Important: Derive is pre-alpha. It is not yet production-ready, so please only use it for evaluation purposes. Major parts of the code may (and will) change without warning or backwards compatibility until the project reaches alpha.
Derive is a flash-like cross-platform SDK and tool set for developing games. Derive was designed with Rive vector animations in mind, but of course you can also use Derive to make pixel-based games, include raster images, text, audio and more (and mix all of these!).
Derive uses the Rive c++ runtime and is rendered with ThorVG. QuickJS is used for javascript scripting support.
Derive is distributed under the MIT license (free for commercial and personal use). The dependencies use a variety of licenses, but are all compatible with the MIT license.
There are two main ways to use derive - either develop a native C++ application using it, or write your entire game in JavaScript (and compile it to an executable).
Include the derive code in your project and extend from the Player class. Example:
#include "Player.h"
#include "display/Rive.h"
class Main : public Player {
public:
Rive* juice;
Main() : Player( 800, 800, "Application name", false ) {
juice = new derive::display::Rive( "juice.riv" );
juice->fit( stage()->bounds(), FitMode::Contain );
stage()->addChild( juice );
}
};
int main( void ) {
Main* main;
try {
main = new Main();
main->run();
}
catch ( ... ) { }
delete main;
return 0;
}
Write your code in JavaScript and launch the Derive debugger tool to run it. When you are happy, compile your JavaScript code to a standalone executable with qjsc (the QuickJS compiler). Example:
class Main extends Player {
juice;
constructor() {
super(800, 880, "Hello world", false);
this.juice = new display.Rive("juice.riv");
this.juice.fit(this.stage.bounds, FitMode.Contain);
this.stage.addChild(this.juice);
}
}
main = new Main();
main.run();
Currently derive is supported on windows only. It uses a combination of MSVC and Clang-cl, and the meson build system (for dependencies).
Make sure you have the following installed:
Tip: We recommend installing python, meson and ninja by using the chocolatey package manager.
To get Derive running:
- Clone this repository (for example, to
C:\projects\derive) - Open the native command prompt for Visual Studio (hit windows search and start typing "native command prompt")
- Change directory to the
dependenciesfolder.- For example,
cd C:\projects\derive\dependencies
- For example,
- Build the dependencies by running the following two scripts:
build-all-debug.batbuild-all-release.bat
- Now, open the solution in Visual Studio and hit build!
- Example, open
C:\projects\derive\solution\Derive.sln
- Example, open
Derive would not be possible without the fantastic work of others. Derive requires:
- Rive-CPP. By Luigi Rosso and Guido Rosso. C++ Runtime for the Rive animation format. MIT license.
- ThorVG. By the ThorVG team. Open-source vector graphics engine. MIT license.
- QuickJS. By Fabrice Bellard. ES2020 JavaScript engine for scripting. MIT license.
- quickjspp. By FTK. C++ wrapper for QuickJS. COO license.
- GLFW. By Marcus Geelnard and Camilla Löwy. For window and events. ZLIB license.
The Derive repository will, over time, attempt to provide a pre-compiled static library for the main platforms, but in the meantime these dependencies need to be compiled for your target platform.