Libraries - Getting Started - Sample applications - Others using zig-gamedev

zig-gamedev project

We build game development ecosystem for Zig programming language, every day since July 2021. Please consider supporting the project. We create:

Cross-platform and composable libraries
Cross-platform sample applications
DirectX 12 sample applications

Vision

Very modular "toolbox of libraries", user can use only the components she needs
Just Zig is required to build on Windows, macOS and Linux - no Visual Studio, Build Tools, Windows SDK, gcc, dev packages, system headers/libs, cmake, ninja, etc. is needed
Building is as easy as zig build
Libraries are written from scratch in Zig or provide Ziggified bindings for carefully selected C/C++ libraries
Uses native wgpu implementation (Dawn) or OpenGL for cross-platform graphics and DirectX 12 for low-level graphics on Windows

Getting Started

Download the latest archive or clone/submodule with Git.

Note: If using Git then you will need Git LFS to be installed.

Get Zig

Our main branch is currenly tracking Zig 0.12.0-dev.2063+804cee3b9 as nominated by the Mach engine project to maintain compatibilty for users of both projects.

zigup is recommended for managing compiler versions. Alternatively, you can download and install manually using the links below:

OS/Arch	Download link
Windows x86_64	zig-windows-x86_64-0.12.0-dev.2063+804cee3b9.zip
Linux x86_64	zig-linux-x86_64-0.12.0-dev.2063+804cee3b9.tar.xz
macOS x86_64	zig-macos-x86_64-0.12.0-dev.2063+804cee3b9.tar.xz
macOS aarch64	zig-macos-aarch64-0.12.0-dev.2063+804cee3b9.tar.xz

If you need to use a more recent version of Zig, you can try our unstable branch. But this is not generally recommended.

Build and run the Samples

To get started on Windows/Linux/macOS try out physically based rendering (wgpu) sample:

zig build physically_based_rendering_wgpu-run

To get a list of all available build steps:

zig build -l

Using the Libraries

Option to download packages using Zig Package Manager coming soon!

Copy each library to a subdirectory in your project and add them as local package dependencies. For example:

build.zig.zon

.{
    .name = "MyGame",
    .version = "0.0.0",
    .dependencies = .{
        .zglfw = .{ .path = "libs/zglfw" },
        .system_sdk = .{ .path = "libs/system-sdk" },
    },
    .paths = "",
}

build.zig

const zglfw = @import("zglfw");

pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
     const zglfw_pkg = zglfw.package(b, target, optimize, .{});

     ...

     zglfw_pkg.link(exe);

     ...
}

Refer to each lib's README.md for further usage intructions.

Libraries

Library	Latest version	Description
zphysics	0.0.6	Build package, C API and bindings for Jolt Physics
zflecs	0.0.1	Build package and bindings for flecs ECS
zopengl	0.4.3	OpenGL loader (supports 4.2 Core Profile and ES 2.0 Profile)
zsdl	0.0.1	Bindings for SDL2 and SDL3 (wip)
zgpu	0.9.1	Small helper library built on top of native WebGPU implementation (Dawn)
zgui	1.89.6	Build package and bindings for Dear Imgui (includes ImPlot)
zaudio	0.9.4	Build package and bindings for miniaudio
zmath	0.9.6	SIMD math library for game developers
zstbi	0.9.3	Image reading, writing and resizing with stb libraries
zmesh	0.9.0	Loading, generating, processing and optimizing triangle meshes
ztracy	0.10.0	Support for CPU profiling with Tracy
zpool	0.9.0	Generic pool & handle implementation
zglfw	0.8.0	Build pacakage & bindings for GLFW
znoise	0.1.0	Build pacakge & bindings for FastNoiseLite
zjobs	0.1.0	Generic job queue implementation
zbullet	0.2.0	Build package, C API and bindings for Bullet physics library
zwin32	0.9.0	Bindings for Win32 API (d3d12, d3d11, xaudio2, directml, wasapi and more)
zd3d12	0.9.0	Helper library for DirectX 12
zxaudio2	0.9.0	Helper library for XAudio2
zpix	0.9.0	Support for GPU profiling with PIX for Windows

Sample applications (native wgpu)

Some of the sample applications are listed below. More can be found in samples directory.

physically based rendering (wgpu): This sample implements physically-based rendering (PBR) and image-based lighting (IBL) to achive realistic looking rendering results.
zig build physically_based_rendering_wgpu-run
audio experiments (wgpu): This sample lets the user experiment with audio and observe data that feeds the hardware.
zig build audio_experiments_wgpu-run
bullet physics test (wgpu): This sample application demonstrates how to use full 3D physics engine in your Zig programs.
zig build bullet_physics_test_wgpu-run
procedural mesh (wgpu): This sample shows how to efficiently draw several procedurally generated meshes.
zig build procedural_mesh_wgpu-run
gui test (wgpu): This sample shows how to use our zgui library.
zig build gui_test_wgpu-run

Sample applications (DirectX 12)

Some of the sample applications are listed below. More can be found in samples directory. They can be built and run on Windows and Linux (Wine + VKD3D-Proton 2.8+):

bindless: This sample implements physically based shading and image based lighting to achieve realistic looking rendering results. It uses bindless textures and HLSL 6.6 dynamic resources.
zig build bindless-run
rasterization: This sample application shows how GPU rasterizes triangles in slow motion.
zig build rasterization-run
simple raytracer: This sample implements basic hybrid renderer. It uses rasterization to resolve primary rays and raytracing (DXR) for shadow rays.
zig build simple_raytracer-run
mesh shader test: This sample shows how to use DirectX 12 Mesh Shader.
zig build mesh_shader_test-run

Others using zig-gamedev

Tides of Revival - First-person, open-world, fantasy RPG being developed in the open
Simulations - GPU Accelerated agent-based modeling to visualize and simulate complex systems
krateroid - 3D strategy game
blokens - Voxel game
Delve Framework - Simple game framework for making games with Lua
jok - A minimal 2D/3D game framework for Zig
Aftersun - Top-down 2D RPG
Pixi - Pixel art editor made with Zig

Hejsil/zig-gamedev