C++ Game Utility Libraries

🖥️ C++ Game Development Utility Libraries

Coming from a Rust background, you might be looking for some C++ game development utility libraries. We are talking about the C++ equivalents for clap, dbg!, format! and log here. With the C++ ecosystem working a little differently to Rust’s it can be harder for a newcomer to discover libraries offering common utility functions for your game.

Although we mentioned Rust developers, hopefully the post is also useful to anyone new to C++, with other backgrounds, or coming back to C++ after some time away.

Let me know if you find the post useful, and of course, if you would like to see similar content covering other C++ tooling. If you are looking for game engine and ECS options, see the recent post on C++ Game Dev.

⌨️ C++ Utility Libraries with Rust Equivalents

CLI11

Command line parser for C11++ and later / Rust equivalent: clap crate

CLI11 offers CLI argument parsing in modern C++. This library needs minimal boilerplate code and supports some nice-to-have features, such as input validation and automatic usage and help message generation. It also works well with CMake. Definitely worth adding to your C++ Game Dev tool belt, as even for GUI games, you might want to accept CLI parameters for adjusting screen size, for example.

There’s much more to say; it just works!

Learn more about CLI11 here:

• GitHub repo: CLIUtils/CLI11
• Book: CLI11 book
• Code Examples: CLI11 Examples

dbg(…)

C++ macro for debugging / Rust equivalent: inbuilt macro: dbg!(x)

The Rust dbg macro offers a quick way to add a printout of a variable in your app to the console. This package, was inspired by the Rust macro, and brings you similar features. Of course, you could use std::cout, std::format or fmt::format (see fmtlib, below). Those are better suited to more general use cases, and dbg(…) adds the source file and line number in the output, making it ideal for quick debugging. The other advantage of using this library, is that it becomes easier to remove your debug output for release builds, or when you no longer need it in the code.

Example from the GitHub repo:

  std::vector<int32_t> numbers{b, 13, 42};
  dbg(numbers);  // TERMINAL OUTPUT: [example.cpp:21 (main)] numbers = {7, 13, 42} (std::vector<int32_t>)

The library works well with CMake.

Learn more about dbg(…) here:

• GitHub repo: sharkdp/dbg-macro

fmtlib

Rust equivalent: inbuilt macro: format!("Some text {x}")

C++20 brings std::format, improving C++ developer experience for formatting strings. If you have to use older standards, though, add fmtlib to your repo. It plays well with CMake and you can use CPM to add fmtlib to your project. The library supports many Rust format macro features, and makes code far cleaner when you need to do string interpolation with variables.

Example from the GitHub repo:

std::string s = fmt::format("The answer is {}.", 42);

Learn more about fmtlib here:

• GitHub repo: fmtlib/fmt
• Documentation: fmtlib docs
• Cheat Sheets: fmtlib Cheat Sheets

FTXUI

C++ library for terminal-based user interfaces / Rust equivalent: ratatui crate

Functional Terminal (X) User Interface (FTXUI) is a neat library for creating text user interfaces. You could design your a game using it; in fact, there is a list of existing FTXUI games in the GitHub repo, including a Minesweeper clone. FTXUI generates cross-platform executables and also supports generating WebAssembly (WASM) output, for sharing the app on the Web.

See CMake FetchContent details on the GitHub repo.

Learn more about FTXUI here:

• GitHub repo: ArthurSonzogni/FTXUI
• Documentation: FTXUI docs
• WebAssembly Code Examples: FTXUI Examples

spdlog

Fast C++ logging library / Rust equivalent: log crate

spdlog provides logging, generating messages with the usual log levels (trace, debug, info etc.). You can format messages using the fmtlib syntax (see fmtlib, above). Its speed makes it is a nice choice to add to your toolkit for building observability into your C++ game, right inside the game loop.

Alternatives are glog from Google is full-featured, like spdlog, while Plog offers a lightweight alternative. Both are worthy upgrades on using C++ built-in std::clog.

Learn more about spdlog here:

• GitHub repo: gabime/spdlog
• Documentation: spdlog wiki

🙌🏽 C++ Game Utility Libraries: Wrapping Up

In this C++ game utility libraries, we had a look at some C++ libraries useful for game dev. More specifically, we saw:

• C++ equivalents to poplar Rust libraries;
• considered spdlog for observability in your C++ game; and
• FTXUI for text-based games.

I hope you found this useful. Do let me know if you would like to see more similar content. Also reach out if there is anything I could improve to provide a better experience for you.

🙏🏽 C++ Game Utility Libraries: Feedback

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