Building from source

How to compile from source
The source code is hosted on SourceForge, so please download it from there.

There are instructions on the FreeTrain project page on how to fetch the source code repository.

Also, in the case you are just browsing the code, you can use the browse SVN feature.

The build should succeed by just opening the sln file. There are at the time of writing (2003-01-18) no reports that the source fails to build.

Let’s work together to create an even better FreeTrain!

How to work with SharpDevelop
The recommended development environment for FreeTrain is SharpDevelop, a Free and open source full-featured IDE for Windows.

Target OS:Windows 2000/XP

1. Install the .NET Framework 2.0 Redistributable package
This is the runtime environment and is needed to run FreeTrain. Download from Microsoft and install.

２. Install the .NET Framework 2.0 SDK
This is the development environment. Download from Microsoft and install.

3. Install SharpDevelop
It’s time to install SharpDevelop. The recommended version is 2.1. For details on how to install SharpDevelop, see the official SharpDevelop website.

4. Download the source files
It’s now time to obtain the source files from SourceForge. Right now, the only way to access these files is through Subversion (SVN). If you don’t know anything about SVN, there are detailed instructions on SourceForge. A popular SVN tool for Windows is TortoiseSVN.

Put the source file suite in an appropriate directory on your hard drive.

5. Import the project
Start SharpDevelop and from the Start Page click on ‘Open solution’, then select ‘freetrain.sln’ from the root directory you just created.

Note: At the time of writing (07:17, 12 August 2007 (UTC)) FreeTrain's C++ projects won't compile out of the box. As a workaround, a binary of the critical DirectDraw.AlphaBlend is distributed in the source tree.