seprab / gxbuild

Build system for applications using C and raylib

gxbuild

gxbuild is a build system for applications using C and raylib.

Features

• Supports building for Windows, Linux, Web and Android
• Uses shell scripts, making it easy to run on all platforms with minimal prior setup
• Automates most of the setup process: installing dependencies, downloading and compiling raylib

Setting up

1. Change the options in config.sh to your liking (app name, compiler flags).
2. If you're on Windows, download w64devkit. Make sure you get a release zip, not the source code. Extract the archive somewhere and run w64devkit.exe. On Linux, just open a terminal.
3. Follow the below instructions for the platform you want to build for.

Desktop

1. Run ./setup.sh to set up the project.
2. Run ./build.sh to compile the project.

Web

1. Run TARGET=Web ./setup.sh to set up the project. You will need about 1 GB of free space.
2. Run TARGET=Web ./build.sh to compile the project.

Android

1. Download Java and extract it somewhere. On Linux, you can also install Java using a package manager (make sure you get the JDK, not just the JRE).
2. Change the Java path in config.sh.
3. Run TARGET=Android ./setup.sh to set up the project. You will need about 5 GB of free space.
4. Run TARGET=Android ./build.sh to compile the project.

Compiling for Windows from Linux

1. Install mingw-w64 using your package manager.
2. Run TARGET=Windows_NT ./setup.sh to set up the project.
3. Run TARGET=Windows_NT ./build.sh to compile the project.

Notes

raylib currently has some issues on Web and Android platforms, here I've documented some of the issues I've found when creating the CaveScroller game for the raylib 5K gamejam. If you have any other issues, you can also check the raylib issue tracker for Web and Android.

Web

Save/LoadStorageValue

SaveStorageValue and LoadStorageValue save their values in a storage.data file internally managed by raylib. raylib on Web (emscripten) does not have a persistent file system, any files created during the runtime of the application are not saved when the user reloads the page.

However, web browsers have a feature called local storage which allows saving values persistently. You can add this to your code to allow saving and loading values on Web, just use the save and load functions like you would use SaveStorageValue and LoadStorageValue:

#ifdef PLATFORM_WEB
	#include <emscripten/emscripten.h>
	#define save(i, v) emscripten_run_script(TextFormat("localStorage.setItem(\"%d\", %d);", i, v))
	#define load(i) emscripten_run_script_int(TextFormat("localStorage.getItem(\"%d\");", i))
#else
	#define save SaveStorageValue
	#define load LoadStorageValue
#endif

Android

File system

Currently the file system is not accessible on Android. Trying to load any file outside the assets folder results in Failed to open file. This means that any user created files cannot be loaded, and SaveStorageValue/LoadStorageValue don't work.

Assets such as images and sounds that are bundled into the APK file can still be loaded. gxbuild automatically bundles everything in the assets folder into the APK. Note that the assets folder is only created after running the setup.sh script.

Assets folder

On Android, the default working directory for loading assets is the assets folder. On other platforms, it is usually the directory containing the executable. To make sure your assets are loaded from the same directory on all platforms, you can do this:

#ifndef PLATFORM_ANDROID
	ChangeDirectory("assets");
#endif

myTexture = LoadTexture("texture.png");
mySound = LoadSound("sound.wav");
myFont = LoadFont("font.ttf");

#ifndef PLATFORM_ANDROID
	ChangeDirectory("..");
#endif

GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions can be set up to automatically build your project when you push new changes, and give your users executables without them having to compile your project. Create a new file called .github/workflows/main.yml and paste these contents:

name: Build project
on: push

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      
      - name: Setup build environment
        run: |
          sudo apt update
          sudo apt install mingw-w64
          ./setup.sh
          TARGET=Windows_NT ./setup.sh
          
      - name: Build project
        run: |
          ./build.sh
          TARGET=Windows_NT ./build.sh

      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3.0.0
        with:
          name: game-linux
          path: game
            
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3.0.0
        with:
          name: game-windows
          path: game.exe

Replace all instances of game with your project's name, the same as defined in config.sh. This will only build for Windows and Linux.

Note that by default, users must be logged in to GitHub to download the executables (artifacts). You can give your users a link like this to let them download without logging in: https://nightly.link/YOURNAME/YOURREPO/workflows/main/main. You can read more about this here.