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Building Your Project

This guide covers how to build your Vantor Engine project using CMake, including platform-specific configurations and build system setup.

Build System Overview​

Vantor Engine uses CMake as its primary build system, which provides cross-platform support and flexible configuration options. The build process involves:

  1. Configuration - CMake generates platform-specific build files
  2. Compilation - The actual building of source code
  3. Linking - Combining object files and libraries

Project Structure​

Before building, ensure your project has the following structure:

MyVantorProject/
├── Vantor/                  # Engine Directory
├── Source/                 # Your source code
│   ├── main.cpp
│   └── ... (other source files)
├── Build/                  # Build output directory
├── Assets/                 # Game assets (optional)
└──CMakeLists.txt         # CMake configuration

Platform Configuration​

Vantor Engine supports multiple platforms through CMake variables. You can specify the target platform during configuration.

Setting Platform Variables​

Use the PLATFORM variable to specify your target platform:

# Windows
cmake -DPLATFORM=Windows ..

# Linux
cmake -DPLATFORM=Linux ..

# Nintendo Switch (Experimental and not avalible to public yet)
cmake -DPLATFORM=Switch ..

Building the Project​

Step 1: Create Build Directory if not done yet​

First, create and navigate to the Build directory:

cd MyVantorProject
mkdir -p Build
cd Build
tip

Always build in a separate directory to keep your source tree clean. This is called an "out-of-source build."

Step 2: Configure with CMake​

Configure your project for the target platform:

# Building with Make
cmake -G "Unix Makefiles" -DPLATFORM=Linux ..

Step 3: Build the Project​

Once configured, build your project:

# Build project using Make
make

Build Configuration Options​

You can customize your build with additional CMake variables:

note

These features will be implemented later on!

Custom Build Directory Names​

Organize builds by platform and configuration:

# Create platform-specific build directories
mkdir Build-Windows-Release
mkdir Build-Linux-Debug

# Configure each separately
cd Build-Windows-Release
cmake -G "Unix Makefiles" -DPLATFORM=Windows ../..

Clean Builds​

Remove build artifacts and start fresh:

# Clean build files
cmake --build . --target clean

# Or remove the entire Build directory
cd ..
rm -rf Build
mkdir Build
cd Build
cmake ..

Running Your Built Project​

After a successful build, your executable will be in the Build directory:

# Windows
./MyVantorProject.exe

# Linux
./MyVantorProject

Troubleshooting Build Issues​

Common Problems​

CMake not found:

# Install CMake
# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install cmake

# Windows - Download from https://cmake.org

Compiler not found:

  • Ensure you have a C++20 compatible compiler installed
  • On Windows, install Visual Studio or MinGW
  • On Linux, install build-essential: sudo apt-get install build-essential

Missing dependencies:

  • Make sure all git submodules are initialized: git submodule update --init --recursive
  • Install platform-specific dependencies as listed in the prerequisites

Build fails with linking errors:

  • Check that all required libraries are installed
  • Verify the VANTOR_ENGINE_PATH points to the correct location
  • Ensure platform-specific libraries are available

Happy building! 🔨