I just finished putting together an easy way for windows users to run Cataclysm without crashing.
Probably the best way to run Cataclysm on windows is in a virtual machine, but I know that for a lot of people here, downloading a 700MB disk image, waiting hours for it to install, and learning a new operating system isn’t really an option.
So I got one of the lightest distributions around,
Tiny Core Linux, and added everything you need to compile and run Cataclysm, along with a few bash scripts to make it easier.
Here’s the step by step guide.
Download and install
VirtualBox.
Download the
Tiny Core Linux vdi Image.
Extract the image to a folder of your choosing.
Run Virtualbox, select “New” in the top left corner, Enter “Tiny Core Linux” for a name, leave it at the default 512 MB of RAM, select “Use existing hard disk”, and browse to and select the image you just downloaded.
Double click on "Tiny Core Linux" on the left side of the window.
When you get to the prompt (it should look like "tc@box:~$") type “./download”, then “./compile”.
Run Cataclysm with “./run”
That’s it, you can now enjoy Cataclysm in, mostly, crash free bliss.
Once you’re done playing, you can type “sudo poweroff” to shut the virtual machine down, or you can turn it off and save the state through VirtualBox.
You can update Cataclysm with “./update”, and “./compile” again. Don’t run “./compile” if it tells you there aren’t any new updates. It won’t hurt anything, it’ll just take a while.
If you ever get sick of your current world, just type “./delete” to clear your saved world, it’ll prompt you so you can’t do it by accident.
A few tips for complete Linux newbies: “ls” will give you a list of files and folders in your current directory. In your home directory, all you should see are the scripts I just mentioned, and the Cataclysm folder. If you ever get lost in the filesystem, just type “cd” to return home.