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Install

RedGem is experimental. The editor is developed on Linux; there are Windows and macOS downloads too. Pick one of the ways below.

Download (easiest)

System Download
Linux (x86_64) redgem-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
Windows (x86_64) redgem-windows-x86_64.zip
macOS (Apple Silicon) redgem-macos-arm64.zip
macOS (Intel) redgem-macos-x86_64.zip

Unpack it anywhere and run bin/redgem (Linux), redgem.exe (Windows) or open RedGem.app (macOS). Nothing is installed: delete the folder to remove it. The demos are in its games/ folder.

  • Linux needs a desktop with OpenGL 3.3, a processor with AVX2 and glibc 2.39 or newer (Ubuntu 24.04 and later). It builds games for Linux, Windows and Android.
  • Windows is compiled from Linux and has only been tried under Wine, not on a real Windows machine yet. It builds games for Windows.
  • macOS needs macOS 11 or newer. It is built and tested on GitHub's Mac machines (macOS 14 on Apple Silicon, macOS 15 on Intel), which are virtual machines with no graphics card OpenGL can use: there the editor opens, edits, plays and saves a game drawn by Apple's software renderer. It has not been tried on a real Mac yet. It builds games for the Mac only. The app is not signed by a registered Apple developer nor notarized, so macOS refuses it the first time: right-click RedGem.app and choose Open (on macOS 15 and later: try once, then System Settings > Privacy & Security > Open Anyway), or run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine RedGem.app in the unpacked folder.

Wherever this manual says ./build/src/redgem ..., write bin/redgem ... (or redgem.exe ..., or RedGem.app/Contents/MacOS/redgem ... on macOS).

With Docker

You need Docker and a desktop session using X11.

git clone https://github.com/carlosdanielpohlod/redgem.git
cd redgem
tools/docker/editor.sh

The first run builds the image, which takes a few minutes. After that the editor opens in seconds.

  • Games you create are saved in ~/RedGemGames on your machine.
  • The demos are in the games/ folder of the checkout: tools/docker/editor.sh games/platformer.
  • The script takes the same arguments as redgem itself, so wherever this manual says ./build/src/redgem ..., write tools/docker/editor.sh .... Paths must be inside ~/RedGemGames or the checkout's games/ folder: the container sees nothing else.
  • The container has no sound.

From source

You need a C++17 compiler, CMake 3.24 or newer, Ninja, Ruby with rake, and the X11 and OpenGL development files. On Ubuntu or Debian:

sudo apt install build-essential cmake ninja-build git ca-certificates xz-utils ruby rake bison \
  libgl1-mesa-dev libx11-dev libxrandr-dev libxinerama-dev libxcursor-dev libxi-dev libasound2-dev

On macOS: the Xcode command line tools (xcode-select --install), then brew install cmake ninja and a Ruby with rake (the CI builds with Ruby 3.3).

Then:

cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja
cmake --build build
./build/src/redgem

CMake downloads the libraries RedGem is built on at fixed versions. The first build takes a few minutes.

Check that it works

./build/src/redgem (or tools/docker/editor.sh) opens the project hub. Choose Platformer under New game, give it a name, and the editor opens with a level you can play right away: press the Play button, move with WASD, jump with Space.

./build/src/redgem --version says which version you have (RedGem 0.5.0, say): give it when you report a problem. (redgem --help lists everything else the command line does.)

Blender (optional)

You can make whole games without it. Install Blender 4.x when you want to model your own objects or build levels there: see Levels, lighting and Blender.