D1X-Rebirth and D2X-Rebirth (generically DXX-Rebirth) are built by an SConstruct script. DXX-Rebirth runs on Windows (XP and later), Linux (x86 and amd64), recent Mac OS X, and Raspberry Pi. Other targets may also work, but are not tracked by the core team. If you maintain a working target not listed here, please file an issue to have it included in this list.
The DXX-Rebirth maintainers have no control over the sites linked below. The maintainers are not responsible for the safety or correct operation of the prerequisites listed below. Unless specified otherwise, the maintainers of DXX-Rebirth have not verified that the links are current, safe, or produce a working environment.
- Python 3.x to run scons, the processor for SConstruct scripts. Python 3.6 is recommended.
- C++ compiler with support for selected C++11 features. One of:
- SDL 1.2. SDL 2 is also supported, and will become the default soon.
- PhysicsFS. PhysFS 3.x is recommended.
Optional, but recommended:
- SDL_mixer 1.2.
- libpng.
- C++ compiler with support for selected C++14 features. One of:
Unless otherwise noted, using the newest release available is recommended. For example, prefer gcc-5.4 to gcc-4.9, even though both should work.
DXX-Rebirth can be built on one system to run on a different system, such as using Linux to build for Windows (a "cross-compiled build"). The sections below specify where to get prerequisites for a build meant to run on the system where it is built (a "native build").
Where possible, Windows users should try to obtain a compiled package, rather than locally compiling from source. To build from source, read on.
If you are not sure whether your system is Windows x86 or Windows x64, use the packages for Windows x86. Systems running Windows x64 support running Windows x86 programs, but Windows x86 systems do not run Windows x64 programs.
- Python x86 installer | Python x64 installer
- SCons
- C++ compiler
- mingw-gcc: Getting Started | Direct download
- clang (.sig)
- SDL 1.2 x86 zip | SDL 1.2 x64 zip
- No published PhysFS package for Windows is known. You must build it from source. You may be able avoid building from source by copying PhysFS DLLs from a previous Rebirth release and installing current PhysFS headers. However, building from source is recommended to ensure a consistent environment.
Install the listed prerequisites through your system package manager.
- Arch PKGBUILD files are in
contrib/arch/ - An RPM spec file is in
contrib/rpm/ - Gentoo ebuild files are in
contrib/gentoo/
- pacman -S base-devel scons sdl sdl_mixer physfs
- yum install gcc-c++ scons SDL-devel SDL_mixer-devel physfs-devel
- emerge --ask --verbose --noreplace dev-util/scons media-libs/libsdl media-libs/sdl-mixer dev-games/physfs
- apt-get install build-essential scons libsdl1.2-dev libsdl-mixer1.2-dev libphysfs-dev
Where possible, Mac users should try to obtain a compiled package, rather than locally compiling from source. To build from source, read on.
Install the listed prerequisites through your preferred package manager.
PhysicsFS must be installed as a separate dynamic library. It is not supported as an OS X Framework. The required files will be installed into the correct locations by the PhysicsFS installer; refer to the relevant instructions.
The Mac OS X Command Line Tools are required. Install them by running
xcode-select --install
from the Terminal. This may need to be done after each major OS upgrade as well.
DXX-Rebirth can be built from the Terminal (via SCons) without Xcode; to build using Xcode requires Xcode to be installed.
- brew install gcc5 scons sdl sdl_mixer physfs
Once prerequisites are installed, run scons options to build. By default, both D1X-Rebirth and D2X-Rebirth are built. To build only D1X-Rebirth, run scons d1x=1. To build only D2X-Rebirth, run scons d2x=1.
If unspecified, SConstruct uses $CXX for the compiler, $CPPFLAGS for preprocessor options, $CXXFLAGS for C++ compiler options, and $LDFLAGS for linker options. You may override any or all of these choices by setting options of the corresponding name: scons CXX=/opt/my/c++ 'CXXFLAGS=-O0 -ggdb'. SConstruct supports numerous options for adjusting build details. Run scons -h to see them. Option names are case sensitive. Commonly used options include:
- CXX=path - path to C++ compiler
- CPPFLAGS='flags' - flags for C preprocessor
- CXXFLAGS='flags' - flags for C++ compiler
- LDFLAGS='flags' - flags for linker
- lto=1 - enable Link Time Optimization
- sdlmixer=1 - enable support for SDL_mixer
- builddir=path - set directory for build outputs; defaults to "."
- builddir_prefix=path - Developer option; set builddir to builddir_prefix plus a path derived from build options. Use this to build multiple targets without picking specific paths for each one. The generated path is stable across multiple runs with the same options. Packaging scripts should use builddir with manually chosen directories.
- verbosebuild=1 - show commands executed instead of short descriptions of the commands
- prefix=path - (Linux only); equivalent to --prefix in Autoconf
- sharepath=path - (Linux only); sets system directory to search for game data
The build system supports building multiple targets in parallel. This is primarily useful for developers, but can also be used by packagers to create secondary builds with different features enabled. To use it, run scons game=profile[,profile...]. SConstruct will search each profile for the known options. The first match wins. For example:
scons dxx=gcc5,e, d2x=gcc49,sdl, \
gcc49_CXX=/path/to/gcc-4.9 \
gcc5_CXX=/path/to/gcc-5 \
e_editor=1 sdl_opengl=0
This tells SConstruct to build both games (dxx) with the profiles gcc5, e, empty and also to build D2X-Rebirth (d2x) with the profiles gcc49, sdl, empty. Profiles gcc49 and gcc5 define private values for CXX, so the default value of CXX is ignored. Profile e enables the editor option, which builds features used by players who want to create their own levels. Profile sdl sets the opengl option to false, which produces a build that uses only the software renderer. Profile empty is the default namespace, so CPPFLAGS, CXXFLAGS, etc. are found when it is searched. Since these values were not assigned, they are drawn from the corresponding environment variables.
The build system supports specifying a group of closely related targets. This is mostly redundant on shells with brace expansion support, but can be easier to type. For example:
scons builddir_prefix=build/ \
dxx=gcc5+gcc49,prof1,prof2,prof3,
This is equivalent to the shell brace expansion:
scons builddir_prefix=build/ \
dxx={gcc5,gcc49},prof1,prof2,prof3,
or
scons builddir_prefix=build/ \
dxx=gcc5,prof1,prof2,prof3, \
dxx=gcc49,prof1,prof2,prof3,
Profile addition can be stacked: scons dxx=a+b,c+d,e+f is equivalent to scons dxx=a,c,e dxx=a,d,e dxx=b,c,e dxx=b,d,e dxx=a,c,f dxx=a,d,f dxx=b,c,f dxx=b,d,f.
SConstruct runs tests to check for common problems and available functionality. SConstruct will automatically enable available compiler features. SConstruct will not automatically enable optional features which require an external library. If the feature is enabled, either by default or by the provided options, and the library is present, it will be used. If the feature is enabled, and the library is absent, the build fails. If the feature is disabled, either by default or by the provided options, the library check is skipped and the feature is not used.
If required functionality is missing, SConstruct will stop the build and print a diagnostic message. A stop at this stage indicates an environment problem. If any target fails to configure, no target will be built.
Before reporting an issue, clear any applicable caches (ccache -C; rm .sconsign.dblite) and reproduce the failure. The DXX-Rebirth maintainers may be able to help you resolve environment problems if you cannot solve them on your own. If you need help, please post the full output of running scons and the contents of sconf.log from your build directory.
After SConstruct finishes the configure tests, scons will compile and link the program. Failures at this stage may indicate a bug that should be reported. Broken environments are usually caught by SConstruct checks before the build began. If the compilation succeeds, the output files will be found in game-specific directories. If the profile specified editor features, then -editor is appended to the filename.
The output path can be overridden with the SConstruct option program_name. If program_name is set, it overrides the game directory prefix and the optional -editor modification. It does not override the output suffix (.exe for Windows, empty for Linux).
Windows output with program_name unset:
- build-directory/d1x-rebirth/d1x-rebirth*[-editor]*.exe
- build-directory/d2x-rebirth/d2x-rebirth*[-editor]*.exe
Windows output with d1x=1 program_name=d1x-local:
- build-directory/d1x-local.exe
Linux output with program_name unset:
- build-directory/d1x-rebirth/d1x-rebirth*[-editor]*
- build-directory/d2x-rebirth/d2x-rebirth*[-editor]*
For Windows and Linux, DXX-Rebirth installs only the main game binary. The binary can be run from anywhere and can be installed by copying the game binary. The game does not inspect the name of its binary. You may rename the output after compilation without affecting the game.
As a convenience, if register_install_target=True, SConstruct registers a pseudo-target named install which copies the compiled files to DESTDIR/BINDIR. By default, register_install_target=True, DESTDIR is empty, and BINDIR is PREFIX/bin, which expands to /usr/local/bin.
DXX-Rebirth requires game data to play. The build system has no support for interacting with game data. You can get Descent 1 PC shareware data and Descent 2 PC demo data from the DXX-Rebirth website. Full game data is supported (and recommended), but is not freely available. You can buy full Descent 1 game data and/or buy full Descent 2 game data from GOG.com. Historically, both Descent 1 and Descent 2 were sold as a single unit. After a nearly two-year hiatus from sale, the games returned to GOG.com in November 2017 as separate units. DXX-Rebirth contains engines for both games. Each engine works for its respective game without the data from the other, so players who wish to purchase only one game may do so.