bartyboy's Game Emulator HOWTO
This guide will tell you how to set up game emulators. The process is very generic and can be applied to any emulator. Furthermore, the process described here gives all the users on your computer access to the games. All the operations should thus be done as root.
1. INSTALLING THE EMULATOR
You probably want to start out by downloading the latest version of the emulator. I recommend checking out Zophar's Domain and picking one. After you've downloaded the file to your /tmp directory, untar it and check out its contents. Some emulators come pre-compiled, while others come as source.
If you got the source version, there should be directions about compiling it in the INSTALL or README file(s) that usually accompany the source.
Once the executeable binary is ready, you want to make sure that all the users can use it. Type:
chmod 755 binary
Where binary is the name of the emulator. The next step is to copy the binary to directory from which it will be executeable. If you're lazy like me, you can use /usr/bin to avoid fiddling with paths. Type:
mv binary /usr/bin
This will move the file to /usr/bin, from where it will be executeable by all users. If you feel like fiddling with paths and making proper directories for each game, be my guest.
If you downloaded a frontend (easy-to-use interface for X) for the emulator, you should repeat the procedure for its binary (chmod 755 binary; mv binary /usr/bin). I highly recommend getting a frontend if it's available for the emulator, because it saves you from learing all the flags with which to start the emulator. If you didn't get one, or it wasn't available for the particular emulator, please read the instructions. They can be found wherever you untarred the package. (/tmp/... if you follow this guide)
There are two ways of starting the emulator. You can make a shortcut on your desktop to the emulator or frontend binary, or you can open a terminal window and type the emulator or frontend binary name.
2. GETTING ROMS
ROMS are games for the emulator. Zophar has some free ones which you can use to test your emulator. Copying real games is illegal, but still done thanks to the internet. I won't tell you where to get them, because I don't know which emulator you are using. All I can suggest is putting any search engine to use.
Your second option is to come into the #redhat channel on DALnet and if I'm there, I may point you to a couple of starting places... Please don't ask me for ROMS, though.
2. INSTALLING ROMS
ROM installation is relatively simple. You want to put the ROMS in a directory which can be accessed by all users. After decompressing the ROM (in /tmp/roms/ for example) type the following commands as root:
chmod 755 romname
mkdir /usr/share/games/roms
mv /tmp/roms/romname /usr/share/games/roms
When you'll want to load a specific ROM, the directory to look in will be /usr/share/games/roms
2. SETTING UP YOUR JOYSTICK
This section may be very inaccurate because the procedure I used was given to me, and it worked.
First, make sure your joystick/gamepad is supported. You can visit RedHat'ssupported hardware page to find out.
You then have to make sure that your joystick is compiled into your kernel. If it isn't, follow Lyte's kernel compiling guide and include it. Once that is done, type the following commands as root:
ls /lib/modules/`uname -r`/*/joy*
And you should see something like this appear:
/lib/modules/2.2.10/misc/joy-analog.o
/lib/modules/2.2.10/misc/joy-assasin.o
/lib/modules/2.2.10/misc/joy-console.o
/lib/modules/2.2.10/misc/joy-db9.o
/lib/modules/2.2.10/misc/joy-gravis.o
/lib/modules/2.2.10/misc/joy-lightning.o
/lib/modules/2.2.10/misc/joy-logitech.o
/lib/modules/2.2.10/misc/joy-sidewinder.o
/lib/modules/2.2.10/misc/joy-thrustmaster.o
/lib/modules/2.2.10/misc/joy-turbografx.o
/lib/modules/2.2.10/misc/joystick.o
You then select your joystick name and type:
modprobe joystick
modprobe joy-yourjoystickname.o
If all went well, those two commands looked as if they didn't do anything. The only way to try it out is in the emulator, assuming it has joystick support.
4. LAST WORD
I hope this guide changes your mind about Linux being a crappy operating system when it comes to games. There are a ton of them out there, and while they maybe not be very legal, they certainly are very fun. Happy gaming.
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