Mibo.Raylib: A Functional Game Framework for F#

NOTE for ADVENTURERS: raylib is a programming library to enjoy videogames programming; no fancy interface, no visual helpers, no debug button... just coding in the most pure spartan-programmers way.

Following that spirit, Mibo.Raylib keeps it lean — no editors, no pipelines, no wizards. Just F# and the Elmish loop, with a handful of commodities to get out of your way and let you enjoy the craft.

Mibo.Raylib is a lightweight, Elmish-based game framework built on top of raylib. It brings the power of the Model-View-Update (MVU) architecture to game development, encouraging pure game logic and predictable state management.

Getting Started

To get started with Mibo.Raylib, you need the dotnet SDK installed.

dotnet new install Mibo.Raylib.Templates
dotnet new mibo-2d -o MyGame
cd MyGame
dotnet run

You can then start building your game using any of the following:

• VsCode with the
  • Ionide extension (MS Registry)
  • Ionide extension (Open VSX Registry)
• JetBrains Rider
• Visual Studio

Samples

The samples developed for the initial Raylib version and the new MonoGame Samples are being stored in its own repository Mibo.Samples is the place to visit.

You'll find examples of

2D::

• Platformer - A simple platformer featuring lights, normal maps, occluders and particles
  • Sample Mibo.Raylib targeting Desktop OpenGL
  • Sample Mibo.MonoGame targeting Windows Desktop DirectX11
• Space Battle - A minimalistic hex grid strategy game a'la Wargroove or Advanced Wars
  • Sample Mibo.Raylib targeting Desktop OpenGL
• Ping Pong - A Small client-server example
  • Mibo.Raylib Client
  • Mibo.MonoGame Client
  • dotnet app acting as a server running Mibo.Core's headless support

3D:

• Platformer - A simple platformer with 3D models, lights, shadows, particles, and skeletal animation
  • Mibo.Raylib targeting Desktop OpenGL

Why Mibo.Raylib?

Traditional game engines often rely heavily on complex object hierarchies, vendor specific tooling and no specific architecture guidance. Mibo.Raylib offers an alternative:

• Functional First
  • Write your game logic as pure functions that transform state.
  • When you grow enough you adopt mutable state in a predictable way to squeeze out more performance, but you can start simple and keep it pure as long as you want.
  • F# inline, compiler optimizations around functions, byrefs, structs and value types allow you to write high-level code without sacrificing performance.
• Predictable State
  • The MVU architecture enforces a clear separation of concerns with a single source of truth for your game state, making it easier to reason about and debug.
  • The unidirectional data flow ensures that state changes are predictable and traceable, which is especially beneficial in complex game logic.
• Elmish Architecture
  • A well-known architecture in the F# community with a twist for games.
• raylib Power
  • Built on top of raylib, a simple and easy-to-use library to enjoy videogames programming.
  • Cross-platform support and a rich set of features for graphics, input, audio, and more.
• Deferred Rendering
  • Be ready for efficient lighting and post-processing effects without coupling your render logic to the update loop.
  • Be ready for networked games with client-side prediction and server reconciliation without coupling your game logic to the rendering.

Built on

Mibo.Raylib is built on top of:

• raylib — the cross-platform graphics library that powers the rendering, input, and audio layers
• raylib-cs — the C# bindings that make raylib accessible from .NET