Compile
Currently, FreeOrion will compile in Windows XP (SP2), Windows Vista and Linux. Mac OS X versions have been produced, but are not actively supported. The *BSD genus of operating systems might also work; follow the Linux instructions in this case, and drop us a note telling us what you did if you manage to build it.
Contents
Overview
First of all, you will need to obtain the source. This can be grabbed from our project page or from Subversion (SVN). The versions available on the project page are official releases or point releases, and may be somewhat or very out of date. To help with programming FreeOrion, you will need to grab the SVN copy. Then you need to set up the required software, compile the game, download the missing artwork, and run it.
Hardware requirements
The FreeOrion code makes heavy use of templates, and requires much memory to compile; at least 1 GB of RAM is recommended, and at least 512 MB is strongly recommended. If you have less than 256 MB of RAM plus at least the same amount of swap, you probably will run into trouble.
On Linux, if you have only 256 MB of RAM and want to speed up compilation significantly, you could shut down your X server and compile from console. (If this doesn't mean anything to you, simply ignore this advice.) Otherwise, your computer will spend 95% of the time swapping, but will finish, eventually.
You will also need a fast processor. Expect more than one hour for a first-time build on a 2 GHz processor (after building GG and any other necessary dependencies).
Note that, while not required to compile FreeOrion, running the FreeOrion client requires a graphics card and drivers that support OpenGL 2.0.
Software requirements
Note: On Windows, most dependencies are available pre-compiled in the FreeOrion SDK.
- GiGi - Latest version from SourceForge SVN, will automatically be included in the FreeOrion/GG directory when checking out the FreeOrion Subversion archive
- SCons - Optional on Windows, but required on Linux to build GiGi and FreeOrion
- Boost - version 1.36
- Ogre 3D - version 1.6.1
- Bullet - version 2.73
- FreeType2 - a GiGi dependency
- Python - version 2.4 or later (version 2.5 if using the FreeOrion Windows SDK) (version 2.x only; 3.x will not work) (Possible to omit if not building with SCons and don't want to build the AI client)
- OpenAL and ALUT
- libogg - version 1.1.3
- libvorbis - version 1.1.2
- GraphViz - version 2.8 (version <2.22 on Linux)
- GLEW - (Windows only)
Getting the source
Subversion
The source code can be obtained from the sourceforge Subversion server, using this command from the Linux command prompt:
svn co https://freeorion.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/freeorion/trunk freeorion
For Windows, a graphical shell-extension SVN client, such as TortoiseSVN is recommended, with which the source can be obtained from https://freeorion.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/freeorion.
Tarballs
The SourceForge Subversion web-client allows one to download numbered versions of the source code as a tarball.
The latest version can be obtained from the Download GNU tarball link on the bottom of this page: http://freeorion.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/freeorion/trunk/FreeOrion/
You can also download source versions corresponding to previous releases:
FreeOrion v0.3.12 for Windows
- FreeOrion v0.3.12 for Windows is SVN revision 2807: http://freeorion.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/freeorion/trunk/?pathrev=2807 with GiGi revision 710: http://gigi.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/gigi/?pathrev=710
FreeOrion v0.3.12.1 for Linux
- FreeOrion v0.3.12.1 for Linux is SVN revision 2918: http://freeorion.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/freeorion/trunk/?pathrev=2918 with GiGi revision 711: http://gigi.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/gigi/?pathrev=711
FreeOrion v0.3.11
- FreeOrion v0.3.11 is SVN revision 2729 on Windows: http://freeorion.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/freeorion/trunk/FreeOrion/?pathrev=2729 and revision 2732 on Linux: http://freeorion.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/freeorion/trunk/FreeOrion/?pathrev=2732 with GiGi revision 695: http://gigi.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/gigi/trunk/GG/?pathrev=695
FreeOrion v0.3.10
- FreeOrion v0.3.10 is SVN revision 2607: http://freeorion.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/freeorion/trunk/FreeOrion/?pathrev=2607 with GiGi revision 651: http://gigi.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/gigi/trunk/GG/?pathrev=651
Compilation
Compilation instructions and troubleshooting tips are available for the following operating systems: