Running Theme Hospital on Android with CorsixTH

February 22, 2012 by Alan in CorsixTH

I’ve used the Android SDK for a few bits and pieces, but I’ve never tried to work with the Android NDK before. So, as an attempt to try to find my way around it, I set myself the goal of porting one of my favourite games – Theme Hospital – to the Android platform in the form of CorsixTH.

I’ve followed CorsixTH for a while, and they’ve made superb progress in recreating a Theme Hospital clone using the original assets from the game. There’s still a fairly extensive list of features in the original game that haven’t yet found their way into CorsixTH, but a large amount of the core game functionality is there.

CorsixTH has a great choice of open source libraries powering it, which actually made compiling it for Android surprisingly easy. In fact, SDL and some libraries that commonly accompany it have already been ported over with great success which really meant that all I had to do was rename a few functions and create a few makefiles to get it running; I’m sure that someone with experience with the NDK could do it in half the time it took me.

In any case, you can get the source code from my GitHub repository and there’s a link to the APK in the downloads section so that you can install it straight to your Android device without compiling the project yourself. I would happily invite anyone to fork the repository and make some improvements as there’s still a fair bit left to do, such as getting it to scale on different device resolutions and scrolling by dragging.

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Edit: Now also available on Google Play Store!

mr plow
dude this is awesome, whats the deal with scrolling.. is there a way to do it without dragging?
- http://gravatar.com/isengdoang isengdoang
  I found a Bug: Every Time I place an handyman game freeze and brings a Error Message. I didn’t found any help per Google.
  - http://www.armedpineapple.co.uk Alan
    It was a bug in CorsixTH. Should be fixed in the latest version.
http://www.armedpineapple.co.uk Alan
@mr plow
I’ve made it capture two fingers as being the equivalent of a middle mouse click on the desktop version, so you can now move around by pressing with two fingers and dragging. I’ve also disabled edge scrolling by default now, but if you’ve only got a single touch device, you can always enable it again.
I was going to use two fingers as a right click action so it could be used to rotate an object before placing it, but I’ll think up a different way of doing it. Maybe have an icon that appears in the corner.
- Harry
  Just wondering whether you managed to sort the right click feature? Love the game, excellent work!
  - http://www.armedpineapple.co.uk Alan
    What do you mean specifically about ‘sort’? It has been mapped to a long press since around v2 and I’ve not been made aware of any bugs relating to it since.
Mass
Awesome! I’m keeping my eyes peeled for when you create a fully functional version!
Brandon
Hey man, This is actually freaking awesome. I just got the game back the other night and remembered how much I like it. I work in an office so I would love to get the game working on my HTC android cell phone.. I was thinking about getting the files you have now but it seems as though you haven’t fully worked out the kinks yet. I listed my Email.. Keep in touch.. keep me updated. This is surely something I want for entertainment :p
Tim
Wow.. looks nice and works really great. So my Question, it is possible to port SimTower with NDK? How can i find a Tutorial!?
Luke
Installed this on my samsung galaxy note last night and it works really nicely. I’ve been using the notes stylus to play the game and have found that the mouse pointer doesnt allways line up with your stylus.
Other then that this is fantastic stuff, downloaded the apk then put my GOG theme hospital files on the phone and I was away!
Sound and music all work too to my suprise! Great stuff, thanks very much for your work.
http://www.armedpineapple.co.uk Alan
@Tim
Corsix-TH wasn’t too difficult to port because it’s open source and has been designed with the intention of running on multiple platforms. SimTower doesn’t really tick these boxes and would be so much more difficult – the only reasonable solution would be to emulate. There’s a couple of open source clones floating about that might be cool to port though!
@Luke
Glad everything worked for you. This is the first I’ve heard of this bug, but I’d like to figure it out. I’ve got a couple of things I can try and it’d be great if you’re willing to help me out – fire me an email if you’re interested.
shelly
How exactly do i get theme hospital on my galaxys2? Never tried anything like this before and don’t know where to start. someone give me step-by-step? If it’s not too much trouble thanks so much
Shane
Hey Alan. Thanks for sharing CorsixTH for Android. I’ve installed it on my samsung galaxy note the other day and everything works fine except for the sound. Just wondering how do you fix this? thanks again!
- http://www.armedpineapple.co.uk Alan
  Hi Shane. The only reason I can think for this is because your Theme Hospital game files are incomplete. Your ‘SOUND’ folder should be full of .MDI and .DIG files and the ‘MIDI’ folder within it should have a few .XMI files there. Try copying the files over again.
  Have you also made sure that you have enabled sound in the wizard? (You can revisit it by pressing the menu button).
  - Shane
    I have enabled the sound and downloaded some audio files. I think the music is working now, but i’m not sure about the other sound effects are working. Didn’t here the annoying paging lady, or other sound effects. Anyways, I’ll try to figure it out. Thanks again, mate!
  - http://www.armedpineapple.co.uk Alan
    You could try using the same files with the PC version of CorsixTH. That would tell you if it’s your original game files or not.
  - Shane
    Yeah. I made all the sound and audio work by copying ‘SOUND-0.DAT’ file from “DATA” folder of the PC version of Theme Hospital. Thanks!
  - Shane
    Hey Alan! Just wondering, how can you copy the saved game files? I want to continue playing CorsixTH on my laptop but my saved games are on my desktop. Is there a way i could export my saved games to other computers? Thanks!
  - http://www.armedpineapple.co.uk Alan
    If you’re using 0.2 or later, saved games should be on your SD card in a folder called ‘CTHsaves’. You can copy them to wherever you keep your saved games on your desktop. Where this is will depend on what operating system you run, but if you can locate your configuration file, they’re usually with that. http://code.google.com/p/corsix-th/wiki/ConfigurationFile
    I use Titanium MediaSync (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.keramidas.MediaSync&hl=en) to sync files with my desktop, so you could use this with CTH if you wanted. Might be a bit fiddly though.
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Faruk Ahmet
This is incredible… just the other day I was thinking to myself, ‘I wish I could play Theme Hospital on my tablet’… and here it is!
However, I can’t seem to make it work. It asks for ‘the original files’, which I can’t find. See the screenshot: http://db.tt/EjlMCzlj
(I’m on a Kindle Fire running a custom CM9/ICS ROM)
- http://www.armedpineapple.co.uk/ Alan Woolley
  I’m going to assume that a year later you’ve solved your problem or given up, but for anyone who’s stumbling across this now, I’ve written up a short guide on how to copy your game files across. http://www.armedpineapple.co.uk/projects/corsixth-for-android/using-the-full-version-of-theme-hospital/
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Gordo
I have been trying to get this to work for the longest time on my computer.. with no results. i saw the post and installed it,got it working and love it
Gordo
i think i accidentally published it. my mistake. wanted to add i have had the original cd for a long time, and managed to replace the demo with fullversion. now i can play all day!plus since my a500 works with a mouse, thats super sweet!
@Alan just wondering, option to add external mouse option?or is that too crazy to ask to revert back to mouse control?
also, since unlocking my gt-i9000 i have revived my interest in this and have an additional question.
@Alan would it be possible to do the same for Interstate ’76? or would that be easier to emulate? i would love to put my time towards that for everyone.
just a thought, that was another game i loved, but much larger files and came out at the same time (1997).
@Faruk check around /sdcard/Android/data folder .. somewhere there should be data files and uk.co.armedpineapple… folder. thats where the data saves. i found if i menu at the error screen, go back to setup after downloading demo, and choose default, it worked for me. or search for the folder under android/data/uk.co.armedpineapple
dimas
can’t instal on my optimus 2x
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Mikhail
I’ve installed this game and built my first hospital – it was a great nostalgic feeling
But after that I realised that I don’t have any patients. What am I doing wrong?
- Shane
  @Mikhail You have to purchase a reception desk and hire a receptionist. And you have to click the “pointing hand” to let the patients know that your hospital is now ready to accept them.
Ben F
Trying to get Tm installed but it’s asking me for original game data, not sure what I’m looking for and how to select. Nothing under sdcard/tm where I thought it might be. Appreciate any assistance. Thanks
- Shane
  @Ben You have to download the demo or full version TH game and put them on your sdcard/tm folder. I hope that’ll work.
  - Alec
    How do you download the full version?
    Going through the setup originally it asked for the location of the original files, but I couldn’t see any way of actually selecting a folder. (long press, short press etc just highlights)
    I redid setup and selected the demo option which doesn’t require selecting the location of original files.
  - Shane
    You have to search for the TH game full version free download. Or you could just pay for it.
    You have to connect your phone to a desktop computer or laptop to access your memory card(or internal memory) and put the original game on sdcard/tm folder.
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http://www.chugsonline.co.uk Simon Nemeth
You’ll be pleased to know that the dodgy infringing port on Google Play has been removed by Google. It seems they received a number of complaints from users about using your code (an infringment of the MIT licence) and the app’s dodgy access requirements aswell (a possible invasion of privacy).
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Andrew
this is cool – ever thought of porting oolite, that would be cool too.
Andrew
Got this working with the demo, but can’t make it work with the original files. I’ve copied the directory structure and contents to sd/th, but it asks for the location. On clicking mnt/external_sd/th it highlights green and crashes out. I know the files are ok, because the PC version works with the same ones. Any ideas? I’m using and android 4 (ics) tablet.
thanks
Anonymous
Wish it would be possible to run the original Deus Ex on android… one of the best games ever
- http://www.armedpineapple.co.uk Alan
  It’s available with OnLive (http://www.onlive.co.uk/). Don’t really know how good it is, but it’s free to try.
gamer
(Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1) for me, this doesnt really work.
In the wizard,i choose the th folder (yes, i copied every file of the original game to that folder), it highlights the name green and then, the app just shuts down. Shame, cause i really wanna play this fantastic game where ever i go!
- http://www.armedpineapple.co.uk Alan
  Uninstall the version you’ve got at the moment and try the latest test version. If you choose ‘Automatically Detect’, it will go searching for your files.
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tango
Was super excited about this. loved this game since i was a kid! but it always locks up after it makes you build the first GP’s office. the edit window wont close and pushing other buttons just turns them red, and you cant continue the game.
tried several reinstalls, different versions of Corsix, downloaded the demo version each time with the same result.
cool idea, but very frustrated. :\
- http://www.armedpineapple.co.uk Alan
  I can’t replicate this with the latest version (0.3).
  The symptoms you’re having indicate a game error, so either corrupt game files or a bug in CorsixTH, but like I say, I can’t replicate this with the demo files and the version included with the app.
  Try uninstalling and redownloading 0.3, and if it’s still a problem, send me an e-mail and I’ll try to find out what’s going wrong.
Anonymous
hi downloaded the game about half an hour ago and it has crashed every time i tried to play after the first 10 mins i am on a HTC sense tablet 3.2.1 version, also i don’t quite understand how to get the full version as I’m not that greta with comps and i am on a mac, if you could simplfy this for me?
- http://www.armedpineapple.co.uk Alan
  Make sure you’re running the latest version.
  Also, the full version can be found on GOG for a few quid and is fully compatible. http://www.gog.com/gamecard/theme_hospital. You just need to extract the files that you download onto your SD card. Full instructions can be found on the project page.
http://gravatar.com/flyingmanu flyingmanu
Hi,
Strange thing for me: I did put the full game in sd/th, launched the apk: the game works after setup. But when I quit, and want to launch via the Corsixth icon: nothing happens.
Any idea of what I’m doing wrong ? Thanks for all this good work !
- http://www.armedpineapple.co.uk Alan
  There’s a bug in some of the latest versions which is causing problems. You may want to try 0.3 which is known to be fairly stable, otherwise if you can wait for a few days then I think I’ll have a build that’s slightly more stable.
Alex
just wanted to thank you for your awsome work
mys
This app is so cool! any chance you can get Dungeon Keeper working on Android too
anyway i just wanted to find out how you rotate objects when placing them?
- http://www.armedpineapple.co.uk Alan
  Thanks. I think your best bet for Dungeon Keeper is go use one of the many DosBox ports.
  Press and hold to rotate, if you’re using one of the newer versions.
Manuel
Hey, i have installed this app on my asus t300tf. Everything works fine, but how can i rightclick to turn around tables or other things. I saw in a video that a player rightclick by holding the table with the one finger and tapping with a second one, but this does not work for me.
Sorry for my really bad english and thank you for this great port of a wonderful game.
- http://www.armedpineapple.co.uk Alan
  That video is old. Press and hold to rotate in the newer versions.
Harry Tennent
Apologies, I was trying everything but I didn’t think of that! Many thanks
- http://www.armedpineapple.co.uk Alan
  No worries. I get asked it a lot, despite the fact that it’s on the home page and in the Google Play description. Do you think it would be better if I added another page to the setup wizard with the controls on it so that they’re at least displayed in-game?
Dewi
Hi. Loving the game. On my second hospital now. Game crashed after a while (can still pick things and people up) the staff and patients don’t move. Made sure game was NOT paused. Saved the game and tried re-opening the game and loading the save game. Still nothing. I guess i have to start the whole game over again! Dissapointing
- http://www.armedpineapple.co.uk Alan
  That’s a shame. When it freezes like that it’s almost definitely because of a bug in CorsixTH itself. Make sure you’re running the latest version, because I merge in all the changes from CorsixTH every version and there can often be quite a few bug fixes included in that.
  If you wish me to identify which bug in particular it could be then please send me an e-mail and I can guide you through sending me the relevant debugging information. Otherwise you’ll have to restart the level unfortunately, or try loading from a save game before the error occured.
Jeny
Hi i’m so glad i found ur website. But unfortunatelly my device is blackberry 10. So i tried to convert to bar. I could launch the setup wizard but it keeps asking for the th original files. I downloaded the demo and locate it directly to …/demo/HOSP but still no luck..
Help please
Thank you
- http://www.armedpineapple.co.uk Alan
  Unfortunately, it is only supported on pure Android devices at the moment. Blackberry devices are incompatible. If I can get my hands on one, I’ll try to build support in the future. Although curiously, if it were to fail it would be when the game engine itself loads, not whilst it was trying to find the files in the setup wizard.
Stoddy
Hey Nice to see this game on tablet does et come to ipad as well?…please i hope it does i miss this game……
- http://www.armedpineapple.co.uk/ Alan Woolley
  It’s unlikely to happen in the near future because I don’t own any of the kit required for iOS development. That and iOS is a notoriously closed platform, it wouldn’t make porting as easy as it was for Android. Never say never though.

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