Developer Guide

Developer Guide

Updated for v1.1.99. Release tags build and verify Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, and iOS artifacts in GitHub Actions.

Build

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=cc -G Ninja
ninja -C build

• Pure C (C17 standard). No C++ code.
• Compiler: cc (system clang on macOS). Do not use gcc.
• Build system: CMake 3.20+ with Ninja generator.
• Dependencies: SDL3, SDL3_ttf, zlib.
• Platforms: macOS (arm64), Linux (x86_64), Windows (x64), Android (arm64), iOS (arm64).

Always test both Debug and Release configurations. Test targets compile with assertions enabled in Release builds.

Test

ctest --test-dir build -j4 --output-on-failure

• 62 tests covering decoders, game logic, rendering, combat, save/load, localization, audio, launcher behavior, and release consistency.
• Some viewport tests require original game data files and will fail or timeout without them.
• Run a subset with -R <pattern>:

ctest --test-dir build -R "liberation" -j4 --output-on-failure

Project Structure

src/
  engine/     - Game engine: start_menu, combat, save_load, inventory, shop,
                puzzle, droid_ui, terminal, map_gen, spawn, arcd_decoder,
                liberation_plotgen
  game/       - Liberation runtime: city_nav, dialogue, shop, building_interact,
                combat, npc_dialogue, save
  render/     - Rendering: hud, holamap, captive_compositor, renderer, viewport,
                liberation_viewport_3d
  audio/      - Audio: music, midi_player, sfx, adlib_sfx, opl2_emu
  data/       - Data loading: data_vfs, sha256, gfx_loader, texture_atlas,
                pl5/anm/rnc/ctv decoders, amiga_ofs/hunk/planar,
                liberation_data/anim/vgm/x3g/img/fnt, i18n, iso9660
  custom/     - Custom features: audio_reverb, automap, cross_save,
                custom_features, debug_hud, lighting, minimap, replay,
                upscale_xbrz
include/      - All public headers
tests/        - 49 test files
docs/         - Documentation and wiki
po/           - Translation files (19 languages)
data/         - Bundled fonts
assets/       - Icons (SVG, ICO, ICNS)
tools/        - hash_find, hash_extract, and other utilities

Start Menu Architecture

The start menu presents an 8-item navigation grid (2 columns x 4 rows):

Column 0	Column 1
Captive (new game)	Liberation (new game)
Continue Captive	Continue Liberation
Settings	About
Controls	Quit

• Continue items are only shown when saves exist for that game.
• Data status indicators: each game card shows a SHA-256 verification indicator (checkmark when all required data is present, cross when missing).
• Data Scanner (press D): scans the VFS for all required content hashes and reports results per game.
• Settings panel: 24 configurable options with scrolling.
• About screen: credits, version, technology.
• Controls screen: full keyboard reference.

Key Architecture

GameState

GameState struct (~1.1 MB). Must be allocated as static or heap storage, never on the stack (Windows enforces a 1 MB stack limit).

DataVFS

Content-addressed asset loading via SHA-256. Supports directories, ZIP archives, nested ZIPs, ADF disk images, and ISO9660 tracks. Resources are identified by content hash, never by filename.

• vfs_init() / vfs_free() — lifecycle
• vfs_find_sha256() — returns caller-owned buffer matching a digest
• vfs_file_exists() — check if a file is accessible
• vfs_read_file() — read a named file (for non-hash-identified resources)

StartMenu

8-item grid with settings, about, controls, and scanner overlays. Renders game card backgrounds, data status indicators, and navigation highlighting.

Audio

• OPL2 emulator for AdLib SFX (YM3812 FM synthesis).
• MIDI playback with OPL2 instrument bank.
• 8SVX sample loader and 8-channel mixer.

State Ownership

• DataVFS owns archive indexing, not returned match buffers.
• vfs_find_sha256() returns caller-owned bytes.
• MusicSystem owns the current MIDI bytes until track replacement or stop.
• LiberationData owns the raw disc buffer and closes it as one unit.
• GameState, CreatureList and PuzzleList are saved together for Captive.

Save Format

The Captive save header has magic, version, campaign identity, party state, objective counters, gold and dynamic-list counts. The loader regenerates the deterministic base, overlays saved cells, validates every record and assigns only after complete success. Corrupt input leaves the active session intact.

Never extend a save record without incrementing its version and adding tests for old-version rejection and new-version round trip.

Data Rules

Never use original media filenames as identity. Introduce a resource with:

1. A SHA-256 digest in source
2. A content-hash lookup via VFS
3. Checked lengths/offsets before decode
4. A deterministic test or verifier
5. No copied game payload in the repository

For Amiga OFS media, use amiga_ofs_inventory during discovery. For Liberation CD32 resources, use liberation_inventory. Both emit only digest, byte count and container class.

Visual Comparison Workflow

Do not use a generated renderer hash as proof of parity. Capture an original frame and an OpenCaptive frame at the same native resolution, then compare:

./build/visual_compare original.ppm opencaptive.ppm diff.ppm

Reports exact-pixel coverage and mean absolute RGB error. Keep captures outside the repository and record their SHA-256 digests in the test report.

Naming Conventions

• Source files: src/{subsystem}/{feature}.c
• Headers: include/{feature}.h
• Tests: tests/test_{feature}.c

Release Workflow

1. Bump version in CMakeLists.txt and include/opencaptive.h.
2. Commit and tag with vX.Y.Z.
3. Push with --tags — GitHub Actions builds all platforms and creates a release.
4. CI matrix: Ubuntu 24.04 (deb, rpm, AppImage, tar.gz), macOS 14 (DMG), Windows 2022 (Inno Setup installer), Android (APK via Gradle/NDK), iOS (IPA via xcodebuild).

Change Checklist

1. Preserve unrelated dirty work in the checkout.
2. Add a focused test that fails before the change.
3. Build Debug and Release.
4. Run the complete CTest suite.
5. Test hash-verified startup when changing loading or runtime code.
6. Document implementation status honestly — do not label a placeholder as original-game parity.