I've heard great things about RayLib. It is, I've been told, so easy to use that all you really need is the cheat-sheet, and maybe a quick look at the examples. To date, I never got beyond compiling and running a few examples. So, it's time for a challenge...

Click here to watch the video on Odysee.

The 2D Character Challenge

The challenge was this: write a small program that allows you to control RayLib's "scarfy" 2D character. It's a simple goal, but then, I've never used RayLib before. Watch the video above to see what happened.

In a hurry? Here's a summary:

  • It took about 35 minutes for me to go from nothing, to being able to move and animated scarfy about with the keyboard
  • I found RayLib quite easy to use; it's functions are well named, and the examples are great (nice and short)
  • However, the cheat-sheet is NOT enough. I often had to refer to examples, and even had to look up what RayLib's vector arithmetic functions were in the source-code

Overall, I am impressed with its ease of use so far. Obviously, I've only scratched the surface of what it can do, but it feels quite beginner friendly.

If you've tried/used RayLib before, feel free to share your experience in the comments section below.

The Source Code

Want to see the code? Sure, click here.

NOTE: The final code also supports a game controller. That bit didn't make the video's final cut, but was very easy to add.

Click here for part 2 of the RayLib 2D Challenge.