Nevo Engine Documentation

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Nevo Engine is a C++ game engine with a data-oriented ECS, JSON scenes, native gameplay systems, OpenGL and DX12 backends, NVEditor tooling, physics through Jolt, and component-driven post-processing.

This wiki is written for game developers first. The public API pages use exported headers from include/nevo or Nevo-Engine/shared; internal headers are documented only when you are modifying the engine itself.

Getting Started

• Build and Run - Build the engine, Nevo-base, and NVEditor on Windows/MSYS2 or Linux.
• Game Project Structure - Where code, scenes, materials, shaders, textures, and runtime artifacts live.
• Editor Workflow - Open projects, edit scenes, round-trip JSON, and work with materials in NVEditor.

Game Development

• ECS Public API - Register components and systems, create entities, and run gameplay logic.
• Input Management - Keyboard, mouse, focus, and cursor-lock APIs.
• Debug Utilities - Logging, crash handling, system diagnostics, and runtime flags.
• Scene JSON - Scene file shape, built-in component JSON, load paths, and custom component registration.
• Materials and Shaders - Material JSON, shader metadata, texture slots, and renderer flags.

API Reference

• Engine API - Public::Engine, lifecycle, flags, scenes, and custom component loaders.
• ECS API - Coordinator, System, signatures, component views, and entity lifetime.
• Built-In Components - Transform, rendering, camera, light, animation, physics, and post-processing fields.
• Physics API - PhysicsSystem, rigidbodies, colliders, public body controls, and raycasts.
• Input API - Key codes, mouse state, and cursor control.
• Debug API - DebugManager, log levels, crash dumps, and helpers.

Practical Examples

• Freecam and Custom Systems - A complete custom component/system pattern from Nevo-base.
• Character Controller Pattern - A practical rigidbody/capsule controller recipe using public physics APIs.
• Sky and Environment - The current cubemap mesh workaround used by outside.json.
• Physics Scene Setup - Dynamic, kinematic, static, box, capsule, and mesh collider examples.
• Post-Processing Stack - ACES, bloom, vignette, film grain, and auto exposure.
• Material and Shader Recipes - Textured materials, unlit sky materials, and editor metadata.

Engine and Editor Internals

• Engine Codebase Structure - The engine source layout and generated public artifact flow.
• Public vs Internal API - What games should include and what stays engine-private.
• Resource Management - Runtime assets, GPU resources, caching, and invalidation.
• Asset Loaders - Scene, mesh, GLTF/OBJ, material, shader, and texture loader behavior.
• Rendering Backends - OpenGL/DX12 notes, render targets, post-processing, and editor viewport UVs.

Working Rule of Thumb

Use the public headers and JSON formats first. If a workflow requires an internal header, document it as engine work, not game code.