MiniECS (Mini Entity Component System)

MiniECS is a simple C++ ECS-style framework built for learning purposes. Inspired by Unity’s architecture, it shows how Units and Modules (akin to GameObjects and Components) can work together in a minimal setup.

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Table of Contents

• Overview
• Features
• Getting Started
• Installation
• Usage
• Examples
• Architecture
• Contributing
• License

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Overview

MiniECS is a lightweight C++ framework designed to help you understand the principles of the Entity-Component-System (ECS) architecture.

• Units represent entities (like GameObjects).
• Modules represent components (like Transform, Renderer, etc).

This project is best suited for educational exploration and prototyping, rather than production-level game development.

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Features

• Minimal and readable C++ codebase.
• Simple ECS architecture with Units and Modules.
• Extensible: Add your own modules (components) easily.
• Inspired by Unity, but minimal and dependency-light.
• MIT-licensed for open learning and extension.

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Getting Started

Prerequisites

• C++20 compatible compiler (e.g. GCC, Clang, MSVC).
• CMake for build configuration.
• GLM (header-only math library) for Transform module.
  • Make sure to adjust the include path for GLM in TransformModule.h as needed.

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Installation

Clone and build the project:

git clone https://github.com/raoulkdev/MiniECS.git
cd MiniECS
cmake .
make

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Usage

After building, run the executable:

./MiniECS

You can modify src/main.cpp to experiment with the ECS framework.

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Examples

Here’s a minimal example (see src/main.cpp):

#include "unit/Unit.h"
#include "world/World.h"
#include "modules/transform/TransformModule.h"

int main() {
    // Create a world (scene)
    MiniECS::World scene("Scene");

    // Add a unit (entity)
    scene.createUnit("u1");

    // Add modules/components to the unit
    scene.getUnitByName("u1")->addModule(MiniECS::ModuleType::Renderer);
    scene.getUnitByName("u1")->addModule(MiniECS::ModuleType::Transform);

    // Access and modify a module
    auto* transform = scene.getUnitByName("u1")->getModule<MiniECS::TransformModule>();
    if (transform) {
        transform->position = {22.5f, 33.4f};
    }

    // Start the main loop
    scene.play();
}

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Architecture

• World: Container for all Units.

  • createUnit(name): Add new Unit by name.
  • getUnitByName(name): Get a Unit pointer.
  • play(): Starts the main loop for all Units/Modules.

• Unit: An entity (like a GameObject).

  • Holds a vector of Modules.
  • Methods: addModule, removeModule, getModule<T>, etc.

• Module: Base class for all components.

  • Extendable for custom components.
  • Built-in: TransformModule, RendererModule.

• Extending: Add your own Modules by inheriting from Module, then register and add them to Units.

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Contributing

Pull requests, suggestions, and improvements are welcome! For larger changes, please open an issue to discuss your ideas.

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.