How to build VCMI (Windows/Cmake)

Prerequisites

• HoMM 3 (can be bought at gog.com)

• CMake download
• Git or git GUI, for example, SourceTree download

• Qt5 bundle download
• Boost libraries download

• Libraries pack, which contains
  • FFmpeg download
  • SDL libraries
    • libSDL2 download
    • libSDL2_image download
    • libSDL2_mixer download
    • libSDL2_ttf download
  • ZLib download

Create initial directory

Create a directory for VCMI development, eg. C:\VCMI We will call this directory as [VCMIBUILD_DIR]

It is recommended to avoid non-ascii characters in the path to your VCMI development folder. The folder should not be write-protected by system. Good location:

• C:\VCMI

Bad locations:

• C:\Users\Michał\VCMI (non-ascii character)
• C:\Program Files (x86)\VCMI (write protection)

Preparing place

Clone VCMI

• open SourceTree
• File -> Clone
• select https://github.com/vcmi/vcmi/ as source
• select [VCMIBUILD_DIR]/vcmi/source as destination
• click Clone

Install Qt bundle

• Run installer
• Select latest Qt for mingw and mingw 4.8.2 from tools
• Select [VCMIBUILD_DIR]/qt as destination folder
• Add [VCMIBUILD_DIR]/Qt/Tools/mingw482_32/bin to PATH system variable.

Unpack libraries

• Unpack archive with libraries in [VCMIBUILD_DIR]/depends folder

So, you should get

• [VCMIBUILD_DIR]
  • depends
    • bin
    • include
    • lib
    • share

Compiling

Create toolchain file

Create [VCMIBUILD_DIR]/toolchain.txt

SET(CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME Windows)
SWT(VCMIBUILD_DIR [ENTER YOUR VCMIBUILD_DIR PATH])

SET(CMAKE_C_COMPILER   ${VCMIBUILD_DIR}/Qt/Tools/mingw482_32/bin/gcc.exe)
SET(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER ${VCMIBUILD_DIR}/Qt/Tools/mingw482_32/bin/g++.exe)

SET(ENV{BOOST_ROOT} ${VCMIBUILD_DIR}/boost)

SET(CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH  ${VCMIBUILD_DIR}/depends)
list(APPEND CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH ${CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH})
list(APPEND CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH ${VCMIBUILD_DIR}/Qt/5.3/mingw482_32)

SET(CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH_MODE_PROGRAM BOTH)
SET(CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH_MODE_LIBRARY BOTH)
SET(CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH_MODE_INCLUDE BOTH)

Compile boost

• Unpack boost archive

bootstrap.bat gcc
b2 toolset=gcc --without-python --stage

• copy stage/lib to [VCMIBUILD_DIR]/boost/lib
• copy boost dir to [VCMIBUILD_DIR]/boost/boost

So, you should get

• [VCMIBUILD_DIR]
  • boost
    • boost
    • lib

Compile VCMI

• Open CMake-gui
• Select [VCMIBUILD_DIR]/vcmi/source as source directory
• Select [VCMIBUILD_DIR]/vcmi/binary as binary directory
• click "Configure"
• Select "MinGW makefiles" in combobox
• Select "Specify toolchain file for crosscompiling"
• Select toolchain file
• Set variables:
  • CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX = [VCMIBUILD_DIR]/vcmi/result
  • ENABLE_PCH = OFF (because of cc1plus.exe crash)
• click Configure
• click Generate
• go to [VCMIBUILD_DIR]/vcmi/binary directory
• execute mingw32-make
• execute mingw32-make install
• Grab VCMI in [VCMIBUILD_DIR]/vcmi/result folder!