@@ -1,5 +1,80 @@ = NEWS +== Rubygame 2.6.0 + +Release focus: Ported to FFI. + +=== FFI + +Rubygame is now pure Ruby, with no compiled C code. Instead, it uses +Ruby-FFI (or compatible FFI implementations) to directly access SDL +and related libraries. That means: + +- It is much easier to install. You can install it directly from + RubyGems (`gem install rubygame`) on any operating system, and you + don't need a C compiler or SDL headers. + +- It is now possible to use Rubygame on JRuby, and possibly on + Rubinius. + +- Rubygame will be slightly slower than before. But, the hard work is + still being done by SDL, so the speed decrease is only minor. The + increased portability and ease of future development greatly + outweighs the small speed loss. + +Despite the major architectural change, Rubygame 2.6 API is meant to +be backwards compatible with Rubygame 2.5 and earlier. If you find an +API incompatibility, you should report it as a bug. + +However, there are a few minor incompatibilities that are already known, +and most likely cannot or will not be fixed: + +- Surface#flip now needs SDL_gfx to run. Before, it needed only plain + SDL, but the code for it was too slow when reimplemented in Ruby. + +- Rubygame::VERSIONS[:sdl_gfx] now reports [0,0,0] when SDL_gfx is + available, instead of its real version number. SDL_gfx does not + currently provide any way to detect its version number at run time. + (VERSIONS still reports nil when SDL_gfx is not available, the same + as in 2.5 and earlier.) + +=== Fixes + +- Fixed: Surface#set_at() now correctly sets the pixel's opacity for + Surfaces with an alpha channel. If no opacity is given for the new + color (i.e. only RGB), the pixel will be fully opaque. + + - Note: Due to a long-standing bug, Surface.new cannot create a + Surface with an alpha channel. Use Surface#to_display_alpha to + create an alpha-channeled copy of the Surface, or load an image + file that has an alpha channel already. + +=== Other Changes + +- Rubygame now automatically initializes itself when loaded and cleans + itself up at exit. So, you no longer need to call Rubygame.init or + Rubygame.quit in your code (but it won't hurt if you do). + +- Added: New sample application, a basic image viewer. + See samples/image_viewer.rb. + +- Added: Documentation listing every keyboard symbol used by Rubygame. + See doc/keyboard_symbols.rdoc. + +- Added: Guide to setting custom load parts for SDL libraries. + See doc/custom_sdl_load_paths.rdoc. + +- Surface#alpha= is now a true alias for Surface#set_alpha. It was a + separate method before. It can still be used in the same way as + before. + +- Surface#colorkey= is now a true alias for Surface#set_colorkey. It + was a separate method before. It can still be used in the same way + as before. + + + + == Rubygame 2.5.3 Release focus: Bug fixes. NEWS @@ -2,126 +2,81 @@ == What is Rubygame? - Rubygame is a cross-platform game-development extension and library for Ruby, - inspired by Pygame. The purpose of Rubygame is to empower game developers by - providing them with powerful and flexible high-level concepts. Instead of - worrying about low-level technical details, you can focus your energy on - more interesting things (like making a fun game). - - Rubygame's core is written in C to bind low-level SDL functions into Ruby. - On top of that is a pure Ruby library for higher-level behavior like - event and game object management. + Rubygame is a cross-platform game-development library for Ruby, + inspired by Pygame. Rubygame strives to empower game developers by + providing them with powerful and flexible mid-to-high level tools. + Instead of worrying about low-level technical details, you can focus + your energy on more interesting things (like making a fun game). === Relevant Links 1. Rubygame: http://rubygame.org 2. Ruby: http://www.ruby-lang.org 3. Pygame: http://www.pygame.org - 4. SDL: http://www.libsdl.org + == Requirements - You will definitely need these software packages to compile Rubygame: + You will definitely need these software packages to use Rubygame: - * ruby >= 1.8 - * SDL >= 1.2.7 - * rake >= 0.7.0 (for build/install system) + * Ruby >= 1.8 + * Ruby-SDL-FFI >= 0.1 + * SDL >= 1.2.7 (1.2.14 on MacOS X 10.6) + * (MacOS X only): RSDL ( http://github.com/knu/rsdl ) It's highly recommended that you have these packages as well, or some cool features won't be available! - * SDL_gfx >= 2.0.10 + * SDL_gfx >= 2.0.13 * SDL_image >= 1.2.3 * SDL_mixer >= 1.2.7 * SDL_ttf >= 2.0.6 - (If you don't have some of those, you have to disable those features - by passing some flags to the build process. See "Advanced Install", below.) - - If you are compiling source on a binary-based Linux ditribution, - you will also need the "dev" packages of ruby, SDL, SDL_gfx, SDL_image, - SDL_mixer, and SDL_ttf. (Really, you just need the header files.) - - And of course, if you are compiling the source, you will need a C compiler! - These versions of gcc worked fine when I tried them; other compilers might - work too: - - * gcc 3.3, 3.4, 4.0, 4.1 - == Install === Basic Install - Extract the archive and enter its top directory. - Then run ($ indicates as user, # as root): - - $ rake build - # rake install - - === Advanced Install + The simplest way to install is with RubyGems: - The build and install tasks can be configured by providing certain commands - to rake: + $ sudo gem install rubygame - no-sdl-gfx:: do not build modules which depend on SDL_gfx - no-sdl-image:: do not build modules which depend on SDL_image - no-sdl-mixer:: do not build modules which depend on SDL_mixer - no-sdl-ttf:: do not build modules which depend on SDL_ttf - no-opengl:: do not build modules which depend on OpenGL + Another way is to install directly from the source: - no-sdl-config:: do not guess compiler/linker flags using `sdl-config' + $ sudo rake install - debug:: build modules with debbugging flags enabled - universal:: on MacOS X, try to compile for both PPC and Intel - verbose:: display the build commands as they are run + Or generate and install a gem from the source: - Additionally, the build process respects certain environmental variables. - In particular, CFLAGS and LDFLAGS are important for users compiling with - the no-sdl-config command. - - CC:: C compiler command - CFLAGS:: flags passed to the C compiler - LDSHARED:: linker command - LDFLAGS:: flags passed to the linker - RUBYARCHDIR:: where to install platform-specific compiled extensions - RUBYLIBDIR:: where to install platform-independent interpreted libs - - IMPORTANT: if you are missing any optional SDL_* libraries, you must specify - "no-*" flags for those libraries. For example, if you don't have SDL_gfx: - - $ rake no-sdl-gfx build - - If you don't disable the features, the compile will probably fail when it - looks for the headers and libraries. (The build system is not smart enough to - automatically disable missing features.) + $ rake gem + $ sudo gem install pkg/rubygame-*.gem === Generating documentation You can generate documentation for Rubygame's API by running: - # rake rdoc + $ rake rdoc Documentation will be generated as HTML in the 'html' directory. Open 'html/index.html' in a web browser to get started. + == Usage See the documentation (online at http://docs.rubygame.org, or generated locally with the 'rake rdoc' command). We also recommend that you take a peek at the demo applications in - the 'samples' directory, especially demo_rubygame.rb and chimp.rb. + the 'samples' directory, especially image_viewer.rb, + demo_rubygame.rb, and chimp.rb. + == License Rubygame is distributed under the terms of the GNU Lesser GPL. See LICENSE for more details. - The contents of the file 'Rakefile' is licensed under the terms of the - MIT license. See that file for more details. - - Some of the sample files are distributed under licenses other than the - GNU Lesser GPL. See 'samples/README' and 'samples/GPL' for more details. + Some of the sample files are distributed under licenses other than + the GNU Lesser GPL. See 'samples/README' and 'samples/GPL' for more + details. John Croisant (jacius at gmail.com) README @@ -1,22 +1,22 @@ = ROADMAP This represents the direction Rubygame will be going in, but -keep in mind that specific details may change over time. +keep in mind that plans and details may change over time. -== 2.X.0 (_possible_ minor releases before 3.0.0) +== 2.X (_possible_ minor releases before 3.0) === Focus: Surface & Rect - Surface improvements - Make Surface instances copyable and marshalable - Support for palettes on 8-bit Surfaces + - Export as OpenGL-ready 32bit pixel data. - To Fix: New Surfaces never have alpha channels - - To Fix: Surface#set_at doesn't respect alpha - To Add: Surface#pixels= (set pixel data directly) - To Add: Surface.load_from_pixels (create from pixel data) -- Rewrite Rect class in C for speed +- Optimize Rect for speed === Focus: Sprites @@ -24,18 +24,20 @@ keep in mind that specific details may change over time. - New sprite system - New Sprite, Scene, and Camera classes. - More powerful and simpler to use. - - Integration with the Chipmunk physics library. + - Integration with the Chipmunk physics library? -== 3.0.0 (next major release) +== 3.0 (next major release) - Backwards compatibility is broken: - Deprecated classes / methods retired: - Rubygame::Mixer module. - Rubygame::Mixer::Sample class. Use Rubygame::Sound. - Rubygame::Mixer::Music class. Use Rubygame::Music. - - Rubygame::Surface.load_image method. User Rubygame::Surface.load. + - Rubygame::Surface.load_image method. Use Rubygame::Surface.load. + - Rubygame::Ftor class. An alternative class will be provided. + - Rubygame::MediaBag class. Use Surface#[], Sound#[], and Music#[]. - Surface#get_at - Sprites::Group#collide_group @@ -44,7 +46,17 @@ keep in mind that specific details may change over time. -== On the horizon... +== Possible future developments + +- Switch from SDL_gfx to SPriG for graphics primitives. + - SPriG provides more functionality and flexibility, and a more + consistent interface. + - How does speed compare? + - Is it buggy? + +- Alternative back-ends: + - OpenGL (faster rendering, better Mac support) + - Allegro? - Polygon, circle, and other geometric primitives - Drawing, with styles? @@ -65,8 +77,3 @@ keep in mind that specific details may change over time. - E.g. moves a sprite from point A to point B over N seconds. - Many types of effects, easy to define custom ones. - Takes parameters: start/end time, others depending on effect. - -- C equivalent of Rect.new_from_object (see rect.rb) - - Screen#update (cannot pass object with rect attribute) - - Screen#update_rects (same as above) - - Why not just call the ruby function from within C? ROADMAP 73cef80adec52b9b5627a780b3e907c93763cc44 John Croisant jacius@gmail.com http://github.com/jacius/rubygame/commit/1cc1440656aaf5369d777e4f2f553368c9a7cff6 1cc1440656aaf5369d777e4f2f553368c9a7cff6 2009-10-23T20:46:41-07:00 2009-10-23T20:44:52-07:00 Updated README, NEWS, and ROADMAP. 7eeb776228aaa5ac3fdeecb2e15ff576aff4f658 John Croisant jacius@gmail.com