Portable Space Engine
[CVS Logs] [Mailing Lists] [Example Code] [Sites] [Links] [Download Summary]
This site has moved to e-space.org.uk
What is left here is just an old copy, and you may well come across broken links and sections that don't work.
Note...
In May 2002, my computer was stolen from work, and a lack of recent off-machine backups meant that much of the PSE information, mailing list archives and CVS history was lost. Copies of the latest source code can be found on the partially restored ftp site. Sorry for any inconvenience. I leant my lesson that a raid-5 array, with a spare disk for machine-internal backups doesn't help when the whole machine is stolen.
Introduction
The Portable Space Engine is a source code add-on to a number of text based multi-user games. It provides a three dimensional event driven environment. The aim of this code is to enhance the role playing arena to include space travel, commerce, and the odd battle here and there.
The main source framework was written by Cameron Smith, and is based in part on previous work by Jason Skiles and Donald Bindner. The code is under the GNU General Public License, which more or less means it's free to use, so long as any modifications made to it are also freely available to anyone who wants them (though you should read the licence carefully).
Current development is being done by Cameron Smith and Mark Cooke, though any contributions are more than welcome.
Requirements
The basic requirements for using the Portable Space Engine are as follows.
- A machine running a varient of Unix to host the site. (Note that Nick Gammon has combined PennMush and PSE for Windows).
- A working C compiler, and associated utilities, including the 'patch' program.
- A copy of the source code for either TinyMUX, TinyMUSH or PennMUSH.
- A copy of the source code for the Portable Space Engine.
- A copy of the sample PSE database script, unless you want to build from scratch.
All of these requirements can be met at little to no cost, by downloading the appropriate files from the internet. See the links section for pointers.
Installation
I will make the assumption that you have an installation of unix up and running, a working C compiler, and a working version of gzip and tar. The current step by step process is included in the Portable Space Engine distribution. A summary would run as follows.
- Uncompress, and untar the TinyMUX, TinyMUSH or PennMUSH source code into a directory.
- In a different directory, uncompress and untar the Portable Space Engine source code.
- Create a symbolic link called 'space' from the server source directory to the Portable Space Engine source directory.
- Apply the appropriate patch from the PSE patches directory to the server.
- Check that the patch applied correctly by searching for rejected patch hunks.
- Configure and build the server.
- Start the server, and check that the PSE appears in version information.
Stable Releases
The stable releases will generally maintain backwards compatability with previous releases. Only bug-fixes and documentation updates will be made. This does mean that these releases will lag behind the development series for features.
The 1.0.x release information is online, as are the CVS logs.
The current stable release source code is available from the ftp archive. Documentation for it's use can be found in the archives.
A sample database generation script for the 1.0.x series of releases is available for download, and contains a basic example space. Our thanks go to Cameron and his band of testers for this script. Any additions, corrections and bug reports can be sent to Cameron or to the discussion mailing list.
The previous 0.8.x series of stable releases are archived should you wish to examine them.
Development Releases
The development releases are not guaranteed to be stable, nor to maintain backwards compatability with previous releases. If you want to follow the (sometimes) bleeding edge of development, detailed 1.1.x summaries and the CVS history is available.
The data on these pages is updated nightly. Please also note that a 1.1.x release is not available yet. You can track the current changes and additions via the CVS though. The CVS repository is accessible from :pserver:anon@pc24.sr.bham.ac.uk:/cvsroot with a password of 'anon'. You'll find documentation about CVS at sourcegear.com
The (now obsolete) 0.9.x development series of the Portable Space Engine, has detailed summaries with links to source code, and CVS revision data online. The following features were added during the 0.9.x series:
- Range speedup code changes + speedup fix installed.
- Odometer tracking code installed. (Optional)
- Ship active time tracking code installed. (Optional)
- Short contact list code installed.
- Modular damage callback and EV_DAMAGED code installed.
- New range scaling code installed.
- Dorsal and ventral shield code installed.
- Multi shield configuration code installed.
- Turn factor code installed.
- Compact display code installed.
- Multiple console configuration code + fixes installed.
- Navigation roll support code installed.
Prior to the official 0.9.x development phase of the Portable Space Engine, I had been extending the 0.8.x engine, and (now very obsolete) snapshots of this work, are available for the historically minded.
CVS Log Files
Since 0.9.x, the Portable Space Engine code has resided in a revision control system. For those of you that are interested in the latest changes, I have set up the following links.
The data on these pages is updated nightly. Please also note that a 1.1.x release is not available yet. You can track the current changes and additions via the CVS though. The CVS repository is accessible from :pserver:anon@pc24.sr.bham.ac.uk:/cvsroot with a password of 'anon'. You'll find documentation about CVS at sourcegear.com
Mailing Lists
There are two mailing lists for the Portable Space Engine. To subscribe you should send a blank e-mail to:
- pse-announce-subscribe@pc24.sr.bham.ac.uk : PSE Announcement Subscribe Address
- pse-discuss-subscribe@pc24.sr.bham.ac.uk : PSE Discussions Subscribe Address
To send a message to the discussion list you need to send your message to:
- pse-discuss@pc24.sr.bham.ac.uk : PSE Discussions Mailing List Address
If you have a problem with one of the mailing lists, you can send a message to the owners of the list using the following addresses:
- pse-announce-owner@pc24.sr.bham.ac.uk : PSE Announcement Human Contact Address
- pse-discuss-owner@pc24.sr.bham.ac.uk : PSE Discussions Human Contact Address
For newcomers to these mailing lists, archives of the posts are available at:
Source Code Examples
The example database provides a reasonable starting point for the budding space designer to examine the interface between the Portable Space Engine and the 'soft code' of the server. A repository of contributed example objects and helper widgets is also being developed.
Sites Using The Portable Space Engine
Legalese: Neither I, nor the University of Birmingham has any control over the sites listed here. You follow the links at your own risk!
| Site Address | Engine | Theme / Name |
|---|---|---|
| pc24.sr.bham.ac.uk 5555 | TinyMUX 1.6 | An example site running the 1.0 release. |
| llamas.org 7011 | TinyMUX 1.5 | Infinite Frontiers. |
| ivz.dhs.org 6250 | TinyMUSH 3.0 | Iggy's Virtural Zoo |
Other Related Resources
| Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Realm/9091 | Official PSE Information Page maintained by Cameron. |
| TinyMUX Sources | One of the supported engines. |
| TinyMUSH Sources | One of the supported engines. |
| PennMUSH Sources | One of the supported engines. |
| PSE Sources | An archive of the current and previous releases of the Portable Space Engine. |
| Documentation Tree | A copy of the 0.9 documentation tree. |
| PSE Logos | Logos produced by me using The Gimp. |
| Old Patches | My old patches / feature test releases for the PSE 0.8.x releases. |
| Win32 Binaries | Nick Gammon produced executable files for Windows (some with PSE support). |
| Win32 Pennmush | Nick Gammon's information for running Pennmush on Windows. |
Maintained by Mark CookeLast Updated: 15-Oct-2006
