V·3

Framework to build Game Engines.

Screenshots

TBD

About

• v3 is a minimal C framework to help you build custom, scalable game engines.
• v3 is modular at its core, allowing you to toggle or replace its APIs at runtime.
• v3 is community-driven, enabling developers to create and share extensions without requiring approval.
• v3 is a major overhaul of the earlier v2 and v1 iterations.
• v3 is lighter and more flexible than previous v2 and v1 efforts.

Features and roadmap ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ

• Modern C++ Simple C.
• Royaltie fee Free.
• Licensing clauses Nope.
• Full featured Extendable.
• Rich build system gcc v3/v3.c
• Ecosystem: Community-driven by design, via extensions.
• Modular: Module APIs can be toggled, replaced or switched at runtime.
• Compilers: MSVC, GCC, clang, clang-cl, mingw.
• Desktops: Windows, Linux, OSX. Emscripten (untested).
• App: window, icon, cursors, alerts.
• Input: Keyboard, mouse, battery and gamepad (untested) devices.
• Archives: DIR, ZIP.
• Images: PNG, JPG, TGA, BMP, PSD, GIF...
• Scripts: Lua and Teal languages included.
• UI: buttons, sliders, checkbox, colors, popups.
• Time, timers, threads and coroutines (planned) utilities.
• Logger, callstacks, memory leaks finder, unit-tests.
• Resources: embedded into binary automatically.
• Compression: Deflate.
• Documents: JSON, JSON5, SJSON, XML, INI.
• Upgrade V3. How to Install extensions.
• Extend V3. How to Publish and Share your extensions.

Minimalism everywhere. Why?

v3 is a minimal C framework that omits standard systems (e.g., rendering, audio, math libraries, or asset tools) unless specific extensions are added. This deliberate choice lets developers integrate their preferred tools to build a tailored game engine, enabling game creation with minimal bloat. Key benefits include:

• Freedom of Choice: Developers can select libraries that match their preferred syntax or performance needs, avoiding rigid or unfamiliar APIs.
• Lightweight & Portable: A small footprint boosts performance on low-end hardware and simplifies cross-platform development.
• Customizable & Scalable: Build only what you need, from simple to complex projects, without unnecessary features.
• Clear & Maintainable: A lean codebase enhances understanding, reduces overhead, and eases debugging.
• Community-Fueled: The "bring your own tech" approach encourages community to experiment with new directions for v3, driving its future through innovative contributions.

Quickstart

• Double-click MAKE.bat file. Linux/OSX users can invoke sh MAKE.bat instead.
• Other commands,
  • MAKE tidy to clean environment.
  • MAKE sync to sync repo to latest.
  • MAKE plug to un/install extensions.
• Alternatively,

echo win/vc       && cl  hello.c                  
echo win/clang    && clang hello.c                
echo win/clang-cl && clang-cl hello.c             
echo win/mingw    && gcc hello.c -lgdi32 -ldbghelp
echo linux        && cc hello.c -lm -ldl -lXrandr 

Extensions

• Currently, all these extensions are hosted on github.
• It is planned that the hello demo will be used to un/install extensions in the future.
• For now, you can un/install extensions via MAKE plug script:
  • MAKE plug dir
  • MAKE plug [add|del|syn] *
  • MAKE plug [add|del|syn] user/repo
  • MAKE plug [add|del|syn] @filelist.txt

Credits

Runtime Dale Weiler and Bach Le, Lua authors and Eduardo Bart, Riley Mabb, Rxi, Sean Barrett et al., Teal authors,

License

This software is MIT-0 licensed (No Attribution clause). Any contribution to this repository is implicitly subjected to the same licensing conditions aforementioned.

Links

Still looking for alternatives? Have some:

amulet, aroma, astera, blendelf, bullordengine, candle, cave, chickpea, corange, cute, dos-like, ejoy2d, exengine, game-framework, gunslinger, hate, horde3d, island, juno, l, limbus, love, lovr, mini3d, mintaro, mio, ofx, olive.c, opensource, ouzel, pez, pixie, punity, r96, ricotech, rizz, rvnicraven, tigr, yourgamelib,