Command line options

If you are in the directory in which FreeCol is installed, you can start the game with the command java -Xmx128M -jar FreeCol.jar. This will tell the Virtual Machine to load the game and to set the maximum heap size to 128 MB. Refer to the manual of your Java Virtual Machine for details.

There are many other Java options, but you probably won't need to change the default settings. FreeCol is developed in English, but it includes translations into several other languages, some of which are not very complete, however. Java will automatically select the translation for your locale, if available, and English otherwise. If you should wish to select a different language, or if language selection fails, you can choose a different language from the preferences menu.

FreeCol also provides several application-specific command line options:

• --freecol-data DIR Specify the directory that contains FreeCol's data files. In general, you will only need to use this if you have installed a modified copy of FreeCol's data files.
• --windowed[[=]WIDTHxHEIGHT] Run FreeCol in windowed mode instead of full screen mode and set the window width and height. You will need this if your window manager or Java Virtual Machine do not (correctly support) FreeCol's full screen mode. If you use Linux and Java 5, for example, you should set the window width to the width of your screen, but probably set the window height slightly lower than the height of your screen, in order to leave space for the menu bar, dock etc.
• --load-savegame SAVEGAME_FILE Load the given savegame. This is particularly useful in combination with the client option show savegame settings.
• --no-sound Run FreeCol without sound. Note that the game does not yet contain any music, so the only sounds you will hear will be special effects.
• --usage Display the help screen.
• --version Display the version number.
• --server PORT Start a stand-alone server on the specified port. If you don't know what that means, you will not need the option.
• --server-help Display a help screen for the more advanced server options.

There are several other options that you will probably only be interested in if you are a developer:

• --no-java-check Skip the java version check.
• --no-memory-check Skip the memory check.
• --log-level LEVEL Set the java log level.
• --debug Start the game in debugging mode.