C++ 200x and POSIX compliant systems. To get generic directions on compilation, read the INSTALL file. INSTALLATION/USAGE Crossfire runs on a client/server model. You will also a client to play. You can either connect to a server someone else has set up, or run your own server and connect to that. There are a number of clients available, but the recommended one is CFPlus (see below for URL). To run your own server, you need to build the crossfire server binaries and install them, then you will have to download and install map and archetype packs: Download both the cfmaps- and cfarch- archives, then use cfutil to install both (the source directories must be writable for this to work): cfutil --install-maps path/to/cfmaps-/ cfutil --install-arch path/to/cfarch-/ Both processes can take some time, depending on your resources :) If you plan to repeat the installation you should specify the --cache option which will keep costly-to-generate files around for further runs of cfutil. Atfer this you can then run the crossfire executable. This starts a server which you/other people can connect to. WEB SITES The following web addresses have crossfire information that you may find useful: http://crossfire.schmorp.de/ (The main site) http://crossfire.real-time.com/ (The website for the old Crossfire game) REPORTING BUGS First, check the INSTALL file for common problems, and see if yours is mentioned. Bugs should be filed using the following email address: crossfire@schmorp.de When reporting bugs, make sure you include the following: * What version of crossfire did you use? * What type of computer did you use (CPU type) * What is the version of the OS? * What windowing system are you using (e.g. openwindows, X.org, XFree86) * What compiler (and its version) did you use (e.g. gcc, acc)? * Which flags did you give it? * 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 any. * If the bug happened while running crossfire: - Include any output before to the bug. - Give a description of what you did before the bug occured. 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. SUBMITTING PATCHES Patches should be submitted to email address: crossfire@schmorp.de PUBLIC SERVERS The best way to find a server to play is to run the client and hit "Server List" in the setup dialog (this varies depending on your client). You can also see a list at http://crossfire.real-time.com/metaserver/. The canonical server for use with Crossfire and CFPlus is crossfire.schmorp.de, port 13327 (default). COPYRIGHT Most files in this distribution are covered by the GNU General Public License, version 3 (COPYING.GPL), or any later version, with the exception of ext/affero.ext, which is covered by the GNU Affero General Public License, Version 3 (COPYING.Affero). Please take note of the special requirements of the Affero license with respect to network servers and configure your network server according to the instructions given in ext/affero.ext. CONTACT The authors can be reached via e-mail to crossfire@schmorp.de