README - Cog Engine 1.1.6

The Cog Engine

Version 1.1.6

                   Copyright (C) 1999-2002 Steven M. Castellotti
                            <SteveC@innocent.com>

Cog Engine documentation is an ongoing project. Please check the homepage at http://cogengine.sourceforge.net for more information.

No Warranty

The Cog Engine comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. See the COPYING file for details. This version of the Cog Engine is developmental software. This means that while it will work most of the time, it will not work all of the time. See the section "Reporting Bugs" Below for more information.

SPECIAL NOTE

This version of the Cog Development Application uses a new file format for Cog Engine files. You will need to use the conversion script to work on games created before this release. The current upgrade script is called convert-1.1.5-to-1.1.6.py and can be executed as such:

python convert-1.1.5-to-1.1.6.py CyconOdyssey.cog.old CyconOdyssey.cog

Quick Installation Instructions

The Cog Engine is a modular application which can be run under many different environments, with a completely different look and feel within each environment. Please refer to the approprate section below for the environment under which you will be running the Cog Engine

Windows

A windows executable version of the Cog Engine is now available. Simply download and execute the setup.exe file, and select a destination for installtion. A shortcut for the Cog Engine will be added to your desktop and Start Menu.

If you wish to use Text-To-Speech support under Windows, you will need to download and install the Microsoft Speech SDK from Microsoft's website.

The current URL for this software package is: http://search.microsoft.com/gomsuri.asp?n=9&c=rp_BestBets&siteid=us&target=http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/default.asp?url=/downloads/sample.asp?url=/msdn-files/027/000/781/msdncompositedoc.xml

Linux

A binary version of the Cog Development Application is not yet available under linux, although work is currently underway to produce one. However, if you have installed the necessary prerequisites on your system, you shouldn't have much trouble executing the source with a command such as "python CogEngine_Application_GtkSDL.py" from the command line.

See the Execute-From-Source Installation Tips below for more information.

Development Prerequisites

Python information is available at:
http://www.python.org/

Python/GTK information is available at: http://www.daa.com.au/~james/pygtk/
http://theopenlab.uml.edu/pygtools/

Jython information is available at:
http://jython.sourceforge.net/

Pygame information is available at:
http://www.pygame.org/

SDL information is available at:
http://www.libsdl.org/

Glade information is available at:
http://glade.gnome.org/

Festival information is available at:
http://www.cstr.ed.ac.uk/projects/festival/

If you are using RedHat Linux, the following rpms (and their own prerequisits) are available as part of the distribution (as of version 7.3) and should be installed:

python
pygtk
pygtk-libglade
SDL
SDL_image
SDL_mixer
smpeg
festival

In addition, you will also need to install the following

SDL_ttf, available at www.libsdl.org

Pygame, available at www.pygame.org

Execute-From-Source Installation Tips

Download and install the above listed prerequisits.
Uncompress and extract the source files.
You can execute the CogDevApp GUI program by typing python CogEngine_Application_GtkSDL.py in the resulting directory.
If you wish to run a CogEngine game using the CogEngine Jython Applet (this will allow you to run the CogEngine in a web browser, or host a game from a web server), you will need to convert the game file by using the export_cog_data.py jython script (available with the Cog Development Application). Please refer to the README contained in the Cycon Odyssey (the example game for the CogEngine) for details.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Website: <http://cogengine.sourceforge.net/>. Developement site: <https://sourceforge.net/projects/cogengine/>. Mailing lists: <http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/cogengine-devel>.

REPORTING BUGS

Feedback from users is an essential part of the open source model of software development. If you would like to report a bug, please access the development website for The Cog Engine, hosted by SourceForge.net at:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/cogengine/