R-Type Lua Engine

A VS Code extension to install the R-Type engine and to create, open and run Lua games made with it, without leaving the editor.

Features

Install / update the engine: clones, builds and installs the engine in ~/.local (no sudo needed).
Create a project: generates a ready-to-run Lua project, and can initialize a git repository for it.
Open a project: pick one of your projects from a list.
Run the game: launches the game of the open project, with its output shown in VS Code.

Everything is available from:

the Lua Engine icon in the left sidebar,
the ▶ button at the top right of the editor (run game),
the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P).

Requirements

Linux
git, with SSH access to git@github.com:pierrick-simon/R-Type.git
cmake and a C++ compiler (g++ or clang++)
VS Code 1.143 or newer

Commands

Command	What it does
Install engine	Clones the engine into `/tmp/R-Type`, builds it in Release and installs it in `~/.local`. Also adds `~/.local/lib` to `LD_LIBRARY_PATH` in `~/.bashrc` and `~/.zshrc`.
Update engine	Pulls the latest engine sources in `/tmp/R-Type`, then rebuilds and reinstalls it.
Create lua project	Asks for a name, creates the project in `~/Documents/LuaEngineProjects/<name>`, optionally runs `git init`, then opens it.
Open lua project	Lists the projects in `~/Documents/LuaEngineProjects` and opens the one you pick.
Run lua game	Copies the installed engine into the open project as `./<name>`, then runs it.

Command output (build logs, game logs, errors) is shown in the Output panel, channel R-Type Engine.

Project layout

A project created by the extension looks like this:

~/Documents/LuaEngineProjects/<name>/
├── <name>          # game binary (copy of the engine, not versioned)
├── config.conf     # window and engine settings
├── src/
│   └── game.lua    # your game code
└── .gitignore      # only if git init was chosen; ignores <name>

config.conf

windowFPS = 60
windowWidth = 800
windowHeight = 600
windowName = MyGame
srcDirectory = src
modules = Window, Keyboard, Mouse

src/game.lua — start is called once by the engine. It registers an update system, called every frame, which stops the game when the window is closed.

local function update(gm)
    if gm:windowShouldClose() then
        gm:stop()
    end
end

function start(gm)
    gm:createSystem(update)
end

Working on a project with others

The game binary is not committed (it is in .gitignore). To work on a cloned project:

Run Install engine once.
Clone the project into ~/Documents/LuaEngineProjects/, keeping the project name as the folder name.
Open it and click Run game: the binary is copied from the installed engine before each run.

This also means every project always runs the latest installed version of the engine.

Troubleshooting

error while loading shared libraries: libengine-*.so The engine libraries are in ~/.local/lib. Reinstall the engine with the extension (it sets the library path in the binary), or open a new terminal so that LD_LIBRARY_PATH from ~/.bashrc / ~/.zshrc is loaded.

Update engine fails with cd: /tmp/R-Type: No such file or directory /tmp is cleared when the computer restarts. Run Install engine again.

Run game says "Open a project located in ..." The open folder must be inside ~/Documents/LuaEngineProjects/.

Create project fails with ENOENT ... .local/bin/game The engine is not installed. Run Install engine first.

Development

npm install
npm run compile   # type-check, lint and build into dist/

Press F5 in VS Code to open an Extension Development Host window with the extension loaded. Restart it after changing package.json.

The whole extension is in src/extension.ts; commands, sidebar and buttons are declared in package.json.

R-Type lua engine epitech

Ariel Amriou