A C++ 2D game engine with a visual editor and a separate standalone runtime.
Engine2D explores the systems behind a game development workflow: rendering, entities and components, scene editing, scripting, and asset management. The engine and editor live in this repository; game projects keep their own content and settings in a separate workspace.
Terrain palette and viewport from an editor validation scene.
- SDL3 GPU rendering, 2D lighting, materials, post-processing, particles, and trails.
- An entity-component system with scene serialization, prefabs, and asset handles.
- A visual editor with hierarchy, inspector, asset browser, and authoring panels.
- Tilemap, terrain, texture composition, animation, and UI authoring tools.
- Scripting and EngineScript tooling, including a VS Code extension.
- A Project Hub for creating and opening separate game projects.
- Standalone runtime packaging and automated integrity tests.
C++20 · SDL3 · Dear ImGui · GLM · CMake
The documented CI build runs on macOS. Install a C++20 compiler and the build dependencies; CMake 3.20+ and SDL3 3.4+ are required.
brew install cmake sdl3 glm curl
cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
cmake --build build --parallel 3
./build/Engine2DLaunching without arguments opens the Project Hub. Create a new project there, or open an existing directory containing project.engine2d, Assets/, and ProjectSettings/.
To work with a specific project:
cmake -S . -B build -DENGINE_PROJECT_DIR=/absolute/path/to/GameProject
cmake --build build --parallel 3
./build/Engine2D --project /absolute/path/to/GameProject --editorCMake builds the pinned shader compilation toolchain when no prebuilt ENGINE_SHADERCROSS_EXECUTABLE is supplied. The first build needs network access and can take longer.
ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failureTests cover engine systems, serialization, assets, editor workflows, and runtime contracts. GPU tests are opt-in with -DENGINE_ENABLE_HARDWARE_TESTS=ON and require a native graphics device. The integrity workflow defines the isolated CI fixture and build configuration.
| Area | Guide |
|---|---|
| Projects, editor launch, and export | Project layout |
| Rendering and materials | Render materials |
| Scripting | Scripting and EngineScript API |
| Terrain and level authoring | Surface generator and Level composer |
| Texture and VFX tools | Texture composer and VFX preview |
| Development plans | Roadmap |
Engine2D is under active development. See the guides and roadmap for the current scope of each system.