GameHAT-Launcher

Very simple game launcher

Prerequisites

• install dietpi and enable autologin in "dietpi-autostart"
• install the dependencies:

apt install -y cage

Note

In the future I probably could create a DRM build, but using cage for running the launcher and games ensure more compatibility

• configure the GameHAT controller This step is only necessary if you are using a GameHAT, you can follow the instructions here
• start To start the launcher at startup you can copy the following .bash_profile in your user home directory:

if [[ -z $DISPLAY && $(tty) == /dev/tty1 ]]; then
    export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/tmp/runtime-$(id -u)
    mkdir -p "$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR"
    chmod 700 "$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR"
    exec cage -- /usr/local/bin/GameHAT_Launcher > /tmp/gamehat.log 2>&1
fi

Install

You can get the latest binaries here

Build from source

Requires zig 0.17 and some of the following system libraries

git clone https://github.com/SimoneFelici/GameHAT-Launcher.git
cd GameHAT-Launcher

zig build

Cross Building

mkdir <sysroot-gamehat-path>

docker run --rm -it --platform linux/arm64 -v <sysroot-gamehat-path>:/sysroot debian:trixie bash

apt update
apt install -y libwayland-dev libxkbcommon-dev libegl1-mesa-dev libgles2-mesa-dev
mkdir -p /sysroot/usr/include /sysroot/usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu
cp -r /usr/include/* /sysroot/usr/include/
cp -r /usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/* /sysroot/usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/

zig build gamehat -Dsysroot=<sysroot-gamehat-path> -Doptimize=ReleaseSmall
scp zig-out/gamehat/GameHAT_Launcher zig-out/gamehat/libraylib.so <dietpi-ip>:/tmp

ssh dietpi

cp /tmp/libraylib.so /usr/local/lib/
cp /tmp/GameHAT_Launcher /usr/local/bin/
sudo ldconfig

Important

You only need to copy the .so and launch ldconfig for the first time, or if the build.zig changes the raylib build

Configuration

You can configure the GameHAT-Launcher by creating a config.zon file in ~/.config/GameHAT-Launcher This is the default configuration:

.{
    // Only rgb colors are supported!
    .background_color = .{ .r = 0, .g = 30, .b = 39, .a = 255 },
    .text_color = .{ .r = 156, .g = 194, .b = 195, .a = 255 },
    .highlight_color = .{ .r = 245, .g = 75, .b = 0, .a = 255 },

    // Folder where you store your games, the games needs to be in a folder
    .games_folder = "/usr/local/games",

    // How many items are viewable in the screen
    .max_viewable_items = 5,

    // Text dimensions, smaller value = bigger text :)
    .text_scale = 10,

    // Spacing between characters
    .text_spacing = 5,
}

You can also customize how the game will be launched by creating a .launchopts.zon file in one of your game directory. For example:

.{
    .exec = "/usr/local/games/so_long/so_long",
    .args = .{ "maps/map.txt", "--fullscreen" },
    .env = .{
        .{ "TEST", "test" },
    },
}