sdl12-compat 1.2.68 Allows More Games To Run On The Modern Linux Desktop

[phoronix]

Phoronix: sdl12-compat 1.2.68 Allows More Games To Run On The Modern Linux Desktop

A new version of the sdl12-compat library is now available, which serves as an SDL2 portability layer for allowing old SDL 1.2.x games and applications work on modern SDL2 systems...

https://www.phoronix.com/news/sdl12-compat-1.2.68

[JEBjames]

Michael

Typo

"classic/vintag" should probably be "classic/vintage"

[kpedersen]

"The Modern Linux Desktop"

What defines this exactly? Why is the desktop more modern than i.e the RHEL6 desktop? That had SDL2 also...

Sleaze word aside, barely little has changed for the last decade or so. I think it is strange to use the word "Modern" for this specific moment in time. Its why Microsoft's use of it as a marketing term tends to fail.

[RahulSundaram]

What defines this exactly? Why is the desktop more modern than i.e the RHEL6 desktop? That had SDL2 also...

Sleaze word aside, barely little has changed for the last decade or so

Comparing say RHEL 6 and RHEL 9, a lot has changed certainly

* systemd by default (even for desktop user sessions)
* NetworkManager by default including for servers
* GNOME 3
* Flatpak
* PireWire by default
* Libinput for both Wayland and Xorg
* Wayland by default
* Bolt

That's just a quick list off the top of my head

[ssokolow]

What defines this exactly? Why is the desktop more modern than i.e the RHEL6 desktop? That had SDL2 also...

Sleaze word aside, barely little has changed for the last decade or so. I think it is strange to use the word "Modern" for this specific moment in time. Its why Microsoft's use of it as a marketing term tends to fail.

Probably specifically the use of Wayland and Pipewire which SDL 1.2 never got updated for. That and the modern expectation that a game should use GPU scaling instead of screen resolution changes for fullscreening unless explicitly requested by the user.

Oh, and how SDL2 is so friendly to Valve pushing compatibility/bugfix updates that it has an environment variable Steam (or you) can set to request use of a newer dynamic library even if SDL2 has been statically linked.

[nickbailuc]

only game i could think of running sdl 1.2 is UT2004
would be awesome to see at least some improvement to it somehow, to run properly on modern 'windowing systems' and everything (modern DE, wayland, SDL, PipeWire...)

[mos87]

What defines this exactly? Why is the desktop more modern than i.e the RHEL6 desktop? That had SDL2 also...

"That" had both. "This" (modern one) has (or will have soonish) only SDL2 by default.
Not to mention SDL1 knows nothing about xrandr which makes launching apps on MODERN computers (which could have multiple monitors - configured by RANDR) a right PITA.
So yeah, it's exactly that - modern.

Simples.

[Sonadow]

Still doesn't work with the three hentai games I own that use SDL1.

All I get are rainbows and an application lockup.

[mos87]

Still doesn't work with the three hentai games I own that use SDL1.

All I get are rainbows

Works as intended then.

[drake23]

only game i could think of running sdl 1.2 is UT2004
would be awesome to see at least some improvement to it somehow, to run properly on modern 'windowing systems' and everything (modern DE, wayland, SDL, PipeWire...)

Yes, and ut2k4 runs well with this sdl compat lib !!!