dusklight/docs/building.md

Building Dusklight

Dependencies

The following dependencies are required:

• CMake 3.25+
• Python 3+

Windows

• Install CMake 3.25+ by searching CMake Tools in Visual Studio
• Install Python 3 from the Microsoft Store and verify it's added to %PATH% by typing python in cmd.

Recommended IDEs:

• Visual Studio 2026 Community. During installation:
  • Select C++ Development and verify the following packages are included:
    • Windows 11 SDK
    • CMake Tools
    • C++ Clang Compiler
    • C++ Clang-cl

macOS

• Make sure Homebrew is installed
• Install CMake 3.25+

brew install cmake

• Install Python 3

brew install python@3

Recommended IDEs:

• Xcode 16.4 or later
• Visual Studio Code
• CLion

Linux

Actively tested on Ubuntu 24.04, Arch Linux & derivatives.

Ubuntu 24.04+ packages

Click to expand

• Run the following command to install the required dependencies:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y \
    build-essential \
    clang \
    cmake \
    curl \
    git \
    libasound2-dev \
    libclang-dev \
    libcurl4-openssl-dev \
    libdbus-1-dev \
    libfreetype-dev \
    libglu1-mesa-dev \
    libgtk-3-dev \
    libncurses5-dev \
    libpng-dev \
    libpulse-dev \
    libudev-dev \
    libvulkan-dev \
    libx11-xcb-dev \
    libxcursor-dev \
    libxi-dev \
    libxinerama-dev \
    libxrandr-dev \
    libxss-dev \
    libxtst-dev \
    lld \
    ninja-build \
    python-is-python3 \
    python3 \
    python3-markupsafe \
    zlib1g-dev

Arch Linux packages

Click to expand

• Run the following command to install the required dependencies:

sudo pacman -S --needed \
    alsa-lib \
    base-devel \
    clang \
    cmake \
    freetype2 \
    libpulse \
    libxrandr \
    lld \
    llvm \
    ninja \
    python \
    python-markupsafe \
    vulkan-headers

Fedora packages

Click to expand

• Run the following command to install the required dependencies:

sudo dnf install -y \
    clang-devel \
    cmake \
    libpng-devel \
    llvm-devel \
    ninja-build \
    vulkan-headers

• It's also important that you install the developer tools and libraries

sudo dnf groupinstall \
    "Development Libraries" "Development Tools"

Recommended IDEs:

• CLion
• Visual Studio Code

Building

• Clone and initialize the Dusklight repository:

git clone --recursive https://github.com/TwilitRealm/dusklight.git
git pull
cd dusklight
git submodule update --init --recursive

CLion (Windows / macOS / Linux)

Open the project directory in CLion. Enable the appropriate presets for your platform:

Visual Studio (Windows)

Open the project directory in Visual Studio. The CMake configuration will be loaded automatically.

ninja (macOS)

cmake --preset macos-default-relwithdebinfo
cmake --build --preset macos-default-relwithdebinfo

Alternate presets available:

• macos-default-debug: Clang, Debug

ninja (Linux)

cmake --preset linux-default-relwithdebinfo
cmake --build --preset linux-default-relwithdebinfo

Alternate presets available:

• linux-default-debug: GCC, Debug
• linux-clang-relwithdebinfo: Clang, RelWithDebInfo
• linux-clang-debug: Clang, Debug

ninja (Windows)

cmake --preset windows-msvc-relwithdebinfo
cmake --build --preset windows-msvc-relwithdebinfo

Alternate presets available:

• windows-msvc-debug: MSVC, Debug
• windows-clang-relwithdebinfo: Clang-cl, RelWithDebInfo
• windows-clang-debug: Clang-cl, Debug

Running

Windows / Linux

• Pass the disc image as a positional argument using the --dvd flag. Supported formats are: ISO (GCM), RVZ, WIA, WBFS, CISO, GCZ

build/{preset}/dusklight --dvd /path/to/game.iso

macOS

macOS builds an .app bundle which contains the executable and all necessary resources.

• Pass the disc image as a positional argument using the --dvd flag. Supported formats are: ISO (GCM), RVZ, WIA, WBFS, CISO, GCZ

build/{preset}/Dusklight.app/Contents/MacOS/Dusklight --dvd /path/to/game.iso