Arch Linux User Repository

Apparently, xevil requires the 9x15 font available in the X server. The font itself is provided by xorg-fonts-misc, but X won't be able to read it until it gets listed on /usr/share/fonts/misc/fonts.dir (i.e. index of font files in that directory).

The package xorg-mkfontscale installs a hook that automatically generates/updates that index file, but it is also possible to install X fonts without that page, meaning the fonts will on disk but not recognized by X itself. (They will probably work through fontconfig, if fontconfig supports those fonts.)

Thus, I'm adding xorg-mkfontscale as a dependency of xevil. It's not a direct dependency, but it's a way to simplify the end-user experience. Before the font is available, the user will still need to either restart, or log out and log in, or run xset fp rehash.

@benwbooth Sounds like either something to be fixed in xorg-fonts-misc package, or (more likely) requiring you to restart the Xorg before playing this game. In fact, xset fp rehash will tell Xorg to reread the font databases, something I'm fairly sure will also happen if you restart Xorg.

I guess the same would happen if you tried running xterm or any of the old X utilities that rely on X fonts.

I was having trouble getting this to run due to missing X11 bitmap fonts:

XEvil(TM) version 2.1 Beta 1  http://www.xevil.com  satan@xevil.com  XETP1.0X
Copyright(C) 1994,2000 Steve Hardt and Michael Judge

XEvil is free software under the Gnu General Public License.
XEvil comes with absolutely no warranty.
Type 'xevil -info' for license information and information on no warranty.
     'xevil -help' for usage and network-play instructions.
Could not load font -*-helvetica-*-r-*-*-18-*-*-*-*-*-*-* trying backup font 9x15
Could not load 9x15

I was able to fix this by doing the following:

cd /usr/share/fonts/misc
sudo pacman -S xorg-mkfontscale
sudo mkfontscale
sudo mkfontdir
xset fp rehash

Then run xlsfonts to ensure all the fonts are available:

xlsfonts

I actually figured this out with help from ChatGPT. Crazy times we live in :)

@MarsSeed : Thank you for pointing it out. The pull requests were accepted and the package has been updated.

Feel free to delete your comment and I will delete my comment as well, as both are now resolved.

The repo's description says:

Adaptation for modern compilers and 64 bits machines of old XEvil game.

(Bold emphasis mine).

So why does this package depend on lib32 libraries?

Also the current PKGBUILD is not configured for 32-bit compilation, so the result will be a 64-bit build.