This version of Virgil has been deprecated and all active development has moved to THIS REPOSITORY, this repo will no longer recieve updates and will be archived, please feel free to fork if you wish to continue on with this messy version!
Description | Dependencies | Compiling | OS Support | FAQ
Virgil is a basic 2D game engine built using SDL2 and Vala; designed for Linux and directly built for elementary OS...
The Vala Game Library (VGL), or formally known as 'Virgil' is my answer to 'if I can't find it, I'll make it'. I grew tired of installing Windows VM's to use common 2D game engines and having to run around in circles finding a Linux compatible engine I can use to fruitlessly make simple games, a basic demo can be found at the following repo.
Virgil is built from the ground up using Vala and the SDL2 library, this is my first major project as well as my first dip into 'proper development' using a new language.
libsdl2-2.0-0
valacglib-2.0libsdl2-devmeson
Note: Virgil can run on Mac OS with the use of
brewbut is not 100% supported at this stage.
Virgil can be built in many ways, as a subprject, a static library or a shared library, please see the example ways of building the library and installing system wide:
# Static library
meson build --prefix=/usr --default-library=static
ninja install -C build
# Shared library
meson build --prefix=/usr --default-library=shared
ninja install -C buildNote: Virgil is not affiliated with the elementary OS project, I just love what they are doing!
If you are interested in using Virgil and want some help, the below table is an up to date place you can find what platforms are officially supported by Virgil, please keep in mind this is not set in stone and community members are encouragede to fork and build your own port for a new platform.
| OS | Architecture | Support Level |
|---|---|---|
| Linux | x86_64 | Full |
| Linux | armhf | Full |
| Linux | aarch64 | Full |
| Linux | RISC-V | Planned |
| MacOS | x86_64 | Partial |
| MacOS | aarch64 | Partial |
| Crostini | x86_64 | Minimal |
| Crostini | aarch64 | Minimal |
| BSD | x86_64 | Minimal |
| Windows | x86_64 | None |
| Windows | aarch64 | None |
| WSL | x86_64 | None |
| WSL | aarch64 | None |
Q: Why is Windows not supported? Do you hate Windows?
A: I don't hate Windows at all, it is a great OS for what it does, however Virgil was birthed from me switching to Linux a few years ago and not having access to my then preferred game engine (GMS2) and the tools I found were not what I wanted, so Linux/UNIX is my target.
Q: Will Virgil ever officially support Windows?
A: Nope, Virgil will always be officially exclusive to Linux and UNIX systems, however if you wish to create a Windows compatible fork of Virgil, I encourage you to do it!
Q: Will Virgil ever cost money?
A: Never, Virgil will remain a FOSS piece of software and I will NEVER charge for use of Virgil, however if enough interest is gathered, I may consider donations but have no plans at this stage!
Q: Do you know what you are doing with this?
A: No 🙂
Q: How many times are you going to rewrite Virgil?
A: Yes 🙂