Linux CD-ROM Game System

This page has been rewritten for the web from a manuscript of TECH Linux Vol. 2 "CD-ROM Game System" ASCII Corporation.

Late Breaking News:

Recent Linux distribution's /sbin/mkinitrd uses /sbin/sash (or /sbin/nash) as a standalone shell instead of /bin/ash.static. This causes a problem. /sbin/sash has a built-in echo command but it requires to type as "-echo" instead of just "echo" and it cannot work with redirect. So, you must copy /bin/ash.static into initrd-game.img by hand.

• What is the Linux CD-ROM game system ?

  [preface]

• How do we make it ?

  [Flowchart of booting linux / Booting with just a CD-ROM]

• Installation of a base system (including an SDL game)

  [Installing linux on a hard drive, we make a normal setup for a game]
  [I use circuslinux which supports joystick and sound]

• Setting up the save-data to be saved

  [Moving the save-data of the game into a floppy disk pointing it with a symbolic-link]

• Setting up a game to start with a single user mode

  [In order to build a login-less game system]

• Adapting to a read-only filesystem

  [So that the system works on a read-only CD-ROM]

• Making of an initrd-game.img

  [The initrd is a key of this CD-ROM game system]

• Making of a boot floppy disk

  [Making a floppy disk that built in initrd-game.img]

• Preparation to burn a bootable CD-R

  [Making an image file of the game system with mkisofs]

• Burning the bootable CD-R, the game system starts !

  [Completion of the game system that can be played with just a CD-ROM]

• Consideration and future improvement
  
  

  ---

• Column

  • Installation of cdrecord and mkisofs

¶ Links:

• The XMame on CD Project (New!)
• Circus Linux
• SDL (Simple DirectMedia Layer)

¶ Reference:

"Let's burn CD-R on Solaris/Linux/FreeBSD" (Japanese)