Codeblocks setup

From The Powder Toy
Revision as of 22:02, 6 January 2012 by abczyx123987 (talk | contribs) (Added complete project file for those who can't be bothered to do all of this)
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Author: tian110796

Fixed by macweirdo for Version 47 (Python Console Fixes)

Some parts are from JojoBond.

Environmental variable instuctions by pilojo.

Last modified: 12/05/2011


This is a guide for compiling using Code::Blocks with MinGW. This guide is targeted to Windows users who are intimidated by the large Visual C++ Express download.

Note: This tutorial works only in Windows, but will work in Macintosh with minor changes.

MinGW Preparation

  • Download and Install MinGW using the default settings (You can also install the C++ compiler if you feel like it, but it's not necessary).
  • Add "C:\MinGW\bin" to the PATH environment variable, without quotes.

(If you don't know what an environmental variable is, here is how to get to it.)

  • 1. Go to My Computer.
  • 2. System properties/settings.
  • 3. Advanced system settings.
  • 4. Environmental Variables.
  • 5. Second box, scroll down till you see PATH.
  • 6. Click PATH, then click Edit.
  • 7. If there is not a semi-colon at the end of the line, add one and then add "C:\MinGW\bin" without quotes.
  • 8. Press OK
  • 9. Continue tutorial.

Code::Blocks preparation

  • Download and Install Code::Blocks here
  • In the first run, you will be asked what compiler to use. Select "MinGW" or "GNU GCC Compiler".
  • Code::Blocks is now ready!

Preparing the project

  • Note: If you can't be bothered to do all of this yourself, here is a zip file containing a project file and all necessary headers, libraries, and the source for v70.1 of The Powder Toy. It should work -- just extract it to some folder, open the project file, and click "Build". This doesn't include MinGW -- so you should have that already installed.
  • Download the latest source and put it in an empty folder.
  • Download these libraries and extract it directly into the source folder.
  • Open Code::Blocks.
  • Create a new empty project in the folder where your source exists. (sometimes it adds the project name to the directory; if that happens, remove the project name part from the directory)
  • In the Management window you will see the project name listed there. Right-click it, click "Add files recursively...", and choose the folder where all of the files are.
  • Leave all the checkboxes as they are and click "OK".
  • At the very top of the window, next to "Build target:", open the drop-down menu and click "Release". (it probably won't matter because of the next few steps, but it's still a good thing to do)
  • Go to Project -> Properties -> Build targets, and for every build target on the left, find the drop-down menu on the right next to "Type:" and change it from "Console Application" to "GUI Application". (You don't have to, but it's a good idea to do so.)
  • Go to Project -> Build options -> Compiler Settings.
  • Under Compiler Flags, make sure that everything is unchecked.
  • Under Other Options, type in
-w -m32 -std=c99 -mincoming-stack-boundary=2 -D_POSIX_C_SOURCE=200112L -DLUACONSOLE -DGRAVFFT -D_GNU_SOURCE -DWIN32
-DPTW32_STATIC_LIB -O3 -ffast-math -ftree-vectorize -funsafe-math-optimizations -march=native -mtune=native -DX86
-DX86_SSE2 -msse2
  • Typing -DGRAVFFT in the above line is optional and gives a significant speed boost to gravity calculations, but increases the executable size greatly (by as much as 36%).
  • Go to the Search Directories tab at the top of the build options window.
  • Under the Compiler tab, click Add, and browse to and add the "includes" folder of the source to the list. (It should be okay to leave it as a relative path, but if you get a bunch of errors about various .h files not being found, try using the full path of the includes folder.)
  • Under the Linker tab, click Add, and add the "lib" folder of the source to the list. (as with the includes folder, you may or may not have to use the full path of the lib folder.)
  • Now go to the Linker Settings tab at the top of the build options window.
  • Under "Other Linker Options", type in
-s -static -lmingw32 -lregex -lpthreadGC2 -lws2_32 -lSDLmain -lSDL -luser32 -lgdi32 -lwinmm -lfftw3f -lm -lbz2
-llua5.1 -mwindows
  • If you didn't bother with adding -DGRAVFFT to the compiler options, you can remove "-lfftw3f" from the above line.
  • Hit OK at the very bottom.

Compiling