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    <title>XRacer: Frequently Asked Questions</title>
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  <body bgcolor="#ffffff">
    <a name="toc"></a><table align=center border=0>
 <tr bgcolor="#ffe0ff"><td align="right">1</td><td> ..... </td><td><a href="#1">Compiling, installing, running XRacer</a></td></tr>
 <tr bgcolor="#e0ffff"><td align="right">1.1</td><td> ..... </td><td><a href="#1.1">Can I get my Voodoo Banshee card running with XRacer?</a></td></tr>
 <tr bgcolor="#e0ffff"><td align="right">1.2</td><td> ..... </td><td><a href="#1.2">I've got a Voodoo XYZ 3D accelerator, but when I run XRacer, it runs in a window at about 0.01 frames per second. (or) I've got a Voodoo Graphics or Voodoo2 3D accelerator, and the -f switch gives a badly offset screen view.</a></td></tr>
 <tr bgcolor="#e0ffff"><td align="right">1.3</td><td> ..... </td><td><a href="#1.3">XRacer can't find my GL/GLU/glut libraries when compiling. (or) XRacer runs, but it doesn't seem to be using acceleration</a></td></tr>
 <tr bgcolor="#e0ffff"><td align="right">1.4</td><td> ..... </td><td><a href="#1.4">On Linux, with my Voodoo XYZ, XRacer dumps core before even opening a window!</a></td></tr>
 <tr bgcolor="#e0ffff"><td align="right">1.5</td><td> ..... </td><td><a href="#1.5">`configure' works, but the compile fails with the error "sh: no: command not found".</a></td></tr>
 <tr bgcolor="#ffe0ff"><td align="right">2</td><td> ..... </td><td><a href="#2">Platforms</a></td></tr>
 <tr bgcolor="#e0ffff"><td align="right">2.1</td><td> ..... </td><td><a href="#2.1">Is there a Windows port of XRacer?</a></td></tr>
 <tr bgcolor="#e0ffff"><td align="right">2.2</td><td> ..... </td><td><a href="#2.2">Is there a (insert Unix flavour here) port?</a></td></tr>
 <tr bgcolor="#e0ffff"><td align="right">2.3</td><td> ..... </td><td><a href="#2.3">I can't run XRacer on my 386. Are you planning support for low-end PCs? (or) Can I run XRacer without a 3D accelerator card?</a></td></tr>
 <tr bgcolor="#ffe0ff"><td align="right">3</td><td> ..... </td><td><a href="#3">Contributions</a></td></tr>
 <tr bgcolor="#e0ffff"><td align="right">3.1</td><td> ..... </td><td><a href="#3.1">How to make code contributions</a></td></tr>
 <tr bgcolor="#e0ffff"><td align="right">3.2</td><td> ..... </td><td><a href="#3.2">What formats can I send music/samples/textures in?</a></td></tr>
 <tr bgcolor="#e0ffff"><td align="right">3.3</td><td> ..... </td><td><a href="#3.3">I'm a music composer. Can I send you music/samples?</a></td></tr>
 <tr bgcolor="#e0ffff"><td align="right">3.4</td><td> ..... </td><td><a href="#3.4">I'm a Blender guru. How do I design tracks?</a></td></tr>
 <tr bgcolor="#ffe0ff"><td align="right">4</td><td> ..... </td><td><a href="#4">Miscellaneous questions</a></td></tr>
 <tr bgcolor="#e0ffff"><td align="right">4.1</td><td> ..... </td><td><a href="#4.1">Wouldn't it be cool if XRacer did (insert cool feature) !</a></td></tr>
 <tr bgcolor="#e0ffff"><td align="right">4.2</td><td> ..... </td><td><a href="#4.2">I'm too lazy to download these beta versions. When is release 1.0 coming out?</a></td></tr>
 <tr bgcolor="#e0ffff"><td align="right">4.3</td><td> ..... </td><td><a href="#4.3">What are your future plans for XRacer?</a></td></tr>
 <tr bgcolor="#e0ffff"><td align="right">4.4</td><td> ..... </td><td><a href="#4.4">Where do you live, and what's your day job?</a></td></tr>
 </table>


    <a name="1"></a><a href="#toc"><h2>1 Compiling, installing, running XRacer</h2></a>

    <a name="1.1"></a><a href="#toc"><h3>1.1 Can I get my Voodoo Banshee card running with XRacer?</h3></a>

    <p>
      The Voodoo Banshee is the combined 2D/3D version
      of the Voodoo 2 (rather like the relationship
      between the Voodoo Rush and the original Voodoo 1).
    </p>

    <p>
      <a href="mailto:iota@inaxx.net">Jason Gill</a>
      sent me this message:
    </p>

<pre>
Richard -
I am glad to inform you that, after much tweaking and testing, I have been
able to get my Voodoo Banshee card running with XRacer. Here's what I did
(feel free to add this to the FAQ, if you feel needed. This information
*should* apply to the Voodoo3, because AFAIK, the Voodoo3 and Banshee are
essentially the same (the use the same drivers, at least.))

1) Get the newest versions of Glide and the associated tools for the
Voodoo3/Voodoo Banshee from
http://glide.xxedgexx.com/3DfxRPMS_vb_glibc.html
Install them as instructed on that page. Make sure that test3dfx works!

2) Get the Mesa 3.0 source (NOT BINARIES/RPMS!). Compile using 'make
linux-glide` (try other options if you feel you need them, but linux-glide
should work no matter what.) Install as appropriate for your system.

3) Set MESA_GLX_FX=f in your shell (better yet, add it to your shell's
profile or start-up script).

4) Download, compile, and install XRacer however you like. Edit
"globals.c" and set the resolution you want (works for me in any
resolution that my Xserver is set up for.)

5) XRacer should work! If not, make sure that you can run test3dfx, a few
Mesa Demo's or other Mesa-based Fullscreen programs. If all else fails,
make a patch and submit it :)
</pre>

    <a name="1.2"></a><a href="#toc"><h3>1.2 I've got a Voodoo XYZ 3D accelerator, but when I run XRacer, it runs in a window at about 0.01 frames per second. (or) I've got a Voodoo Graphics or Voodoo2 3D accelerator, and the -f switch gives a badly offset screen view.</h3></a>

    <p>
      Try setting the <tt>MESA_GLX_FX</tt> environment
      variable before running it, like this:
    </p>

<pre>
export MESA_GLX_FX=f
</pre>

    <p> or </p>

<pre>
setenv MESA_GLX_FX f
</pre>

    <p> if you have a csh-derived shell. </p>

    <p> Do not use the -f switch with Voodoo Graphics and Voodoo2 cards, it's broken with these. </p>

    <p>
      If that fails to make any difference, then it's
      probably a problem with libraries (see
      question&nbsp;<a href="#1.3">1.3</a>).
    </p>

    <a name="1.3"></a><a href="#toc"><h3>1.3 XRacer can't find my GL/GLU/glut libraries when compiling. (or) XRacer runs, but it doesn't seem to be using acceleration</h3></a>
    <!-- LABEL libraries -->

    <p>
      Libraries seem to be a big problem for people
      compiling XRacer, or rather people seem to like
      to install five similar but subtly different
      versions of Mesa all over the place, and then
      complain that the configure script isn't
      clever enough to find the right one.
    </p>

    <p>
      First a note: there are Mesa libraries and
      there are Mesa libraries. Just because you
      installed what you thought are the latest
      Mesa libraries from RPMs, does not mean
      that they support your 3D accelerator
      card in accelerated mode. In fact, most
      Mesa RPMs seem to be compiled with
      software drivers only.
    </p>

    <p>
      Therefore, I <strong>strongly</strong> suggest
      that you search your system, remove all
      out of date Mesa libraries, and recompile
      from source.
    </p>

    <p>
      Use the <tt>locate</tt> command to find
      Mesa libraries installed, eg:
    </p>

<pre>
locate libMesa
locate libGL
locate libglut
</pre>

    <p>
      Follow the instructions in the Mesa
      packages when compiling from source.
      At a minimum you will need to find
      the right compile option from the
      possible list. For example you
      might do:
    </p>

<pre>
./configure --help
</pre>

    <p>
      Make sure that /usr/local/lib appears
      in /etc/ld.so.conf and rebuild the
      ld.so cache like so:
    </p>

<pre>
/sbin/ldconfig
</pre>

    <p>
      Now that you have a correctly installed
      Mesa, build XRacer. During the configure,
      you should see lines like this:
    </p>

<pre>
   :
checking for glNewList in -lGL... <b>yes</b>
checking for gluLookAt in -lGLU... <b>yes</b>
checking for glutKeyboardUpFunc in -lglut... <b>yes</b>
   :
</pre>

    <p>
      The <b><tt>yes</tt></b> indicates that
      the configure script successfully located
      the GL, GLU and glut libraries.
    </p>

    <p>
      If you prefer to install Mesa libraries
      in a non-standard place, then try configuring
      XRacer with the <tt>--with-gl-libs=DIR</tt>,
      <tt>--with-gl-inc=DIR</tt>, <tt>--with-glut-libs=DIR</tt>
      and/or <tt>--with-glut-inc=DIR</tt> options.
      You will definitely need to add
      the non-standard paths to your
      /etc/ld.so.conf and rebuild the
      ld.so cache with ldconfig, or else
      use the <tt>LD_LIBRARY_PATH</tt> environment
      variable.
    </p>

    <p>
      If you still have problems after building
      XRacer, check which libraries it is linked
      against using the <tt>ldd</tt> command.
      A correct build looks like this. Notice
      the glide, GL, GLU and glut libraries.
    </p>

<pre>
$ ldd `which xracer`
   :
<b>        libglut.so.3 => /usr/local/lib/libglut.so.3 (0x4003b000)</b>
<b>        libGLU.so.1 => /usr/local/lib/libGLU.so.1 (0x4006d000)</b>
<b>        libGL.so.1 => /usr/local/lib/libGL.so.1 (0x40089000)</b>
   :
<b>        libglide2x.so => /usr/lib/libglide2x.so (0x404eb000)</b>
   :
</pre>

    <a name="1.4"></a><a href="#toc"><h3>1.4 On Linux, with my Voodoo XYZ, XRacer dumps core before even opening a window!</h3></a>

    <p>
      If you built support for <tt>/dev/3dfx</tt> into
      your kernel, then upgraded the kernel and forgot
      to rebuild the <tt>/dev/3dfx</tt> module, then
      any GL program will dump core as soon as it runs.
      Solution: rebuild the <tt>/dev/3dfx</tt> module.
    </p>

    <a name="1.5"></a><a href="#toc"><h3>1.5 `configure' works, but the compile fails with the error "sh: no: command not found".</h3></a>

    <p>
      You don't have gettext installed on your system. Either install gettext, or run configure with the --disable-nls switch.
    </p>

    <a name="2"></a><a href="#toc"><h2>2 Platforms</h2></a>

    <a name="2.1"></a><a href="#toc"><h3>2.1 Is there a Windows port of XRacer?</h3></a>

    <p>
      Yes. It's part of the main distribution. You
      will need Cygnus Cygwin to compile it. The
      port is maintained by
      <a href="mailto:jaszcz@ces.cwru.edu">Bart Jaszcz</a>,
      and he periodically releases binary versions
      which you can find on the main site.
    </p>

    <p>
      To compile from source, please see the following
      resources:
    </p>

    <ul>
      <li> How to compile GLUT on Windows: <a href="http://members.xoom.com/bpj1138/glut_on_windows.html">http://members.xoom.com/bpj1138/glut_on_windows.html</a>
      <li> Precompiled GLUT 3.7 DLLs: <a href="http://reality.sgi.com/opengl/glut3/glutdlls37beta.zip">http://reality.sgi.com/opengl/glut3/glutdlls37beta.zip</a>
    </ul>

    <a name="2.2"></a><a href="#toc"><h3>2.2 Is there a (insert Unix flavour here) port?</h3></a>

    <p>
      XRacer compiles out of the box on most Unix
      flavours. Please mail me (with patches) if you successfully
      compile XRacer on an esoteric flavour of Unix.
    </p>

    <a name="2.3"></a><a href="#toc"><h3>2.3 I can't run XRacer on my 386. Are you planning support for low-end PCs? (or) Can I run XRacer without a 3D accelerator card?</h3></a>

    <p>
      The short answer is no: I have no plans to support
      low-end PCs or PCs without 3D accelerator cards. As
      a general guide, you will need a PC at least as
      powerful as mine to run XRacer, and my PC is a
      Pentium II 266 MHz with a Voodoo 2 and a Matrox
      Millenium G200 graphics card.
    </p>

    <p>
      The slightly longer answer is that various people have talked
      about writing a version of XRacer which can run on low-end
      hardware, but no one has yet sent me any concrete patches. One
      person, for instance, hacked together a wireframe version of the
      game. I'm quite willing to incorporate such patches, provided
      the changes are fairly minor.
    </p>

    <a name="3"></a><a href="#toc"><h2>3 Contributions</h2></a>

    <a name="3.1"></a><a href="#toc"><h3>3.1 How to make code contributions</h3></a>

    <p>
      I only accept code contributions in the
      form of a <i>unified diff</i> against the
      latest version (or a very recent version)
      of the code.
    </p>

    <p>
      To make a unified diff, please follow these
      instructions:
    </p>

    <ol>
      <li> Remove temporary files:
<pre>
make distclean
</pre>
      <li> Rename your source tree:
<pre>
cd ..
mv xracer-5.67 xracer-5.67-snazzy-feature
</pre>
      <li> Unpack the original xracer source alongside it:
<pre>
tar zxf /tmp/xracer-5.67.tar.gz
</pre>
      <li> Generate the diffs:
<pre>
diff -urNb xracer-5.67 xracer-5.67-snazzy-feature > /tmp/xracer.patch
</pre>
      <li> Check the patch and remove any unnecessary patches from the file.
      <li> If you've added several features, it's best to send them as
	several independent patches if you can.
      <li> Don't forget to add your name and email address to AUTHORS so
	that you assert copyright over XRacer and help to keep
	XRacer free!
    </ol>

    <p>
      If you have just patched one or two files, then
      making patches is even easier. For each file, just
      do:
    </p>

<pre>
cp file.c file.c.orig
<i>Make changes to file.c ...</i>
diff -u file.c.orig file.c > /tmp/file.c.patch
</pre>

    <p>
      and just send me the patch: <tt>/tmp/file.c.patch</tt>.
    </p>

    <a name="3.2"></a><a href="#toc"><h3>3.2 What formats can I send music/samples/textures in?</h3></a>

    <p>
      XRacer will soon be able to play MP3 files.
      If you would like to contribute a music
      track, then please send it in MP3 format.
    </p>

    <p>
      Sound samples should be sent in WAV or
      RAW format. If you send it in RAW format,
      please tell me the sample rate, number of
      channels, number of bits per sample and
      byte order.
    </p>

    <p>
      Textures should be supplied as JPEGs or
      GIMP XCF files.
    </p>

    <a name="3.3"></a><a href="#toc"><h3>3.3 I'm a music composer. Can I send you music/samples?</h3></a>

    <p>
      If you wish to write music to go with
      XRacer, please send it to me in MP3
      format. Like Wipeout, XRacer goes well
      with upbeat techno / house tracks.
    </p>

    <p>
      I particularly need samples of the following:
    </p>

    <ul>
      <li> Crowd noises.
      <li> Crashes.
      <li> Powerups (shield: woommm .. woommm .. woommm,
	laser sounds, missile sounds, explosions, pick up powerup sounds).
      <li> A loopable scraping sound.
      <li> A loopable wind-noise sound.
    </ul>

    <a name="3.4"></a><a href="#toc"><h3>3.4 I'm a Blender guru. How do I design tracks?</h3></a>

    <p>
      At the moment, you can't design tracks in Blender.
      Also, designing tracks now in the hope that I
      may eventually incorporate Blender support is not
      likely to be useful - I will probably require all
      sorts of special textures and object names to
      indicate special things to the importer. Sorry.
      Use AC3D instead, or see question&nbsp;<a href="#4.3">4.3</a>
    </p>

    <a name="4"></a><a href="#toc"><h2>4 Miscellaneous questions</h2></a>

    <a name="4.1"></a><a href="#toc"><h3>4.1 Wouldn't it be cool if XRacer did (insert cool feature) !</h3></a>

    <p>
      Yes, wouldn't it. Show me the code, and I'll
      show you the feature.
    </p>

    <a name="4.2"></a><a href="#toc"><h3>4.2 I'm too lazy to download these beta versions. When is release 1.0 coming out?</h3></a>

    <p>
      Probably never if too many people take this
      attitude. The more people send me cogent
      bug reports, code patches, samples, scenery
      and so on, the faster XRacer gets developed.
    </p>

    <a name="4.3"></a><a href="#toc"><h3>4.3 What are your future plans for XRacer?</h3></a>
    <!-- LABEL future -->

    <p>
      At the moment, the main aim is to get a stable
      1.0 release of XRacer. There is a limited list
      of features that I am working on for a 1.0 release
      (you can find it on the website). Once 1.0
      is released, XRacer will be a stable, enjoyable
      game, probably with just a single level.
    </p>

    <p>
      For 2.0, I intend to completely rewrite the
      track design code to use Blender and more
      free-form tracks. Currently tracks are divided
      into `segments', and segments are treated
      separately from scenery. This distinction
      will disappear and you will be able to design
      tracks which are much more arbitrary - for
      example, tracks will be able to cross over
      themselves, and you will be able to have tracks
      where you can `escape' and drive around
      the scenery. Once Blender support is in
      place and there is a stable 1.0 release
      to demonstrate the engine, I'm hoping to
      attract a lot more people to just develop
      and submit tracks.
    </p>

    <p>
      With 2.0, I will take the opportunity to slow
      down development, perhaps to just a few releases
      a week, and clean up the code.
    </p>

    <p>
      LAN multiplayer mode may go into 1.0 if there
      is time. Otherwise, it will be held over to
      2.0 when the code is cleaned up.
    </p>

    <a name="4.4"></a><a href="#toc"><h3>4.4 Where do you live, and what's your day job?</h3></a>

    <p>
      I live in London, England. By day I'm migrating
      <a href="http://www.postmaster.co.uk/">Postmaster
	(a free email service)</a> and
      <a href="http://www.schoolmaster.net/">Schoolmaster
	(a free-for-schools web service)</a> from
      legacy NT to Linux.
    </p>

    <hr>
    <address><a href="mailto:rich@annexia.org">Richard Jones</a></address>
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xracer 0.96.9.1-9 / usr / share / doc / xracer / faq.html
