Dungeon Game

A small two‑player arcade style prototype built on SFML 2. Players control a rocket and a robot, earn points via collisions / attacks, and the game features animated sprites, sounds, music, and a simple start/end screen loop.

This repository originated from a Windows Visual Studio project (.vcxproj). This README focuses on building and running the code on macOS (Apple Silicon or Intel) using Homebrew + clang++, and optionally CMake or Xcode.

Note about SFML versions:

• Homebrew may install SFML 3 by default as of late 2025. This code works with SFML 2.x

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1. Project Structure

AnimatedGameObject.*    Sprite sheet animation helper
RegularGameObject.*     Simple textured sprite wrapper
Game.*                  Core game loop, input handling, scoring, collisions
GameObject.h            Base interface (implied by usage) for drawable/movable objects
main.cpp                Start menu + end screen loop; calls Game::run()
resource_path.h         Defines resource_path = "elements//" for asset loading
elements/               Asset root (images, audio, fonts, sprite sheets)
content/                (Present but unused in current code – legacy folder)
SkeletonCode.vcxproj*   Legacy Visual Studio project files (not used on macOS)

All asset loads are performed via resource_path + filename, meaning the working directory must be the project root (so that elements/ resolves). If you run from another directory (e.g. inside build/), either copy the elements/ folder next to the executable or adjust resource_path.h.

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2. SFML Modules Used

The source includes and APIs from:

• Graphics (#include <SFML/Graphics.hpp>) – windows, sprites, fonts, text
• Audio (sf::Music, sf::Sound, sf::SoundBuffer)
• Window / Events (sf::RenderWindow, sf::Event)
• System (sf::Clock, sf::Time)

You must link: sfml-graphics sfml-window sfml-system sfml-audio.

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3. Prerequisites (macOS)

1. Install Homebrew (if not installed):

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

2. Install SFML:

brew install sfml@2

Homebrew places headers in /opt/homebrew/include or /opt/homebrew/opt/sfml (Apple Silicon) or /usr/local/include (Intel), and libs in the matching lib directory. Use brew --prefix sfml@2 to confirm.

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4. Quick Build & Run (One‑liner)

From the project root (so elements/ is visible):

clang++ -std=c++17 \
  main.cpp Game.cpp AnimatedGameObject.cpp RegularGameObject.cpp \
  -I"$(brew --prefix sfml@2)/include" \
  -L"$(brew --prefix sfml@2)/lib" \
  -lsfml-graphics -lsfml-window -lsfml-system -lsfml-audio \
  -Wl,-rpath,"$(brew --prefix sfml@2)/lib" \
  -O2 -o dungeon_game

./dungeon_game

Everything further is ai gerated and untested

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5. Recommended: Separate Build Directory

mkdir -p build
cd build
clang++ -std=c++17 ../main.cpp ../Game.cpp ../AnimatedGameObject.cpp ../RegularGameObject.cpp \
  -I"$(brew --prefix)/include" -L"$(brew --prefix)/lib" \
  -lsfml-graphics -lsfml-window -lsfml-system -lsfml-audio \
  -Wl,-rpath,"$(brew --prefix)/lib" \
  -O2 -o dungeon_game

# Copy assets or adjust resource_path
cp -R ../elements ./
./dungeon_game

Alternative: edit resource_path.h to "../elements//" when running from build/.

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6. CMake Support (Optional)

Create CMakeLists.txt in the repo root:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.15)
project(DungeonGame LANGUAGES CXX)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
set(SOURCES
    main.cpp
    Game.cpp
    AnimatedGameObject.cpp
    RegularGameObject.cpp
)

# Find SFML (Homebrew install). Accept either 2.x or 3.x
set(CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH "${CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH};$(brew --prefix sfml)")
find_package(SFML REQUIRED COMPONENTS graphics window system audio)

add_executable(dungeon_game ${SOURCES})

target_link_libraries(dungeon_game PRIVATE sfml-graphics sfml-window sfml-system sfml-audio)

# Ensure runtime finds dylibs (embed rpath)
set_target_properties(dungeon_game PROPERTIES
    INSTALL_RPATH "$(brew --prefix)/lib"
    BUILD_RPATH   "$(brew --prefix)/lib"
)

Build:

mkdir -p build
cd build
cmake ..
cmake --build . --config Release
cp -R ../elements ./
./dungeon_game

If find_package fails, supply hints:

cmake -DSFML_DIR="$(brew --prefix sfml)/lib/cmake/SFML" ..

If you specifically need SFML 2.x, point SFML_DIR at the 2.x config dir you built/installed.

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7. Xcode IDE Setup (Manual Linking)

1. Open Xcode, create a new macOS Command Line Tool project (C++).
2. Add existing source files (main.cpp, etc.) to the project.
3. Drag in the elements/ folder ("Create folder references" so PNG/TTF/WAV ship with build or copy manually later).
4. In Build Settings:
   • Header Search Paths: $(brew --prefix)/include
   • Library Search Paths: $(brew --prefix)/lib
5. In Build Phases > Link Binary With Libraries: Add
   • libsfml-graphics.dylib
   • libsfml-window.dylib
   • libsfml-system.dylib
   • libsfml-audio.dylib
6. Set Runpath Search Paths (LD_RUNPATH_SEARCH_PATHS): $(inherited) $(brew --prefix)/lib
7. Ensure working directory set to project root (Scheme > Run > Options) or resource paths updated accordingly.

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8. Runtime Asset Path

resource_path.h hardcodes:

const std::string resource_path = "elements//";

So the executable must see ./elements/… at runtime. Options:

• Run from repo root.
• Copy elements/ next to produced binary.
• Change to an absolute path or use macOS bundle resource logic (future improvement).

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9. Controls (Observed From Source)

Player 1 (Robot): Arrow keys (Right key triggers attack), Numpad 4/6/8/5 also mapped for movement. Player 2 (Rocket): WASD movement, Space triggers attack. Other keys:

• O slow down movement speed.
• P speed up movement speed.
• K skip cooldown.
• Escape closes the main game window.
• Menu interactions: Mouse over Start/Quit images and click.

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10. Troubleshooting (macOS)

Issue	Cause	Fix
dyld: Library not loaded: libsfml-graphics.*.dylib	Runtime loader can't locate SFML dylibs	Add runpath: compile with -Wl,-rpath,"$(brew --prefix)/lib" OR export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=$(brew --prefix)/lib. In CMake set INSTALL_RPATH.
Black / empty window	Asset load failure or wrong working dir	Run from repo root or confirm elements/ exists. Check console messages.
Fonts/music not found	Wrong resource path	Verify filenames & case (macOS is usually case‑insensitive but Git may differ).
High CPU usage	No frame limiting (game runs as fast as possible)	Add sf::sleep or setFramerateLimit(60) on the window.
Window scaled oddly / blurry on Retina	Default coordinate scaling	Optionally call window.setView(sf::View(sf::FloatRect(0,0,width,height))); or let macOS scale; adjust assets if blurry.
Input lag with key repeat	Using event + boolean toggles without handling key repeat intervals	Acceptable for prototype; to refine, handle KeyPressed vs KeyReleased distinctly and skip toggling on repeat.
Start screen recursion (calling startgame() repeatedly)	Design uses recursive call after closing end screen	Acceptable for small scope; for long sessions consider refactoring to a single main loop to avoid deep recursion.

Additional diagnostics:

otool -L dungeon_game        # List linked dylibs
brew info sfml               # Confirm install paths

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11. Suggested Improvements (Future Work)

• Introduce a unified game state loop (menu, play, end) rather than recursive startgame() calls.
• Replace hardcoded asset dimensions (sprite sheet frame calculations) with metadata.
• Add frame limiting or vertical sync (m_window.setFramerateLimit(60) or m_window.setVerticalSyncEnabled(true)).
• Convert to CMake + package config entirely and remove legacy .vcxproj files.
• Introduce error handling / asserts for failed loads beyond std::cout messages.
• Bundle resources using an app bundle (.app) and relative Resources/ path for macOS distribution.

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12. License Notes

Fonts and other third‑party assets inside elements/ may carry their own licenses (e.g. SIL Open Font License). Review and preserve any included license files when distributing.

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13. Quick Reference Commands

# Install dependencies
brew install sfml

# Build (simple)
clang++ -std=c++17 main.cpp Game.cpp AnimatedGameObject.cpp RegularGameObject.cpp \
  -I"$(brew --prefix)/include" -L"$(brew --prefix)/lib" \
  -lsfml-graphics -lsfml-window -lsfml-system -lsfml-audio \
  -Wl,-rpath,"$(brew --prefix)/lib" \
  -o dungeon_game

# Run from project root
./dungeon_game

# If dylib not found
export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH="$(brew --prefix)/lib"
./dungeon_game

Building Release

# 0. start clean
mkdir -p dist
cp dungeon_game dist/
cp -R elements dist/
cd dist

# 1. put bundled dylibs in a subfolder (e.g., libs)
mkdir -p libs

# 2. bundle & rewrite load paths to @executable_path/libs
#    (note: no -oD on "." — we're using ./libs)
dylibbundler -b -x ./dungeon_game -d ./libs -p @executable_path/libs

# 3. sanity check: all non-system deps should point at @executable_path/libs
otool -L ./dungeon_game
otool -L ./libs/libsfml-graphics*.dylib
If the checks look good:


cd ..
zip -r dungeon_game_mac.zip dist