Software:SVGALib

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SVGAlib
Original author(s)Harm Hanemaayer[1]
Developer(s)Matan Ziv-Av
Stable release
1.4.3 / June 2, 2001; 22 years ago (2001-06-02)[2]
Preview release
1.9.25[2]
Written inC
Operating systemLinux, FreeBSD
Platformx86, x86-64
TypeLibrary
Websitewww.svgalib.org

SVGAlib is an open-source low-level graphics library which ran on Linux and FreeBSD and allowed programs to change video mode and display full-screen graphics, without the use of a windowing system.[3][4] Alongside X11 and the General Graphics Interface, it was one of the earliest libraries allowing graphical video games on Linux.

History

The first version of SVGALib was based on version 1.2 of another library, VGALib by Tommy Frandsen.[5]

Several games like Ambrosia Software's Maelstrom by Sam Lantinga, the first-person game Space Plumber,[6] and most famously id Software's Doom (alongside an X11 version) and Quake (after the submission of a third-party patch based on leaked source code[7]) were ported to use SVGALib from other operating systems,[8] as was Doom porter Dave Taylor's Abuse.

Wolfenstein 3D was also ported following its source code being released in 1995,[9] as well as the id produced Heretic, Hexen and Hexen II after 1999,[10] and Descent and Descent II by Parallax Software after 1998.[11] Certain source ports for Doom, Quake, and Abuse maintained support for SVGALib.[12] The library is also supported by the MAME/MESS emulator.[13]

First party Linux games that have supported it include Alizarin Tetris,[14] Bdash,[15] Fleuch,[16] Hatman,[17] Intelligent FRAC,[18] Koules,[19] LinCity,[20][21] Linberto,[22] Quadra,[23] Repton,[24] SABRE,[25] Thrust (also supported GGI),[26] Zarch,[27]and Zblast,[28] among others.[29][30][31]

SVGALib was popular in the mid to late 1990s.[32][33] A reference book, Linux Graphics Programming with SVGAlib, was authored by Jay Link in 2000.[34] Around the turn of the millennium, many applications that used it migrated to X11 and SDL,[35] which could (until SDL 2.0) make use of SVGAlib as a video driver.[36][37] This was in part due to the risks of privilege escalation due to SVGAlib requiring applications to run from root.[38][39][40]

References

  1. ↑ Pitzel, Brad (1994-02-12). "Sasteroids v1.0 release (vga arcade game)". https://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.linux.announce/c/os3OUbGEbRk/m/G1Nz3lV0AiQJ. "This started out as a direct port of xasteroids to run under svgalib (super-vga graphics library by Harm Hanemaayer)" 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "SVGALIB". http://my.svgalib.org/svgalib/. 
  3. ↑ Link, Jay. "SVGAlib Tutorials". http://www.svgalib.org/jay/beginners_guide/beginners_guide.html. 
  4. ↑ Link, Jay (1999-09-30). "Easy graphics: A beginner’s guide to SVGAlib". https://www.developer.com/guides/easy-graphics-a-beginners-guide-to-svgalib/. 
  5. ↑ "svgalib(7): low level graphics library for - Linux man page". https://linux.die.net/man/7/svgalib. 
  6. ↑ "Space Plumber 1.1.0 RC1 review". https://nixbit.com/software/space-plumber-1.1.0-review/. 
  7. ↑ Wilson, Hamish (2023-02-27). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer - Part 27: Lost Souls". https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/02/building-a-retro-linux-gaming-computer-part-27-lost-souls/. Retrieved 2023-02-27. 
  8. ↑ Karim, Jawed. "Porting MS-DOS Graphics Applications". https://dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml/10.5555/327469.327475. 
  9. ↑ DarkOne (2005-04-10). "Wolfenstein3D Links". SourceForge. https://newwolf.sourceforge.net/links.htm. "Linux Wolf - Runs either in a window (xwolf3d) or with svgalib (swolf3d)." 
  10. ↑ Wilson, Hamish (2022-03-15). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer - Part 16: We Are All Doomed". https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2022/03/building-a-retro-linux-gaming-computer-part-16-we-are-all-doomed/. 
  11. ↑ ptesone (2004-04-06). "can only run d1x as root!". https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-newbie-8/can-only-run-d1x-as-root-166902/. 
  12. ↑ Wilson, Hamish (2023-11-06). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer Part 34: Abusing the System". https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/11/building-a-retro-linux-gaming-computer-part-34-abusing-the-system/. 
  13. ↑ "SVGAlib help". https://easymamecab.mameworld.info/html/svgalib.htm. 
  14. ↑ "Alizarin Tetris". http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?id=3920. 
  15. ↑ "Freeware Boulder Dash Clones - Unix". http://www.bd-fans.com/FreewareUnix.html. "A Linux clone of Boulder Dash with 256 colour graphics and digitized sounds. It requires the svgalib library." 
  16. ↑ Kroll, Jason (2000-01-31). "GAMES FOCUS". https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/3798?page=0,1. 
  17. ↑ Wilson, Hamish (2023-12-12). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer Part 36: Entertainment for X Windows". https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/12/building-a-retro-linux-gaming-computer-part-36-entertainment-for-x-windows/. "Hatman - The Game of Kings is an impressive but undercooked SVGAlib clone of Pacman which does have an RPM package on the disc but sadly had sound support disabled at compilation. There were a number of other Pacman clones featured, but this one had the most potential." 
  18. ↑ "Intelligent FRAC". 2003-11-20. https://www.icewalkers.com/linux/software/512360/Intelligent-FRAC-(ifrac).html. 
  19. ↑ "Impressing Your Friends with RPM". Massachusetts Institute of Technology. http://web.mit.edu/~linux/redhat/redhat-5.2/i386/doc/rhmanual/manual/doc067.htm. 
  20. ↑ Heuser, Werner; Hampton, Wade W. (2003-02-27). "Games". https://www.csse.uwa.edu.au/programming/linux/Linux-HowTo-9/Ecology-HOWTO-12.html. "lincity build & maintain a city/country. You are required to build and maintain a city. You must feed, house, provide jobs and goods for your residents. You can build a sustainable economy with the help of renewable energy and recycling, or you can go for broke and build rockets to escape from a pollution ridden and resource starved planet, it's up to you. Due to the finite resources available in any one place, this is not a game that you can leave for long periods of time. This game is similar to the commercial simulation game with a similar name. This package provides files common to both the X and SVGALIB versions of the game." 
  21. ↑ Wilson, Hamish (2023-09-04). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer Part 32: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back". https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/09/building-a-retro-linux-gaming-computer-part-32-two-steps-forward-one-step-back/. "As well as not being in keeping with the aesthetic, the LCD also had the annoying habit of showing a warning about being out of range on top of what otherwise looked to be a workable display, especially when playing games that utilized SVGAlib for graphics. I could get around this by launching certain more pliant SVGAlib games such as the final build of LinCity before starting up the offending applications, as for whatever reason this would seem to soothe the nerves of the display, but I was more than happy to leave those headaches behind." 
  22. ↑ "Linberto". 2001-04-05. https://happypenguin.altervista.org/sheet.php?gameid=235. 
  23. ↑ "Qundra". 2012-02-26. https://www.icewalkers.com/linux/software/54020/Quadra.html. 
  24. ↑ Marten, Jonathan (2015-12-08). "KRepton version 4". http://www.keelhaul.me.uk/krepton/. "KRepton was originally written by Sandro Sigala for Linux using the SVGAlib library, and then rewritten entirely using the QT and KDE libraries for release 1.0 of KDE." 
  25. ↑ Ayers, Larry (1998-07-01). "Sabre: An Svgalib Flight Sim". https://linuxgazette.net/issue30/ayers3.html. 
  26. ↑ Payne, Dennis (2021-09-20). "Open Game Source: Inertia Blast". https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/open-game-source-inertia-blast-dennis-payne. "When I first installed Linux I stumbled on a remake of Thrust. It was brutally difficult but I enjoyed the game. At the time I ran it under svgalib, an old console graphic system which required root access." 
  27. ↑ Van Os, Thom. "Software". http://thom.best.vwh.net/software.html#zarch. 
  28. ↑ "zblast-svgalib". https://community.linuxmint.com/software/view/zblast-svgalib. 
  29. ↑ "Index of /pub/Linux/games/video". https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/historic-linux/ftp-archives/sunsite.unc.edu/Sep-29-1996/games/video/INDEX.html. 
  30. ↑ Weller, Michael. "svgalib(7) - Linux man page". https://linux.die.net/man/7/svgalib. 
  31. ↑ "Games". Massachusetts Institute of Technology. http://web.mit.edu/~linux/redhat/redhat-5.2/i386/doc/rhmanual/manual/doc101.htm. 
  32. ↑ Pranevich, Joseph (1999-04-01). "Linux 2.2 and the Frame-Buffer Console Software". https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/3278. "Limitations aside, SVGALib has proven to be a stable and popular solution to the console problem and is the primary interface used in Quake and other games." 
  33. ↑ Wallis, Alistair (2008-05-26). "Bonus Interview: 'The State Of... Linux Gaming?'". https://www.gamedeveloper.com/pc/bonus-interview-the-state-of-linux-gaming-. "I've always been a video game nerd, so it was important to me to see how much gaming I could do on this new system. I remember how exciting it was to get Doom running fullscreen - [graphics library] svgalib was a monster that I'm sure nobody misses today. I was also quite taken by Maelstrom, a Linux port of a slick Asteroids clone for the Mac." 
  34. ↑ timothy (2000-10-26). "Linux Graphics Programming with SVGAlib". https://developers.slashdot.org/story/00/10/24/1937235/linux-graphics-programming-with-svgalib. 
  35. ↑ "SDL Sasteroids". 2005-04-01. https://happypenguin.altervista.org/sheet.php?gameid=749. "SDL Sasteroids is a major revision to the original sasteroids game to allow it to run on modern systems. In addition to providing very similar gameplay to the original sasteroids game, a few surprises and updates have been inserted to make it fun for new and old fans. :) Sasteroids was originally an Asteroids game written for svgalib." 
  36. ↑ "FAQ: Using SDL". https://wiki.libsdl.org/FAQUsingSDL. 
  37. ↑ Armstrong, Ryan (2020-11-18). "Old X Games". https://www.zerker.ca/home/old-x-games.html. "That said, I will probably post info on SVGAlib games in the future, as they were a fascinating and forgotten stepping stone towards SDL." 
  38. ↑ "Itetris 1.6.1/1.6.2 - Privileged Arbitrary Command Execution". 2000-12-19. https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/20517. 
  39. ↑ Wilson, Hamish (2023-02-27). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer - Part 27: Lost Souls". https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/02/building-a-retro-linux-gaming-computer-part-27-lost-souls/. 
  40. ↑ Zimbinski, Bob (1998-08-30). "Linux Quake HOWTO". https://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Quake-HOWTO-2.html. "Quake and QuakeWorld servers can be run by any user. The Quake clients, however, need access to your sound and graphics cards, which requires privileges that normal users don't have. One (bad) way to deal with this is to always run Quake as root. Responsible system administrators will cringe at this filthy suggestion. Making the Quake binaries setuid root is a more acceptable solution. Quake can then be run by regular users and still have the privileges it needs to access the sound and graphics devices. Setuid presents a security risk, though. A clever user could exploit a bug or security hole in Quake to gain root access to your system. Of course, if you don't run a multi-user system, this is may not be a big concern." 

External links



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