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bkaradzic
bgfx
C++2014–2026
bkaradzic / bgfx

bgfx

Cross-platform, graphics API agnostic, "Bring Your Own Engine/Framework" style rendering library.

42Distinct people
43Mentions
0Explicit recommenders
17.6KGitHub stars
REPOSITORY AT A GLANCE

What to know before exploring

What it is

Cross-platform, graphics API agnostic, "Bring Your Own Engine/Framework" style rendering library.

GitHub

Where it is used

No documented product use was verified in the last source check.

What people are saying

No recommendation phrase was found in the indexed comments.

No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.

Also in these discussions

Mentioned in the same Hacker News threads. That is not proof they are substitutes.

This week on Hacker News

Nov 8–Nov 15 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/15/2026, 11:34:28 AM UTC.

No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.

Mentions over time

HN mentions by year43 dated mentions

Observed mentions: 2014-04-18 03:43:32 UTC to 2026-06-13 17:44:48 UTC.

0123452014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 2 mentions; 0 submissions, 2 comments20142015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 3 mentions; 1 submissions, 2 comments2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 4 mentions; 0 submissions, 4 comments2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 3 mentions; 1 submissions, 2 comments2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 3 mentions; 2 submissions, 1 comments2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 4 mentions; 2 submissions, 2 comments2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 3 mentions; 0 submissions, 3 comments20202021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 5 mentions; 1 submissions, 4 comments2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 3 mentions; 0 submissions, 3 comments2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 4 mentions; 0 submissions, 4 comments2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 5 mentions; 0 submissions, 5 comments2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 2 mentions; 1 submissions, 1 comments2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 2 mentions; 0 submissions, 2 comments. Incomplete calendar period.2026*

* An incomplete calendar period is marked with an outlined bar. Its count is not directly comparable with a full period.

Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.

View mention counts and date ranges
UTC ranges include their start and exclude their end. Select a period to filter the source evidence.
PeriodStart (UTC)End (exclusive, UTC)MentionsSubmissionsComments
20142014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC202
20152015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC312
20162016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC404
20172017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC312
20182018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC321
20192019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC422
20202020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC303
20212021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC514
20222022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC303
20232023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC404
20242024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC505
20252025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC211
2026 (partial)2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC202

From the project README

An excerpt from the repository, fetched Nov 13, 2026.

Read the project’s introduction
bgfx - Cross-platform rendering library What is it? - Building - Getting Involved - Examples - API Reference - Tools - Who is using it? - License GitHub Discussions Discord Chat GitHub Actions What is it? Cross-platform, graphics API agnostic, "Bring Your Own Engine/Framework" style rendering library. Supported rendering backends: Direct3D 11 Direct3D 12 GNM (only for licensed PS4 developers, search DevNet forums for source) Metal OpenGL 4.3+ OpenGL ES 3.0+ Vulkan WebGL 2.0 WebGPU (Dawn Native only) Supported platforms: Android (4.0+) - API 14 or later iOS/iPadOS/tvOS (16.0+) Linux macOS (13.0+) PlayStation 4 RaspberryPi UWP (Universal Windows, Xbox One) Wasm/Emscripten Windows (7+) Supported compilers: Clang 11 and above GCC 11 and above VS2022 and above Apple clang 12 and above Languages: C/C++ API documentation Beef API bindings C# language API bindings C3 language API bindings Python language API bindings D language API bindings Go language API bindings Haskell language API bindings Lightweight Java Game Library 3 bindings Java language API bindings Lua language API bindings Nim language API bindings Pascal language API bindings Rust language API bindings (new) Swift language API bindings Zig language API bindings Who is using it? #madewithbgfx AirMech https://www.carbongames.com/airmech-strike - AirMech is a free-to-play futuristic action real-time strategy video game developed and published by Carbon Games. cmftStudio https://github.com/dariomanesku/cmftStudio - cmftStudio - Cubemap filtering tool. Crown https://github.com/crownengine/crown - Crown is a complete and cross-platform game engine designed for flexibility, performance, and fast-iterations. Offroad Legends 2 http://www.dogbytegames.com/ - Dogbyte Games is an indie mobile developer studio focusing on racing games. Torque6 https://github.com/andr3wmac/Torque6 - Torque 6 is an MIT licensed 3D engine loosely based on Torque2D. Being neither Torque2D or Torque3D it is the 6th derivative of the original Torque Engine. Kepler Orbits https://github.com/podgorskiy/KeplerOrbits - KeplerOrbits - Tool that calculates positions of celestial bodies using their orbital elements. CETech https://github.com/cyberegoorg/cetech - CETech is a data-driven game engine and toolbox inspired by Bitsquid/Stingray engine. ioquake3 https://github.com/jpcy/ioq3-renderer-bgfx - A renderer for ioquake3 written in C++ and using bgfx to support multiple rendering APIs. DLS http://makingartstudios.itch.io/dls - DLS, the digital logic simulator game. http://dls.makingartstudios.com/sandbox/ - DLS: The Sandbox. MAME https://github.com/mamedev/mame - MAME - Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. Blackshift https://store.steampowered.com/app/741110/Blackshift/ - Blackshift is a grid-based action puzzle game game full of guns, blocks, robots, bombs, lasers, conveyor belts, mirrors, machines, landmines, keys, doors, teleports, crystals, force fields, secrets and mysteries. Real-Time Polygonal-Light Shading with Linearly Transformed Cosines https://eheitzresearch.wordpress.com/415-2/ - Real-Time Polygonal-Light Shading with Linearly Transformed Cosines, Eric Heitz, Jonathan Dupuy, Stephen Hill and David Neubelt, ACM SIGGRAPH 2016. Dead Venture http://www.dogbytegames.com/dead_venture.html - Dead Venture is a new Drive 'N Gun game where you help a handful of survivals reach the safe haven: a military base on a far island. REGoth https://github.com/degenerated1123/REGoth - REGoth is an open-source reimplementation of the zEngine, used by the game "Gothic" and "Gothic II". Ethereal Engine https://github.com/volcoma/EtherealEngine - EtherealEngine is a C++ game engine and WYSIWYG editor. Go Rally http://gorallygame.com/ - Go Rally is top-down rally game with a career mode, multiplayer time challenges, and a track creator. vg-renderer https://github.com/jdryg/vg-renderer#vg-renderer - vg-renderer is a vector graphics renderer for bgfx, based on ideas from both NanoVG and ImDrawList (Dear ImGUI). Zombie Safari http://www.dogbytegames.com/zombie_safari.html - Do what you please in this open-world offroad driving game: explore massive landscapes, complete challenges, smash zombies, find secret locations, unlock and upgrade cars and weapons, it's up to you! Smith and Winston http://www.smithandwinston.com/ - Smith and Winston is an exploration twin stick shooter for PC, PS4 & XBoxOne arriving in late 2018. Smith and Winston features a massively destructible voxel world, rapid twin stick combat, physics puzzles and Metroid-style discovery. Football Manager 2018 http://www.footballmanager.com/ - Football Manager 2018 is a 2017 football management simulation video game developed by Sports Interactive and published by Sega. WonderWorlds http://wonderworlds.me/ - WonderWorlds is a place to play thousands of user-created levels and stories, make your own using the extensive in-game tools and share them with whomever you want. two-io / mud https://hugoam.github.io/two-io/ - An all-purpose c++ app prototyping library, focused towards live graphical apps and games. Talking Tom Pool https://outfit7.com/apps/talking-tom-pool/ - A "sling and match" puzzle game for mobile devices. GPlayEngine https://github.com/fredakilla/GPlayEngine#gplayengine - GPlayEngine is a C++ cross-platform game engine for creating 2D/3D games based on the GamePlay 3D engine v3.0. Off The Road http://www.dogbytegames.com/off_the_road.html - A sandbox off-road driving simulator. Coal Burnout https://beardsvibe.com/ - A multiplayer PVP rhythm game. My Talking Tom 2 https://outfit7.com/apps/my-talking-tom-2/ - Many mini games for mobile devices. NeoAxis Engine https://www.neoaxis.com/ - Versatile 3D project development environment. xatlas https://github.com/jpcy/xatlas#xatlas - Mesh parameterization library. Heroes of Hammerwatch https://store.steampowered.com/app/677120/Heroes_of_Hammerwatch/ - Heroes of Hammerwatch
Read the full README on GitHub

What Hacker News says

4 sources
A game engine is mostly tools, foundations (containers, serialisation), gameplay frameworks (entities, components, AI). This is not a game engine by my definition if it's marketed as "Vulkan only". Also, I have the feeling that every game should look different and have its own art direction, being able to switch the whole rendering pipeline is essential. Why not contribute to bgfx[1] really? It's a "Graphics API", not a "game engine"... [1] https://github.com/bkaradzic/bgfx
In Intrinsic: An Open-Source, Cross-Platform Vulkan Game Engine
Of course they do, but under NDA, just ask. OpenGL on top of whatever GAPI is on target platform is usually <100 KLOC, so completely possible to write your own if you REALLY need to (really is when your 1kk+$ budget game will fail just because there is an engineering problem). And if you don't have resources to ask/communicate than just use something like https://github.com/bkaradzic/bgfx/ which is an awesome API agnostic rendering library.
In Vulkan Tutorial
What's your goal exactly? Depending on your goal there's a few routes. If you want to produce compelling VR experiences then I'd recommend you download Unity. You should be able to start making real, valid prototypes for different types of VR interactions in under a week. If you want to graphics then I might recommend you poke at http://humus.name/index.php?page=3D or https://github.com/bkaradzic/bgfx. But graphics isn't my specialty so my thoughts aren't the strongest. If you want to learn C++ then... that's an interesting question I've not thought of before. Maybe I'd start with "Learn C the Hard Way"? http://c.learncodethehardway.org/book/ I'm not as much of a C fanboy/C++ hater as other game devs. I quite like C++11 lambdas and move semantics. But I hate boost and it's ilk. So starting with C and later adding a dash of C++ seems like
Read the rest
a good way to start.
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