defold/defold
Defold
Defold is a cross-platform game engine and integrated development environment used to create 2D and 3D games for desktop, mobile, and web targets. It combines a game development IDE for asset and scene management with a multi-platform build system and a scripting environment based on Lua.
The engine includes a specialized headless runtime for hosting game servers and performing automated testing without a graphical interface. It supports native engine extensions, allowing custom low-level code to be integrated into the core to expand functionality beyond the standard scripting interface.
The toolset covers game build automation for distribution to platforms such as Steam and the Epic Games Store, alongside asset packaging and project localization management. Development capabilities include real-time game debugging with live state updates, build size analysis, and automated smoke testing.
Features
- Game Development Frameworks - Provides a high-performance framework for building and deploying games across desktop, mobile, and web platforms from one codebase.
- Cross-Platform Build Systems - Provides automated build configurations for compiling a single codebase across multiple operating systems and hardware architectures.
- Game Development IDEs - Ships an integrated editor for managing game assets, scene composition, and project configuration in one environment.
- Multi-Platform Export Tools - Provides utilities for packaging and exporting game projects to native mobile devices and web browsers.
- Native Engine Extensions - Supports native engine extensions that allow custom low-level C++ code to be integrated into the core engine functionality.
- Headless Servers - Implements dedicated game server instances that operate without a graphical interface for server-side logic and match management.
- Binary Cross-Compilation - Compiles source assets and scripts into native executable binaries for mobile, desktop, and web platforms.
- Lua Game - Uses an embedded Lua interpreter for runtime game logic scripting with support for hot-reloading.
- Live Configuration Updates - Updates code and assets in a running instance immediately without requiring a full application restart.
- Headless Execution Environments - Provides a mode for running the engine without a graphical interface for server-side logic and automated testing.
- Hot Code Reloading - Allows updating application logic and assets in a running environment without requiring a full process restart.
- Asset Packagers - Provides tools for bundling game textures and sounds into optimized portable archives to reduce disk footprint.
- Game Build Packaging - Bundles game assets and executables into platform-specific distributable files.
- Cross-Platform Game Compilation - Includes a toolchain for building native binaries across multiple platforms from a single source codebase.
- Game Asset Management - Implements systems for creating and tracking internal engine resources like textures and sounds within a resource manager.
- Game Build Automation - Provides automated compilation and upload processes for distributing game binaries to platforms like Steam and the Epic Games Store.
- Real-time State Debugging - Enables inspecting and modifying game object properties and state in real time during live execution via an interactive console.
- Native Engine Extensions - Enables the integration of low-level C++ code to provide specialized functionality beyond the Lua scripting interface.
- Headless Runtimes - Includes a specialized runtime mode that executes engine logic without a graphical interface for servers and testing.
- Smoke Testing - Verifies software stability by executing key event sequences while monitoring logs and capturing screenshots.
- Game Development Engines - Free engine for developing desktop, mobile, and web games.
- Game Engines - Open-source engine optimized for cross-platform 2D game development.
