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Pacman is built with C and SDL 1.2, requiring several system libraries for graphics, audio, and display management.

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Required libraries

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libsdl1.2-dev
package
required
SDL 1.2 (Simple DirectMedia Layer)Core multimedia library providing low-level access to audio, keyboard, mouse, and graphics hardware.Used for:
  • Window and surface management
  • Event handling (keyboard input)
  • Video mode control
  • Double buffering and palette management
Headers: SDL.hLinker flag: -lSDL
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libsdl-image1.2-dev
package
required
SDL_image 1.2Image loading library for SDL that supports multiple formats including BMP, GIF, and PNG.Used for:
  • Loading sprite graphics (.bmp, .gif)
  • Loading game board textures
  • Loading font bitmaps
Linker flag: -lSDL_image
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libmikmod-dev
package
required
libmikmodSound and music library for playing various audio formats.Used for:
  • Background music playback
  • Sound effects (eating pellets, ghost sounds, sirens)
  • Game audio mixing
Audio files: .wav files in data/ directoryLinker flag: -lmikmod
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libglfw3-dev
package
required
GLFW 3Multi-platform library for OpenGL, providing access to monitor and display information.Used for:
  • Detecting primary monitor resolution
  • Querying video mode and refresh rate
  • Resolution information for restoration script
Headers: GLFW/glfw3.hLinker flag: -lglfw
GLFW is only used for display detection, not for rendering. SDL 1.2 handles all graphics.
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x11-utils
package
required
X11 utilities (includes xrandr)X Window System utilities for display configuration management.Used for:
  • Saving multi-monitor layout
  • Generating resolution restoration scripts
  • Restoring display configuration on exit
Binary: /usr/bin/xrandr
The game will run without xrandr, but resolution restoration will not work. A warning is displayed at startup if not found.

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System libraries

These standard C libraries are also required:
  • libm - Math library (-lm)
  • libc - Standard C library (implicit)

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Installation

sudo apt install libsdl1.2-dev libsdl-image1.2-dev libglfw3-dev libmikmod-dev x11-utils

sudo dnf install SDL-devel SDL_image-devel glfw-devel libmikmod-devel xorg-x11-utils

sudo pacman -S sdl sdl_image glfw-x11 libmikmod xorg-xrandr

sudo zypper install libSDL-devel libSDL_image-devel glfw-devel libmikmod-devel xrandr

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Version requirements

The project was developed and tested on Debian Testing with the following library versions:
LibraryVersionNotes
SDL1.2.xMust be SDL 1.2, not SDL 2.0
SDL_image1.2.xCompatible with SDL 1.2
GLFW3.xVersion 3 or higher
libmikmod3.xAny recent version
xrandr-Included in x11-utils
This project is not compatible with SDL 2.0. You must use SDL 1.2.x. The API and initialization functions are different between major versions.

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Build configuration

Dependencies are configured in the Makefile: 
INCLUDEDIR = /usr/include/SDL
LDFLAGS = -L/usr/lib -lSDL -lSDL_image -lm -lmikmod -lglfw

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Compiler flags

The project uses these compiler optimizations: 
CFLAGS = -DLINUX -O3 -ggdb -ffast-math -funroll-loops \
         -fomit-frame-pointer -Wall -pipe

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Verifying installation

To verify all dependencies are installed: 
pkg-config --modversion sdl

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Runtime dependencies

In addition to compile-time libraries, the game requires:

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Data files

  • Sprites: data/sprites.bmp, data/sprites.gif
  • Fonts: data/fonts.bmp, data/fonts.gif
  • Backgrounds: data/tablero.bmp, data/portada.bmp
  • Audio files: Various .wav files in data/

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System requirements

  • X11 display server - Required for graphical output
  • Linux kernel - Developed for Linux (x86-64 or i386)
  • Bash shell - For running restoration scripts

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Troubleshooting

If you get compilation errors about missing SDL headers:
  1. Verify SDL 1.2 development files are installed: 
    dpkg -l | grep libsdl1.2-dev
  2. Check header location: 
    ls /usr/include/SDL/SDL.h
  3. Update INCLUDEDIR in Makefile if headers are in a different location
If you get undefined reference errors during linking:
  1. Verify libraries are installed: 
    ldconfig -p | grep -E '(SDL|mikmod|glfw)'
  2. Check library paths: 
    pkg-config --libs sdl SDL_image
  3. Ensure all required libraries are in LDFLAGS
If you see the warning about xrandr not being available:
  1. Install x11-utils: 
    sudo apt install x11-utils
  2. Verify installation: 
    xrandr --version
The game will still run, but resolution restoration won’t work.

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See also

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