GNOME Video Arcade
==================

Written by Matthew Barnes <mbarnes@redhat.com>

GNOME Video Arcade is a clean and simple MAME front-end for the
GNOME Desktop Environment.

This project is targeted towards non-technical arcade enthusiasts
who just want to easily play classic arcade games on their desktop.
Though it may be suitable for use in custom arcade cabinets, the
project is not designed for that purpose.


Dependencies
------------

GNOME Video Arcade has a few external dependencies which need to be
installed prior to compiling the source code:

   - sdlmame or xmame

       These may be available as pre-compiled packages from your
       GNU/Linux distribution.  If not, you can download and compile
       the source code yourself.

          sdlmame:  http://rbelmont.mameworld.info/?page_id=163
          xmame:    http://x.mame.net/

   - Header files for GTK+ version 2.10 (or higher).

       The GTK+ header files should be available from your GNU/Linux
       distribution as a "development" package.  The exact package name
       varies by distribution, but it should be something similar to
       gtk2-devel (Fedora) or libgtk2.0-dev (Debian/Ubuntu).

   - Header files for SQLite version 3.x.

       The SQLite header files should be available from your GNU/Linux
       distribution as a "development" package.  The exact package name
       varies by distribution, but it should be something similar to
       sqlite-devel (Fedora) or libsqlite3-dev (Debian/Ubuntu).

   - Header files for libgnomeui version 2.14 (or higher). (optional)

       The libgnomeui header files should be available from your
       GNU/Linux distribution as a "development" package.  The exact
       package name varies by distribution, but it should be something
       similar to libgnomeui-devel (Fedora) or libgnomeui-dev
       (Debian/Ubuntu).

       This library is only needed to make the Help->Contents menu item
       work.  If you are already using a GNOME desktop, you should already
       have this library installed.  But if you would rather not drag in
       the entire GNOME development platform, you can configure GNOME
       Video Arcade to not link against GNOME libraries.  See the
       Installation section to find out how.

   - history.dat (optional)

       This file, available from http://www.arcade-history.com,
       contains historical information as well as tips and tricks
       for many arcade games.  GNOME Video Arcade can utilize this
       information in its Properties window.


Installation
------------

The INSTALL file has some generic but detailed installation
instructions that are applicable to most Free Software packages,
including GNOME Video Arcade.  This section supplements the INSTALL
file with information specific to GNOME Video Arcade.

These instructions are written specifically for GNOME Video Arcade
version 0.5.0 and may change in forthcoming releases.

The standard installation procedure looks like this:

   $ cd /path/to/gnome-video-arcade-0.5.0
   $ ./configure
   $ make
   $ su -c "make install"
   (Prompted for root password)

   To start: Applications -> Games -> Video Arcade

The MAME program name must begin with "sdlmame" or "xmame".  If
the configure script cannot find the MAME program, you can tell
it where the MAME program is like this:

   $ MAME=/path/to/program/sdlmame ./configure

You can use the --with-history-file configure option to specify
the location of a history.dat file as mentioned above.  Usage
looks something like this:

   $ ./configure --with-history-file=/usr/share/xmame/history.dat

The --enable-gtk-doc configure option tells "make" to generate
developer documentation while building GNOME Video Arcade.  Once
installed, the documentation can be viewed through Devhelp.

The --with-gnome and --without-gnome configure options tell "make"
whether to link against high-level GNOME libraries like libgnomeui.


Usage
-----

GNOME Video Arcade comes with a user manual that describes basic usage
of the application.  You can view it by choosing Help->Contents from
the main menu in GNOME Video Arcade, or by starting Yelp and searching
for "GNOME Video Arcade".

Please feel free to email me with any questions, bugs, or suggestions.


                              - Matthew Barnes <mbarnes@redhat.com>
