Rubygame README
============

  Rubygame is loosely based on Ruby/SDL [1] and pygame [2], intended
  to provide functionality similar to pygame, but for those who 
  prefer Ruby over Python. It was born out of a need (specifically,
  MY need) for a clean, convenient Ruby-to-SDL binding. If Rubygame
  isn't your cup of tea, you might try another Ruby-to-SDL
  binding, RUDL [3].

  Note that while I intend to make it as easy to make games in Ruby
  as it is to make games in Python, this is NOT just a clone of 
  pygame. This is to say, where there are opportunities for improvement,
  I will attempt to make those improvements.

  Many of the tutorials and examples for pygame will work with 
  Rubygame, after some minor modification, so I encourage you to 
  consult those as well.

  Rubygame is being programmed to be modular, meaning you can pick
  and choose which parts to use. For example, if you don't need
  TrueType font support, SDL_ttf is not needed to compile Rubygame.
  Additionally, it is possible for a game to detect at run-time which
  features are present, and behave differently (for example, disabling
  optional features).

  Further, Rubygame is (or will be) multi-tiered, meaning that you can
  access Rubygame's functionality on a number of levels, each level
  being built on the level below it. At the lowest level, Rubygame is
  essentially a Ruby interface to SDL. At higher levels, Rubygame 
  provides sprite classes, event queues, etc. At still higher levels,
  Rubygame might (in the future) provide features like a simple physics
  model or animation classes. Each higher level is closer to a complete
  game, but is also less flexible.

  Rubygame is still (as of May 2005) in early development, and as such
  it may contain many bugs and is prone to API changes. If you would
  like to help make Rubygame better, please send me comments via email
  (address at bottom of file)!

  ---- Footnotes ----
  1. http://www.kmc.gr.jp/~ohai/rubysdl.en.html
  2. http://www.pygame.org
  3. http://rudl.sourceforge.net

Requirements
------------

  Rubygame has been tested (and was developed) on the following,
  although older versions might work:

    * ruby        >= 1.8 
    * SDL         >= 1.2.7
    * SDL_gfx     >= 2.0.10   (for Draw/Transform modules)
    * SDL_image   >= 1.2.3    (for Image.load() method)
    * SDL_ttf     >= 2.0.6    (for Font::TTF class)

  If you are compiling source, you will obviously need a C compiler
  as well. These versions of gcc worked fine for me:

    * gcc         >= 3.3.2
      (other compilers might work too)

  If you are compiling source on a binary-based ditribution
  (i.e., not Gentoo or LFS) you will also need the "dev" packages
  of ruby, SDL, SDL_gfx, SDL_image, and SDL_ttf.

  At this time, Rubygame is only known to work on GNU/Linux. MacOSX and
  (eventually) Windows ports are likely. If you want to use Rubygame
  on either of those platforms, please send me an email (address at
  bottom of file) and tell me, so I can guage interest!

Install
-------

  Decompress archive and enter its top directory.
  Then run ($ indicates as user, # as root):

    $ ruby setup.rb config
    $ ruby setup.rb setup
    # ruby setup.rb install

  or just:

    # ruby setup.rb all

  You can also install files into your favorite directory by
  supplying setup.rb some options. Try "ruby setup.rb --help".

  During the 'config' phase, you may pass any of these additional arguments
  like so: "ruby setup.rb config -- --arg1 val --arg2"

    --with-gfx      (bool, default: yes)
      Compile Rubygame with SDL_gfx support? This is required for the
      'Draw' and 'Transform' modules to work.

    --with-image    (bool, default: yes)
      Compile Rubygame with SDL_image support? This is required for the
      Image.load() method to work.

    --with-ttf      (bool, default: yes)
      Compile Rubygame with SDL_ttf support? This is required for the
      Font::TTF class to work.

    --include-path  (path)
      A colon-separated list of directory paths to check for C headers,
      supplementing the directory given by `sdl-config --cflags`.
      Use this to help the compiler find headers installed in unusual
      places.

    --library-path  (path)
      A colon-separated list of directory paths to check for libraries,
      supplementing the directory given by `sdl-config --libs`.
      Use this to help the compiler find libraries installed in unusual
      places.

    --no-sdl-config (bool, default: no)
      Don't use `sdl-config` to get compiler flags or include/library
      paths. Only use this if you know what you're doing!

Usage
-----

  To use Rubygame in an application, do:

    require 'rubygame'

  You will probably also want a display window and event queue:

    screen = Rubygame::Screen.set_mode( [640,480] )
    queue = Rubygame::Queue.instance()

  For more information, see the documentation in the "doc/" folder
  or online at http://rubygame.seul.org

License
-------

  Rubygame is distributed under the terms of the GNU Lesser GPL.
  See LICENSE for more details.

  The font file, 'samples/freesansbold.ttf' is distributed under
  the terms of the GNU GPL. See 'samples/README' and 'samples/GPL'
  for more details.

John 'jacius' Croisant  (jacius at seul dot org)