Hi everyone! First post here 
I’m Jaisurya, and I make Rigby2D, a free and open-source 2D skeletal animation editor (MIT or Apache-2.0). Today’s release adds a full runtime for Defold.
What it is
The runtime is a native extension: the Rigby2D runtime written in C++, which your build server compiles for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS and HTML5. It plays everything the editor makes:
- meshes and weights, IK, transform / path / physics / slider constraints
- skins, clipping, two-color tint, blend modes, events
- layered tracks with crossfades and queued animations
- whole scenes: a stage with several characters, a camera and parallax
It matches the editor frame by frame: CI replays the reference runtime’s output against the C++ one on every commit (bone matrices, vertices, colors, draw order, events).
Install
Add this to game.project ▸ Dependencies and fetch libraries:
https://github.com/jaisurya-dev-art/rigby2d/releases/latest/download/rigby2d-defold.zip
Then, on a game object with a factory for /rigby2d/piece.go:
local rigby2d = require("rigby2d.rigby2d")
function init(self)
self.hero = rigby2d.new({ skeleton = "/assets/hero.skel", atlas = "/assets/hero.atlas", animation = "idle" })
self.hero:on_event(function(e) print(e.name) end)
end
function update(self, dt)
self.hero:update(dt)
end
Scenes work the same way with rigby2d.new_scene({ scene = "/assets/intro/intro.scene.json" }).
Performance
The C++ code writes each frame’s triangles straight into the mesh components’ vertex buffers: no per-vertex work in Lua and no allocation in steady playback. NILA, our demo character (39 bones, 890 mesh vertices, hair physics), poses in about 12 µs.
Sprite sheets too
If you’d rather play frames, the editor can export a sprite sheet straight to a Defold atlas with one animation per animation.
Links
- Guide and full API: rigby2d/runtimes/defold/README.md at develop · jaisurya-dev-art/rigby2d · GitHub
- Editor (runs in the browser, no install): Rigby2D
- Demo project (NILA, Rigbytron and a scene) on the Releases page
It’s brand new, so feedback, bug reports and “this broke in my project” are all very welcome. Thanks for making such a nice engine to build for!
