sdl12-compat 1.2.66 Gets More Games/Software Working On This SDL2 Portability Layer

[phoronix]

Phoronix: sdl12-compat 1.2.66 Gets More Games/Software Working On This SDL2 Portability Layer

The sdl12-compat project is an interesting effort to allow for aging software and games targeting the SDL 1.2 APIs to work atop this compatibility layer so it in turn runs atop the SDL2 libraries. With the sdl12-compat 1.2.66 release more games and other software are now successfully working on this library...

https://www.phoronix.com/news/sdl12-compat-1.2.66

[Danny3]

Nice to see the Trine game there!
Even though it's probably only about the first one and not the 2 and 3 that also Linux native versions.
Too bad the last one doesn't have a Linux native version anymore.
Anyway, the Windows versions seemed to be more up to date and had more FPS, probably because of Proton and Vulkan.

Cool to see that SDL is progressing, even in compatiblity, congrats and many thanks to the developers!

[Chewi]

Before you get too excited about Trine, you're already better off playing the Enchanted Edition, which was a revamp based on the second game's engine, and that uses SDL 2.

The funny part is that Trine 2 itself uses the mythical SDL 1.3. It's the only game I know of that does. Still works well enough, although it does crash when fullscreen unless /usr/bin/gnome-screensaver-command is present. Gentoo patches this out to call /bin/true instead.

[timofonic]

Hyperspace Delivery Boy is supported by ScummVM.

What about using SDL2 software in future SDL3 too? Will there be another compatibility layer or this one will be expanded?

https://github.com/libsdl-org/sdl2-compat

Nevermind, there's a new one too.

[drake23]

This lets me enjoy ut2004 on modern Linux, big thanks to the Devs!!!

[stormcrow]

RE: the game in the article's picture X2: The Threat. Probably the second most frustrating X release I played. It annoyed me no end enemies could knock out capital ship turrets with full shields in place. The most frustrating being X Rebirth, like many X universe fans.

[Weasel]

The fact that this is a separate project, and not baked into SDL2 since inception (before SDL2 even worked, compatibility layer should have been devised first), shows how pathetic most open source libraries/projects are with their fucking ABI breakages without providing compatibility layers by default and permanently.

[timofonic]

The fact that this is a separate project, and not baked into SDL2 since inception (before SDL2 even worked, compatibility layer should have been devised first), shows how pathetic most open source libraries/projects are with their fucking ABI breakages without providing compatibility layers by default and permanently.

I love your positivity! You should be next FOSS leader!

Seriously.

Do you hate FOSS? If yes...

Why do you participate here? What's the reasoning of your trollish attitude?

Where's Phorodows for people such as Weasel?

[billyswong]

The fact that this is a separate project, and not baked into SDL2 since inception (before SDL2 even worked, compatibility layer should have been devised first), shows how pathetic most open source libraries/projects are with their fucking ABI breakages without providing compatibility layers by default and permanently.

This is the problem of Qt. Since Qt in the past upgraded so frequently in comparison to GTK and old versions dropping bundling so soon in Linux distributions, if an old software used Qt and and its developer(s) abandoned the project, the software became almost like a piece of garbage.

Perhaps thanks to the long long delay of GIMP 3, GTK become a better choice for longevity.

[ClosedSource]

I love your positivity! You should be next FOSS leader!

Seriously.

Do you hate FOSS? If yes...

Why do you participate here? What's the reasoning of your trollish attitude?

Where's Phorodows for people such as Weasel?

Software, by definition, is a tool which should serve you and not the opposite. FOSS is not a religion and not an excuse for mediocrity and lower level user experiences. If you, personally "loved" FOSS, then you would want to be as useful as possible. That would mean only removing APIs that should never have existed in the first place or that you are unable to feasibly maintain adequately. Compatibility layers are good for FOSS end users. They do however demotivate developers from porting to new APIs. This means that if you don't find compatibility layers in a FOSS project, then that project cares little about its users and favors developers over them. Users will always want compatibility layers.
The sad state of FOSS today is that it favors developers over end users. You should already know that at least from GTK3/4 and Gnome3.