cpp-starter-project/README.md

# Game Dev Starter Pack

This repository contains a simple C++ project with the basics you need to get a game in C++ going.  It's meant to be an educational starting point for people interested in learning to make games in C++ from scratch.  It also would be a decent starting point for building a game with other frameworks like [Raylib](https://www.libsdl.org/), [SDL2](https://www.libsdl.org/), or anything that needs to be compiled.  This setup also works on Windows, OSX, and Linux and includes a "meta install" script for Windows that installs a complete C++ development environment.

I recommend you get this project working with SFML and then rework it for the other framework you want to use, but honestly SFML is really good and works well.

## If You Just Want to Make a Game

This project is more geared toward people who want to learn C++ by making a bunch of little games, or people who want to learn how to make games from almost nothing.  If you have a burning desire to craft a game, then I recommend _not_ using this project and instead go learn any of these:

1. [Defold](https://defold.com/)
2. [Game Maker Studio](https://gamemaker.io/en)
3. [Godot](https://godotengine.org/)
4. [Unreal Engine](https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US)
5. [O3DE](https://o3de.org/)

Keep in mind that I've only played with each of these, and have _not_ made a full game in them, so my opinion is highly suspect.  You should probably just download each one, think of a tiny little game to make, and try to make it. Pick the framework that gets the most of your game done with the least effort.

## Windows

If you have nothing installed then you'll want to run the `scripts/windows_setup.ps1` script to install everything. This script will run and prompt you for admin passwords as it installs what you need, so be sure to stay near your computer to type passwords in when requested.  To run it do this:

> NOTE: Instructions for install C++ on windows coming soon.

After you have everything installed do this:

```shell
make reset
make
make run
```

## macOS

For macOS it's way easier.  Get XCode and [Meson](https://mesonbuild.com/) installed.  Once you have
XCode do this:

```shell
make reset
make
make run
```

### "Keyboard without any keys"

If you get a weird error message of, "We got a keyboard without any keys" it's because of a security feature in OSX.  Go to `Security settings->Input Monitoring` and select your Terminal. Check it, enter your admin password, then restart your Terminal.  Now you can...read the keyboard in your own software.

No, this does not enhance security at all. These people have gone full on insane at this point.

## Linux

Linux is difficult because people seem to mangle their Linux into unusable territory, so it's
assumed that you know how to install a C++ compiler and Make.  The only warning I have to give you
is this:

> __WARNING__ This project is setup to build clean on every computer, which means it will _NOT_ use
> your broke as Linux hacked mangled packages.  If you get errors when linking with `fmt` that's
> probably because your Linux thinks it's smart and broke that library and you're trying to link to
> it.  Don't, it won't work. Just use my `meson.build` and avoid your system's packages at all
> costs.

After that do the same thing:

```shell
make reset
make
make run
```


## Next Steps

I want the `main.cpp` to hit all the major features of SFML without getting too large, so these are some of the features I need to add:

1. Joystick control.
2. Drawing a floor and walls that work with the physics.
3. Possibly using the networking and threading capabilities of SFML, but not really sure for what.
4. Some kind of hit point calculator, since most everyone needs that.