A Basic Vantor Engine Application

In this guide, we'll create our first Vantor Engine application that works cross-platform on all supported platforms using the same logic and just a few lines of C++ code. First, let's examine how Vantor Engine's API is structured and how we can access it.

Vantor's API Architecture

The Vantor Engine consists of three layers of API code, allowing us to choose the appropriate level for different use cases.

We'll use the High-Level Layer, which is designed for indie developers and abstracts many of the complexities of cross-platform compatibility.

The Middle-Level Layer provides objects that we can control directly, such as RenderPaths or the RenderDevice itself, allowing us to manipulate rendering behavior on different platforms.

The Low-Level Layer is the abstraction and performance-critical layer that we can also control through custom engine modifications or when writing our own abstraction layers.

Coding Our Application

We can use the High-Level API to create our own application and window context, allowing us to dive right into game development!

First, we'll include the engine's API in our code with a simple include statement:

main.cpp

#include <Vantor/Vantor.hpp>

This statement includes all the core functionality we need to develop our Vantor Engine application.

Next, we'll create the main function and main loop, including our VApplication object:

main.cpp

#include <Vantor/Vantor.hpp>

int main() {
    Vantor::VApplication app; // This is our VApplication object

    // Application creation data (as a struct)
    Vantor::VApplicationCreateInfo appInfo;
    appInfo.windowWidth = 1280; // Window width
    appInfo.windowHeight = 720; // Window height
    appInfo.windowTitle = "MyVantorApplication"; // Window title

    // Initialize the application
    app.Initialize(appInfo);

    // Run application logic
    while (app.IsRunning()) {
        app.BeginFrame();

        // Here you will put your game's update and rendering logic

        app.EndFrame();
    }

    app.Shutdown();

    return 0;
}

When we build and run this code with CMake and Make, we'll see an empty black window with our specified window title! Congratulations! You've just created your first cross-platform application context with Vantor Engine! But there's much more to explore.

What Just Happened?

In summary, we created a VApplication object that requires initialization information (VApplicationCreateInfo) to be set up properly. Behind the scenes, the VApplication handles input management, rendering setup, resource management, and much more, so we don't need to configure these systems manually.

In the main loop, the application creates a new frame with BeginFrame() and instructs the window context and render device to prepare a new frame for rendering while updating all objects and utilities that need to be refreshed each frame.