wxLaserTank

Introduction

wxLaserTank is a wxWidgets conversion of Laser Tank, a puzzle and strategy game by Jim Kindley. wxWidgets is an open source C++ GUI framework for cross-platform programming. Jim's original Laser Tank runs on MS Windows. The source code is freely available. Users of wxLaserTank will be able to compile and/or run the game on a wide range of systems.

wxWidgets is available for the following platforms:

Windows 95/98/ME, NT, 2000, XP, and Vista.
Linux and other Unix platforms with GTK+.
Unix with Motif or the free Motif clone Lesstif.
Mac OS X 10.3 and above (10.2 with the older 2.6 versions).
Embedded platforms are being investigated, see the wxUniversal project.
An OS/2 port is in progress, and you can also compile wxWidgets for GTK+ or Motif on OS/2.

Hopefully wxLaserTank will launch this great little game into new territory.

News

25th December, 2010

Updated web and email addresses for the main Laser Tank site.

Since wxWidgets 2.9 has been officially released, I hope to find the time to update wxLaserTank to use it and to fix the printing problem in the not-too-distant future.

29th December, 2009

Version 4.1.2 release 3 is out and at long last I have released a version that runs on Linux/Unix. I have tested it on Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala", Fedora 12, openSUSE 11.2 and Debian 5.03. It runs very well on all of them but there are some minor display anomalies on Debian and OpenSUSE due either to font sizing or the additional button images provided on the platform. I think the ultimate solution is that I need to use sizers on the dialogues to allow them to resize freely across platforms but that will take some time. In the meantime, I think it's working reasonably well and would like some feedback from users on their experiences with it.

27th November, 2009

The current version is based on LaserTank 4.1.2 and runs on Windows only. Language support is fully implemented. Details of how to create new translations are available on the translations page. A version for Linux is currently underway and is already running on Ubuntu. See the development page for details and a snapshot. A version for Mac. is expected to follow.

I have spent quite some time using and testing the game but feedback is sought from users. If you would like to contribute some feedback, you can use the SourceForge mailing lists and bug tracker, or the forum. The forum is the preferred venue for general discussion and feedback and the bug tracker is the best place to report bugs.

Screenshots

Click to view some screenshots of the game.

Additional Features

Laser Tank already has an active community. You can find a huge number of add-on levels, graphic packs and utilities for managing wxLaserTank's files and features at the original game site and a Yahoo group is available for questions, update reports, etc. You should also visit the game site for regular updates to the Global High Score file and to submit your own high scores. If you beat an existing score, your record will be added to the next Global High Score file. See the menu for direct links to some of Laser Tank's add-ons.

Support Forum

The support forum is now online. You need to register with SourceForge in order to post to the forum.

Online Help

The game help is available for viewing online. This version written is in HTML and was converted from the original WinHelp version.

Downloads

Game downloads, including the source code, are available from the SourceForge project page and are available under the GNU GPL licence. A compiled version of the help is available in Windows HTML Help format, for those that prefer it.

History

Version numbers parallel the related version of Laser Tank, to make things easy.

Version 4.1.2r3

29th December, 2009

This version includes a bunch more fixes and improvements and, finally, the first Linux version. There are a number of fixes to ensure that the game displays as intended on GTK and avoid sizing and font issues. See the change log for details. I have also started using InstallJammer to create the installation packages for all platforms.

Version 4.1.2r2

9th December, 2009

This version adds language support and a bunch of bug fixes and improvements. All of the languages available in classic Laser Tank are now available in wxLaserTank.

Version 4.1.2

28th November, 2009

This version adds all the relevant changes made to the source between 4.02 and 4.1.2, which are mainly bug fixes. It still does not include cross-platform compilation capabilities or localization. These facilities will be investigated next.

Version 4.02

27th November, 2009

This is the original release version, based on the Laser Tank 4.02 source code but with some of the enhancements from later versions added where practical, to avoid later rework. This is due to the extremely long "development" time for this version. This version does not include cross-platform compilation capabilities or localization.