CRM64Pro GDK

Overview

CRM64Pro is a modern, free, cross-platform Game Development Kit built on top of SDL3 and distributed under the zlib license. It is designed to help developers create high-performance 2D games: arcade, platformers, action, RTS, retro-style titles and more, through a clean, modular and hardware-accelerated C++17 framework.

CRM64Pro is the successor to the CRM32Pro SDK, rebuilt from the ground up using over a decade of development experience. Originally based on SDL2, CRM64Pro was fully migrated to SDL3 in 2023 to take advantage of modern rendering and audio systems.

Complete API documentation is included (generated with Doxygen), covering all modules, interfaces and usage examples. Some practical applications, such as the EditorC64 and example games (e.g., Pac-Man Evolution) are available with full source code.

Details

General

Developed in modern C++17.
High-level API providing all essential functionality for 2D games and tools.
Clean, modular, well-structured architecture designed for performance and maintainability.
Distributed as both dynamic and static libraries, with a stable ABI for future updates.
Dynamic library can be used from other languages such as Java, Delphi and Visual Basic.
Includes the EditorC64 suite for asset creation and editing.

Main Modules

Advanced and configurable logging system.
Profiling and micro-benchmarking tools for performance analysis.
Secure CDC (Compressed Data Container) format for packaging all game resources.
Mechanisms to detect tampering or modification of executables.
Independent timing control for logic updates and rendering loops.
High-quality pseudo-random number generation (WELL512 and MWC).
Fast hashing algorithms based on xxHash.
Integrated XML parser for both external files and embedded CDC data.
Customizable configuration system with optional GUI-based setup tool.

Graphics Modules

High-performance Tile Engine (MSTE) with full support for TMX maps from the Tiled editor.
Lightweight GUI system with multilayer support and a wide range of widgets.
Full sprite engine with animation states, blending, transforms and more.
[In development]: integration with Spine2D skeletal animation.
Automatic sprite interpolation (“tweening”) for smooth visual motion.
BMP and PNG image support.
Surface transformations: rotation, scaling and anti-aliasing.
Flexible, fast font engine supporting imported fonts.
Built-in image filters: noise, blur, negative, grayscale, black and white, wiggle and pixelate.
Rendering backends: Software, OpenGL, Vulkan, Direct3D 9/11/12, Metal and X11.

Sound and Music Modules

Flexible audio system supporting mono, stereo and surround output.
Dynamic sound effects including panning, fade-in/out and mixing.
Separate channels for sound effects and music.
Supported formats: WAV, VOC, FLAC, OGG, MP3, MOD, XM, IT, S3M, MED, MTM, 669 and many others.

Network Module

TCP/IP networking using a client and server architecture.
Server can run standalone or integrated into your application.
Authoritative and non-authoritative modes.
Up to 16 clients with optional password authentication.
Secure communication layer with tamper detection.

Operating systems and compilers supported

Windows

Windows 7 to Windows 11 (64-bit).
Render drivers: Direct3D 9, Direct3D 11, Direct3D 12, Vulkan, GPU, OpenGL and software.
Audio drivers: WASAPI and DirectSound.
Visual Studio 2022 or later.

Linux

Any x86-64 Linux distribution with kernel 4.18 or later.
Render drivers: Vulkan, GPU, OpenGL, X11, Wayland and software.
Audio drivers: ALSA and PulseAudio.
GNU C and C++ 13.x or newer.

macOS

For x86_64, macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) or later.
For arm64, macOS 11 (Big Sur) or later.
Render drivers: Metal (recommended), Vulkan, GPU, OpenGL and software.
Audio drivers: CoreAudio.
Clang 12 or later.

Third-party libraries

CRM64Pro is built on top of SDL and other high-quality open-source libraries. Some libraries include minor modifications; updated source code is included in the downloads.