vc6_wine_environment - ryzom/ryzomcore GitHub Wiki

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Status: scaffold staged, toolchain package pending. The Wine prefix, wrapper scripts and validation battery exist locally (below); the VC6 toolchain itself gets prepared on the WinXP VM (install + SP6 + dependency builds) and packaged like the VS2008 flow. Companion pages: VS2008 under Wine for the conventions this mirrors, and Windows Compatibility Targets for the runtime-side matrix (which OS each era's binaries run on — this page covers the compiler-side ceilings instead). {.is-warning}

The original NeL / Ryzom / Snowballs codebase — preserved at github.com/ryzom/nel_cvs — was built with Visual C++ 6.0 (cl 12.00), with Format-6.00 .dsp/.dsw project files (55 projects: nel, nelns, snowballs2, tools). Building that tree with its original compiler under Wine gives the authentic 2000s-era x87 reference, the same role the VS2008/Wine environment plays for the Max-2010-era pipeline.

Survey of the final CVS state (2026-08-06):

• nel/include/nel/misc/types_nl.h hard-requires STLport (#error unless __SGI_STL_PORT — any STLport 4.x defines it). VC6's native STL is not an option by the project's own gate.
• Drivers in-tree: 3D = OpenGL only, sound = OpenAL only. No DirectX SDK requirement for the core libraries; link lines are plain system libs (opengl32.lib, odbc32.lib, ...). No freetype in 3d.dsp at this tree state.
• No exported .mak files — building the .dsp projects needs either MSDEV.EXE /MAKE (the VC6 command-line build driver) or an external build harness.

Prepared on the XP VM like the VS2008 toolchain — install VC6 + Service Pack 6 (cl 12.00.8804), build the dependencies with that same compiler, then package:

Toolchain (from Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/):

• VC98/ — BIN/ (CL.EXE, C1.DLL, C1XX.DLL, C2.DLL, LINK.EXE, LIB.EXE, NMAKE.EXE, ...), INCLUDE/, LIB/, MFC/ (INCLUDE+LIB+SRC), ATL/INCLUDE/
• Common/MSDev98/Bin/ — MSPDB60.DLL (cl's PDB backend, same-install rule as the VS2008 mspdb80 trap), RC.EXE (lives here in VC6, not VC98/Bin), and — for driving the .dsw/.dsp builds — MSDEV.EXE with its DLLs/packages (DEVSHL.DLL, DEVBLD.PKG, ...); MSDEV file.dsp /MAKE "name - Win32 Release" is the era's CLI build path and the first thing to try under Wine
• SP6 level throughout, one install (mixed-SP MSPDB60 gives the VC6 flavor of C1902)

Externals (era dependencies, built in the VM with the same VC6):

• STLport 4.x (era-authentic 4.5.3/4.6) — headers (stlport/) + the iostreams library built with VC6 (lib/). Goes to drive_c/STLport (or NL_VC6_STLPORT override). Must be first in INCLUDE — the wrappers handle the ordering.
• OpenAL-era SDK (only when the sound driver becomes a target).

No windows-folder supplement needed — VC6 predates SxS entirely: plain MSVCRT.DLL (Wine's builtin serves), no manifests, no winsxs, no mt.exe, no .NET.

• Prefix: ~/toolchain_vc6_prefix — fresh 32-bit Wine prefix, ready to receive the package into drive_c/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/.
• Wrappers: ~/bin/wine-vc6/winecl6-{cc,link,lib,rc} + shared winecl6-env, parameterized via NL_VC6_PREFIX/NL_VC6_STLPORT. Same Unix-path translate_args as the VS2008 layer; additionally drops /showIncludes (cl 12.00 predates it — relevant if CMake/Ninja ever drives this compiler: builds work, header-dependency tracking doesn't).
• Validation battery: ~/bin/wine-vc6/validate_vc6.sh — compiler banner (12.00.*), C hello with exact x87 float bits (1.0f/3.0f → 3eaaaaab; VC6 printf has no %a, bits are dumped raw), C++ /GX iostream smoke, STLport smoke (gated on presence, asserts __SGI_STL_PORT), RC smoke.

• PDB paths: avoid /Zi (MSPDB60 under Wine untested; /Z7 exists on VC6) and prefer /DEBUG:NONE-style linking until proven otherwise.
• Case sensitivity: the lowercase-alias farm (tool/wine_vs2008/lowercase_alias.py) will likely be needed over VC98/INCLUDE + STLport once real builds start.
• MSDEV.EXE under Wine is the big unknown — it is the IDE binary in CLI mode. Fallback if it misbehaves: a small .dsp parser emitting ninja/make (the format is simple line-based), or hand-driven cl/lib scripts per project.

From nel/INSTALL (which documents the official build as Visual C++ 6.0 SP4) cross-checked against actual code usage in the final CVS state. The tree is lean: no zlib, no ogg/vorbis, no mysql/curl anywhere; snowballs2/client.dsp adds only freetype.lib beyond system libs.

Dependency	Used by	Era version	Latest VC6-compilable	Notes
STLport	everything (types_nl.h hard gate)	4.0 documented; 4.5.3/4.6.2 era-practical	5.2.1 (final release; its own docs list MSVC 6 SP5+)	NeL uses the SGI iostreams — the STLport library must be built, headers alone don't suffice. Era fidelity → 4.6.2; 5.x changes defaults, treat as experiment
FreeType	nel3d font_generator/texture_font; snowballs client	2.0.x documented	current 2.13.x plausible — the codebase remains "industry-standard ANSI C"; bundled project files are modern-VS, build via custom makefile/nmake	era → 2.0.9–2.1.x
libxml2	nelmisc i_xml/o_xml	~2.4.x (2001–2003)	2.9.14 known-safe (last 2.9; win32 MSVC script era); 2.10/2.11 nominally C89 but drifting (flexible array members appear) — verify on VM; 2.12+ is C99
OpenAL	sound driver	openal.org 1.0 SDK	1.1 SDK headers + import lib (the API is plain C and frozen there); the runtime can be a modern soft_oal.dll — same ABI	compile-side effectively version-capped by the SDK, not the implementation
Python	ai/pyserver only	1.5 documented (1.5.2)	2.3.5 (last Python officially built with VC6; 2.4 moved to VC7.1)	optional — NeL core, snowballs and nelns don't touch it
(Mesa 3.3)	Linux GL note only	—	—	Windows uses system opengl32
(DirectX SDK)	not needed at this tree state; Ryzom-era client only (D3D/DInput8)	9.0b/9.0c (Ryzom shipped Sep 2004)	DX9.0c SDK Update Summer 2004 — last with in-box VC6 libs (Oct 2004 works via the separate "Extras" D3DX9; Dec 2004+ links a symbol VC6's linker can't resolve)	era-authentic and max-compatible coincide

Compiler: SP4 documented, SP6 recommended for the package (final servicing; one SP level throughout, see the C1902-class trap).

For the VM: era-authentic set = STLport 4.6.2 + FreeType 2.1.x + libxml2 2.4.x-era (or 2.9.14 for sanity) + OpenAL 1.1 SDK, all built with the same VC6 SP6. The "latest" column is the upgrade headroom to probe once the era build is green.

1. validate_vc6.sh green.
2. nel/src/misc.dsp → nlmisc.lib (smallest real target, exercises STLport + the header set).
3. snowballs2 client/server — the era's complete shippable, and the byte-reference target the Snowballs corpus findings can be compared against.