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Rail Sim Routes UK - openBVE Help and Information (Page 5)
Last revised: 4th September 2009 |
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openBVE Help and Information |
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This section of the site is designed to help you get started with the excellent openBVE simulator in Windows (XP, Vista, 7) and Ubuntu 9.04, as well as guide you through the installation and first use of the Birmingham Cross-City South route to enable you to start driving.
Please note: Information about openBVE aside, some parts of this guide are geared towards novice Windows and Ubuntu 9.04 users.
Ubuntu 9.04 users can optionally install a seperately packaged version of openBVE (the available version number may lag behind the official openBVE release sometimes), via 'Applications' > 'Add/Remove...' (see here for more, but please note that BVE 4 plugin DLLs can't currently be used when openBVE is installed via this method). The official openBVE release can also be executed via Wine, which enables Windows-only BVE 4 plugin DLLs to be used, and this guide explains how to do this as well.
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Contents
Windows Users:
Page 1: (Current Page)
Page 2:
Page 3:
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Ubuntu 9.04 Users:
Page 4:
Page 5:
Page 6:
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Installing and Configuring Wine (and 7zip)
 Note: If you don't need to use BVE 4 trains with Windows-only plugin DLLs, then you don't need to use openBVE with Wine, and you can skip the installation of Wine if you prefer. Instead you can install a seperately packaged release of openBVE via Ubuntu's 'Add/Remove...' menu item. For help with this easier option, please see here.
If you do wish to use BVE 4 Windows-only plugin DLL enabled trains in openBVE and Ubuntu, then it's now time to install Wine, a Microsoft Windows compatibility layer for Linux. You can also install 7zip at the same time, which can be used while installing the Birmingham Cross-City South route later on. With Wine, you'll be able to use the latest release of openBVE, along with BVE 4 plugin DLLs designed to be used only on Windows operating systems. To install Wine and 7zip, follow these steps:
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Installing Wine and 7zip
- From the GNOME Main Menu Bar, select 'Add/Remove...':
- When you run the Add/Remove application, you might be informed that your list of available applications is out of date. Click 'Reload' to update the list:
- In the Show: drop-down list, select "All Open Source Applications". Then, in the Search: box, type in 'wine'. After a moment, the list will update, and you should find the Wine Microsoft Windows Compatibility Layer entry (scroll down if necessary):
- Now place a tick in the checkbox next to the Wine Microsoft Windows Compatibility Layer entry. Once you've done this, the following dialog may appear--simply click 'Enable':
- While we're here, the 7zip compression/uncompression tool can also be installed. In the Search: box, type in '7-zip' this time, and wait for the list to refresh. Now place a checkmark next to 7zip:
- Now you're ready to download and install both Wine and 7zip; click the 'Apply Changes' button in the Add/Remove Applications window, and then the 'Apply' button on the other dialog which follows:
Once Wine and 7zip are installed, simply clck the 'Close' button when the next dialog appears.
- Next, we need to configure Wine. Go to 'Applications' > 'Wine' > 'Configure Wine':
- On the 'Applications' tab, choose Windows 2000 as your Windows Version, and click 'Apply':
- Next, select the 'Audio' tab. Upon doing this, you may experience a pause--in a few moments, you should see a dialog like the following appear. click 'OK':
- Now, you should be presented with the Audio options. Hopefully you can just accept the defaults suggested, and first, click 'Apply'. After applying the settings, click the 'Test Sound' button to see if your audio device is working properly:
Wine is now configured!
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Downloading and preparing openBVE
If you want to use BVE 4 plugin enabled trains in Ubuntu, you need to download the latest official stable release of openBVE, and run it via the Wine Microsoft Windows Compatiblity Layer. So for the next step, you need to download the latest stable release of openBVE, from the official openBVE website:
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Installing openBVE via Ubuntu's 'Add/Remove...' option:
There are a couple of ways of running openBVE in Ubuntu. One is to download the latest official openBVE release, and run it via the Wine Microsoft Windows Compatiblity Layer, which will allow BVE 4 plugin DLLs to be used. The second, is to easily install, via the 'Add/Remove...' menu item in Ubuntu, an version of openBVE which runs natively on Linux, but you won't able to use BVE 4 plugin DLLs as they're designed for use in Windows only.
So if you want to use BVE 4 Windows-only plugin DLL equipped trains, please skip the step in this box, and continue to read the instructions for downloading the official openBVE release and using it via Wine instead.
Installing openBVE via Ubuntu's 'Add/Remove...' option is simple, but you won't be able to use BVE 4 Windows-only DLL equipped trains with this version. If you do require assistance with this installation method, please click here. Please note that the version number of the openBVE release available via Ubuntu's repository may lag behind that of the official release sometimes.
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Once you've downloaded the latest official, stable release of openBVE, you first need to decide where you want your openBVE installation, and your openBVE content, to be located. So we need to create some new folders; simply follow these steps:
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Preparing your openBVE folders
- Firstly, go to 'Places' > 'Computer':
- Next, choose a drive or partition where you'd like to have openBVE and/or your content reside, by double-clicking it's icon. The list of drives shown on your own computer will of course be different to mine, so choose whichever has enough free space available (say, at least 200MiB for openBVE plus a couple of detailed routes and trains).
Note: If you select a Windows or NTFS partition like I'm about to in this example (so I can share the files between Linux and Windows), then you may be prompted for your password via a dialog stating "System policy prevents mounting internal media"--just enter your password, and click the 'Remember Authorisation' checkbox before clicking 'OK', so you don't need to do this again when accessing your Windows partition in future:
- Once you've chosen the drive or partition where you'd like to have openBVE installed and you're viewing it's contents, right-click in a blank area and click 'Create Folder':
- Now name your folder 'openBVE' and hit Enter, and then create a second folder, for example named 'openBVE Content', and hit Enter:
- Now double-click your 'openBVE Content' folder to view it's contents, and create two new folders within it, named 'Railway' and 'Train'. Don't pluralise the names, you need to name them exactly as described here:
Note: Be sure to remember the drive and openBVE folder location!
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Now, we need to extract openBVE to the new 'openBVE' folder you just created. Simply follow these steps:
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Extracting openBVE files
- Locate the 'openbve_stable.zip' file which you downloaded a few minutes ago; if you haven't changed any of Firefox's settings yet, it's probably located on your Desktop. Double-click it's icon, and the following window will appear:
Click the 'Extract' button...
- Now, locate the 'openBVE' folder you created a couple of minutes ago; first select the drive or partition via the 'Places' list on the left, then double-click the 'openBVE' folder to enter it. Note the folder name buttons at the top of the dialog to confirm this. Then, click the 'Extract' button. Other options in this dialog can be left as shown in the following screenshot:
Once the files are extracted, click the 'Close' button when presented with it, to exit the program.
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Obtaining DLLs required by openBVE
First, you need to download the following files:
- Mono for Windows (Mono for Windows, Gtk#, and XSP): http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html
- Tao Framework (the tar.gz archived version): http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=170616&package_id=194813
- OpenAL (oalinst.zip): http://connect.creativelabs.com/openal/Downloads/Forms/AllItems.aspx
Once these three files have been downloaded, we need to extract certain files from the archives, and install Mono for Windows via Wine. To install Mono via Wine, follow these steps:
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Installing Mono for Windows via Wine
- Locate the Mono for Windows installer you downloaded (named something like mono-2.4-gtksharp-2.12.8-win32-6.exe). Right-click it's icon, and click 'Open with "Wine Windows Program Loader"':
- After a few moments, the Mono Setup Wizard should appear--note how this is a Windows application now running in Linux. Simply keep on clicking 'Next >', accepting all the default options, until the Wizard is finished:
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Next, we need to install OpenAL via Wine. Simply follow these steps:
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Installing OpenAL for Windows via Wine
- Locate the 'oalinst.zip' file you downloaded, and double-click it's icon. When the archive manager window appears, right-click the 'oalinst.exe' icon, and select 'Open With...':
- Now click 'Wine Windows Program Loader', and then click 'Open':
- After a few moments, the OpenAL Installer will appear. Click the 'OK' button in the main OpenAL Installer window, and then when the installation is complete, click the second 'OK' button which appears:
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Now we need to extract some DLLs from the Tao Framework package that you downloaded. Simply follow these steps:
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Obtaining Tao Framework DLLs
- Locate the 'taoframework-2.1.0.tar.gz' file you downloaded, and double-click it's icon. When the archive manager window appears, double-click the 'taoframework-2.1.0' folder:
- Now double-click the 'bin' folder which lies inside the 'taoframework-2.1.0' folder, and you'll see the following files listed. Select the following three files via multiple select (single-click one file, then press and hold down the Ctrl key while you click the next, then scroll down, hold down Ctrl again, and click on the third file):
Tao.OpenAl.dll
Tao.OpenGl.dll
Tao.Sdl.dll
Then click the 'Extract' button:
- Locate the folder where you extracted the openBVE files to previously, double-click that folder such that you see the openBVE files listed below, and then click 'Extract':
- Once those files are extracted, return to the archive manager window, and click the 'Up one level' button to return to the parent folder. Now double-click the following folders in turn: 'source' > 'lib' > 'win32deps'. Now you need, via the multiple selection method described above, to extract the following files to your openBVE folder (scroll down to find the two other DLLs):
alut.dll
SDL.dll
SDL_mixer.dll
The Tao Framework DLLs should now be extracted to their correct locations!
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openBVE is now ready! But before you launch it, we also need a route and train to drive... |
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Content last updated: 4th September 2009 |
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