This being Python (specifically Python 2) and SDL (through pygame),
ideally the code should run as-is for anyone who has the Python
interpreter and pygame installed; just run enginerl.py. For the
benefit of Windows users who find this awkward, I'll be putting
up something like a Py2Exe executable as well, but I might not get
around to that before tomorrow(access to Windows is somewhat
awkward for me).

I'll also have more time tomorrow to make a better posting
explaining the game; there is a possibility that the learning
curve might be a bit steep.

The very basics: there is only one melee weapon in the game,
and it's a wrench. It's a surprisingly effective weapon for a
wrench, but you're still going to want to use other weapons.
These, you're going to have to build yourself, which is more or
less the point of the game.

Before you can build anything, you need to discover components;
this is done by destroying robots and looking through their
innards ("technology cores"). Once you think you have enough
components to design something interesting or useful, you can
bring up the design dialog with "D". (This is a large menu
system; "View plans" should be useful in documenting roughly
what the components are for.) Once you've finished one or
more designs, you can start building stuff by pressing "T",
as long as you have enough resources and materials. (If you
don't, you'll have to destroy and recycle more robots.)

There is basically no documentation yet; I will be writing a  more
comprehensive post when I have a bit of time (which probably means
tomorrow). Both vi keys and numpad work for movement; space
generally means cancel. For those of you who can read Python,
erlmaininput.py should give you a fairly good overview of the entire
control set.

-kaw

(PS: I actually discovered a serious bug _while_ writing this
newsgroup post, so any purists who insist on downloading the
7DRL release should be aware that there is a potential infinite
loop in that version, which is fixed in 1.01.)

--
Radomir Dopieralski, http://sheep.art.pl

You need to improve your reading skills or work on your memory ;]

T.

Thanks though.

but...

Since I have to install and upgrade a bunch of python crap to get this
pygame lib to work I don't know how soon that will be, and there is a
high probability I will get frustrated and lose interest. Of course,
if you were able to get some people to compile this python into an
executable it would be far more likely. OSX plox?

I have XP and pretty new pygame and python, and the game faults with:

Font is not being ideally rendered.
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Documents and Settings\Filip\Programs
\eengine-7drl-101\enginerl.py",
line 217, in <module>
    screen.waitForInput()
  File "C:\Documents and Settings\Filip\Programs
\eengine-7drl-101\rlinterface.py
", line 223, in waitForInput
    event = self.getInput()
  File "C:\Documents and Settings\Filip\Programs
\eengine-7drl-101\rlsdl.py", lin
e 405, in getInput
    self.update()
AttributeError: SdlInterface instance has no attribute 'update'

any chances for a fix in 1.0.2?

Filip Dreger

Line 405 in rlsdl.py should be

                                self.sdl.update()

Then it runs fine. I'll post more of a review/guide tonight when I can
play it.

-D

So... unless you get a compiled OSX version, I am going to have to
miss out on a game I am quite excited about :(

My opinion on these sorts of libraries was never that high... if you
can't include them in the source package, they are usually far to much
effort and are too unreliable to install. If you want people to play
your game, I think sticking with C, C++, Java (with standard
libraries), or compiled binaries is the way to go.

You also need other components -- a beam projector needs
something to project, the something that produces _that_ something
needs power, and an engine that produce power needs fuel.

(You really ought to start with some of these components known;
the fact that you don't means that the game is a bit needlessly hard
in the beginning.)
        -kaw

Oh, wait. I was wrong about versions. I'm running 2.4... I think I was
confused cause I upgraded from 2.3. I'm going to dig around a bit. I
little quick googling suggest I might have to be attentive to the fact
that I'm using PPC.

Python and pygame(which contains the standard Python bindings for
SDL) really not obscure languages/libraries at all, IMHO no more than
the Java runtimes. Both are packaged for OS X, so if you're editing
source files to get this working, there's almost certainly an easier
way
to do what you're trying to do. (On both Windows and Linux this is a
two-click / one-line process.)

I don't use OS X, but from the #pygame channel on freenode I got the
following two packages recommended:

http://python.org/ftp/python/2.5.4/python-2.5.4-macosx.dmg
http://www.pygame.org/ftp/pygame-1.8.1release-py2.5-macosx10.5.zip

If you're using OS X 10.3, 10.4, or 10.5 pygame.org also seems to
recommend this one:

http://www.pygame.org/ftp/pyobjc-1.4-py2.5-macosx10.4.mpkg.zip

It's probably a good idea to uninstall any previous installations of
Python 2
that you've done before installing these; _especially_ if your comment
about "hacking it" should be interpreted to mean that you've edited
source files that are part of the standard library.

I hope you get it working; I'll be happy to try to assist, but my
knowledge of OS X is limited.
        -kaw

Will C width SDL compiled to a linux binary work better on your OSX?

--
Radomir Dopieralski, http://sheep.art.pl

I'll try to install python and all the libraries from their OSX mpkgs
if I get some energy again. I'll let you know when I make another pass
at it.

(w)eild it, then (f)ire it, then either (d)rop or (t)hrow it.