SoftLK-lib

A library trying to make graphics in game development (simulations etc.) easy. It is using software rendering (but using OpenGL on the default backend) and tries to be as portable as possible.

Features

What it does:

• Layers: Draw to multiple independent layers.
• RGB drawing: Draw in 32bit rgba colorspace.
• Pal drawing: Draw in palletized 8bit colorspace and change the palette on the fly, without needing to redraw.
• Image loading: Load and save sprites from and to png files .
• Backends: Platform specific code is separate from general code, however only an SDL2 backend has been implemented yet.
• Input: Gamepad, mouse and keyboard input.

What it doesn't:

• Sound: You need to bring your own audio library (eg. SDL_mixer)
• Asset management: It can load multiple image formats, but managing what should or shouldn't be loaded is up to you.
• typical engine stuff in general: SoftLK tries to be integrable into many different kinds of projects by not restricting the programmer too much.

License

SoftLK is free Software (as in freedom) and is released under the 3-clause BSD license, see LICENSE.md for details. Most of the examples are released under the same license, unless noted otherwise of course.

Getting started

1. Get a compiler: I recommend gcc but clang works too.

2. Install the SDL2 development files:

   On Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install libsdl2-dev

   On Void-Linux: sudo xbps-install SDL2-devel

3. Clone this repository: git clone --recursive https://codeberg.org/Captain4LK/SoftLK-lib.git

4. Compile SoftLK:

   • You can either use the provided makefile (on freebsd use gmake):

   cd SoftLK-lib/lib/[YOUR OS]/
   make backend_sdl2
   

   Additionally it is recommended to install SoftLK-lib globally (currently only supported on Unix/Linux):

   sudo make install

   • Or compile it yourself:

   cd SoftLK-lib/lib/[YOUR OS]/
   gcc -O3 -c ../../src/*.c ../../src/backend/backend_sdl2.c -lm -lSDL2 #Compile to object files first
   ar crs libSLK.a *.o #Then link them together
   

5. If everything went right you are now ready to start using SoftLK. Now you can either look at some of the examples, look at the Getting started wikipage or figure things out yourself by looking at the source.

Dependencies/programs needed (Linux/Unix)

• gcc
• GNU make
• git
• SDL2 (development version)

Platforms

SoftLK has been tested and is working on the following platforms/os:

• Void GNU/Linux libcmusl, amd64
• Devuan GNU/Linux, amd64
• Raspberry Pi OS, aarch64

SoftLK should work on any platform that has a C compiler, SDL2 and OpenGL 2.1, the platforms listed here are just the ones I frequently test SoftLK on.

Questions?

Feel free to open an issue if you have any questions or problems!

Library Credits

Here is a list of all external libraries used by SoftLK:

SDL2_GL/SDL2/SDL2_surface backend:

• SDL2 (zlib)

Always:

• cute_png (Public Domain)

Gallery