GP2X Homeworld Port Possible!

[Julius]

http://www.thereisnospork.com/projects/homeworld/

This is a link to the SDL linux port of Homeworld. The softwarerenderer is still not functional in this port, but there is one that definitly could be fixed B)

System requirements are also within possible limits, but the input needs some changes of course.

Homeworld= killer aplication for the gp2x! h34r:

 

[second exodous]

It looks like they are adding SDL to make the game look better, it still uses OpenGL. I think that won't play on a handheld for some time, maybe 3 or 4 years at the least. I don't think hardware implementation of OpenGL will run this.

Thanx,
Stan

 

[icurafu]

From what I understand, this project has been inactive for over a year.

Software mode does not seem to work, and I'm not sure that everything is really using SDL.

But if there are any pros out there looking for a big challange, the souce is available.

If you want to, you could always email the author and ask for his POV.

 

[Julius]

It looks like they are adding SDL to make the game look better, it still uses OpenGL. I think that won't play on a handheld for some time, maybe 3 or 4 years at the least. I don't think hardware implementation of OpenGL will run this.

Thanx,
Stan

​

Well that is exactly the point, it has a native software-renderer like quake1 has for example, which means it doesn't need to use opengl at all!

@icurafu: Yes you are right, there is lots of stuff to do, but the fact that it is even thinkable as a more or less strait port is awesome.

 

[icurafu]

It looks like they are adding SDL to make the game look better, it still uses OpenGL.  I think that won't play on a handheld for some time, maybe 3 or 4 years at the least.  I don't think hardware implementation of OpenGL will run this.

Thanx,
Stan

​

Well that is exactly the point, it has a native software-renderer like quake1 has for example, which means it doesn't need to use opengl at all!

@icurafu: Yes you are right, there is lots of stuff to do, but the fact that it is even thinkable as a more or less strait port is awesome.

​

I'm saving up a good deal of respect for someone who attempts this.

It's above my abilities.

 

[Digital Awakening]

Gonna be messy to play realtime strategy without a mouse... and this is even in 3D space...

 

[RatchetMan]

It looks like they are adding SDL to make the game look better, it still uses OpenGL. I think that won't play on a handheld for some time, maybe 3 or 4 years at the least. I don't think hardware implementation of OpenGL will run this.

Thanx,
Stan

​

I believe the PSP would probably be able to do it, although you would need to cut the number of units on screen.

 

[Julius]

Well in homeworld they have this control-cycle concept that would probably work just fine with console style controls.
But as I said, the controls and menus need to be changed quite a bit.

Well, maybe it will appear in three years, just like Duke3d for the Gp32

 

[no_skill]

1. system requirements of homeworld
i guess theyre not < 200mhz
software rendering will enchance them quite a bit.
and software fpu will slow things down even more.

2. resolution
http://www.thereisnospork.com/projects/hom...ages/test01.png
see what i mean?


------------
more on system requirements

Required
Windows 95/98/NT 4.0 (w/ service pack 4.0)
Pentium II 233 processor
32-MB RAM
80 MB HD Space (plus 50 MB permanent Swap File)
4X CD-ROM
4 MB PCI Video Card (16-bit color, Direct X compatible)


Recommended
Pentium II 350+
64 MB RAM
600 MB HD Space (For Full Installation)
12 MB+ Accelerated Video Card

233mhz fpu > 200 no fpu, but windows has some overhead. still no fpu.
4mb pci video card = no problem, as the default video card just provides a buffer and does no processing (wait... it can do hardware blits... i still doubt theyre used in a software renderer though), so probably yes
32-64mb ram = yes (with windows taking up space we are sure to have this, but on windows there's virtual memory, so homeworld could need more ram in theory, although linux on the gp2x shoud provide a swap drive (i guessed so))
600mb hd space (no cdrom) > 1gb sd cards filled 60% with one game anyone?
pentium II has mmx, i hope they don't use any mmc extensions

-------

i think you can see my point.

 

[Leshrac]

I don't know if this will help anyone, but I remember Homeworld used to be playable in my good old pentium 200 mmx with 32MB ram and a 500kB Vesa Video Card (Software rendering =( )

It was pretty slow when there were a lot of ships in screen, shooting and stuff. But was playable most of the time, only real problem was with online gaming, the campaign seems to be designed so that you don't run in this kind of situations too often.

The only thing I don't understand is, has the Homeworld code been GPLed or something the likes?
I am sure I don't have the skills to do such a port, but I'd love to tinker with the code .

 

[Julius]

@ no_skill: The menus and the gui would have to be redone of course But I can see your point, it will be hard but not impossible

@ Leshrac: Sadly not GPLed (as that is a much better licence) but the source was officially released in 2003 and can be modified.

 

[Leshrac]

Where can I download it? I have been looking for it at the relic webpage and this is the only thing I have found that has any relation:

Will Homeworld source code be released?
Currently there are no plans to release the Homeworld source code to the public. However, you never know, the source code may be released sometime in the future.

 

[Julius]

That is outdated.

Check the link above for an explaination. You need to register on the Relic developer Network to get it (but its free).

 

[Julius]

Sorry for bumping this thread, but I just got a response from the original athor of the port.

I asked him if he thinks it is feasable to port it. Here is what he answered:

Well, on one hand it probably wouldn't be too much work to get the
software renderer up in one form or another. Relic had a bunch of C
versions of most (if not all) of its software renderer functions, but
after changing a couple constants in the code, it only partially works
(backgrounds and wireframe renders draw, but no polygon meshes, and it
tends to crash a lot). Still, its more of a matter of just sitting
down and digging away at the code for a good half-hour at the least,
which obviously is something I haven't really devoted to the project
in a while. =]

The real issue would be dealing with the fact that the GP2X does not
have a FPU, so all the floating-point math in the game would have to
be replaced with fixed-point math to get any decent performance - a
time-consuming endeavor to say the least. =] I'm not sure how much
performance would be affected by switching to fixed-point math, but
it's likely to run slower (the FPU on Pentium-class PCs performs
pretty well, and you also tend to gain some speed in cases where the
FPU can work in parallel with the CPU). Offloading the software
renderer onto the second CPU would probably help out a lot, although
it would mean rewriting most of the renderer. I don't know how CPU
performance compares to that of a Pentium PC; Homeworld required a
minimum of a 233 MHz Pentium II, but if that's with software
rendering, it should be able to run okay if rendering calculations
were done on the second CPU.

So, long story short, I'd say it's technically feasable, but it would
take a bit of work. If you port the software renderer directly,
performance would likely be an issue.

Thanks,
Ted

So any guru willing to take the challange?

 

[Mudi]

I have a hard time even beginning to fathom how the controls in this game would work on a GP2X.

It would be the most awesome thing ever, but somehow I just doubt it'll be done.

BTW, I used to play this on a 166MHz laptop. Pretty much playable through most of the game

 

[Julius]

Cycle through units, move by that control circle. I guess that should be doable with the GP2X controls.

But I don't put my hopes up very high either.

 

[FluffyPanda]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I think it's probably possible, and that I could quite possibly do it.

However... it's a lot of work and so far I haven't even had the time to get a dev environment with hardware accellerated SDL up and running. Mostly that's because I don't have any projects in mind so I don't have much drive to get anything done.

If a couple of devs wanted to get this going as a sourceforge/gp2xforge project I would certainly like to pitch in.

I think the one area where we'd have most trouble would be the controls. I really think that a plan would need to be drawn up for that before we even started, preferably by someone else since interface design isn't one of my strong points

 

[WrongEyedJesus]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I think it's probably possible, and that I could quite possibly do it.

However... it's a lot of work and so far I haven't even had the time to get a dev environment with hardware accellerated SDL up and running. Mostly that's because I don't have any projects in mind so I don't have much drive to get anything done.

If a couple of devs wanted to get this going as a sourceforge/gp2xforge project I would certainly like to pitch in.

I think the one area where we'd have most trouble would be the controls. I really think that a plan would need to be drawn up for that before we even started, preferably by someone else since interface design isn't one of my strong points

​

I would love to see this. If you think you can do it it would be cool.

 

[Fiendicus_Prime]

I'm not sure this is worth the effort to be honest - unless there are a lot of mods using the engine which would work? It sounds extremely difficult for just one game.

I liked Homeworld a lot but it would be very hard to play without a mouse. There would have to be a very clever tree based system to select units because there are too many to just cycle through (100 is easy in a fleet I think). Obviously you have the formations but you need to assign them to start with and pull out individual units for repair etc. And you can't have multiplayer on the GP2X either.

 

[Julius]

Bump

Still very much interested in this and would volunteer to design (not code, sorry can't) a new interface and also do any 3D work that might arouse (though that is unlikely since it is a port right?).