Compiling ZOSS

This guide is written in a logical order of steps required to setup ZOSS. If you read this from top to bottom you will successfully setup ZOSS on your first go through with minimal issues.

Alternate Source Repository

 Mercurial repsoitory of IndieZen hosted by Google Code.

You can use whichever is most convenient for you. If you're planning on making changes and publishing them, using Mercurial on Google Code may be a better route since it will allow you to host a cloned repository.

Updated instructions for supported Platforms

The build system is currently being modified to use CMake and Lua. The following instructions are updated instructions for these platforms.

• Gentoo
• Mac OS X
• Ubuntu
• ArchLinux
• Windows
• Generic Linux instructions?

Getting Help

If you have problems compiling ZOSS, there are two ways to get help.

IRC

If you need any assistance with any of the steps there is normally a few people in the IRC ready to help you out. If you are new to IRC we suggest you use  Chatzilla which is a plugin for the  Firefox browser. If you don't use Firefox then I would suggest getting mIRC or XChat for IRC.

Once you have an IRC Client you will need to connect to irc.indiezen.org port 6667 or 16667. From there join channel #izdev and ask your questions.

Forums

You can find some support as well as history by visiting our forums at  http://www.indiezen.org/phpbb/. You can create an account there and post any questions you have there.

What next?

So, you've made it this far, which means you're either finished compiling (or you finished reading the instructions and you're about to get started), or you skipped to the end because the instructions really looked complicated.

If this looks too complicated for you, if you're not an experienced C++ programmer and you're mostly looking to use Zen Engine and Zen Studio to make a game, let me recommend once more that you use the installation package on the downloads page, and choose the "Make Games using Lua" option. Even if that's not your choice of scripting languages, it's a great place to start.

On the other hand, if you're an experienced C++ programmer and you're still having difficulties with compiling, please ask for help on the forums or in IRC. We'll be happy to help.

And if you're finished compiling and you want to go to the next step? I recommend taking a look at the CyberTD project. It is the most complete example and shows off a whole lot of features.

For a stripped down example of how to use Zen Engine, I recommend the tutorials.