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28 <center><h1>Compiling GtkRadiant on Windows</h1></center>
30 <p>This guide explains how to compile GtkRadiant 1.6.x from source code on Windows operating systems.
31 The source code is obtained from
32 id Software's official GtkRadiant SVN repository, which is open to the public (details follow).
33 These instructions are aimed at developers wanting to test changes to GtkRadiant source code.
34 The instructions below have been executed successfully on
35 Windows XP 32 bit (some late service pack) and on Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit. Since 64 bit systems have not been tested by me, I cannot
36 give any advice on how to complete these instructions on those systems. (Also, I'm an advanced UNIX user but a complete Windows nub.)</p>
37 <p>This guide is divided into the following main sections. I choose to use MSYS instead of Cygwin in this
38 tutorial because using MinGW/MSYS is the documented and supported way to compile ioquake3. The need for MinGW/MSYS is
39 really only to execute a single SCons build target; you could presumably execute those needed steps by
40 hand if you really don't want to bother with installing MSYS (but you're on your own if you choose that route).
43 <li><h3><a href="#mingw">Section 1: Installing MinGW</a></h3></li>
44 <li><h3><a href="#msys">Section 2: Installing MSYS</a></h3></li>
45 <li><h3><a href="#python">Section 3: Installing Python</a></h3></li>
46 <li><h3><a href="#scons">Section 4: Installing SCons</a></h3></li>
47 <li><h3><a href="#svn">Section 5: Installing SVN</a></h3></li>
48 <li><h3><a href="#vcpp">Section 6: Installing Visual C++</a></h3></li>
49 <li><h3><a href="#sources">Section 7: Obtaining Source Code, Game Paks, and Libs</a></h3></li>
50 <li><h3><a href="#compile">Section 8: Compiling GtkRadiant</a></h3></li>
51 <li><h3><a href="#run">Section 9: Running GtkRadiant</a></h3></li>
56 <h2>Section 1: Installing MinGW</h2>
57 <p>The following URL can be used as a coarse guide for installing MinGW:
58 <a href="http://www.mingw.org/wiki/Getting_Started">http://www.mingw.org/wiki/Getting_Started</a>.
59 The needed steps are reproduced below.
61 <h3>Step A: Download</h3>
62 <p>Download the <tt>mingw-get</tt> program. We're going to use <tt>mingw-get</tt>
63 as opposed to the graphical installer <tt>mingw-get-inst</tt> . You can download the most
64 recent version of <tt>mingw-get</tt> from
65 <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw/files/Automated%20MinGW%20Installer/mingw-get/">this SourceForge page</a>.
66 (That page also contains a <tt>readme.txt</tt> file that has very useful information on how to use
67 <tt>mingw-get</tt> , for your reading pleasure.) Download the binary zip file version;
68 the downloaded file should have a name along the lines of <tt>mingw-get-0.1-mingw32-alpha-5-bin.zip</tt> .
70 <h3>Step B: Extract</h3>
72 Extract the zip file you just downloaded to <tt>C:\MinGW</tt> . I would use that exact location; I will be referring to
73 that location in the rest of the instructions. <font color="#ff0000">If you choose a different location, make sure that there is no space in
74 the path.</font> After extraction, double check that there exists a file
75 <tt>C:\MinGW\bin\mingw-get.exe</tt> . If such a file does not exist, you extracted at an incorrect level or you downloaded
76 the wrong zip archive.
78 <h3>Step C: Set <tt>PATH</tt></h3>
80 You need to add <tt>C:\MinGW\bin</tt> to your <tt>PATH</tt> system environment variable. Don't forget that the semicolon
81 character is the separator for the elements in <tt>PATH</tt> . The steps to find where <tt>PATH</tt> can be edited are roughly
82 as follows on Windows XP:
85 <li>Go to Control Panel (usually in Start menu).</li>
86 <li>In Control Panel, go to System.</li>
87 <li>Hit "Advanced" tab.</li>
88 <li>Hit "Environment Variables" button.</li>
89 <li>Near the bottom, under "System variables", highlight "Path" and click "Edit".</li>
90 <li>Tack on the string "C:\MinGW\bin" to the end, making sure to use a semicolon to separate the existing <tt>PATH</tt> from
92 <li>Reboot? (I don't know if it's necessary.)</li>
94 <h3>Step D: Update/Upgrade</h3>
96 We're going to update the <tt>mingw-get</tt> program with the latest version and pull in the latest distribution manifest.
97 Open up Command Prompt. Execute the following commands:
100 <pre width="80" style="background: #CCCCCC; padding: 2mm; border-style: ridge">C:\MinGW> <b>mingw-get update</b>
101 C:\MinGW> <b>mingw-get upgrade mingw-get</b>
105 The above commands can be executed from any directory; <tt>C:\MinGW</tt> happened to be the currect directory in my case.
108 Note: If you execute <tt>mingw-get</tt> without any arguments, you might get an unpleasant-looking error.
112 We're all done installing the base of the MinGW system. You don't need to install any additional <tt>mingw-*</tt> packages
113 to get GtkRadiant to compile (because we're using different software to actually compile GtkRadiant).
118 <h2>Section 2: Installing MSYS</h2>
119 <p>We're now going to install MSYS, which sits on top of MinGW.</p>
120 <h3>Step A: Install <tt>msys-base</tt></h3>
122 Open up Command Prompt. Execute the following command:
125 <pre width="80" style="background: #CCCCCC; padding: 2mm; border-style: ridge">C:\MinGW> <b>mingw-get install msys-base</b>
128 <p>You can now close the Command Prompt. You won't have to use it again!</p>
129 <h3>Step B: Fire Up MSYS</h3>
131 In your native file exploring application in Windows, navigate to <tt>C:\MinGW\msys\1.0</tt> . Here you will find
132 a file <tt>msys.bat</tt> . This script is what launches MSYS. You can make a shortcut to this file and place the shortcut
133 in a convenient location such as your Desktop. You can also use the provided icon <tt>msys.ico</tt> (in the same
134 directory) for your shortcut icon.
137 Now start MSYS by double-clicking <tt>msys.bat</tt> (or your shortcut). We will use MSYS to install some remaining packages that are needed.
138 In case you are completely new to MSYS, I'd like to point out that it's much like a UNIX shell.
139 In fact you can access the <tt>C:</tt> Windows drive in MSYS via the <tt>/c</tt> path.
141 <h3>Step C: Install MSYS Additions</h3>
143 There are many MinGW/MSYS packages you can install; you may even choose to install all of them.
144 However, for the purposes of compiling GtkRadiant, you will need only the following. Execute this
145 from your MSYS shell:
148 <pre width="80" style="background: #CCCCCC; padding: 2mm; border-style: ridge">$ <b>mingw-get install msys-wget</b>
149 $ <b>mingw-get install msys-unzip</b>
152 <p>You should now have the two commands <tt>wget</tt> and <tt>unzip</tt> at your disposal in the MSYS shell.
153 We will be needing these commands to successfully execute the SCons build target later on.</p>
154 <p>You can leave your MSYS shell open because we will use it again in a little while.</p>
155 <p>Side Note: The <tt>msys-openssh</tt> package comes with traditional <tt>scp</tt> and <tt>ssh</tt> commands that work
156 orders of magnitude faster than WinSCP or PuTTY.</p>
159 <a name="python"></a>
160 <h2>Section 3: Installing Python</h2>
161 <p>We will now install the Python programming language, which is needed for SCons to work.</p>
163 The homepage for Python is <a href="http://www.python.org/download">www.python.org</a>. You should download and install
164 a version of Python suitable for your version of Windows. I would strongly recommend sticking to a version of Python
165 that is 2.x.x, <i>not</i> 3.x.x. This is because lots of legacy software that uses Python is known to work correctly
166 with 2.x.x, but might not necessarily work with 3.x.x. At the time of writing this tutorial, the preferred version of Python
167 was 2.7.1. For purposes of this tutorial, Python is installed to <tt>C:\Python27</tt> . All of the default
168 options for installing Python should be fine.
171 The following step is needed since we're going to be calling SCons in such a way that requires the <tt>python</tt>
172 command to be in our <tt>PATH</tt> in MSYS. In your MSYS shell, execute this:
175 <pre width="80" style="background: #CCCCCC; padding: 2mm; border-style: ridge">$ <b>mkdir -p /usr/local/bin</b>
176 $ <b>ln -s /c/Python27/python.exe /usr/local/bin/python</b>
179 <p>You should now have the <tt>python</tt> command at your disposal in your MSYS shell.</p>
183 <h2>Section 4: Installing SCons</h2>
184 <p>We will now install SCons, which is a multi-platform substitute for traditional Make.</p>
186 The homepage for SCons is <a href="http://www.scons.org/download.php">www.scons.org</a>. You should download and install the
187 latest production release. During the install procedure you will be asked to confirm the location of your Python
191 SCons gets installed into <tt>C:\Python27\Scripts</tt> because it's basically a Python script.
192 You would normally invoke SCons by using the <tt>scons.bat</tt> script
193 in this directory. However, since we will be invoking SCons from MSYS (which is UNIX-like), we're actually going to call the UNIX script version
194 of SCons, which is the plain-old file <tt>scons</tt> in this same directory. Furthermore, we're going to make sure that the <tt>scons</tt>
195 command is available under MSYS. Execute these commands in your MSYS shell:
198 <pre width="80" style="background: #CCCCCC; padding: 2mm; border-style: ridge">$ <b>mkdir -p /usr/local/bin</b>
199 $ <b>ln -s /c/Python27/Scripts/scons /usr/local/bin/scons</b>
203 You now have the <tt>scons</tt> command at your disposal in the MSYS shell.
208 <h2>Section 5: Installing SVN</h2>
210 We're now going to install a command-line version of the SVN client that we can use from MSYS. We don't need no
211 stinkin' GUI. Anyhow, command-line SVN is required to perform the SCons build target later on.
212 In fact, you don't need to touch TortoiseSVN or any other GUI-based SVN client for any part of this entire tutorial.
213 (I wouldn't touch a GUI-based SVN client with a 10 foot pole given the opportunity to use command-line SVN instead.)
216 The preferred download site for SVN client for Windows is <a href="http://www.collab.net/downloads/subversion/">CollabNet</a>.
217 You should download and install CollabNet Subversion Command-Line Client,
218 <i>not</i> CollabNet Subversion Edge or something of any other nature. Unfortunately you'll have to create an account with CollabNet
219 to download this software, but everything is free. You can use all defaults when installing SVN.
222 The CollabNet version of SVN client for Windows should automatically modify your <tt>PATH</tt> , and you should be able to
223 execute the <tt>svn</tt> command in MSYS after closing MSYS and starting it again. If this is not the case for some strange
224 reason, you'll have to tweak your environment to ensure that you can execute the <tt>svn</tt> command from MSYS.
229 <h2>Section 6: Installing Visual C++</h2>
231 The GtkRadiant developers are currently using Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 to compile GtkRadiant. Even though Visual C++ 2010 is a newer
232 version, don't use it [unless you want to be on your own]. You can download Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition from
233 <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/express/Downloads/#Visual_Studio_2008_Express_Downloads">this Microsoft webpage</a>.
236 When you install Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition, you can install the bare minimum application <i>without</i> any extras such as
237 Microsoft Silverlight Runtime or Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express Edition. For the rest of the install options, the
238 defaults can be chosen.
242 <a name="sources"></a>
243 <h2>Section 7: Obtaining Source Code, Game Paks, and Libs</h2>
244 <p>We are now ready to get the source code for GtkRadiant.</p>
245 <h3>Step A: Get Base Project</h3>
247 Open an MSYS shell. When you start the shell, you will be in what is called your "home directory". You can execute the
248 <tt>pwd</tt> command in MSYS to find out which directory you are currently in. For example, when I start MSYS, my
249 current directory is <tt>/home/rambetter</tt> . In reality, this path is relative to the MSYS install root.
250 For example, in the Windows operating system, my home directory is actually <tt>C:\MinGw\msys\1.0\home\rambetter</tt> .
253 In any case, we need to create ourselves a work area for purposes of downloading files and compiling software. I would recommend
254 creating a directory <tt>radiant-work</tt> in your home directory. So:
257 <pre width="80" style="background: #CCCCCC; padding: 2mm; border-style: ridge">$ <b>mkdir radiant-work</b>
260 <p>Now, we're going to change to that directory and get the base GtkRadiant project:</p>
262 <pre width="88" style="background: #CCCCCC; padding: 2mm; border-style: ridge">$ <b>cd radiant-work</b>
263 $ <b>svn checkout https://zerowing.idsoftware.com/svn/radiant/GtkRadiant/trunk ./GtkRadiant</b>
266 <p>We created the extra <tt>radiant-work</tt> parent directory of <tt>GtkRadiant</tt> because the following step will
267 place many files into the project's parent directory, and we don't want to litter our home directory with these files.</p>
268 <h3>Step B: Execute SCons Build Target</h3>
270 Remember all the work we did earlier in order to install SCons? Well, thanks to all that work we did,
271 obtaining the remaining things we need for compiling is really really easy:
274 <pre width="80" style="background: #CCCCCC; padding: 2mm; border-style: ridge">$ <b>cd GtkRadiant</b>
275 $ <b>scons target=setup</b>
278 <p>This SCons build target performs several actions:</p>
280 <li>Downloads "install paks" for several games such as Quake III Arena and Urban Terror.</li>
281 <li>Downloads library dependencies (such as GTK+) for building and running GtkRadiant.</li>
282 <li>Places library dependencies in proper locations.</li>
283 <li>Performs any other actions needed prior to compiling GtkRadiant.</li>
287 <a name="compile"></a>
288 <h2>Section 8: Compiling GtkRadiant</h2>
289 <p>We are now finally going to compile GtkRadiant using Microsoft Visual C++.</p>
291 Start Microsoft Visual C++. From the "File" menu, choose "Open" -> "Project/Solution...".
292 Navigate to your <tt>GtkRadiant</tt> directory (in my case <tt>C:\MinGW\msys\1.0\home\rambetter\radiant-work\GtkRadiant</tt>).
293 Choose the project file <tt>radiant.sln</tt> from this directory.
296 You now have the GtkRadiant project loaded in Visual C++. You can poke around if you like, e.g. open up some source code
300 Before you build the project, you might want to select the "Release" target (as pictured below).
302 <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
304 <td width="20"> </td>
305 <td><img src="vc-radiant-release.png" alt="vc-radiant-release.png"></img></td>
309 To build GtkRadiant, choose "Build Solution" from the "Build" menu. The build will take
310 about 10 minutes [on a Pentium 4 with HTT], so this would be a good time to go get a cup of tea.
312 <p>If the build completes successfully, you will get a message similar to the following in the output
315 <pre width="80" style="background: #CCCCCC; padding: 2mm; border-style: ridge">radiant - 0 error(s), 0 warning(s)
316 ========== Build: 38 succeeded, 0 failed, 0 up-to-date, 0 skipped ==========
322 <h2>Section 9: Running GtkRadiant</h2>
323 <p>All of the files needed to run GtkRadiant are going to be in the folder <tt>radiant-work\GtkRadiant\install</tt> [relative
324 to your home directory in MSYS]. You can copy the entire <tt>install</tt> folder to some place such as your Desktop
325 and you can rename this folder to <tt>ZeroRadiant</tt> for example.
326 Then, you will use <tt>radiant.exe</tt> in that directory to launch the application.
329 There is one little bit of optional cleanup you can perform on your installation folder. You can remove all SVN-related
330 files since they are no longer needed and only take up disk space. Let's say that you renamed your installation folder
331 to <tt>ZeroRadiant</tt> (as the previous paragraph suggests), and let's say that you're in the MSYS shell, and that your current
332 working directory is the parent directory of <tt>ZeroRadiant</tt>. Then, in your MSYS shell, you can execute this command to
333 delete all SVN-related files (all <tt>.svn</tt> directories):
336 <pre width="80" style="background: #CCCCCC; padding: 2mm; border-style: ridge">$ <b>find ZeroRadiant/ -type d -name '\.svn' -print0 | xargs -0 rm -rf</b>
340 That's it! Good luck and thanks for reading my tutorial! If you have comments or suggestions please email me at nlandys@gmail.com .
341 More information about GtkRadiant is on <a href="http://www.qeradiant.com/cgi-bin/trac.cgi">www.qeradiant.com</a>.