I recently upgraded to Karmic Koala (Ubuntu 9.10). After the upgrade, I was no longer able to play Eschalon. When I click the icon, nothing happens. I just downloaded the demo and it works great. My question is, due to the fact that I did a clean install on the new OS, do I need to re-download my purchased version of this game? If so, what do I need to do to make that happen. I originally purchased this game on Dec. 16, 2008.

Sounds like you are missing a library that is required. Run it through the console and you'll probably see an error kicked up.

You are probably missing libstdc++5

Thanks for the quick response. How do I run the program in console? Secondly, after checking synaptic, I find libstdc++6 is installed. Is this an updated version of the one you referenced and will I have to "revert" to libstdc++5 in order to run eschalon?

I figured out how to run in console and I do get the following error message:

error while loading shared libraries: libstdc++.so.5: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

However, I'm not sure how to locate or install this file.

Yeah, this is pretty much an outdated library but Book 1 still requires it (off topic- this is related to a larger discussion we've had about re-releasing Book 1 in the future compiled for the newest OSs, thus not requiring outdated libraries).

Anyways, yes, you need the older libstdc++.so.5 library. I actually do not yet have Ubuntu 9.10 on any machine here so I can't give you step-by-step instructions. You might need to drop a message on an Ubuntu forum a just tell them you need help getting this library. It is pretty simple I'm sure.

Thanks for the help. I'll check the ubuntu forums for help on getting the library. By the way, the demo plays GREAT in 9.10. The graphics are a lot faster and more seemless plus full screen works.

For anyone else who has this problem, here is a link to the libstdc++.so.5 file. After installing the deb package, my program runs fine.

http://packages.ubuntu.com/jaunty/libstdc++5


Thanks again for the help.

BW, I recommend continuing to build against older versions so that your game is supported on older distros. Not everyone who runs Linux stays up to date with the latest/greatest. Games built against older libs will still work on newer distros.

I wrote a series of articles on commercial Linux game development that were published on gamedev.net. I highly recommend reading them - I got most of that info from Gerry Jo Jellestad, a professional Linux game developer who has a lot of experience with building and distributing Linux binaries. I found that info so valuable (and hard to find on the net) that I wrote a series of articles (with his permission) to share that info with others. Out of the 5 articles, the second and third are probably the most valuable - how to build a binary that will run on almost any distro within the past 5-6 years, and how to package it up so it is easy to install.

Sadly..this doesnt work for me. After upgrading form 9.04 to Ubuntu 9.10 Eschalon refuses to launch. Ther error is that Iam missing the libstdc++.so.5 Well I also thought that downloading it would help but... nothing happens.
Im afraid it might have something to do with the fact that Im using 64-bit OS ?

Hi !

I just purchased Book 1 and figured out the libstdc++ 5 library was missing as well.

As I also use a 64 bits OS, I need 32 bits compatibility libraries, which I have to copy to /usr/lib32

Well, here is the solution
http://hsmak.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/h ... untu-9-10/

I really wonder if there are ways to prevent such issues in the future, which really do harm potential commercial developments. (doesn't affect OSS software which can be automatically rebuilt / fixed by the community)

Or maybe Ubuntu is at fault for not providing compatibility libs anymore ?

Cheers !

The ia32-libs package isn't available anymore?

I know this package has never been installed by default in Ubuntu, but it has always been available. Has this really changed? (Don't have a 64-bit Linux box in front of me at the moment to confirm)

Incidentally, the fact that libstdc++5 is deprecated is why I recommend in my articles that commercial developers distribute the specific versions of certain libraries that they need with their program. You cannot count on a specific version to be available on any given distro.