fheroes2 build and contribution guide

Building the fheroes2 Project

Please follow the instructions below to be able to build the project from source:

Note: You will need to clone the fheroes2 project before following the instructions below.

Windows

• Go to the directory script/windows and run the file install_packages.bat. This script will install all the required packages to build the project using Microsoft Visual Studio.
• If you have the original game, then copy the subdirectories ANIM, DATA, MAPS and MUSIC (some of them may be missing depending on the version of the original game) to the project root directory.
• Alternatively, go to the directory script/demo and run the file download_demo_version.bat. This script will download a demo version of the original game, which is the minimum required for development.
• Open the file fheroes2-vs2019.vcxproj (targeted for Visual Studio 2019) and build the project.
• Visual Studio will automatically copy game files in the root directory to the build directory.

macOS and Linux

• Depending on your OS, run the following scripts to install the dependencies required for the build:
  • macOS: go to the directory script/macos and run brew bundle to install the required dependencies.
  • Linux: go to the directory script/linux and run the file install_sdl2_dev.sh.
• If you have the original game, then copy the subdirectories ANIM, DATA, MAPS and MUSIC (some of them may be missing depending on the version of the original game) to the project root directory.
• Alternatively, go to the directory script/demo and run the file download_demo_version.sh. This script will download a demo version of the original game, which is the minimum required for development.
• Run the make command in the root directory of the project to build it.

Android

• Go to the directory script/android and run the file install_packages.bat if your development platform is Windows or install_packages.sh if your development platform is macOS or Linux. This script will install all the required packages to build the project using Android Studio.
• Launch Android Studio, open the project in the android directory and run the build.

iOS

• To build this build you need to have the necessary Data, Anim, Maps and Music folders for the engine present in the fheroes2 project’s folder.
• Download and install Xcode on your macos device. Download the iOS SDK during installation.
• Open fheroes2.xcodeproj in the “iOS” folder”.
• Download SDL2 and SDL_mixer source codes from their GitHub repositories’s release pages. Make sure you get SDL2 and not SDL3.
• Paste the SDL2 and SDL_mixer folders in the same parent directory as your fheroes2 source folder. This means that next to the folder containing your fheroes2 local clone, you will have the two SDL folders.
• Remove any version number from the name of the SDL2 and SDL_mixer folder so that their names are respectively SDL and SDL_mixer.
• In Xcode SDL and SDL_mixer should now be recognized in the Navigator area, recognized by them not having read names. Open on SDL_mixer in the Navigator on the left side.
• Click “fheroes2” in the Navigator area on the left side of Xcode.
• In the right side Editor area select “fheroes2” under “Project”. Open the Build Settings tab. Make sure to set All options and scroll down to Search Paths.
• Open up the User Header Search Paths and add $(SRCROOT)/../../SDL/include to the list of paths.
• In the Editor area select “fheroes2” under the “Targets” menu instead of “Projects”. Open the “Signing & Capabilities” tab. Under “Signing”, add your AppleID in the “Team” field.
• Connect your iOS device to your mac device with the necessary cable. Select the device in the devices in Xcode’s upper Toolbar.
• Click the play button or command + B to build. If asked if you want to download the Metal toolchain, agree to this as it is necessary for the app. After this you will be prompted to enable developer mode on your iOS device. Follow the steps provided on your macOS and iOS devices to enable this.
• Once you have setup developer mode on your device and added your AppleID to Xcode, you can build and run the project. The first build will likely take a while. Once fheroes2 starts on your iOS device a white screen will show for a minute or more.

PlayStation Vita

If you would like to build and run this project on PlayStation Vita please follow the instructions on this page.

Nintendo Switch

If you would like to build and run this project on Nintendo Switch please follow the instructions on this page.

Emscripten (Wasm)

If you would like to run this project in a web browser please follow the instructions on this page.

Build with CMake

If you would like to build the project using CMake please follow the instructions on this page.

Building the front end website

We host the website on Github pages, which is a highly customized version of the Jekyll static site engine. The instructions for developing the website can be found in the website local dev guide.

Contribution

We welcome and appreciate any help, even if it is a tiny text or code change. Please read our contribution guide before starting work on a pull request. Not sure what to start with? Feel free to refer to good first issue or help wanted tags.