LAB3D/SDL is a port of Ken's Labyrinth to modern operating systems, using OpenGL for graphics output and the SDL library to provide user input, sound output, threading, and some graphics support functions. Music output is through Adlib emulation or MIDI (MIDI only on Windows, Linux and other operating systems with OSS-compatible sound APIs).
This code has been tested on Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows 10, macOS Mojave, macOS Catalina, SuSE Linux 7.2 and 8.1, Debian Linux 2.2, SunOS 5.8 (Solaris 8), FreeBSD 4.7, Raspberry Pi OS and Nintendo Switch.
Improvements over the original Ken's Labyrinth:
- Runs natively on 32-bit/64-bit Intel/ARM Windows, macOS, Unix or Nintendo Switch.
- Supports big-endian CPUs.
- Uses OpenGL to provide hardware accelerated, anti-aliased graphics with trilinear interpolation in true colour (where available).
- Hi-res texture support.
- Multiple simultaneous sound effects.
- Improved General MIDI music.
- Adlib emulation.
- Game controller support.
- Many bug fixes.
LAB3D/SDL requires a machine capable of running Windows or a Unix-like OS (e.g. Linux) and the Simple DirectMedia Layer with a little-endian CPU, and a graphics card capable of OpenGL. macOS (both Apple Silicon and Intel) and Nintendo Switch is also supported.
- Pentium II or equivalent CPU.
- NVIDIA Riva TNT or better graphics accelerator (with OpenGL drivers).
- 101-key PC keyboard or similar.
- 16-bit sound card.
- MIDI sound.
- Two-button mouse or better.
- Joystick.
Windows 95/98/Me/XP, Linux, Solaris, macOS, BSD, ...
OpenGL 1.2, GLU 1.3, SDL 2.0. Slightly older versions of GLU may work.
GCC 2.95.2 or later recommended. Clang will work for macOS. Other compilers will require Makefile changes, but should work.
Makefiles require GNU Make (or compatible) and sh (or compatible, e.g. bash). Cmake for creating the build files.
Before the game will run you will need to install the SDL2, SDL2_Image and GLU shared libraries on your system.
Run the following commands:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install libsdl2-2.0-0 libsdl2-image-2.0-0 libglu1-mesa
All required libraries and data are bundled in the app. Open the .dmg file, drag the app to the Applications folder, then launch it.
To play this on your Nintendo Switch you will need a Switch set up to run homebrew software, then do any of these three choices:
- Download the latest release of the game from https://github.com/sacredbanana/lab3d-sdl/releases,
- Download the game from the Homebrew Appstore. This is the easiest option and will also install the game for you automatically. Or
- Compile the game yourself (see the Nintendo Switch compiling instructions above)
Navigate to the Switch folder inside your Nintendo Switch SD card and create a new folder called Kens-Labyrinth. Inside this folder, transfer Kens-Labyrinth.nro and all of Ken's Labyrinth's data files. (This is the "gamedata" directory if you wish to have the game launcher. Otherwise just copy a single version of Ken's Labyrinth to the directory containing the executable WITHOUT including the gamedata directory.)
Command-line parameters for the executable (these override settings chosen in setup):
| Argument | Effect |
|---|---|
| -setup | Run setup. |
-res w h x y |
Use x resolution, simulating x 2D screen. Note that while w and h are integers, x and y can be any floating point numbers >= than 320x200. |
-asp w h |
Override aspect correction; w and h multiply the width and height of the 3D viewport; both are floating point numbers greater than 0.1. |
| -win | Run in a window. |
| -fullscreen | Run in fullscreen mode. |
| -nearest | No display filtering. |
| -trilinear | Trilinear display filtering. |
| -nomusic | Disable music. |
| -gmmusic | General MIDI music. |
| -admusic | Adlib emulation music. |
| -nosound | Disable sound effects. |
| -sound | Enable sound effects. |
| -debug | Extended graphics debug output. Only for troubleshooting purposes. |
| -load `s`` | Immediately load a savegame slot (1-8) |
-record demo s |
Start recording a demo file starting at savegame slot s |
| -play | Play back a demo file |
To activate cheat codes, the last parameter must be either "snausty" (normal cheat mode) or "cheaton" (cheat codes use [LSHIFT]-[LCTRL] instead of both shift keys). Note that cheaters never prosper.
Unrecognised options are ignored.
Install Visual Studio with Visual-C++ and CMake support.
Open a terminal and in the project root run these commands:
For building for Intel processors:
mkdir build
cmake ..
cmake --build . --config Release
For building for ARM64:
mkdir build
cmake -A ARM64 ..
cmake --build . --config Release
The built game can be found in dist/windows.
Alternatively you can use Visual Studio Code to build the game:
Close the initial splash screen by clicking the "Continue without code" option. Click File -> Open -> CMake. Choose the CMakeLists.txt file. The project will then open and you'll be able to select from the top menu the flavour of build. From there you can build and or/debug.
Run "make -f Makefile.Win32" in the source directory. MinGW 3.1.0 is recommended for Windows use.
If you plan to build a universal macOS app (meaning the same binary can be run on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs) then you MUST get the universal version of the libraries and this is only available on Macports. Homebrew doesn't support universal packages.
-
Install "Macports" if you haven't already.
-
Run the following command:
sudo echo "macosx_deployment_target 12.4" >> /opt/local/etc/macports/macports.conf
sudo port install libsdl2 +universal libsdl2_image +universal libpng +universal webp +universal jpeg +universal tiff +universal zlib +universal
- In the project root run the following commands:
mkdir build
cd build
Now choose a build method:
- Simple build
cmake ..
cmake --build . --config Release
- Build via Xcode (recommended if you want to properly customise the build for code signing etc):
cmake -G Xcode ..
cmake --build . --config Release
Then open the project in Xcode and build it.
The app Kens-Labyrinth will be copied to dist/macOS. You may move this to your Applications folder.
Install the prerequisites with the following command:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install libsdl2-2.0-0 libsdl2-image-2.0-0 libsdl2-image-dev libglu1-mesa-dev cmake build-essential
In the project root run the following commands:
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
cmake --build . --config Release
The executable ken and its dependencies will be copied dist/linux.
Run make in the source directory.
Run make -f Makefile.NoMIDI in the source directory. Note that General MIDI
music is not available if you do this (not much of a loss).
- Install devkitPro
- Depending on which environment you have installed devkitPro, you will either need to use the
pacmanordkp-pacmancommand for the following command:sudo dkp-pacman -S switch-dev switch-sdl2 switch-sdl2_image switch-freetype switch-zlib switch-glfw switch-gladand then just hit enter when it prompts you for a selection to install everything - run
make -f Makefile.Switchin the source directory.
Q: Why does LAB3D/SDL crash immediately after starting on my Windows 95/98 machine with a page fault in "OPENGL32.DLL" (and possibly "KERNEL32.DLL")?
A: You are probably running Microsoft's slow, old and buggy software OpenGL implementation. Install display drivers with OpenGL support; your graphics card or chipset manufacturer should provide them (e.g. through their web site).
A: There are several possible reasons for this. If you don't have a 3D accelerator, LAB3D/SDL will run very slowly. Similarly, if your system's OpenGL implementation is not accelerated, LAB3D/SDL will be unable to make use of 3D acceleration; updating your display drivers may fix this. Finally, you may be running LAB3D/SDL at an unnecessarily high graphics resolution; lower it to something like 800x600.
Labyrinth? A: Very few computers are sold nowadays without 3D acceleration and most games require 3D acceleration. Therefore, most people who would play LAB3D/SDL already have a 3D accelerator. To these people, software rendering is not of any use. The original Ken's Labyrinth software renderer is very fast but relies heavily on being able to access specific hardware directly (8086 or compatible with VGA) in a very specific manner (VGA Mode X, maximum resolution 360x240). A rewritten software renderer may appear in future versions.
A: OpenGL is a more widely supported 3D graphics API than Microsoft's Direct3D. The only case in which Direct3D support would be of use is for users of graphics accelerators with Direct3D acceleration but no OpenGL acceleration. I suggest you pester your graphics card or chipset manufacturer to produce OpenGL drivers or buy a better supported graphics card. Future versions of LAB3D/SDL may support Direct3D, but don't count on it.
A: Because Ken's Labyrinth doesn't have an automap. Besides, you're supposed to get lost in labyrinths.
Technical comments about Ken's Labyrinth and LAB3D/SDL can be found in comments.txt.
The license can be found in LICENSE.
| Design, code and Adlib emulation | Artwork | Board maps | Sound effects | Music |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Silverman http://www.advsys.net/ken |
Mikko Iho | Andrew Cotter | Ken Silverman | Ken Silverman |
| Ken Silverman | Andrew Cotter | |||
| Andrew Cotter |
| Code | Testing |
|---|---|
| Jan Lönnberg http://koti.mbnet.fi/lonnberg/ |
Ken Silverman |
| Katie Stafford https://ktpanda.org/ |
Danny Desse' |
| Cameron Armstrong (Nightfox) http://minotaurcreative.net/ |