Hmm...I couldn't even get it to compile. I'm using VS2010 and get the following error when I try to build it:
error MSB6006: "cmd.exe" exited with code 3.
If you can get a working version, I'd be interested to know the steps you took.
Hi nanite2000,
I've only just stumbled upon this FFED3D wrapper today (it's stunning isn't it) and was really keen to take a look at compiling it.
* I will warn you though - the current codebase appears to be extremely buggy! *
I'm using Visual C++ 2010 Express edition which for anyone else interested is freely available to
download. And to grab the source, I used
TortoiseSVN
You will need to grab NASM from
http://www.nasm.us/. I grabbed the stable 2.10.07 installer from within the
win32 subdirectory.
This needed to be installed as Administrator (holding SHIFT key, right click on exe and choose that option) if you are installing into the path which the FFED3D solution expects: C:\Program Files (x86)\NASM
Secondly, you do also need the DirectX 9 SDK installed, this can be grabbed from Microsoft at
http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/confirmation.aspx?id=6812 (UK site)
Install this without Visual Studio running, I think it gave an error at the end but doesn't seem to matter.
I would comment that to have NASM compile correctly, ensure that your source is within a simple directory structure - i.e. no spaces or dashes in folder names. The project will also build to a path below your source by default, so I set up a C:\FFED3D folder with a "source" subfolder, and it will generate a 'build' folder within this location containing the final .exe file
You also need to update the solution as the DirectX9 SDK is a different version to that which it been configured for. So after loading up the solution in Studio/Visual C++ Express, right click on the 'ffed3d' entry in the Solution Explorer and bring up its properties. Select the "VC++ Directories" and the Include and Library directories will both need to be edited so that the SDK path says June instead of February.
If you installed NASM to somewhere other than C:\Program Files (x86)\NASM then the first 2 .asm entries at the bottom of the solution, also need the paths correcting for the 'Custom Build Tool'.
You should now be able to compile.
To try it out, maybe make a copy of your existing FFE D3D to play with.
Copy the .exe file that has been created in the 'build' folder over to this test folder, as well as the contents of the source 'resources' folder that contain new assets (including a simplified ship panel). NB - There are keybindings defined in this new ffewin.cfg file, so you might want to exclude that file and stick with your existing version.
The new .exe build contains the 'start' front end and the start-up hints are provided by a Lua script.
They also seem to be trying to implement procedural planet surfaces too, check out the bumpy planet in the intro! Unfortunately, when it comes to playing - trying to take off from planets seems to make you sink through them as well as other graphical issues with the planet/atmosphere. Loading a save game visiting the Thargons in Miackce led to an instant crash too!
But, the infamous game videos do tend to appear now (oh dear) and the ship panel now also displays in windowed mode on my pc, not just in fullscreen. (and this works with the more complex panel.X too so it's a coding not a model fix)
I guess with time, someone could try starting at the earliest revision of the source, hopefully that corresponds to the released build, and then perhaps try to reapply whatever was altered to fix the cockpit panel...
