ACE

Toolchain for portable C++ game engine development.

Supported Targets: Linux, MinGW
Supported Architectures: x86_64
Linux Sysroot: Debian 11
MinGW Runtime: UCRT

Dependencies

Install dependencies and configure the operating system.

Windows

1. Install Git.
2. Install CMake.
3. Install Vulakn SDK.
4. Install WiX Toolset.
5. Install 7-zip.
6. Create toolchain directory.

md C:\Ace

WSL

1. Create a WSL configuration file: %UserProfile%\.wslconfig

[wsl2]
kernelCommandLine=vsyscall=emulate
memory=18GB

2. Configure the system in PowerShell as administrator.

# Show known file extensions in Explorer.
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" -Name "HideFileExt" -Type DWord -Value 0

# Show hidden files in Explorer.
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" -Name "Hidden" -Type DWord -Value 1

# Enable NTFS paths with length over 260 characters.
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem" -Name "LongPathsEnabled" -Type DWord -Value 1

# Enable WSL support.
dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart
dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

# Install WSL distribution if it is not already installed.
# wsl --install --distribution Debian

# Update WSL distribution if it is already installed.
# wsl --shutdown
# wsl --update

3. Reboot the system.
4. Log in and finish the WSL installation if prompted.
5. Execute wsl -s Debian on the Command Line if you want Debian to be the default WSL distribution.
6. Execute wsl -d Debian on the Command Line to start WSL.
7. Follow Linux (Debian) instructions below.

Linux

1. Update system and install dependencies.

# Debian
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt autoremove --purge -y
sudo apt clean

sudo apt install -y \
  curl xz-utils wine pkg-config vulkan-validationlayers binutils \
  sudo man-db manpages manpages-dev xdg-user-dirs libncurses6

# Gentoo
sudo emaint sync -a
sudo emerge -auUD @world
sudo emerge -ac

sudo emerge -avn \
  net-misc/curl \
  app-arch/xz-utils \
  app-emulation/wine-proton \
  dev-util/pkgconf \
  media-libs/vulkan-layers \
  sys-devel/binutils \
  app-admin/sudo \
  x11-misc/xdg-user-dirs \
  sys-libs/ncurses

2. Install CMake.

# Download archive.
curl -L https://github.com/Kitware/CMake/releases/download/v3.31.3/cmake-3.31.3-linux-x86_64.tar.gz \
     -o /tmp/cmake.tar.gz

# Extract archive.
sudo mkdir /opt/cmake
sudo tar xf /tmp/cmake.tar.gz -C /opt/cmake -m --strip-components=1

# Create environment variables.
sudo tee /etc/profile.d/cmake.sh >/dev/null <<'EOF'
export PATH="/opt/cmake/bin:${PATH}"
EOF

sudo chmod 0755 /etc/profile.d/cmake.sh
source /etc/profile.d/cmake.sh

3. Configure wine(1).

winecfg
wine

WSL: WSLg

Configure WSLg.

# Create service.
mkdir -p ~/.config/systemd/user

tee ~/.config/systemd/user/symlink-wayland-socket.service >/dev/null <<'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=Symlink Wayland socket to XDG_RUNTIME_DIR

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/usr/bin/ln -s /mnt/wslg/runtime-dir/wayland-0 ${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR}/
ExecStart=/usr/bin/ln -s /mnt/wslg/runtime-dir/wayland-0.lock ${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR}/

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target
EOF

exit

wsl --shutdown Debian
wsl -d Debian

# Enable and start service.
systemctl --user --now enable symlink-wayland-socket

# Install `foot(1)` and `xterm(1)` to test Wayland and Xorg support.
sudo apt install -y foot xterm

Build

1. Install build dependencies.

# Debian
sudo apt install -y \
  git debootstrap

# Gentoo
sudo emerge -avn \
  dev-vcs/git \
  dev-util/debootstrap

2. Download source code and build toolchain.

# Create toolchain directory.
sudo mkdir /opt/ace
sudo chown $(id -u):$(id -g) /opt/ace

# Clone toolchain repository.
git clone https://github.com/qis/ace /opt/ace

# Build toolchain.
cd /opt/ace
sh src/build.sh

Install

Use archives from the build step.

Windows

Install toolchain on Windows.

rem Create directory.
md C:\Ace

rem Extract toolchain.
7z x "%UserProfile%\Downloads\ace.7z" -oC:\Ace

rem Register toolchain.
SystemPropertiesAdvanced.exe

1. Create the system environment variable ACE and set it to C:\Ace.
2. Add C:\Ace\bin to the Path system environment variable.

Linux

Install toolchain on Linux (in case it was built on another system).

# Create directory.
sudo mkdir -p /opt/ace
sudo chown $(id -u):$(id -g) /opt/ace

# Extract toolchain.
tar xf "$(xdg-user-dir DOWNLOADS)/ace.tar.xz" -C /opt/ace

# Register toolchain.
sudo tee /etc/profile.d/ace.sh >/dev/null <<'EOF'
export ACE="/opt/ace"
EOF

sudo chmod 0755 /etc/profile.d/ace.sh
source /etc/profile.d/ace.sh

Usage

1. See doc/editor.md for editor configuration instructions.
2. See src/template for a template project.

License

This software is available under the "MIT No Attribution" license.

Copyright 2025 Alexej Harm

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of
this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in
the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to
use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies
of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do
so.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.

Projects compiled with this toolchain must be distributed under the following conditions.

1. Linux: GCC Runtime Library
   No license needed (GCC Runtime Library Exception)

2. Windows: MinGW-w64 Runtime Library
   src/template/res/license.txt

3. LLVM Runtime Libraries
   src/template/res/license.txt

4. Ports Libraries
   ports/*/share/*/copyright