Some of MegaGlest's most asked questions can be answered easily, and to solve problems quickly, it is recommended to read these frequently asked questions (FAQ) for resolutions.

Contents 1 Installation 1.1 How do I run the installer on Linux? 1.2 I get "permission denied" while installing on Linux 1.3 I get "wrong executable/binary/ELF format" while installing on Linux 1.4 How do I install into my home directory or bypassing the installer on Linux? 2 Issues running the game 2.1 When I click the game icon nothing happens/a window just opens and closes 2.1.1 Linux 2.1.2 Windows 2.2 I get an error about missing libraries 2.2.1 Linux 2.3 I get an error stating MegaGlest needs an OpenGL version of at least 1.3 to work 2.4 Where can I get newer video drivers? 2.4.1 Linux 2.4.2 Windows 2.5 My video performance is bad, what can I do? 2.6 My mouse seems to move sluggish, too slow or too fast 2.7 I cannot select any units in the game 3 Network gaming 3.1 I can not connect to any server, why is this? 3.2 What network ports must be open for network play? How do I configure my firewall? 3.3 How can I host a MegaGlest game on my own computer? 3.4 How much network bandwidth does MegaGlest require? Do I need to stop my downloads to play? 3.5 Do I need good ping? 3.6 I cannot connect to a server that is hosting a game on my LAN on Windows 3.7 Can I play MegaGlest with friends who run a different operating system? 4 Advanced topics 4.1 Something is wrong, how can I create a log file? 4.2 How can I run the game from a shell / command line and capture the verbose output? 4.2.1 Linux 4.2.2 Windows 4.3 I was asked to provide a system report, how do I do this? 4.3.1 Linux System Report 4.3.2 Windows System Report 4.4 Can games be saved and resumed later? 4.5 Which hotkeys are there and how do I redefine them? 4.6 What optional command line options exist? 4.7 How can I install my own game server? 4.8 How can I install my own master server? 4.9 What configurable game settings are there? 4.10 How can I provide a new/updated translation? 4.11 How does MegaGlest compare to other games (Glest, GAE)? 5 See Also

Installation Edit

How do I run the installer on Linux? Edit

Open a terminal window, then use the pwd command to determine the directory you are currently in, and the cd command to change into the directory you have stored the MegaGlest installer in. To verify that you are in the correct directory, you can use the ls command.

For example:

tux@computer:~$ pwd
/home/tux

tux@computer:~$ cd Downloads

tux@computer:~/Downloads$ pwd
/home/tux/Downloads

tux@computer:~/Downloads$ ls
debian-504-i386-netinst.iso
MegaGlest-Installer-3.6.0.3_i386_64_linux.run
ubuntu-10.10-desktop-i386.iso

tux@computer:~/Downloads$

The installer package is called MegaGlest-Installer-3.6.0.3_i386_64_linux.run in this example (it may be called differently in your case), and it is located in the Downloads directory (it may be in another location, such as in ~/Desktop).

Now make the installer executable, then run it:

tux@computer:~/Downloads$ chmod +x MegaGlest-Installer-3.6.0.3_i386_64_linux.run

tux@computer:~/Downloads$ ./MegaGlest-Installer-3.6.0.3_i386_64_linux.run

Once you execute this command, you should get to see the graphical installer, displaying the MegaGlest licenses. You can now follow the graphical installer to install the game into your home directory. You may also install the game to a different location of your choice, within the boundaries of where your Linux user may write to, and this is usually not much more than your home directory (as well as possibly external media such as USB HDDs/keys). These boundaries are there for a reason, please do not try to run the MegaGlest installer with sudo/as root to work around them. Have a look at your Linux distributions' manuals or Wikipedia to learn more about the underlying file system hierarchy standard - it is well worth those five minutes you spend on it.

I get "permission denied" while installing on Linux Edit

If, after spawning the installer as described above, you do not get to see the installer window but get an error saying "permission denied", this is either because you had a typo in the chmod command (review the Linux installation instructions) or because you may not execute commands in the current directory, i.e. the entire file system you are currently working on has the 'no execute bit' set. You can work around this until the next reboot using the following command:

tux@computer:~/Downloads$ sudo mount -o remount,exec /home/

This assumes that /home is the mount point of the file system you are currently working in. If you needed to use this workaround, it means that you are doing something the Linux distribution you are using thinks you should not be doing. Please consult the documentation of your Linux distribution to learn whether and if so, how and where you should keep a fixed set of executable files, libraries and application data (such as the MegaGlest installer provides) in one place if not in your home directory. Most likely you will end up either installing a MegaGlest package made for this distribution or violating this design by editing your filesystem table.

I get "wrong executable/binary/ELF format" while installing on Linux Edit

After spawning the installer as described above, you may not get to see the installer window but get an error about 'wrong executable/binary/ELF format'. If you run into this then you seem to have downloaded an installer package which does not match your system architecture, i.e. you have probably downloaded a 64 bit installer but have a 32 bit system. You can use the arch and uname -m commands to check which operating system architecture you are using, example:

softcoder@softhauslinux:~$ arch
x86_64

softcoder@softhauslinux:~$ uname -a
Linux softhauslinux 2.6.35-28-generic #50-Ubuntu SMP Fri Mar 18 18:42:20 UTC 2011 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Both of theses results indicate a 64 bit version of Linux (notice the _64 in both)

How do I install into my home directory or bypassing the installer on Linux? Edit

The Linux installer always installs into your home directory, not system-wide. But if you don't like to rely on the installer to set things up for you then you're welcome to do your own installation instead. Here's how:

You'll want to ensure you have 7-zip installed so that you can unpack the data package. On Debian and its derivates (Ubuntu etc.) you can use:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install p7zip-full

Then create a new directory the game will be placed in (for MegaGlest version 3.3.7.2 in this example):

cd
mkdir megaglest-3.5.1
cd megaglest-3.5.1

Now you need to download the "Linux XX bit x86 binaries" and the "full data package". What XX is depends on the architecture your Liux distribution is optimized for. On Debian and its derivates (Ubuntu etc.) you can use the arch command to determine what you have. If the arch command doesn't work for you, try uname -m instead. If it says x86_64 then you want the 64 bit version of the game, otherwise use the 32 bit version.

For example, to download the 64 bit Linux version:

wget -O megaglest3.5.1_i386_64_linux_bin.tar.bz2 'sourceforge.net/projects/megaglest/files/current_release/megaglest3.5.1_i386_64_linux_bin.tar.bz2/download'
wget -O megaglest-data-3.5.1.tar.xz 'sourceforge.net/projects/megaglest/files/current_release/megaglest-data-3.5.1.tar.xz/download'

Now extract the archives (I'm using the 64 bit file names again in this example) in the directory you are in:

tar xf megaglest-data-3.5.1.tar.xz
tar xjvf megaglest3.5.1_i386_64_linux_bin.tar.bz2

And play with:

./megaglest

Next time you want to play, you just need to:

cd ~/megaglest-3.5.1
./megaglest

You can, of course, also create a shortcut on your favourite window manager so that you just need to point and click to start the game in the future, thus eliminating the necessity of using the terminal window each time.

Issues running the game Edit

When I click the game icon nothing happens/a window just opens and closes Edit

Linux Edit

Start a terminal. Use the 'cd' command to change to where you installed MegaGlest (probably something like /home/yourusername/megaglest/), then start the game:

cd ~/megaglest/
./start_megaglest

You will likely get to see an error message then. Try to find help in the MegaGlest FAQ and in the forums - search them! -. If neither helps, copy and paste the complete output including where you invoked ./start_megaglest to the forums or to paste.megaglest.org, and optionally connect to IRC to check whether someone is around to help you - if you do, remain connected to the chat for at least half an hour, we are not always around. Or just wait till we respond on the forums.

Windows Edit

Open the Start menu, and click on Run then type cmd and press enter. Use the cd comamnd to change into the directory where you installed MegaGlest (probably something like C:\Program Files\MegaGlest). Then start the game:

cd %ProgramFiles%\MegaGlest
megaglest

If an error message shows up proceed as explained above for Linux.

I get an error about missing libraries Edit

Linux Edit

Be sure that you have downloaded the correct installer (32 bits or 64 bits). See below to know how to find your linux type.

If uname -m returns x86_64, you need the 64 bits version. If it returns i686, you need the 32 bit version.

Be sure that you have installed all requirements. If it still does not work then, you may try running these commands from your MegaGlest root folder (probably something like /home/yourname/megaglest).

mkdir lib_bkp
mv lib/* lib_bkp/
cp lib_bkp/libcurl* lib/
cp lib_bkp/libgnu* lib/
cp lib_bkp/libicu* lib/
cp lib_bkp/liblua* lib/
cp lib_bkp/libxerces* lib/

Then retry running MegaGlest.

I get an error stating MegaGlest needs an OpenGL version of at least 1.3 to work Edit

You likely need either updated video drivers or your video card. It could also be that your hardware is just too old or you bought hardware which is badly supported on your operating system by its manufacturer. But don't give up just yet, read the #Where can I get newer video drivers? section below.

Where can I get newer video drivers? Edit

This depends much on your operating system:

Linux Edit

You should first check whether their distribution provides "backported" drivers for their graphics card and if so, try them. For example, if you run Ubuntu, take a look at the 'drivers-only' section of the xorg-edgers PPA (or even the complete X Updates PPA - but this is for people who really know what they are doing and don't mind sitting there with broken drivers and no X GUI). Be aware, none of these are fully supported - do read the instructions on these pages. Another option is to install a vendors binary driver. Those are often available through your Linux distributions' package repositories, too, and are often in better shape than those you could download from your vendors website. In case of Ubuntu, have a look at their Binary Driver How-to.

Windows Edit

Try to get the latest drivers available from your video card manufacturer. If you have a laptop, get them from your laptop manufacturer instead. If you have legacy hardware and the drivers your hardware manufacturer provides have not received updates recently, you can try patched drivers. These are current vendor drivers which have been modified to work with older hardware as well as with laptops where the laptop manufacturer fails to provide driver updates (but the latest official video card drivers refuse to be installed) and to introduce additional features. For example, patched ATI drivers for current hardware and for legacy hardware are available. There's also a patching utility to (possibly) make current default ATI drivers work on laptops. Note that these are not official drivers, and are not guaranteed to work, nor does the Glest Wiki accept liability for problems that may occur.

My video performance is bad, what can I do? Edit

If you are a Linux user turn off 3D/openGL effects in your compositing window manager (Compiz/Mutter/KWin), as It can drop frames per second (FPS) for 3D games from 500FPS to 70FPS.

Whichever platform your are on, try to disable synchronizing to the vertical blanking interval (also known as sync to vblank), if your video driv