FAQ: Development

"I'd like to develop software using the Rocklyte SDK, what do I need?"

You need to choose a primary development platform - Athene (commercial version), Windows or Linux. If you want to develop a program using a standard 3rd generation language, C/C++ is your best option. Our SDK is fully compatible with GNU C, so if you are using Linux then you already have the necessary development tools. GNU C is also available for Windows from here. While you can also use Visual C, we recommend against it as it tends to generate unnecessarily large binaries. Intel C is the better choice of the commercial compilers.

You'll also need the Rocklyte SDK, which can be retrieved from the downloads page. The SDK contains further information on developing software based on our core platform.

"Do I need to have Athene installed in order to write and execute programs using the Rocklyte SDK?"

Yes, this is essential during the development process. However if the public release of your software is targetted to a specific platform, e.g. Windows, you can build a custom environment out of the Rocklyte Core Platform and include it with your software installation. Your users will not need to install Athene if you use this distribution method. You are free to include a stripped-down version of our core platform with your program on the condition that it is a non-commercial development. Commercial developers wishing to avoid a license fee can opt to not include the core platform with their software and ask their users to install Athene first. For licensing information please write to the contact email address with information about your project.

"Do you supply debugging tools with the core platform?"

Yes - the standard debug method is not a tool but a feature - if you run your program with the '--debug' option then you will get pages of useful messages printed to the console during run time. Your users can also do this in case you need a comprehensive bug report for analysing software errors.

"Is it practical to develop games using the Rocklyte SDK?"

Given the fact that our system was originally built for game development, support for game developers is very extensive. There is a major emphasis on speed in the graphics libraries, and due to the pre-initialisation of graphic objects we can optimise drawing functions to the nth degree. Currently we are missing 3D support (OpenGL for example) but we're working on it.

It is worth mentioning that unlike other operating systems, our framework does not use a separate interface for game development (such as a DirectX style API). Because the graphics system has already been designed for speed, all developers can use the same interface and seamlessly migrate between both applications and games programming. You can also run games stand-alone - i.e. you don't need to boot Athene if you want to launch a full screen game or application.

"Do you support POSIX?"

No, although it is possible to create stubs for functions like malloc() and have them redirected to the equivalent SDK functions. Officially, we do not provide a redirection base or library to emulate POSIX functionality, so you will need to produce your own solution for this if you are porting POSIX based software.

"How do I make submissions to any of your projects?"

Write to contact@rocklyte.com with the information that you would like to submit to the project. If this includes updated or bug-fixed source code, attach the files with an explanation of what areas you changed and why. Please be aware that Rocklyte always retains copyright over its original source code, even if altered by third parties. If the work is entirely your own, then copyright will remain with you. In all cases, by making a submission you will be giving us the right to include your work as part of the Athene/Pandora distribution package.

Shareware, freeware and commercial demonstration packages are also acceptable submissions if you wish to gain free publicity on the back of CDROM releases. There is no guarantee that a submission will be accepted, but if the work is of a good quality then its chances will be reasonable.

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