Freeciv

Freeciv is one of the best Linux games, but hard and complicated to install. With it, you can be the leader of a civilization and conquer the world. Decide if you want to go to war, develop your science or build world wonders and so on.

QuickStart

To download, install and start freeciv, find out your distribution and proceed accordingly:

Ubuntu 11.10

open a console and enter

sudo apt-get install freeciv-client-gtk

start freeciv using the command

freeciv

SUSE Linux 11.3

The easy way

• Find out if you have a 32bit or 64bit system
• If you have a 32bit Intel system, visit http://software.opensuse.org/search?q=freeciv and download the i586 variant of freeciv
• If you have a x86_64 system, visit http://software.opensuse.org/search?q=freeciv and download the x86_64 variant of freeciv
• install the rpm package using the command

rpm -ivh freeciv-*.rpm

The hard way

If for some reason the easy way does not work, here is how you can get freeciv the hard way: This is an example that worked on 2010-11-06 with freeciv 2.2.3 on SUSE Linux 11.3

• Install some dependencies

yast -i libSDL-devel libSDL-image-devel sdl-mixer-devel sdl-mixer-devel gcc-c++ make

• Download the source from http://freeciv.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

bunzip2 freeciv-2.2.3.tar.bz2
tar xvf freeciv-2.2.3.tar
cd freeciv-2.2.3
./configure --enable-client=sdl && make -j8 && make install

• run it using the command

freeciv-gtk -P sdl

If you do leave out -P sdl, you will not be able to hear sound.

SUSE Linux 11.1

This is an example that works with freeciv 2.1.8 on SUSE Linux 11.1, but it should work with every distribution.

• Install SDL mixer devel

yast -i sdl-mixer-devel

• Download the source from http://freeciv.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
• compile the code

bunzip2 freeciv-2.1.8.tar.bz2
tar xvf freeciv-2.1.8.tar
cd freeciv-2.1.8
./configure && make -j4 && make install

Run it using the command

civclient

TroubleShooting

No sound in freeciv

Whenever you move a unit in a freeciv game, you should hear a sound. If you cannot, check the usual cable and driver stuff. If it still does not work your freeciv may have been compiled in a wrong way. So, enter

freeciv-gtk2 --help
Usage: freeciv-gtk2 [option ...]
Valid options are:
  -A, --Announce PROTO  Announce game in LAN using protocol PROTO (IPv4/IPv6/none)
  -a, --autoconnect     Skip connect dialog
  -d, --debug NUM       Set debug log level (0 to 3)
  -h, --help            Print a summary of the options
  -l, --log FILE        Use FILE as logfile (spawned server also uses this)
  -M, --Meta HOST       Connect to the metaserver at HOST
  -n, --name NAME       Use NAME as name
  -p, --port PORT       Connect to server port PORT (usually with -a)
  -P, --Plugin PLUGIN   Use PLUGIN for sound output [none, sdl]
  -r, --read FILE       Read startup script FILE (for spawned server only)
  -s, --server HOST     Connect to the server at HOST (usually with -a)
  -S, --Sound FILE      Read sound tags from FILE
  -t, --tiles FILE      Use data file FILE.tilespec for tiles
  -v, --version         Print the version number
      --                Pass any following options to the UI.
                        Try "freeciv-gtk2 -- --help" for more.

Report bugs at https://gna.org/projects/freeciv/

And note the line Use PLUGIN for sound output [none, sdl]. If it exists, call freeciv like this to hear sound:

freeciv-gtk2 -P sdl