Finalizing linux install

Finalizing installation

Now all the things you needed to run as root have been done. Some stuff needs to be done by the user who is going to play spring.

I'm assuming bash here, but you can use anything you like to do it of course.

Data Directories

Do this to create your per-user data directories. You will be downloading maps and mods etc to these dirs later.

mkdir -p ~/.spring/{base,maps,mods}

If the above did not work for you, then you can try:

mkdir ~/.spring ~/.spring/base ~/.spring/maps ~/.spring/mods

Maps

You need at least one map to successfully run spring.

There are several easy to use websites where you can download maps from - here are some:

• SpringFiles
• Spring-Portal
• Darkstars

Pick any of those sites, download a map, and save it under ~/.spring/maps/ (if the folder doesn't exist at first - see the Data Directories section above). Don't unpack the file in any way though, just download and save it.

Hint: If you know the map name you want, there is a Search function provided in those websites. Just write a part of the name, like one word, and you'll easily find the map you were looking for.

Mods

Since Spring itself is only an engine, just like maps, you need to download the mods for it. All of the sites above host mods too, so you can get some from there, and save them under ~/.spring/mods (that folder won't exist at first, you'll need to make it).

A popular mod to get started with is Balanced Annihilation (BA) 6.1. Please note that before you can run it though, you'll need to download the OTA content - read the section below on how to get that.

OTA Content

If you want to play mods based on Total Annihilation, for example XTA, AA, BA, then you have to do the following:

wget http://ipxserver.dyndns.org/games/spring/mods/xta/base-ota-content.zip
unzip -d ~/.spring/base base-ota-content.zip

Note that you need to own a copy of Total Annihilation, to download this file legally.

Mods that do not require this file are at least NanoBlobs and Kernel Panic, TODO list other mods that don't need it.

Settings

Defaults should be usable, so you can ignore this until you want to maximize your eye candy or fps :)

When you run spring the first time, it creates ~/.springrc which contains all the settings. It is a simple text file with name=value lines, most of which are pretty obvious and can be edited by hand.

If you want a tool for editing the file, you can use SpringSettings (SpringLobby has this integrated).

Dual Head

Automatic: if you are using SpringSettings you can select a dual screen resolution in simple mode and the rest is done automatically.

Manual: to make Dual Monitors work add/change these settings in your .springrc file. "DualScreenMiniMapOnLeft=1, DualScreenMode=1, XResolution=2560, YResolution=1024"

Make sure to use your own resolution for the X,Y resolutions. For example: you have two monitors configured for 1280x1024, the X,Y is 2560x1024.

Save then restart Spring.

LuaUI

Spring UI is scriptable with Lua. This is called LuaUI, and it is not enabled per default.

Replace LuaUI=0 with LuaUI=1 in your ~/.springrc to use LuaUI.

To install some LuaUI scripts, start by copying LuaUI folder from you read-only data directory to your read-write data directory.

rm -r ~/.spring/LuaUI
cp -r /usr/share/games/spring/LuaUI ~/.spring/LuaUI

Then go find the LuaUI scripts you need from Unknown Files LuaUI Section. All LuaUI scripts are released there, so if you make good ones yourself, make sure to upload them.

The scripts can come in any setup, so prepare to decompress them if they are compressed. They might have a whole directory structure, and they should have their own instructions on how to install them. Check which directory you need to extract them to. Most likely it is ~/.spring/LuaUI but it might be a directory inside this directory too for some script.

Once you have copied the script into place, when you start spring next time, you can press F11 to enable/disable anything from your list of installed LuaUI scripts. If your new script is not there, you copied it wrong.

Lobby Client

To setup online games, you need a lobby client. There are several options to choose from.

You can also use lobby client to setup single player matches against the AI. TODO more information about setting up tasclient to play against AI.

Recommended lobby client for linux is either SpringLobby or AFLobby. You can use them in windows and mac too.

SpringLobby

SpringLobby is for (at least) Windows, Linux and Mac. It's now in a usable state and has a feature set close to that of TASClient for windows. Try it out! Bug reports and feature requests are very much welcome.

Visit http://springlobby.info for all things SpringLobby.

AFLobby =

This project is very promising, and is usable for online multi player. Its the oldest lobby still actively maintained.

Official webpage for the project is http://www.darkstars.co.uk which should always have the latest release for download.