đ The Avalonia port is GnollHack's modern .NET MAUI client running on Avalonia UI instead of the platform UI frameworks of Android, iOS and Windows. It brings the modern client to Linux and the Steam Deck, and it also runs on Windows for development and testing.
âšī¸ Overview
GnollHack's modern client is a single .NET MAUI app, GnollHackM. On Android, iOS and Windows, .NET MAUI draws it with each platform's own UI framework, such as WinUI 3 on Windows. .NET MAUI has no Linux backend of its own, so the Linux version uses Avalonia.Controls.Maui, which implements .NET MAUI's controls on top of Avalonia UI. Avalonia runs on Linux, Windows and macOS, so the same build also runs on Windows.
The Avalonia port is not a separate code base. It is the same GnollHackM.csproj, the same C# code and the same XAML pages, built with the MSBuild property GnhAvalonia=true. Code that only the Avalonia port needs is in win\win32\xpl\GnollHackM\Platforms\Avalonia\, and files that only the Linux version ships are in Platforms\Linux\.
đĨī¸ Flavors
The Avalonia port is built in two flavors, one for each operating system:
|  | đ§ Linux | đĒ Windows |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Released to players | Development and testing only |
| Distribution | Steam (also on the Steam Deck), and an AppImage on GitHub | A self-contained folder for testers; Windows players get the WinUI 3 version |
| Runtime identifier | linux-x64 |
win-x64 |
| Game engine | libgnollhacklinux.so |
gnollhackwin.dll, the same as the WinUI 3 version |
Game data (nhdat) |
The Linux-format file of the Android version | The Windows-format file of the WinUI 3 version |
| Sound banks | Desktop | Desktop |
| Window system | X11, and XWayland on Wayland desktops | Avalonia's Windows backend |
| Rendering | OpenGL through GLX, with a software fallback | Avalonia's Windows renderer |
| In-game web pages | Chromium (CEF), built into the game; WebKitGTK as a fallback | Microsoft Edge WebView2 |
| Crash reporting | Sentry, including native crashes | None |
| Saved games and settings | ~/.local/share/GnollHack |
%LOCALAPPDATA%\GnollHack-Avalonia |
| Build instructions | Build Instructions for Avalonia Linux Version on Windows | Build Instructions for Avalonia Windows Version on Windows |
Both flavors are built on Windows. The Linux flavor also needs WSL, which compiles the game engine and the game data, assembles the packages, and can run the game for testing.
đ§âđģ Building
The Avalonia port uses a newer .NET SDK than the other modern clients. Its SDK and .NET MAUI workload versions are pinned in Platforms\Avalonia\global.json, and every dotnet command for the Avalonia port must run in that folder, for example:
cd win\win32\xpl\GnollHackM\Platforms\Avalonia
dotnet build ..\..\GnollHackM.csproj -p:GnhAvalonia=trueWithout -r, the build targets the operating system it runs on, so this command builds the Windows flavor. The Linux flavor is published with -r linux-x64, which Build-LinuxPackages.ps1 does for you. The native libraries and the game data come from the native solution GnollHack.sln, as for the other modern clients; see Overview of Building GnollHack with .NET MAUI. The tile sets and sound banks are read straight from win\win32\tileset and win\win32\bank\Desktop, so neither flavor needs them staged.
đ§ Linux Packages
The Linux version comes in three packages, all made from one self-contained publish:
- AppImage â A single file for the GitHub releases, which runs on most 64-bit Linux distributions without installation. Players' instructions: Installing the AppImage on Linux.
- Steam depot content â For the Steam Linux Runtime 4.0 by default, or 3.0 (sniper) on request.
- tar.gz â The game as a plain folder, for testers.
The packages run on Ubuntu 18.04, Debian 10, RHEL 8 and newer distributions: every Linux binary is built against an old glibc, and the packaging script refuses files that need anything newer. The player-facing requirements are in Linux System Requirements, and how the floor is kept in Binary Compatibility.
đī¸ Design Details
How the port is built inside, and why, is on two pages of its own:
- Design Details of Linux Avalonia Port â The whole design of the Avalonia port, shared by both flavors, and the Linux version's own parts: startup, rendering, the frame loop, input, fonts, the Essentials replacements, the built-in Chromium web view (CEF), crash reporting with Sentry, binary compatibility and the packages.
- Design Details of Windows Avalonia Port â Where the Windows flavor differs from the Linux version, and how it compares with the WinUI 3 version.
Avalonia.Controls.Maui is younger than .NET MAUI's own backends, and GnollHack works around a number of its defects. Both pages list the workarounds that apply, which are recorded with their symptoms and removal conditions in the GnollHack repository's DEVEL/workarounds/ folder.
đ Learn More
- Design Details of Linux Avalonia Port
- Design Details of Windows Avalonia Port
- Build Instructions for Avalonia Linux Version on Windows
- Build Instructions for Avalonia Windows Version on Windows
- Linux Version
- Development Information