[NEWS] Odamex v0.5.4 (10-08-2011)

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Odamex v0.5.3 for Xbox
http://odamex.net/
Authored by:
Michael "Hyper_Eye" Wood
Revision date: June 24, 2011
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Table of contents:
1. Introduction
1.1 What is Odamex?
1.2 Xbox Features at a Glance

2. Installation
2.1 Requirements
2.2 Installation - binary download
2.3 Installation - source download

3. Xbox Controls
3.1 Launcher
3.2 Game Client

4. Issues
4.1 TODO
4.2 Known Issues
4.3 Bug Reporting

5. Frequently Asked Questions

6. Acknowledgements

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Section 1: Introduction

1.1 What is Odamex?

Odamex is a modification of DOOM to allow players to compete with each other
over the Internet using the client/server architecture. Odamex also provides
a feature-rich single-player engine.

Please see the general README provided with Odamex for a thorough description
of Odamex and its features.

1.2 Xbox Features at a Glance

* Supports all online game modes and features that are available on other
platforms
* Game launcher with server browser and solo launcher with wad selector
* Multiple wad search paths can be configured
* Complete analog Xbox controller support with configurable axis assignments,
turn sensitivity, optional freelook, and configurable button bindings
* Support for USB mouse and keyboard
* Saved games and configuration files are stored in UDATA and TDATA paths so
they integrate properly with the official memory manager as well as
homebrew dashboards complete with icons
* Saved games can be deleted using the memory manager
* Saved games can be copied to and from a memory card
* Vanilla 320x200 resolution, multiple SDTV resolutions including 480i, and
HDTV resolutions up to 720p are supported

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Section 2. Installation

2.1 - Requirements

Odamex requires a modded Xbox in order to operate.

2.2 - Installation - binary download

Binary downloads of Odamex are not available from odamex.net or any site
associated with The Odamex Team. Because Odamex is built with the official
K binary builds cannot be provided.

2.3 - Installation - source download

If you are interested in the bleeding edge development of Odamex, you can
access the SVN at http://odamex.net/svn/root with anonymous read access. Be
warned however that it might be incompatible with current release versions,
and stability is not guaranteed.

The following libraries are required:

* SDLx (http://svn.huntsvegas.org/wsvn/SDLx)

Additionally the launcher also requires SDLx and the following libraries:

* pthreads-Xbox (http://svn.huntsvegas.org/wsvn/pthreads-xbox)
* Agar (http://www.libagar.org)

Building the Odamex and AG-Odalaunch source for Xbox requries the use of the
Microsoft Xbox Software Development kit (a.k.a K). You must be a Microsoft
approved Xbox developer to gain access to the required software.

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Section 3: Xbox Controls

3.1 - Launcher

Left Analog Stick - Move Cursor
Left/Right Trigger - Increment/Decrement list selection by 10
D-Pad Up/Down - Increment/Decrement list selection by 1
Left/Right Trigger (Held) - Scroll list selection
D-Pad up/Down (Held) - Scroll list selection
D-Pad Left/Right - Cycle focused widget/button
A Button - Activate cursor selection
B Button - Activate focused widget/button

3.2 - Game Client

The D-Pad is used to navigate the game menus while A activates
items within the menu and B returns to the previous menu.

When the console is down the left and right triggers scroll.

Default Controller Binding:

Left Analog Stick X Axis - Step left/right
Left Analog Stick Y Axis - Move forward/backward
Right Analog Stick X Axis - Turn Left/Right
Right Analog Stick Y Axis - Look Up/Down (Freelook disabled by default)
Right Analog Stick Push Down - Center View
D-Pad Up - Say
D-Pad Right - Team Say
D-Pad Down - Quick Swap to Shotgun & Toggle SG/SSG
D-Pad Left - Spectate/Spy Next
Left Trigger - Walk/Run
Right Trigger - Attack/Fire Weapon
A Button - Activate
X Button - Strafe
B Button - Next Weapon
Y Button - Previous Weapon
White Button - Scoreboard
Black Button - Toggle Automap
Start Button - Menu (Not Configurable)
Back Button - Toggle Console

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Section 4: Issues

4.1 - TODO

* Virtual (On-Screen) Keyboard
* Configurable overscan in launcher
* Rumble
* Use a DVD as a wad source
* Further optimization (Improve 720p performance)

4.2 - Known Issues

* The game currently cannot be launched from a DVD. This is hampered by a bug
that is very difficult to debug.
* Controller events are not received in the launcher while the master list is
being queried or a complete server list refresh is taking place. Joystick
events are disabled during these tasks because of a mutex issue or race
condition that results in a freeze before processing the final queried
server. The cursor can be moved with a mouse during these tasks.
* The "Query Master On Start" launcher option does not work. It might be that
the Xbox network controller takes a little longer to initialize but I
don't really know at this point.
* You must hit A inside the main launcher window before you can use B to
activate a focused widget. This is due to a window focus issue.
* The version of SDLx used with Odamex supports 1080i but 1080i has been
disabled in the library as it is not currently usable in Odamex. Selecting
1080i results in unplayable framerate and likely a crash when the system
runs out of memory.
* SDLx reports all 4 joystick ports as active regardless of whether or not a
joystick is plugged in. If the active joystick selection is changed to a
port that does not have a joystick plugged in control may be lost and a
reboot is required or the selection must be changed with a keyboard.

4.3 - Bug Reporting

Please report any bugs you find at http://www.odamex.net/bugs
Your bug submissions help us make Odamex better. Thank you!

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Section 5: Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How do I communicate with other players?
A. Currently there is no way to insert text using the Xbox controller. Xbox
players can communicate by either plugging in a USB keyboard or by using
chat macros. A virtual keyboard is a planned feature.

Q. How do the chat macros work?
A. While in a multiplayer game push either "Say" (default: D-Pad Up) or
"Team Say" (default: D-Pad Right). You can then insert a macro by
pushing D-Pad Up + the macro button that corresponds to the message
you wish to insert. For example, to say "Hi" to everyone in the game
you would press D-Pad Up and then D-Pad Up + A.

The default macros on Xbox are as follows:

A - "Hi."
B - "I'm ready to kick butt!"
X - "Help!"
Y - "GG"
White - "Yes"
Black - "No"
Left Trigger - "I'll take care of it."
Right Trigger - "Come here!"
Start - "Thanks for the game. Bye."
Back - "I am on Xbox and can only use chat macros."

Q. How can I customize the chat macros?
A. You will need to manually change them in your odamex.cfg file.
To do this perform the following steps:

1) Launch the Odamex game client from the launcher (a solo game is fine)
2) Quit Odamex using the game menus (turning off the power without
quitting will discard configuration changes.)
3) Quit the launcher and return to your dashboard.
4) FTP into the machine or use another method of accessing the file system.
5) Copy E:\TDATA\4f444d58\odamex.cfg to your computer.
6) Open odamex.cfg in an editor.
7) Find the "chatmacro" options and change them as desired (note the order
as they correspond to controller buttons above.)
8) Save the file.
9) Copy odamex.cfg back to E:\TDATA\4f444d58\odamex.cfg

Q. How do I change my player name without a keyboard?
A. You will need to manually change the setting for your player name in
your odamex.cfg file. To do this perform the following steps:

1) Launch the Odamex game client from the launcher (a solo game is fine)
2) Quit Odamex using the game menus (turning off the power without
quitting will discard configuration changes.)
3) Quit the launcher and return to your dashboard.
4) FTP into the machine or use another method of accessing the file system.
5) Copy E:\TDATA\4f444d58\odamex.cfg to your computer.
6) Open odamex.cfg in an editor.
7) Find the "cl_name" option and change the name to your desired handle.
8) Save the file.
9) Copy odamex.cfg back to E:\TDATA\4f444d58\odamex.cfg

Q. What is required to use a keyboard and/or mouse?
A. A simple USB-to-Xbox adapter will work. These can be easily obtained
from online stores and auction sites for little cost. A device with a
cable modified to use an Xbox safety release cable will also work.

Q. Is it safe to try all the resolutions listed in the resolution list?
A. SDLx scales all resolutions to 640x480 except for 720x480 and 1280x720.
Only resolutions that are supported by the AV pack and system settings
are shown.

Q. I have a widescreen television but the 720x480 options isn't available?
A. In your Xbox system video settings select "Wide Screen" or "Letterbox".

Q. I have an HDTV and the HDTV AV Pack but the 1280x720 (720p) option isn't
available?
A. In your Xbox system video settings enable the 720p HDTV resolution.

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Section 6: Acknowledgements

This port would not be possible without the contributions and assistance of
many people. The following especially deserve to be mentioned.

* Undead of Team Assembly - Undead donated 2 Xbox debug kits that proved
to be instrumental in the development of the libraries that Odamex
depends on as well as Odamex itself. HUGE thanks to him for his
kind donation!

* Vedge of Hypertriton, Inc. (Developer of Agar) - Agar is a critical
piece that serves as the cross-platform GUI toolkit behind AG-Odalaunch.
Vedge provided assistance and knowledge as well as bug fixes and feature
enhancements that directly benefited the Xbox and the development of
AG-Odalaunch. He also trusted me with commit access so that I could
more efficiently get code changes into Agar. Thanks for not getting
annoyed while I flooded the channel with my thoughts, inquiries, and
general ramblings.

* Sirlemonhead - Sirlemonhead helped get me set up for development and I
e-mailed him with questions and ideas on many occasions. Also, he made
the AvP port and nobody can thank him enough for that.

* weinerschnitzel - Provided testing and feedback throughout development.

* ldotsfan - Bouncing Xbox development tricks back and forth with him has
been both an enjoyable and educational experience and I look forward
to more of the same.

* Likklebaer - Thanks for your role in Doom-X and for sharing your experience.

* To all those at Xbox-Scene that have provided interest, suggestions, and
great encouragement. I hope you guys love playing this port as much as I
enjoy working on it - Clockface, Cheema201, guybird, ultimate509, neil222,
moonmaster1, lawdawg0931, Mega Man (?), flux2k, Pulsemasta, rubarb, Koooi,
Finker282, Rygrass, trrobin, |11|1VeNoM1|11|, XTecuterX73

* Special thanks to the faithful Odamex bug testers and patch contributers who
put up with our crap on a daily basis because they believe in Odamex and
the philosophies behind it - Spleen, Ladna, HeX9101, tm512, GhostlyDeath,
and a hat tip to blzut3

* To anyone I missed and all the developers in the Xbox development scene that
released source and made it possible to work on the system without being
completely lost. The Xbox Linux guys, XBMC devs, Arnova and the rest of the
XBMC4Xbox devs, XPort, madmab, Team Assembly, RessurectionXtras, Team Evox,
MXM devs, everyone who has contributed to openxdk, and all the rest.

* Finally, all the members of the Odamex development team. Working with you
guys is great. I appreciate the maturity, intelligence, and dedication each
of you has brought to the team. It is the level-headedness and respect that
everyone working on this project maintains that will see Odamex succeed as
a great open-source project and Doom source port - Manc, Russell, Ralphis,
Denis, and NES
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