Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[asialsky]

As soon as I get a day off work, I'm going to be installing a Raspberry Pi 3 model B behind my car's radio. I plan on putting a USB hub in the glovebox, and mounting a 7" screen to the passanger visor. Being that you can run ScummVM (and therefor Windows) on a Pi 3B, it occurred to me that I could run a tiny world in Dwarf Fortress, with a 1x1 embark giving decent fps.

Obviously I can't play while driving, but I think it'd be worth having something to do out of town.
Also, nerd points.

Before anyone mentions the Linux version of DF ... not complicated enough for my taste.
EDIT: Linux DF (via ExaGear Desktop) it is, then!

[Grimlocke]

Cool little project, albeit somewhat distracting while driving.

I would personally rather use the Linux version since its got considerably less overhead than Windows, and memory is probably going to be an issue on the Pi otherwise.

[asialsky]

Solution is a usb drive and enabling zram. (swap file)

No more RAM issues on Pi.

[Fleeting Frames]

Lot more FPS issues on Pi, though. How much RAM does the OP's device have, anyway?

[asialsky]

1GB, if memory serves correctly. Thusly, a swap file and tiny world size.

[Fleeting Frames]

Huh, shouldn't need a swap file with so much RAM. Give 254 to OS; another 300 to DF and you still have 446 left over.

[asialsky]

I suppose I should mention the Pi is ARM, not x86/64.
I don't recall anybody making an ARM build yet, though I also haven't checked in over a year, so yeah.

If not, I have the VM solution to fall back on.

[Luriant]

A year ago, i searched about Pi versions, and all post talked about ARM isn't x86/64.
Minecraft Pi have a ARM version, and i have some success playing complete Minecraft in a Raspberry, using the same ARM-Java and a Experimental OpenGL Driver and special launcher, but I have Pi Edition as base, and multiplataform Java as code. Dwarf Fortress don't have something similar in possible compatibility.

If you want DF in PI, use a remote tool, conecting to a real PC playing DF.
http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Utilities#Remote_playing_tools

Playing "Dwarf Fortress: Plump Helmet Pi Edition" have the same importance as "Doom: Android Port". You can play the game, but is far away of a real experience. Put Soundsense soundtrack in CarPi and enjoy the music (or some Text-to-speech linked to dfstories.com xD).

[asialsky]

Aha! I've found a solution. Someone released a program/OS known as ExaGear Desktop, which essentially acts as an x86 Linux VM.

I'll do the setup tomorrow, and see what kind of performance I can squeeze out of it.

[asialsky]

I double-checked their site. Diablo II runs flawlessly. An RPi 3 can run Counter-Strike 1.6 (Deathmatch mod) at between 5 and 30 fps. It seems to struggle with rendering when looking at an open area or when shooting, but if 3D is its big bottleneck, I'm sure I'll be able to get DF running like nobodies business.

Also:

"Moreover, ExaGear Desktop supports 3D hardware graphics acceleration on Raspberry Pi 2 and Raspberry Pi 3 models. This feature significantly increases the performance of graphics intensive x86 applications like PC games such as Counter Strike and Diablo II running with ExaGear on RPi 2 and RPi 3."

[Miuramir]

I've been curious to see whether Raspberry DF was doable for a while, but have never had the time and inclination to work it out.  The ExaGear Desktop seems like a good start; if it were me I'd go Linux for much lower overhead and better performance, but do what works for you. 

Note that the Pi's fixed 1G of RAM has to cover everything; you need a minimum of 16M pulled out for a display, and usually more.  If your CarPi setup has a camera, it takes up 128M.  And of course you need some for the OS; much can be paged out, but that slows the system considerably.  A typical setup is likely to only get you a half-gig (~512M) for actual program space, which is confined to run DF but possible with specialized settings. 

I'd recommend one of the mods that simplifies items (generic "leather" instead of dog leather, turkey leather, etc.) and something to make 1x1 embarks practical.  Avoid the "newb packs" as they tend to have a lot of stuff like Text Will Be Text which puts a heavy load on the system.