Bolt

Cross-platform 2D game-engine written in C++ (Windows + Linux development support).

Preview

Game

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Editor

External Libraries / APIs

• Bolt-Physics2D - Lightweight 2D Physics Library
• OpenGL - Rendering API
• STB - Graphics Image Library
• GLM - Graphics Math Library
• GLFW - Windowing/input library
• Box2D - 2D Physics Library
• ENTT - ECS Library
• Miniaudio - Multiplatform Audio Library

Build Requirements

• Git + submodule support
• Python 3
• Premake 5 (premake5 in PATH or under vendor/bin)
• C++23-capable compiler

Linux packages (Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y build-essential clang python3 premake5 git-lfs \
  libx11-dev libxrandr-dev libxi-dev libxxf86vm-dev libxcursor-dev \
  libxinerama-dev libxext-dev libxrender-dev mesa-common-dev libgl1-mesa-dev

Setup + Generate Build Files

Windows (Visual Studio)

scripts\Setup.bat

This updates submodules/LFS and generates vs2022 project files.

Linux (GNU Make)

./scripts/Setup.sh

This updates submodules/LFS and generates gmake2 makefiles.

You can also run Premake manually:

premake5 gmake2   # Linux
premake5 vs2022   # Windows

Build

Linux

make config=debug -j$(nproc) Bolt-Engine
make config=debug -j$(nproc) Bolt-Runtime
# Optional if you want the editor
make config=debug -j$(nproc) Bolt-Editor

Windows

Open Bolt.sln in Visual Studio 2022 and build Debug|x64 (or Release|x64 / Dist|x64).

Notes

• Runtime assets are copied to the runtime output directory after build ({targetdir}/Assets).
• Linux builds use GLFW's X11 backend via vendored GLFW sources.

Known Limitations

• Headless CI or WSL setups without an X11/OpenGL environment can compile but may not run editor/runtime windows.