cerlib

cerlib is an easy-to-use 2D game framework for C++.

• Homepage
• Getting Started
• Online Demo

Build Status	Next Milestone

Features

• Open Source
  • Permissive Apache 2.0 license with no royalties attached
• Cross-platform
• App framework
  • Based on latest SDL3
• Efficient, GPU-based sprite and UTF-8 text rendering
• Custom sprite shading
  • Simple & safe shading language that transpiles to native shading languages
• Integrated math library
• Audio playback
• Content management system
  • Images: .png, .jpg, .bmp, .dds, .hdr, .tga, .psd, .gif
  • Fonts: .ttf, .otf
  • Sounds: .wav, .mp3, .ogg, .flac
• Particle systems
• First-class support for ImGui
  • Automatically available in your game, simply #include <imgui.h> and use it
• Compatible with graphics debuggers such as RenderDoc

What it does not provide

cerlib does not provide

• A full-fledged 2D game engine
• A level editor
• An entity-component-system or any kind of scene representation
• A physics API
• A networking API (candidate for future versions)
• 3D rendering (candidate for future versions)

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In short, cerlib lets you define your game architecture however you desire. It does not impose a strict model on the game's code. It provides every audiovisual aspect necessary to comfortably make a 2D game.

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Minimal Example

#include <cerlib.hpp>
#include <cerlib/Main.hpp>

using namespace cer;

struct MyGame : Game
{
    void load_content() override
    {
      image = Image{"MyImage.png"};
    }

    bool update(const GameTime& time) override
    {
      // Update game logic. Use the time parameter as a reference point for
      // how much time has passed since the last update:
      // ...
      return true;
    }

    void draw(const Window& window) override
    {
      // Draw game content into 'window':
      // ...
      draw_sprite(image, {100, 200}, white);
    }

    Window window = Window{"My Game Window"};
    Image image;
};

int main() {
  // Create and run your game.
  return run_game<MyGame>();
}

Getting Started

For a detailed introduction, please visit Getting Started.

Platform Support

OS	Architecture	Graphics Backend
Windows	x64, ARM64	OpenGL ≥ 3.0
Linux	x64, ARM64	OpenGL ≥ 3.0
Android	All ABIs	OpenGL ES ≥ 3.0
Web	WebAssembly	WebGL 2
macOS	Intel, Apple Silicon	OpenGL ≥ 3.0
iOS, iPadOS, visionOS	ARM64	Metal - In Development

Supported Compilers

cerlib has been tested and is confirmed to work with the following compilers:

Compiler	Required Version
MSVC	2022
Clang, Clang-cl	≥ 16.0.6
GCC	≥ 11.4
Apple Clang	≥ 15

Contributing and Feedback

Please see Contributing for further details on how to contribute to cerlib.