Allegro

About

Allegro is an open-source game programming library, intended primarily for C and C++ developers.

Installation/Quickstart

1. Install pre-built binaries

• Web site is https://www.allegro.cc/files/
• Download the version matching gcc version: 4.6.2
• Copy bin files into personal bin directory
• Copy lib files into personal lib directory
• Copy include files into personal include directory

2. Download PDF documentation

• Web site is https://www.allegro.cc/files/

3. Download Examples

• Web site is https://www.allegro.cc/files/

4. Adjust environment

• Add C:\Users\%USERNAME%\bin into personal PATH variable in Windows

5. Refer to the binary package release notes

• Web site is https://www.allegro.cc/manual/5/install/windows.html

6. Compile example file ex_windows.c

• Compile command: gcc -Wall -std=gnu99 -o ex_windows ex_windows.c -lallegro-5.0.8-md -lallegro_font-5.0.8-md -lallegro_image-5.0.8-md

7. (Optional) Install symbolic links for convenience or for ease of upgrading

• Go to directory where you installed the library .a files
• In this example we will make links from the non-static and non-monolithic versions of the library
• An elevated command prompt is needed in Windows to execute the MKLINK command. 
• Also, use the MinGW "sh" command interpreter for the following command and easily create the links:

for f in liballegro*-md.a
do 
[ "${f//*monolith*/}" != "" ] && 
[ "${f//*static*/}" != "" ] &&
echo mklink ${f%%-*}.a $f &&
cmd "/c mklink ${f%%-*}.a $f"
done
cmd "/c cacls * /T /C /E /G YourUserName:F"

With these links in place, it is possible to link the example in Step 6 using the switches "-lallegro -lallegro_font -lallegro_image" and this will be indepedent of the current version of Allegro installed on the system.

References

http://alleg.sourceforge.net/