raylibr

This R package wraps Raylib, a simple and easy-to-use library to enjoy videogames programming.

Installation

You can install the development version of raylibr from GitHub with:

remotes::install_github("jeroenjanssens/raylibr")

raylibr is tested regularly on macOS, Linux, and Windows.

Features

Raylib, the C library that the raylibr package wraps, enables you to work with:

Real-time 2D and 3D graphics
Keyboard and mouse interactivity
Music and sound effects
Physics simulations and collision detection
Animated models and shaders
Multitouch, gesture recognition, and even VR headsets

The raylibr package allows you to do all of this from R, and adds the following usability improvements for R users:

Function and class names are in snake_case (instead of PascalCase used by Raylib)
Use R vectors and matrices (they’re automatically converted to Raylib’s Vector2, Vector3, etc.)
Vectorized drawing functions (enjoy buttery-smooth animations by letting C++ do the looping)
Use R color names (e.g., use "hotpink" instead of 0xff69b4ff or list(r = 255, g = 105, b = 180))
Use only 8 keys to get started (because raylibr is an anagram of library)

Examples

Here’s a “Hello, World!” script to give you an idea of how to use raylibr. You can run this script using demo("helloworld", package = "raylibr").

library(raylibr)

init_window(600, 400, "R & Raylib: Hello, World!")

while (!window_should_close()) {
  alpha <- abs(sin(get_time()))
  begin_drawing()
  clear_background("black")
  draw_circle(300, 200, seq(150, 10, by = -10), c("red", "white"))
  draw_text(c("hello,", "world!"), 225, c(120, 220), 64, fade("black", alpha))
  draw_fps(10, 10)
  end_drawing()
}

close_window()

This script produces the following animation:

While basic, it illustrates how to create a window, how to draw shapes (in a vectorized manner), and how to work with colors. Just imagine what you can do if you add a little keyboard interactivity and some sound effects!

Below are a few more examples to whet your appetite. Run demo(package = "raylibr") to see all available demos in R or visit Raylib’s examples page to see even more examples in C.

Build your own raycaster

Run demo("raycaster", package = "raylibr") to reminisce the 90s and learn how raycasters work. Source: demo/raycaster.R

Play a game of snake

Run demo("snake", package = "raylibr") to play this game. Use the arrow keys to control the snake. Source: demo/snake.R

Load 3D models and apply post-processing shaders

Run demo("model", package = "raylibr") to play this demo. Select a different shader with the left and right arrow keys. Source: demo/model.R

Bounce thousands of transparent balls

Run demo("balls", package = "raylibr") to play this demo. Source: demo/balls.R

Animate cubes while playing music

Run demo("cubes", package = "raylibr") to play this demo. Source: demo/cubes.R

Beatbox like Jeroen

Run demo("beatbox", package = "raylibr") to drop some beats. Press the [a-zA-Z] keys to play the 52 samples recorded by yours truly. Silence the cacophony by pressing Space. Source: demo/beatbox.R

Acknowledgements

Ramon Santamaria for creating Raylib, the C library that makes this all possible.
Dirk Eddelbuettel and others for creating the Rcpp package, which enables the interface with Raylib.
Mike FC for showing me how to expose C structs as R objects.
Jared Lander and team for allowing me to present about R & Raylib at the NYR Conference 2022.
David Robinson for encouraging me to put raylibr on GitHub.
raylibr’s contributors for improving raylibr by submitting issues and pull requests.

License

The raylibr package is licensed under the MIT License.