xash3d-fwgs

Xash3D FWGS engine

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ioq3

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Quick Overview

Xash3d FWGS is an open-source game engine, primarily designed to run Half-Life 1 and its mods. It aims to be a more portable and modern alternative to the original GoldSrc engine, while maintaining compatibility with existing Half-Life content.

Pros

Cross-platform compatibility (Windows, Linux, Android, and more)
Improved performance and bug fixes compared to the original engine
Support for modern features like widescreen resolutions and touchscreen controls
Active community and ongoing development

Cons

Some mods may have compatibility issues or require additional tweaks
Documentation can be sparse or outdated in some areas
Potential legal concerns due to reverse-engineering of proprietary code
Learning curve for developers unfamiliar with the GoldSrc engine architecture

Getting Started

To get started with Xash3d FWGS:

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/FWGS/xash3d-fwgs.git

Install dependencies (varies by platform, check documentation)

Build the engine:

cd xash3d-fwgs
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
make

Copy the Half-Life game data to the appropriate directory
Run the engine:
```
./xash3d
```

For more detailed instructions and platform-specific guides, refer to the project's documentation and wiki on GitHub.

Competitor Comparisons

halflife

3,760

Half-Life 1 engine based games

Pros of halflife

Official Valve repository, providing authentic source code
Includes original game assets and resources
Better documentation and support from Valve

Cons of halflife

Less actively maintained compared to xash3d-fwgs
Limited cross-platform support
Fewer community-driven improvements and optimizations

Code Comparison

xash3d-fwgs:

void Host_Frame( float time )
{
	Host_InputFrame();
	Host_ClientFrame();
	Host_ServerFrame();
}

halflife:

void Host_Frame( float time )
{
	if( !Host_FilterTime( time ) )
		return;

	Host_ServerFrame();
	Host_ClientFrame();
}

The xash3d-fwgs implementation includes an additional Host_InputFrame() call, potentially offering more responsive input handling. The halflife version includes a time filtering mechanism, which may help control frame rates more precisely.

source-sdk-2013

3,859

The 2013 edition of the Source SDK

Pros of source-sdk-2013

Official Valve SDK, providing authentic Source engine experience
Extensive documentation and community support
More feature-rich, including advanced rendering and physics capabilities

Cons of source-sdk-2013

Limited platform support (primarily Windows)
Larger codebase, potentially more complex for beginners
Less frequent updates and maintenance

Code Comparison

source-sdk-2013:

class CBaseEntity : public IServerEntity
{
public:
    virtual void Think() = 0;
    virtual void Touch(CBaseEntity *pOther) = 0;
    virtual void Use(CBaseEntity *pActivator, CBaseEntity *pCaller, USE_TYPE useType, float value) = 0;
};

xash3d-fwgs:

typedef struct edict_s
{
    qboolean    free;
    int         serialnumber;
    link_t      area;
    int         headnode;
    int         num_leafs;
    short       leafnums[MAX_ENT_LEAFS];
    float       freetime;
    void        *pvPrivateData;
    entvars_t   v;
} edict_t;

The code snippets show different approaches to entity handling. source-sdk-2013 uses a C++ class-based system, while xash3d-fwgs employs a C-style struct, reflecting their different design philosophies and language choices.

Quake-III-Arena

7,146

Quake III Arena GPL Source Release

Pros of Quake-III-Arena

Original, iconic game engine with a rich history and legacy
Extensive documentation and community resources available
Well-optimized for its time, with efficient rendering techniques

Cons of Quake-III-Arena

Older codebase, potentially less compatible with modern systems
Limited cross-platform support compared to xash3d-fwgs
Less active development and maintenance

Code Comparison

Quake-III-Arena (game initialization):

void G_InitGame( int levelTime, int randomSeed, int restart ) {
    G_Printf ("------- Game Initialization -------\n");
    G_Printf ("gamename: %s\n", GAMEVERSION);
    G_Printf ("gamedate: %s\n", __DATE__);
    // ...
}

xash3d-fwgs (engine initialization):

void Host_InitEngine( void )
{
    Con_Init();  // initialize the console
    Cmd_Init();  // initialize the command system
    Cvar_Init(); // initialize the cvar system
    // ...
}

Both repositories showcase different approaches to game engine architecture, with Quake-III-Arena focusing on the game-specific initialization, while xash3d-fwgs demonstrates a more modular engine structure.

ioq3

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The ioquake3 community effort to continue supporting/developing id's Quake III Arena

Pros of ioq3

More active development with frequent updates and contributions
Broader platform support, including mobile devices
Extensive documentation and community resources

Cons of ioq3

Limited to Quake 3 engine, less flexibility for other games
Steeper learning curve for newcomers to the codebase

Code Comparison

ioq3:

void CL_Frame( int msec ) {
    if ( cls.state == CA_DISCONNECTED && !( cls.keyCatchers & KEYCATCH_UI )
        && !com_sv_running->integer && uivm ) {
        // if disconnected, bring up the menu
        S_StopAllSounds();
        VM_Call( uivm, UI_SET_ACTIVE_MENU, UIMENU_MAIN );
    }
    // ...
}

xash3d-fwgs:

void Host_Frame( float time )
{
    if( !Host_IsValidGame()) return;

    Host_InputFrame ();
    Host_ClientFrame ();
    Host_ServerFrame ();
    Host_NetworkFrame ();
    Host_InputFrame ();
    // ...
}

Both projects use a main frame function to handle game logic, but xash3d-fwgs appears to have a more modular approach with separate functions for different aspects of the game loop.

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README

Xash3D FWGS Engine

Xash3D (pronounced [ksÉÊ]) FWGS is a game engine, aimed to provide compatibility with Half-Life Engine and extend it, as well as to give game developers well known workflow.

Xash3D FWGS is a heavily modified fork of an original Xash3D Engine by Unkle Mike.

Donate

If you like Xash3D FWGS, consider supporting individual engine maintainers. By supporting us, you help to continue developing this game engine further. The sponsorship links are available in documentation.

Fork features

Steam Half-Life (HLSDK 2.5) support.
Crossplatform and modern compilers support: supports Windows, Linux, BSD & Android on x86 & ARM and many more.
Better multiplayer: multiple master servers, headless dedicated server, voice chat, GoldSrc protocol support and IPv6 support.
Multiple renderers support: OpenGL, GLESv1, GLESv2 and Software.
Advanced virtual filesystem: .pk3 and .pk3dir support, compatibility with GoldSrc FS module, fast case-insensitivity emulation for crossplatform.
Mobility API: better game integration on mobile devices (vibration, touch controls).
Different input methods: touch and gamepad in addition to mouse & keyboard.
TrueType font rendering, as a part of mainui_cpp.
External VGUI support module.
PNG & KTX2 image format support.
Ogg Vorbis (.ogg) & Ogg Opus (.opus) audio formats support.
A set of small improvements, without broken compatibility.

Installation & Running

Get Xash3D FWGS binaries: you can use testing build or you can compile engine from source code.
Copy engine binaries to some directory.
Copy valve directory from Half-Life to directory with engine binaries. If your CPU is NOT x86 compatible or you're running 64-bit version of the engine, you may want to compile Half-Life SDK. This repository contains our fork of HLSDK and restored source code for Half-Life expansions and some mods. You still needed to copy valve directory as all game resources located there.
Run the main executable (xash3d.exe or AppImage).

For additional info, run Xash3D with -help command line key.

Contributing

Before sending an issue, check if someone already reported your issue. Make sure you're following "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way" guide by Eric Steven Raymond. Read more: http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html.
Issues are accepted in both English and Russian.
Before sending a PR, check if you followed our contribution guide in CONTRIBUTING.md file.

Build instructions

We are using Waf build system. If you have some Waf-related questions, I recommend you to read Waf Book.

NOTE: NEVER USE GitHub's ZIP ARCHIVES. GitHub doesn't include external dependencies we're using!

Prerequisites

If your CPU is x86 compatible and you're on Windows or Linux, we are building 32-bit code by default. This was done to maintain compatibility with Steam releases of Half-Life and based on it's engine games. Even if Xash3D FWGS does support targetting 64-bit, you can't load games without recompiling them from source code!

If your CPU is NOT x86 compatible or you decided build 64-bit version of engine, you may want to compile Half-Life SDK. This repository contains our fork of HLSDK and restored source code for Half-Life expansions and some mods.

Windows (Visual Studio)

Install Visual Studio.
Install latest Python OR run cinst python.install if you have Chocolatey.
Install latest Git OR run cinst git.install if you have Chocolatey.
Download SDL2 development package for Visual Studio.
Clone this repository: git clone --recursive https://github.com/FWGS/xash3d-fwgs.
Make sure you have at least 12GB of free space to store all build-time dependencies: ~10GB for Visual Studio, 300 MB for Git, 100 MB for Python and other.

GNU/Linux

Debian/Ubuntu

Only for 32-bit engine on 64-bit x86 operating system:
- Enable i386 on your system: $ sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386.
- Install aptitude (why?): $ sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade && sudo apt install aptitude
- Install development tools: $ sudo aptitude --without-recommends install git build-essential gcc-multilib g++-multilib libsdl2-dev:i386 libfontconfig-dev:i386 libfreetype-dev:i386 libopus-dev:i386 libbz2-dev:i386.
- Set PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable to point at 32-bit libraries: $ export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/pkgconfig.
For 64-bit engine on 64-bit x86 and other non-x86 systems:
- Install development tools: $ sudo apt install git build-essential python libsdl2-dev libfontconfig-dev libfreetype6-dev libopus-dev libbz2-dev.
Clone this repostory: $ git clone --recursive https://github.com/FWGS/xash3d-fwgs.

RedHat/Fedora

Only for 32-bit engine on 64-bit x86 operating system:
- Install development tools: $ sudo dnf install git gcc gcc-c++ glibc-devel.i686 SDL2-devel.i686 opus-devel.i686 fontconfig-devel.i686 freetype-devel.i686 bzip2-devel.i686.
- Set PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable to point at 32-bit libraries: $ export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/lib/pkgconfig.
For 64-bit engine on 64-bit x86 and other non-x86 systems:
- Install development tools: $ sudo dnf install git gcc gcc-c++ SDL2-devel opus-devel fontconfig-devel freetype-devel bzip2-devel.
Clone this repostory: $ git clone --recursive https://github.com/FWGS/xash3d-fwgs.

Building

Windows (Visual Studio)

Open command line.
Navigate to xash3d-fwgs directory.
(optional) Examine which build options are available: waf --help.
Configure build: waf configure --sdl2=c:/path/to/SDL2.
Compile: waf build.
Install: waf install --destdir=c:/path/to/any/output/directory.

Linux

If compiling 32-bit on amd64, make sure PKG_CONFIG_PATH from the previous step is set correctly, prior to running configure.

(optional) Examine which build options are available: ./waf --help.
Configure build: ./waf configure (you need to pass -8 to compile 64-bit engine on 64-bit x86 processor).
Compile: ./waf build.
Install: ./waf install --destdir=/path/to/any/output/directory.

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