raylib is a simple and easy-to-use library to learn videogames programming.
raylib is highly inspired by Borland BGI graphics lib and by XNA framework. Allegro and SDL have also been analyzed for reference.
NOTE for ADVENTURERS: raylib is a programming library to learn videogames programming; no fancy interface, no visual helpers, no auto-debugging... just coding in the most pure spartan-programmers way. Are you ready to learn? Jump to code examples!
Since version 1.2.2 raylib can compile directly for web (html5) using emscripten and asm.js, to see a demo of raylib features working on web, check here!
I've developed videogames for some years and last year I had to taught videogames development to young people with artistic profile, most of them had never written a single line of code.
I started with C language basis and, after searching for the most simple and easy-to-use library to teach videogames programming, I found WinBGI; it was great and it worked very well with students, in just a couple of weeks that people that had never written a single line of code were able to program (and understand) a simple PONG and some of them even a BREAKOUT!
But WinBGI was not the clearer and most organized lib. There were a lot of things I found useless and confusing and some function names were not clear enough for most of the students; not to mention points like no transparencies support or no hardware acceleration.
So, I decided to create my own lib, hardware accelerated, clear function names, quite organized, well structured, plain C coding and, the most important, primarily intended to LEARN videogames programming.
I've coded quite a lot in C# and XNA and I really love it (in fact, my students learn C# after C), so, I decided to use C# language notation and XNA naming conventions. That way, students can jump from raylib to XNA, MonoGame or similar libs extremely easily.
raylib started as a weekend project and after three months of hard work, first version was published.
Enjoy it.
On April 2014, after 6 month of first raylib release, raylib 1.1 has been released. This new version presents a complete internal redesign of the library to support OpenGL 1.1, OpenGL 3.3+ and OpenGL ES 2.0.
A new module named rlgl has been added to the library. This new module translate raylib-OpenGL-style immediate mode functions (i.e. rlVertex3f(), rlBegin(), ...) to different versions of OpenGL (1.1, 3.3+, ES2), selectable by one define.
rlgl also comes with a second new module named raymath, which includes a bunch of useful functions for 3d-math with vectors, matrices and quaternions.
Some other big changes of this new version have been the support for OGG files loading and stream playing, and the support of DDS texture files (compressed and uncompressed) along with mipmaps support.
Lots of code changes and lot of testing have concluded in this amazing new raylib 1.1.
On September 2014, after 5 month of raylib 1.1 release, it comes raylib 1.2. Again, this version presents a complete internal redesign of core module to support two new platforms: Android and Raspberry Pi.
It's been some month of really hard work to accomodate raylib to those new platforms while keeping it easy for the user. On Android, raylib manages internally the activity cicle, as well as the inputs; on Raspberry Pi, a complete raw input system has been written from scratch.
A new display initialization system has been created to support multiple resolutions, adding black bars if required; user only defines desired screen size and it gets properly displayed.
Now raylib can easily deploy games to Android devices and Raspberry Pi (console mode).
Lots of code changes and lot of testing have concluded in this amazing new raylib 1.2.
In December 2014, new raylib 1.2.2 was published with support to compile directly for web (html5) using emscripten and asm.js.
- Written in plain C code (C99)
- Uses C# PascalCase/camelCase notation
- Hardware accelerated with OpenGL (1.1, 3.3+ or ES2)
- Unique OpenGL abstraction layer: rlgl
- Powerful fonts module with SpriteFonts support
- Multiple textures support, including DDS, PKM and mipmaps generation
- Basic 3d support for Shapes, Models, Heightmaps and Billboards
- Powerful math module for Vector and Matrix operations: raymath
- Audio loading and playing with streaming support (WAV and OGG)
- Custom color palette for fancy visuals on raywhite background
- Multiple platforms support: Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, Raspberry Pi and HTML5
raylib uses on its core module the outstanding GLFW3 library. The best option by far I found for multiplatform (Windows, Linux, Mac) window/context and input management (clean, focused, great license, well documented, modern, ...).
raylib uses on its audio module, OpenAL Soft audio library, in multiple flavours, to accomodate to Android, Raspberry Pi and HTML5.
On Android, raylib uses native_app_glue module (provided on Android NDK) and native Android libraries to manage window/context, inputs and activity cycle.
On Raspberry Pi, raylib uses Videocore API and EGL for window/context management and raw inputs reading.
raylib is licensed under a zlib/libpng license. View LICENSE.
raylib has been developed using exclusively two tools:
- Notepad++ (text editor) - http://notepad-plus-plus.org/
- MinGW (GCC compiler) - http://www.mingw.org/
Those are the tools I recommend to develop with raylib, in fact, those are the tools my students use. I believe those are the best tools to train spartan-programmers.
Someone could argue about debugging. raylib is a library intended for learning and I think C it's a clear enough language to allow writing small-mid size programs with a printf-based debugging. All raylib examples have also been written this way.
Since raylib v1.1, you can download a Windows Installer package for easy installation and configuration. Check raylib Webpage
Building raylib sources on desktop platforms:
Step 1: Using MinGW make tool, just navigate from command line to raylib/src/ folder and type:
mingw32-make PLATFORM=PLATFORM_DESKTOP
NOTE: By default raylib compiles using OpenGL 1.1 to maximize compatibility; to use OpenGL 3.3 just type:
mingw32-make PLATFORM=PLATFORM_DESKTOP GRAPHICS=GRAPHICS_API_OPENGL_33
Building raylib sources on Raspberry Pi:
Step 1. Make sure you have installed in your Raspberry Pi OpenAL Soft library for audio:
sudo apt-get install openal1
Step 2. Navigate from command line to raylib/src/ folder and type:
make
Building raylib sources for Android:
Step 1. Make sure you have installed Android SDK, Android NDK and Apache Ant tools:
Download and decompress on C: Android SDK r23
Download and decompress on C: Android NDK r10b
Download and decompress on C: Apache Ant 1.9.4
Step 2. Create the following environment variables with the correct paths:
ANDROID_SDK_TOOLS = C:\android-sdk\platform-tools
ANDROID_NDK_ROOT = C:\android-ndk-r10b
ANT_HOME = C:\apache-ant-1.9.4
Step 3. Navigate from command line to folder raylib/template_android/ and type:
%ANDROID_NDK_ROOT%\ndk-build
NOTE: libraylib.a will be generated in folder raylib/src_android/obj/local/armeabi/, it must be copied
to Android project; if using raylib/template_android project, copy it to raylib/template_android/jni/libs/.
Building raylib sources for Web (HTML5)
Step 1. Make sure you have installed emscripten SDK:
Download latest version from here. I recommend downloading the Portable Emscripten SDK for Windows and decompress it in
C:\emsdk-1.25.0folder. After that, follow the portable version installation instructions.
Step 2. Open raylib/src/makefile on Notepad++ and run the script named raylib_makefile_emscripten
Building raylib examples on desktop platforms:
Step 1: Using MinGW make tool, just navigate from command line to raylib/examples/ folder and type:
mingw32-make PLATFORM=PLATFORM_DESKTOP
NOTE: Make sure the following libs (and their headers) are placed on their respectibe MinGW folders:
libglfw3.a - GLFW3 (static version)
libglew32.a - GLEW, OpenGL extension loading, only required if using OpenGL 3.3+ or ES2
libopenal32.a - OpenAL Soft, audio device management
Building raylib examples on Raspberry Pi:
Step 1. Make sure you have installed in your Raspberry Pi OpenAL Soft library for audio:
sudo apt-get install openal1
Step 2. Navigate from command line to raylib/examples/ folder and type:
make
Building raylib examples for HTML5 (emscripten):
Step 1. Make sure you have installed emscripten SDK:
Download latest version from here. I recommend downloading the Portable Emscripten SDK for Windows and decompress it in
C:\emsdk-1.25.0folder. After that, follow the portable version installation instructions.
Step 2. Open raylib/examples/makefile on Notepad++ and run the script named raylib_makefile_emscripten
NOTE: At this moment, raylib examples are not ready to directly compile for HTML5, code needs to be reorganized due to the way web browsers work. To see how code should be refactored to fit compilation for web, check core_basic_window_web.c example.
Building raylib project for Android (using template):
Step 1. Make sure you have installed Android SDK, Android NDK and Apache Ant tools:
Download and decompress on C: [Android SDK r23] (http://dl.google.com/android/android-sdk_r23.0.2-windows.zip)
Download and decompress on C: [Android NDK r10b] (http://dl.google.com/android/ndk/android-ndk32-r10b-windows-x86.zip)
Download and decompress on C: [Apache Ant 1.9.4] (http://ftp.cixug.es/apache//ant/binaries/apache-ant-1.9.4-bin.zip)
Step 2. Create the following environment variables with the correct paths:
ANDROID_SDK_TOOLS = C:\android-sdk\platform-tools
ANDROID_NDK_ROOT = C:\android-ndk-r10b
ANT_HOME = C:\apache-ant-1.9.4
Step 3. To compile project, navigate from command line to folder raylib/template_android/ and type:
%ANDROID_NDK_ROOT%\ndk-build
Step 4. To generate APK, navigate to folder raylib/template_android/ and type:
%ANT_HOME%\bin\ant debug
Step 5: To install APK into connected device (previously intalled drivers and activated USB debug mode on device):
%ANT_HOME%\bin\ant installd
Step 6: To view log output from device:
%ANDROID_SDK_TOOLS%\adb logcat -c
%ANDROID_SDK_TOOLS%\adb -d logcat raylib:V *:S
If you have any doubt, just let me know.
- Webpage: http://www.raylib.com
- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/raysan5
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/raylibgames
If you are using raylib and you enjoy it, please, let me know.
If you feel you can help, then, helpme!
The following people have contributed in some way to make raylib project a reality. Big thanks to them!