Raylib C++ Starter

The Raylib C++ Starter kit is a template project that provides a simple starter template for the raylib game tools library incorporating the raylib-cpp C++ bindings and using Make for building. The starter kit can automatcially clone down raylib and the bindings, compile them, and setup the project for build using a static library.

Why static linking?

One of the most absurdly annoying things about C++ development is finding and linking dynamic libraries. The raylib project prides itself on having "NO external dependencies", and we tend to agree that portability is way cooler than saving that fraction of a second on compile-time.

Why not just use CMake?

I guess we just don't want the added headache. CMake is complex and sometimes feels like some arcane magic that we generally take for granted in build systems. If you look at the raylib library, yes it has CMake support, but it generally encourages the use of Make on all platforms because as the library reads:

raylib is a programming library to enjoy videogames programming; no fancy interface, no visual helpers, no auto-debugging... just coding in the most pure spartan-programmers way

So that being said, we hope that this repository finds you well and wholeheartedly enjoying the simple things in life (i.e. video games programming).

Current Compatibility

OS	Default Compiler	Last Manual Build
macOS	Clang++	`Big Sur 11.0.1`
Linux	G++	`Ubuntu 20.04 LTS`
Windows	MinGW (G++)	`Windows 10 19041`

Getting Started

Installing Dependencies

Before building the project, you will need to install all relevant dependencies for your platform so that the project has access to all the tools required, and raylib can compile and link correctly. You can find intructions for installing dependencies on macOS, Linux, and Windows in the docs file on installing dependencies.

Building the Project

macOS & Linux

Once you have cloned this repository and installed dependencies, building the project is as simple as running these two commands in its root directory:

$ make setup
$ make

The first command will clone in the lastest C++ bindings and targeted version of raylib, copy across any relevant header files into /includes, and build a static library file from them, placing it in /lib. The second command then compiles, runs and cleans up your project using the source code in /src/main.cpp.

If a window pops up, congratulations, you've successfully built the project and you can now start programming your game!

Windows

Unfortunately we do not yet have automated project setup configured for Windows. Below are instructions on how to perform this setup manually.

Clone down the raylib-cpp bindings and raylib repositories from the submodules recursively included:

> git submodule init
> git submodule update

> cd vendor/raylib-cpp
> git submodule init
> git submodule update

Generate a static library (.a file) using the build and installation instructions in the raylib README.
Clone this repository and move the static library file you just generated into a /lib/Windows directory.
Run the following command in the project's root directory:

> mingw32-make

Additional Notes

It is recommended that your code should go into the /src directory, which is automatically included in the compile process when you run make.
If you wish to change the program entry point from /src/main.cpp, add more libraries, or really anything about your project, all build instructions are specified in the Makefile - no smoke and mirrors!

Contributing

How do I contribute?

It's pretty simple actually:

Fork it from here
Create your feature branch (git checkout -b cool-new-feature)
Commit your changes (git commit -m "Added some feature")
Push to the branch (git push origin cool-new-feature)
Create a new pull request for it!

Contributors

J-Mo63 Jonathan Moallem - co-creator, maintainer
Raelr Aryeh Zinn - co-creator, maintainer

Licence

This project is licenced under an unmodified zlib/libpng licence, which is an OSI-certified, BSD-like licence that allows static linking with closed source software. Check LICENCE for further details.

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