C++ support 2024?

Questions
#1

Hello all, have a nice day!

Long time, no post, sorry. I just wanted to ask about the current C++ support state.
As stated here, some C++ support was in the road plan, has been any changes lately?

I come from working with Unreal and Unity and the thing I prefer the most from Unreal compared to Unity is the ability to use C++ and go from gameplay code to engine code in one breakpoint, I admit this is not the normal workflow, but when you really need it, it can save you a lot of time. Considering the documentation of such behemoth of engine sometimes is not updated or even exists.

Last year I checked Defold, all gameplay was still made in Lua, and unfortunately for big projects using non typed languages is a no-no for me. Also the workflow involved online servers for building. I found it was possible to have local servers but I was not able to made it work quickly and gave up.

Are there still plans to work on this? I’d like a workflow that would be able to run the whole project from the IDE, it would be great to have.

Best regards
Laurens

#2

you mean C#?

#3

They are working on it. There are a few GitHub issues that track progress. JCash might be able to give an idea of how much work/time is left.

Since the C++ and C# support are connected, you may find this one interesting too:

1 Like
#4

Yes, the task(s) haven’t been as fast going as we’d have liked.
Currrently we have two initiatives:

  • Add more functionality to our C++ sdk
  • Add a C# api as well.
    (And then going back and forth between the two, adding more functions)

We’re currently at the stage where we’re trying to build C# for WIndows on a LInux machine (Who could have known it would be an issue…).
Once that’s fixed, I hope we can pick up the pace again.

I’d also like to point out that it’s not scripting, it’s writing and compiling native code, and building on a build server. Turnaround times will increase.

I also want to mention our new Teal extension, that let’s you write typed Lua.

3 Likes
#5

As I understand, you are talking about a workflow where you open the engine code in an IDE, start writing your logic in C++ using the same IDE, and then compile it all together? If so, no, we don’t have plans for this.

It will still be our extender server that builds your C++ code and links it with the engine.

If you checked the setup of a local extender last year, I recommend you take a look at our new setup, which was released last month.

We now have a container registry with ready-to-use Docker images, and the installation process for a local extender should be much easier! Please take a look at this forum post: Big build server improvements!

3 Likes
#6

There is an example here of recreating the sidescroller example using C++ if you want to get a feel for how it works to write C++ game logic in Defold:

2 Likes
#7

On the scripting side, in addition to official support for Teal, there’s also community-supported TypeScript and Haxe.

4 Likes
#8

thank you! I’ll check it

#9

hi @Mathias_Westerdahl
thanks for the heads up!