How to develop mods on Linux?

[peteletroll]

I'm getting a little confused with .NET version, Mono version, monodevelop version... I'm pretty good with Linux and programming, but I have no experience with the .NET/C# world. I was able a couple years ago to write a very small mod to show FPS. Now I want to try writing something more serious:

 

I use Debian. monodevelop from www.monodevelop.com allows me to compile a dll, but the dll can't be loaded by KSP (I'm trying to write a PartModule). It's probably the wrong .NET version... Much of the information I've been able to google looks outdated or incomplete.

Is there any linux-er here who can give me a few pointers?

 

[Li0n]

You need to compile against .NET 3.5, and choose "Library" as your project "type" :

I'm not a linux guru but I guess this is identical on Windows vs Linux.

[peteletroll]

Thanks @Li0n, unfortunately one of the big problems I have is finding a development environment that supports .NET 3.5.

Edited December 5, 2017 by peteletroll
Typo

[Li0n]

If it can help I use MonoDevelop 5.9.6 on Windows. It's the one that came with Unity 5.4.0p4.

[HebaruSan]

Getting your build environment figured out is much easier if you start with someone else's already-working project rather than trying to get a new DLL working at the same time (fewer variables and all that). I'd recommend picking your favorite plugin-based mod and compiling it first, and then you can compare your own new project to the one that you know works.

Try installing these packages though:

• mono-complete
• mono-tools-devel
• mono-reference-assemblies-2.0
• mono-reference-assemblies-3.5
• mono-reference-assemblies-4.0

(Apologies in advance if any of these have different names on Debian vs Ubuntu, I don't feel like booting up my Stretch VM at the moment.)

[peteletroll]

Progress (?) report:

* Tried to find an older version from monodevelop.com to install via flatpak, failed miserably;

* Tried to install monodevelop from oldstable, ended up with a nice dependency mess, tried to manage it and failed, rolled back;

* Started thinking about recompiling from source...

Main problem now is finding a monodevelop version that can compile for .NET 3.5. Looks like Unity development environment is only available for Windows and Mac. Gee, I want to try writing that mod... :-(

 

[HebaruSan]

3 hours ago, peteletroll said:

Progress (?) report:

* Tried to find an older version from monodevelop.com to install via flatpak, failed miserably;

* Tried to install monodevelop from oldstable, ended up with a nice dependency mess, tried to manage it and failed, rolled back;

* Started thinking about recompiling from source...

Main problem now is finding a monodevelop version that can compile for .NET 3.5. Looks like Unity development environment is only available for Windows and Mac. Gee, I want to try writing that mod... :-(

You can use current monodevelop; many folks, including myself, write mods on Linux. Did you try the packages I listed?

[peteletroll]

17 hours ago, HebaruSan said:

many folks, including myself, write mods on Linux.

Thanks @HebaruSan for the encouragement, I found a way out!

It took me a while though. The state of monodevelop in Debian stable looks less than optimal. The IDE crashes soon after any "Open file" dialog, including the new project generation procedure. So I copied another project, and changed the name in the files.

Then I managed to make the IDE recognize .NET 3.5: mono-reference-assemblies-3.5 depends upon mono-reference-assemblies-2.0, but contains just 5 dll files, while mono-reference-assemblies-2.0 has 91. So I tried symlinking the missing DLLs from /usr/lib/mono/2.0-api/ to /usr/lib/mono/3.5-api/, and now the IDE shows .NET 3.5 as available. (Yes, I know, it's an ugly hack...)

Now I can compile my project and make OnAwake() work in my new PartModule. The adventure begins!

Edited December 10, 2017 by peteletroll

[darthgently]

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Edited November 7, 2020 by darthgently
necro'd the thread