Plz recommend me a Linux to run Pavel Richter's games

[Deter Bonds]

Hi all! My Internet pal has a site babala.org with a few good, simple and totally-free strategy games. I am enamored with his game, Babala, which has been around about a decade. Primarily, Pavel's games work under Linux but for Babala he made some extra effort to allow Windows users to enjoy it via the GNU package of interface routines known as GTK+. But GTK+ is no longer and there is no Windows 10 version.

If you visit babala.org I apologize that the English language side is a bit of a shambles, with several missing images, but some pages are fairly complete (eg. Gameplay help, Download/Install. Screenshots). If you need more then it might behoove you to click on "Cesky" to visit the Czech language side of the site which is slightly better maintained, and ask your browser (eg. Chrome) to translate for you.

Here's what really matters: Pavel is working on a new strategy game for release in two weeks and it is sure to be very wonderful. It will likely be available only for Linux at first. I want to play that game!! If Babala is any indication then the new game will use only the simplest of graphics and not rely on speed of execution whatsoever. So could someone here point me in a useful direction plz? I could run Linux in an emulator such as Oracle's free VirtualBox. Note that my machine is 32-bit so that is a must. I could run Linux from a large USB stick. I would rather not install it in a main disc partition just yet, but that could be down the road.

Note that I experimented already with VirtualBox and got 32-bit Fedora to run Ok under it and I got hold of the Babala game download (a tiny 202kb!) in its self-extracting install script form, a .sh file. But then I hit a snag when I could not identify the helper app under Fedora to process that .sh file. I tried 3 or 4 likely-sounding candidates but none succeeded. A leg up here would be very much appreciated.

When you visit Babala.org you'll see that Pavel's game is also available in what he terms RPM format. And version 5 offers another special install format uniquely for Gentoo (that download appears only on the Cesky side of his site).

So to recap, this is entirely about being able to experience Pavels' newest freeware game which is anticipated for release this month. The game will likely involve only the most rudimentary graphics and need little processor expenditure. My PC is 32-bit Windows-10. I prefer to test a Linux for running Pavels's games via emulator or off a USB stick, instead of installing on my hard drive right away (I am not intrepid). Thank you.

 

[JasKinasis]

I've just taken a quick look at the .tar.gz version of V0.5 of babala and it looks like it should be fairly trivial to build and install from source.
As long as you have a complete set of build tools installed, the only libraries it looks like it uses are the GTK2.0-dev library.

So you could try installing a 32-bit distro onto a USB thumbdrive with some persistent storage - Then you should be able to install the build-dependencies and build a version of the game from the .tar.gz of the latest version from the website.

But I haven't done a lot of distro-hopping in the last 5 or 6 years, or used any 32-bit distros for even longer - so I'm not really well-placed to recommend a 32-bit distro that you could install to USB with persistence. A lot of distros seem to have completely dropped 32 bit support in the last few years.

 

[Deter Bonds]

Thanks, I do very much appreciate your assistance. Well I put that Fedora 1.2 IOS onto a 4GB thumb drive (following the instructions for Ubuntu, using Rufus app) but I am unaware how to get to BIOS on a W10 system for booting from the drive; I've heard that it is difficult due to how fast W10 comes up. 'Afraid I'll be taking baby steps only. 'Prefer to keep within the emulator until I have greater confidence. No I don't have a full devel-kit just the workstation. Can you guess what app handler on Fedora could execute that self-extracting .sh install script? Does Fedora have the capability to jump into command-line mode perhaps? I consider it a major hurdle that the emulator virtual machine is operational with Fedora. But maybe a different variant of Linux is preferable. The more streamlined the better. Consider after all that Pavel does supply appropriate install command-line instructions on his site.

Hey, I'm pretty old and foggy upstairs. If it's too much I may have to throw up my hands and accept defeat. I am so sorry to be burdening folks here. Arggh.

 

[Deter Bonds]

Hey and on the plus side I should add that Pavel himself has implied to me that his interest is to also pursue a way for Windows users to enjoy his game(s), just as he facilitated for Babala. Yet I know that his time is severely limited, being married, employed, dad, the whole enchilada.

 

[Deter Bonds]

Uh never mind.
Now my friend Pavel informs me that his new game will be a browser script, so my inquiry here is moot. Sorry to have pestered you all for naught!