Get Started

Hob2D's dependencies are fetched and linked automatically through vcpkg and CMake. Set up the toolchain for your platform, then configure, build, and run.

Requirements

vcpkg and CMake (used to fetch and link dependencies).
A C/C++ compiler with C++20 support — MSVC, GCC, or Clang.

Windows

vcpkg

Clone vcpkg and run its bootstrap script:

git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg.git $HOME\.vcpkg
cd $HOME\.vcpkg
.\bootstrap-vcpkg.bat

Set the VCPKG_ROOT environment variable and add it to PATH:

$env:VCPKG_ROOT = "$HOME\.vcpkg"
$env:PATH = "$env:VCPKG_ROOT;$env:PATH"

Setting environment variables this way only affects the current terminal session. To make them permanent, set them through the Windows System Environment Variables panel.

Open a new terminal and verify:

vcpkg --version

CMake

Download the x86-x64 Windows installer from cmake.org. The CMake environment variable is configured automatically.

Linux

Install the prerequisites:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential cmake ninja-build pkgconf curl zip unzip tar

SDL3 is built from source and needs additional desktop-stack dependencies:

sudo apt install python3 python3-venv python3-pip
sudo apt install autoconf autoconf-archive automake libtool
sudo apt install libibus-1.0-dev
sudo apt install libx11-dev libxext-dev libxrandr-dev libxinerama-dev libxcursor-dev \
    libxi-dev libxfixes-dev libxrender-dev libxss-dev libxxf86vm-dev libxtst-dev
sudo apt install libwayland-dev wayland-protocols libxkbcommon-dev libegl1-mesa-dev libdecor-0-dev
sudo apt install libasound2-dev libpulse-dev libpipewire-0.3-dev libjack-jackd2-dev

Clone and bootstrap vcpkg, then set VCPKG_ROOT:

git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg.git ~/.vcpkg
cd ~/.vcpkg
./bootstrap-vcpkg.sh

echo 'export VCPKG_ROOT="$HOME/.vcpkg"' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export PATH="$VCPKG_ROOT:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
vcpkg --version

macOS

Install the prerequisites:

xcode-select --install
brew install cmake ninja pkgconf

Clone and bootstrap vcpkg, then set VCPKG_ROOT:

git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg.git ~/.vcpkg
cd ~/.vcpkg
./bootstrap-vcpkg.sh

echo 'export VCPKG_ROOT="$HOME/.vcpkg"' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'export PATH="$VCPKG_ROOT:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc
vcpkg --version

Build & Run

Configure with the preset for your toolchain, build, then run the executable.

Editor

The *-editor presets build the in-process editor and boot into it by default, in their own build folder:

# Configure (pick one preset)
cmake --preset debug-msvc-editor      # Windows / MSVC
cmake --preset debug-gcc-editor       # Linux / GCC
cmake --preset debug-clang-editor     # macOS / Clang

# Build
cmake --build --preset debug-msvc-editor-x64

# Run (boots into the editor)
./build/debug/windows-msvc-editor/Debug/hob2d.exe

# Edit a specific game project (bare name, or a path relative to the repo root)
./build/debug/windows-msvc-editor/Debug/hob2d.exe --project sandbox

Game

The plain presets build the runtime only, which launches straight into the game:

# Configure (pick one preset)
cmake --preset debug-msvc      # Windows / MSVC
cmake --preset debug-gcc       # Linux / GCC
cmake --preset debug-clang     # macOS / Clang

# Build
cmake --build --preset debug-msvc-x64

# Run (no arg loads the default project, 'sandbox')
./build/debug/windows-msvc/Debug/hob2d.exe

# Run a specific game project (bare name, or a path relative to the repo root)
./build/debug/windows-msvc/Debug/hob2d.exe --project sandbox

The editor can also be enabled per run on any build with the --editor flag.

Project selection

The engine loads one game project from content/projects/<name>/ at launch. The bundled sample is content/projects/sandbox/. Set the build's default game at configure time with -DHOB_PROJECT=<name>, or select it at runtime with --project <name> (a bare name resolves under content/projects/).