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Setting Up the Development Environment

This guide covers installing dependencies and configuring your environment for developing with the Rift Game Engine.

Prerequisites Overview

\htmlonly

graph LR
    classDef required fill:#134e3a,stroke:#10b981,color:#e2e8f0
    classDef optional fill:#4a3520,stroke:#f59e0b,color:#e2e8f0

    subgraph Required["Required Tools"]
        CMake["CMake 3.10+"]:::required
        Git["Git"]:::required
        Compiler["C++23 Compiler"]:::required
    end

    subgraph Libraries["Required Libraries"]
        GLFW["GLFW 3.3+"]:::required
        GLM["GLM"]:::required
        GLAD["GLAD"]:::required
        STB["stb_image"]:::required
    end

    subgraph Optional["Optional"]
        Vulkan["Vulkan SDK"]:::optional
        FreeType["FreeType 2"]:::optional
    end

\endhtmlonly

Required Tools

CMake

Version: 3.10 or higher

Platform Installation
Windows Download installer or choco install cmake

Verify installation:

cmake --version

C++ Compiler

The project requires C++23 support.

Platform Compiler Notes
Windows Visual Studio 2022+ Install "Desktop development with C++" workload

Dependencies

Dependency Overview

Library Purpose Required
GLFW Window creation, input handling Yes
GLM Mathematics (vectors, matrices) Yes
GLAD OpenGL function loading Yes (for OpenGL)
stb_image Image file loading Yes
FreeType Font rendering Optional
Vulkan SDK Vulkan graphics API Optional

Automatic Setup (Windows)

We provide a PowerShell script to automatically download and configure dependencies:

# Open PowerShell in project root
.\setup.ps1

This script will:

  1. Clone GLFW into external/glfw/
  2. Download stb_image.h into external/stb/
  3. Check for GLM and GLAD (provides instructions if missing)

Manual Setup

If the automatic script doesn't work, follow these steps manually:

Project Structure

After setup, your external/ directory should look like:

external/
|-- glfw/
|   |-- CMakeLists.txt
|   |-- include/
|   +-- src/
|-- glad/
|   |-- include/
|   |   |-- glad/
|   |   |   +-- glad.h
|   |   +-- KHR/
|   |       +-- khrplatform.h
|   +-- src/
|       +-- glad.c
|-- glm/
|   +-- glm/
|       |-- glm.hpp
|       +-- ...
+-- stb/
    +-- stb_image.h

GLFW

Clone GLFW into external/glfw/:

git clone https://github.com/glfw/glfw.git external/glfw

Or download a release from glfw.org.

GLM

Option 1: Git clone

git clone https://github.com/g-truc/glm.git external/glm

Option 2: Download release

  1. Download from GitHub Releases
  2. Extract so headers are at external/glm/glm/glm.hpp

GLAD (OpenGL Loader)

GLAD must be generated for your specific OpenGL version:

  1. Go to GLAD Generator
  2. Configure:
    • Language: C/C++
    • Specification: OpenGL
    • API gl: Version 4.6
    • Profile: Core
    • Options: Check "Generate a loader"
  3. Click Generate
  4. Download the zip file
  5. Extract contents to external/glad/: 
    external/glad/
|-- include/
|   |-- glad/
|   |   +-- glad.h
|   +-- KHR/
|       +-- khrplatform.h
+-- src/
    +-- glad.c

stb_image

Download the single-header library using PowerShell:

mkdir external\stb -Force
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nothings/stb/master/stb_image.h" -OutFile "external\stb\stb_image.h"

Optional: Vulkan SDK

For Vulkan rendering support:

Windows

  1. Download from LunarG Vulkan SDK
  2. Run the installer
  3. Verify installation: 
    glslangValidator --version

Optional: FreeType

For text rendering support:

Windows

FreeType is bundled or can be installed via vcpkg:

vcpkg install freetype:x64-windows

Verifying Setup

After installing dependencies, verify your setup (run in Developer Command Prompt):

:: Check CMake
cmake --version

:: Check compiler
cl

:: Check Vulkan (optional)
vulkaninfo

:: Check GLSL compiler (optional)
glslangValidator --version

Troubleshooting

"Could not find GLFW"

CMake cannot find GLFW. Solutions:

  1. Ensure GLFW is in external/glfw/
  2. Check that external/glfw/CMakeLists.txt exists

"Could not find GLM"

CMake cannot find GLM. Solutions:

  1. Ensure GLM is in external/glm/
  2. Check that external/glm/glm/glm.hpp exists

"glad.h not found"

GLAD was not properly set up:

  1. Regenerate GLAD at glad.dav1d.de
  2. Ensure files are in external/glad/include/glad/glad.h
  3. Ensure external/glad/src/glad.c exists

"stb_image.h not found"

  1. Download stb_image.h manually
  2. Place it in external/stb/stb_image.h

Vulkan Validation Layers Missing

If you see validation layer warnings:

  1. Reinstall Vulkan SDK
  2. Ensure VK_LAYER_PATH environment variable is set
  3. Run vulkaninfo to check that validation layers are installed

Next Steps

After setting up dependencies:

  1. Build the project
  2. Learn the editor
  3. Understand the architecture

Platform-Specific Notes

Windows

  • Use x64 Native Tools Command Prompt for command-line builds
  • Visual Studio 2019+ recommended for IDE development
  • PowerShell execution policy may need adjustment for scripts: 
    Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser

See Also