A working SDL2 client (linux and windows)

[jezek]

hello, this is a bigger one... i present you a working sdl2 client for linux & windows (windows client is compiled & tested trough mingw/wine only)

Why?

i think it is annoying whenever making some changes in graphics to implement it for linux & windows separately... sdl2 is multi-platform so the same code is for linux and windows client... and not only for graphics... i made it so, that all the code (net, snd, ...), except for some one-liner macros, is the same... no external dependencies

Highlights

• both SDL2 linux & windows client share the same code and can be build in parallel without affecting each other (windows client does not need wine to build)
• no external dependencies, uses compiled in libraries with automatic detection at build time
• separate user and game directory with fallback to game dir
• graphics preferences can be previewed and changed in-game without restart and client can be drawn with or without window decorations (can be set in config an in game on the fly)
• changing tile masks from bg, fg, transparency to bg, fg, outline, with automatic outline generation if set (more in docs) and drawing functions are made so we can have more masks per tile and more tiles per coordinate in future
• github CI/CD with building release assets (server & x11, win, sdl2 linux/win clients) with info on how to build localy via distrobox... see https://github.com/jezek/tomenet/releases/tag/v4.9.4 and https://github.com/jezek/tomenet/actions
• the releases archives are packaged with all the .so/.dll files, so no packages are needed to install to run

Caveats

• libarchive doesn't support 7z with password... i've implemented classical zips with passwords and tar archives
• sdl2-net does not support getting MAC address... i've implemented fake MAC address creation depending on OS specs (should be the same on the same OS and user)
• linux client runs on wayland by default, which does not move windows to requested positions (for now)... run the linux client with SDL_VIDEODRIVER=x11 environment variable set to fallback to x11 and right windows positions on start

What next?

• testing and fixing bugs before adoption to releases... i've tried to implement everything what is in the x11/win clients and i tried to test it thoroughly, but mistakes can always happen... if there is anything that needs to be fixed or changed, ping me, i'll try to do my best
• after adopting, reviewing and releasing these clients, we should deprecate native x11 & windows clients to not end up like this
• porting the SDL2 client to iOS and android and make it compile under windows (if necessary)... i don't have ios, android nor windows devices at home, so i can't really help with this
• optimizing tiles & subtiles in-memory images... now when loading tiles/subtiles, all images and layers are stored in memory as big as the underlying bitmaps... the subtiles also use large arrays which need to be traversed often... my idea is to move individual used tiles & subtiles into one synthetic compact image on load before splitting the image into layers... this should drastically reduce memory consumption when using tiles with subtiles... i will try to do this after this is merged

[jezek]

for those who like to read, here is more exhausting list with differences from native x11 client

• To make checking guide checksums OS agnostic, checks aren't hanled by external programs (wget,...), but checked internally using curl & openssl libraries. [client/c-files.c, SDL2_CURL_SSL]

• There are two storage folders SDL2_GAME_PATH and SDL2_USER_PATH, filled by SDL_GetBasePath, resp. SDL_GetPrefPath. The SDL2_USER_PATH can be overriden by TOMENET_SDL2_USER_PATH environment variable. [client/client.c]

• Default config file for sdl client is called tomenet.cfg and resides in SDL2 preferences path (SDL2_USER_PATH). [client/client.c, common/externs.h, tomenet.cfg]

• The executable directory is stored at SDL2_GAME_PATH [common/externs.h]

• Rewrote part of read_mangrc(...) function to get rid of the goto command. Please don't use goto, it's a bad habit. [client/client.c]

• Using SDL2_PATH_SEP as separator instead of PATH_SEP. The SDL2_PATH_SEP is taken from the last chararacter of SDL2_GAME_PATH [client/client.c, common/externs.h]

• Using temp directory in SDL2 preferences location as default [common/common.c]

• Added OS_SUB_SDL2 (4) & OS_SUB_GCU_SDL2 (5) constant and using in VERSION_OS for SDL2 client [common/defines.h]

• On server side, added the OS_SUB_SDL2 and OS_SUB_GCU_SDL2 to player os version checking. [server/cmd4.c]

• Replaced __MINGW32__ macro with MINGW macro

• SDL2 client uses common/net-sdl2.c for networking, which uses SDL2/SDL_net.h and is OS independent. Currently networking functions necessary only for client are implemented. [common/nes-sdl2.c, common/net-sdl2.h, common/h-net.h]

• Fix macros indenting in [h-config.h, common/h-net.h, common/sockbuf.c]

• New makefile.sdl2 for buiding the SDL2 client. Both linux and windows (mingw) version, using -MMD and .d files for dependency tracking.

• Masks colors for graphics tiles are now defined in the graphics tiles preferences file. [client/c-files.c, m:<num>:<hexRGB>]

• Introducing maximum number of masks per tile GRAPHICS_MAX_MPT and tiles per coordinate GRAPHICS_MAX_TPC. [common/defines-features.h]

• Hid #define UG_2MASK 2 into #ifdef GRAPHICS_BG_MASK. UG_2MASK makes no sense outside of GRAPHICS_BG_MASK. [common/defines-features.h]

• Client can load PCF and TTF fonts. The size of an TTF font is extracted from font name in config "<font_name> " (eg. "Term-Main_Font Hack-Regular.ttf 12"). Fonts are loaded from lib/xtra/font. [client/main-sdl2.c]

• Client can be run with or without window decorations and can be set in config and changed in window flags menu during game.

• There is a tiles preview in in-game graphics menu when in bigscreen. [client/c-util.c]

• New graphicsForceOutline option in tomenet.cfg. If in 2-mask graphics mode and option is set to 0 or more, it makes an outline of set width around tile automaticaly. It is for using bitmaps with only fg/bg masks in 2-mask mode with outline, or ignoring preset outline in fg/bg/bg2 mask images and making a new one with intended width. [client/main-sdl2.c]

• All changes to graphics tiles in ingame graphics menu can be applied on-the-fly, without restarting client. [client/c-util.c]

• SDL2 library key handling is not accounting for sticky keys. For me it's an essential thing, so I made a sticky keys emulation. Activating sticky keys can be configured in makefile by setting the SDL2_STICKY_KEYS flag. Stickiness is indicated by changing border color of main window. Note: During coding the client, sticky keys started magicaly working without emulation, I left the logic there just for sure. It's disabled by default.

• In makefile.sdl2 renamed w_play to w_player, to match the name of player.pre file and use fewer rules for the .pkg and .c files generation from the .pre files.

• Copied client/snd-sdl.c to client/snd-sdl2.c, removed WINDOWS macros and changed to SOUND_SDL2 and forced to include SDL2 headers. In makefile.sdl2 using only the snd-sdl2.c and SOUND_SDL2 flag. Changed all other #ifdef SOUND_SDL to work with SOUND_SDL2 too. [client/snd-sdl2.c]

• Added universal file descriptor probing (try to open null files up to SDL2_FD_PROBE_MAX) to snd-sdl2.c and use the value to cap the number of loaded audio files. [client/snd-sdl2.c]

• Found out, samples are cached to memory and use no file descriptors, so the cap of audio files is only for music files now. [client/snd-sdl2.c]

• For extracting 7zip archives, client uses libarchive, so no external program is needed.

• All the ANGBAND_DIR_ variables use absolute paths.

• Opening urls and files is handled bu SDL_OpenURL function.

• Add ANGBAND_USER_DIR and ANGBAND_USER_DIR_(USER, SCPT, ...) variables pointing to user storage inside SDL2_USER_PATH.

• Use user storage to write all files. When reading, try user storage first, then fallback to game storage. This is handled mainly in my_fopen fuction (thus rewrites were made to use my_fopen instead fopen).

• Installing sound and music packs is made from game dir or user storage and to user storage.

• Use user dir when saving sound/music.cfg files

• Search for samples and songs in user dir first

• Fixes to jukebox, saving, preview and state after force_disabled was introduced.

• Macro, font and tileset file scanning is done in user and game storage.

• Differentiating between Backspace and Delete key (unlike POSIX clients). Delete is '\177' or 0x7F now.

• In knowledge menu, open last screenshot instead of conversion

• Create fake but deterministic MAC depending on PC stats

• Added github CI and release creation + local distrobox init, build and release scripts for server, sdl2 clients (linux + win), x11 client and windows client.

• Default scaling mode is NEAREST for sdl2 clients

• Startup logo is graphic only when all used solid tiles are loaded (.prf is loaded before logo is drawn)

[mhirki]

Great work! Here are some quick comments:

We usually don't bump the version number until just before a release. Obviously, this feature would be the highlight of the actual 4.9.4 release and we would like to get it released soon.

I'm not sure if sdl2-net is worth it given that it's an extra dependency.

I tried the SDL2 client on my Linux desktop machine. All the windows appeared without borders making it difficult to move them:

I was able to move them by selecting the move option from the taskbar. Closing the windows through the taskbar wasn't working. I'm running KDE Plasma on X11.

Movement using the numpad wasn't working (with or without numlock). Player list (@ key) and options menu (= key) weren't working. The macro menu (% key) was working.

SDL2 client was randomly failing to connect to the metaserver.

I'm going to test the SDL2 client on Windows when I have more time.

[mhirki]

Ok, I found the windowDecorations setting from tomenet.cfg and got my borders back. I think the borders should be enabled by default.

Having the configuration file in a new location ($HOME/.local/share/TomenetGame/tomenet/tomenet.cfg) was a bit confusing. You did add the new location to the guide which is good. I just wonder if it's possible to make the configuration file easier to find.

[mhirki]

I tested the SDL2 client on Windows and it works but it has pretty much the same bugs as the Linux client. I tried editing %APPDATA%/TomenetGame/tomenet/tomenet.cfg to enable window borders but it didn't work.

SDL_TEXTINPUT event probably needs to be used to get the keyboard input working correctly with respect to layout. Both Angband and MAngband are using SDL_TEXTINPUT.

[jezek]

@mhirki thx, i know about the SDL_TEXTINPUT, i'm working on it... but it is not that easy... something works with SDL_TEXTINPUT, something (most ctrl combinations, special keys, ...) only with SDL_KEYDOWN, i have to make an hybrid approach... and if that isn't enough, in the SDL_KEYDOWN you can't figure out the keycode when shift was pressed in SDL2... i'm really considering closing this PR and rewriting to SDL3 (which has this figured out)...

however, i have mostly figured out all the issues you reported, i'm testing it now... when i'm satisfied with the test, i'll push and ping you