SVGALib

SVGAlib is an open-source low-level graphics library which ran on Linux and FreeBSD and allowed programs to change video mode and display full-screen graphics, without the use of a windowing system.[3][4] Alongside X11, it was one of the earliest libraries allowing graphical video games on Linux.

SVGAlib
Original author(s)Harm Hanemaayer[1]
Developer(s)Matan Ziv-Av
Stable release
1.4.3 / June 2, 2001 (2001-06-02)[2]
Preview release
1.9.25[2]
Written inC
Operating systemLinux, FreeBSD
Platformx86, x86-64
TypeLibrary
Websitewww.svgalib.org

History

The first version of SVGALib was based on version 1.2 of another library, VGALib by Tommy Frandsen.[5]

Several games like Ambrosia Software's Maelstrom by Sam Lantinga, the first-person game Space Plumber,[6] and most famously id Software's Doom (alongside an X11 version) and Quake (after the submission of a third-party patch based on leaked source code[7]) were ported to use SVGAlib from other operating systems,[8] as was Doom porter Dave Taylor's Abuse.

Wolfenstein 3D was also ported following its source code being released in 1995,[9] as well as the id produced Heretic, Hexen and Hexen II after 1999,[10] and Descent and Descent II by Parallax Software after 1998.[11]

First party Linux games that have supported it include LinCity,[12][13] Alizarin Tetris,[14] Quandra,[15] Intelligent FRAC,[16] Koules,[17] Repton,[18] Thrust,[19] Linberto,[20] Zblast,[21] and SABRE,[22] among others.[23][24][25]

SVGALib was popular in the mid to late 1990s.[26][27] A reference book, Linux Graphics Programming with SVGAlib, was authored by Jay Link in 2000.[28] Around the turn of the millennium, many applications that used it migrated to X11 and SDL,[29] which could (until SDL 2.0) make use of SVGAlib as a video driver.[30][31] This was in part due to the risks of privilege escalation due to SVGAlib requiring applications to run from root.[32][33][34]

References
  1. Pitzel, Brad (1994-02-12). "Sasteroids v1.0 release (vga arcade game)". Retrieved 2023-10-01. This started out as a direct port of xasteroids to run under svgalib (super-vga graphics library by Harm Hanemaayer)
  2. "SVGALIB". Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  3. Link, Jay. "SVGAlib Tutorials". www.svgalib.org. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  4. Link, Jay (1999-09-30). "Easy graphics: A beginner's guide to SVGAlib". Developer.com. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  5. "svgalib(7): low level graphics library for - Linux man page". linux.die.net. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  6. "Space Plumber 1.1.0 RC1 review". Nixbit. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  7. Wilson, Hamish (2023-02-27). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer - Part 27: Lost Souls". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  8. Karim, Jawed. "Porting MS-DOS Graphics Applications". ACM. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  9. DarkOne (2005-04-10). "Wolfenstein3D Links". NewWolf. SourceForge. Retrieved 2023-09-26. Linux Wolf - Runs either in a window (xwolf3d) or with svgalib (swolf3d).
  10. Wilson, Hamish (2022-03-15). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer - Part 16: We Are All Doomed". GamingOnLinax. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  11. ptesone (2004-04-06). "can only run d1x as root!". Linux Questions. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
  12. Heuser, Werner; Hampton, Wade W. (2003-02-27). "Games". Linux Ecology HOWTO. Retrieved 2023-09-29. lincity build & maintain a city/country. You are required to build and maintain a city. You must feed, house, provide jobs and goods for your residents. You can build a sustainable economy with the help of renewable energy and recycling, or you can go for broke and build rockets to escape from a pollution ridden and resource starved planet, it's up to you. Due to the finite resources available in any one place, this is not a game that you can leave for long periods of time. This game is similar to the commercial simulation game with a similar name. This package provides files common to both the X and SVGALIB versions of the game.
  13. Wilson, Hamish (2023-09-04). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer Part 32: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back". Retrieved 2023-09-29. As well as not being in keeping with the aesthetic, the LCD also had the annoying habit of showing a warning about being out of range on top of what otherwise looked to be a workable display, especially when playing games that utilized SVGAlib for graphics. I could get around this by launching certain more pliant SVGAlib games such as the final build of LinCity before starting up the offending applications, as for whatever reason this would seem to soothe the nerves of the display, but I was more than happy to leave those headaches behind.
  14. "Alizarin Tetris". Home of the Underdogs. Archived from the original on 2006-01-03. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  15. "Qundra". Ice Walkers. 2012-02-26. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  16. "Intelligent FRAC". Ice Walkers. 2003-11-20. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  17. "Impressing Your Friends with RPM". Official Red Hat Linux FAQ. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  18. Marten, Jonathan (2015-12-08). "KRepton version 4". Retrieved 2023-09-29. KRepton was originally written by Sandro Sigala for Linux using the SVGAlib library, and then rewritten entirely using the QT and KDE libraries for release 1.0 of KDE.
  19. Payne, Dennis (2021-09-20). "Open Game Source: Inertia Blast". Linkedin. Retrieved 2023-09-29. When I first installed Linux I stumbled on a remake of Thrust. It was brutally difficult but I enjoyed the game. At the time I ran it under svgalib, an old console graphic system which required root access.
  20. "Linberto". The Linux Game Tome. 2001-04-05. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  21. "zblast-svgalib". Linux Mint. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  22. Ayers, Larry (1998-07-01). "Sabre: An Svgalib Flight Sim". Linux Gazette. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  23. "Index of /pub/Linux/games/video". ibiblio. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  24. Weller, Michael. "svgalib(7) - Linux man page". die.net. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  25. "Games". Official Red Hat Linux FAQ. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  26. Pranevich, Joseph (1999-04-01). "Linux 2.2 and the Frame-Buffer Console Software". Linux Journal. Retrieved 2023-09-29. Limitations aside, SVGALib has proven to be a stable and popular solution to the console problem and is the primary interface used in Quake and other games.
  27. Wallis, Alistair (2008-05-26). "Bonus Interview: 'The State Of... Linux Gaming?'". Game Developer. Retrieved 2023-09-29. I've always been a video game nerd, so it was important to me to see how much gaming I could do on this new system. I remember how exciting it was to get Doom running fullscreen - [graphics library] svgalib was a monster that I'm sure nobody misses today. I was also quite taken by Maelstrom, a Linux port of a slick Asteroids clone for the Mac.
  28. timothy (2000-10-26). "Linux Graphics Programming with SVGAlib". Slashdot. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  29. "SDL Sasteroids". The Linux Game Tome. 2005-04-01. Retrieved 2023-09-29. SDL Sasteroids is a major revision to the original sasteroids game to allow it to run on modern systems. In addition to providing very similar gameplay to the original sasteroids game, a few surprises and updates have been inserted to make it fun for new and old fans. :) Sasteroids was originally an Asteroids game written for svgalib.
  30. "FAQ: Using SDL". wiki.libsdl.org.
  31. Armstrong, Ryan (2020-11-18). "Old X Games". Zerk Zone. Retrieved 2023-09-29. That said, I will probably post info on SVGAlib games in the future, as they were a fascinating and forgotten stepping stone towards SDL.
  32. "Itetris 1.6.1/1.6.2 - Privileged Arbitrary Command Execution". Exploit Database. 2000-12-19. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  33. Wilson, Hamish (2023-02-27). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer - Part 27: Lost Souls". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  34. Zimbinski, Bob (1998-08-30). "Linux Quake HOWTO". 0.1.14. Retrieved 2023-09-29. Quake and QuakeWorld servers can be run by any user. The Quake clients, however, need access to your sound and graphics cards, which requires privileges that normal users don't have. One (bad) way to deal with this is to always run Quake as root. Responsible system administrators will cringe at this filthy suggestion. Making the Quake binaries setuid root is a more acceptable solution. Quake can then be run by regular users and still have the privileges it needs to access the sound and graphics devices. Setuid presents a security risk, though. A clever user could exploit a bug or security hole in Quake to gain root access to your system. Of course, if you don't run a multi-user system, this is may not be a big concern.


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