Wavy - A BGFX marching squares implementation

What is it? - Building - References

What is it?

Wavy is a C++ program that implements a marching squares algorithm for generating waves and makes use of the the BGFX graphics library.

This was a project to learn how graphics are made. To gain an appreciation for rendering, graphics libraries, and engines.

Building

Prerequisites

• CMake ≥ 3.16
• Make and a C++ compiler (GCC)
• Git (for submodule checkout)
• Linux build deps: libx11-dev, libgl-dev (for native Linux builds)
• MinGW-w64 with the posix threading model (for Windows cross-compile only):

  sudo apt install mingw-w64 g++-mingw-w64-x86-64-posix gcc-mingw-w64-x86-64-posix
  sudo update-alternatives --set x86_64-w64-mingw32-g++ /usr/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-g++-posix
  sudo update-alternatives --set x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc /usr/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc-posix

Clone

git clone --recursive https://github.com/Yocoholo/wavyCPP.git
cd wavyCPP

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Linux (native)

mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build .

Run:

./wavy --type opengl    # or --type vulkan

Windows (cross-compile from Linux)

mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=../cmake/mingw-w64-x86_64.cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build .

Run (on Windows or WSL):

./wavy.exe              # DX11 by default, or --type vulkan / --type opengl

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How it works

The first cmake --build . will automatically:

1. Build bgfx static libraries for your platform (stamp-file cached — only runs once)
2. Build a native Linux shaderc if cross-compiling (for SPIR-V / GLSL shaders)
3. Compile shaders for all available backends (DX11, SPIR-V, GLSL)
4. Build wavy

Subsequent builds only recompile what changed. Editing .sc shader files triggers automatic shader recompilation.

Note: The posix threading model is required for MinGW — the win32 model lacks std::mutex support needed by bimg's ASTC encoder.

Debug build

mkdir build-debug && cd build-debug
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug          # add toolchain file for Windows target
cmake --build .

Force-rebuild bgfx

cmake --build build --target build_bgfx

References

BGFX - The graphics library used in this project.

BGFX starter template - While not entirely used, was useful when starting this project.