NodGL Index

NodGL Documentation

NodGL is ModuOS's powerful graphics library for creating games and graphical applications!

📚 Documentation

For Beginners

Start here if you're new to graphics programming:

1. Getting Started - Your first NodGL program
2. Drawing Shapes - Rectangles, circles, lines, and more
3. Using Textures - Images, sprites, and backbuffers
4. Handling Input - Mouse and keyboard controls
5. Simple Examples - Complete programs to learn from

Game Development

Want to make games? Check out Blit Engine - a complete game framework built on NodGL!

Blit Engine is located in EXTERNAL/Blit/ and includes:

• Complete 2D game framework
• Entity/sprite management
• BlitStudio visual editor
• Example games

Advanced Topics

For experienced developers:

• NodGL API Reference - Complete function documentation
• Performance Tips - Make your programs faster
• 3D Graphics - Basic 3D rendering techniques

🎮 What Can You Make?

• Games - Platformers, shooters, puzzle games
• Graphics demos - Fractals, animations, visualizations
• GUI applications - Calculators, paint programs, file browsers
• Educational programs - Interactive tutorials, simulations

🚀 Quick Start

#include "NodGL.h"
#include "libc.h"

int md_main(long argc, char **argv) {
    // Create graphics device
    NodGL_Device device;
    NodGL_Context ctx;
    NodGL_CreateDevice(NodGL_FEATURE_LEVEL_1_0, &device, &ctx, NULL);
    
    // Clear screen to blue
    NodGL_ClearContext(ctx, NodGL_CLEAR_COLOR, 0xFF0000FF, 1.0f, 0);
    
    // Draw a red square
    NodGL_FillRectContext(ctx, 100, 100, 200, 200, 0xFFFF0000);
    
    // Show it
    NodGL_PresentContext(ctx, 1);
    
    // Wait
    for (volatile int i = 0; i < 5000000; i++);
    
    // Cleanup
    NodGL_ReleaseDevice(device);
    return 0;
}

💡 Key Concepts

Device & Context

• Device - Represents your graphics hardware
• Context - Where you issue drawing commands

Colors

Colors use ARGB format: 0xAARRGGBB

• 0xFFFF0000 = Red
• 0xFF00FF00 = Green
• 0xFF0000FF = Blue

Frame Loop

Most programs follow this pattern:

while (running) {
    // 1. Handle input
    // 2. Update game logic
    // 3. Clear screen
    // 4. Draw everything
    // 5. Present frame
}

🎯 Learning Path

Absolute Beginner (no graphics experience):

1. Read Getting Started
2. Type out Example 1 from Simple Examples
3. Modify the colors and positions
4. Try Drawing Shapes

Some C Experience:

1. Skim Getting Started
2. Read Handling Input
3. Build the Pong game from Simple Examples
4. Start with the Game Engine

Experienced Programmer:

1. Check NodGL API Reference
2. Look at Game Engine source code
3. Read Performance Tips
4. Build something awesome!

📖 Additional Resources

• Source Code - All examples are in /userland/ directory
• Header File - NodGL.h has all function signatures
• Library - lib_NodGL.c contains the implementation

🤝 Community

Share your NodGL creations! Check out what others have made:

• Snake game (snakegfx.c)
• Minesweeper (minesgfx.c)
• Calculator (calcgfx.c)
• Paint program (paintgfx.c)

⚡ Features

• Hardware Acceleration - Uses GPU when available
• Simple API - Easy to learn, hard to mess up
• Fast - Optimized for performance
• Flexible - From simple shapes to complex 3D
• Well Documented - Lots of examples and guides

Start your journey: Getting Started →