Installing with a .tar.gz file

[timmc94]

I am trying to install a game called Marble Arena 2 on my Ubuntu laptop. I saw it in the software center but it told me I didn't have the right download sources, so I went to the website for the game and downloaded it through the link for Linux Systems. It gave me a .tar.gz file, which I have installed from before but I cannot figure this one out. Any tips?

[lisati]

There should be installation instructions on the website.

If you open up the file in Nautilus, there may be a "readme" file with installation instructions.

[sanderj]

I am trying to install a game called Marble Arena 2 on my Ubuntu laptop. I saw it in the software center but it told me I didn't have the right download sources, so I went to the website for the game and downloaded it through the link for Linux Systems. It gave me a .tar.gz file, which I have installed from before but I cannot figure this one out. Any tips?

Normally it is preferred to install from packages, as that will take care automatically of dependencies and updates. However, I couldn't find a package for "marble arena".

So I download the tar.gz file. I unpacked it by openening it and clicking on "Extract". I then opened a terminal, and went into the main directory of Marble Arena (containing the directories "bin", "data", and "packages"). From there I started the game by typing "bin/arena_64", which gave an error "error while loading shared libraries: libSDL_mixer-1.2.so.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory"

Some googling revealed that I had to install a library:

sudo apt-get install libsdl-mixer1.2

After that I could start the game:

bin/arena_64

HTH

[sanderj]

Oh, do you have Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric? If so, there seems to be a package available:

https://apps.staging.ubuntu.com/cat/.../marblearena2/

Installing a package is much easier than using .tar.gz files.