CMake helper functions for Prisma Engine games

The PrismaEngine SDK exposes two CMake helper functions — prisma_create_app() and prisma_create_editor_extension() — that abstract away the boilerplate required to build a game executable or an editor plugin. Both functions are defined in cmake/PrismaEngineConfig.cmake.in and become available after a successful find_package(PrismaEngine REQUIRED) call.

Setup: finding the package

Before using either function, locate the installed SDK with find_package:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.20)
project(MyGame VERSION 1.0.0 LANGUAGES CXX)

set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 20)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)

find_package(PrismaEngine REQUIRED)

Point CMake at the SDK by passing PrismaEngine_DIR at configure time:

# Development mode — point at a local engine build
cmake -B build -DPrismaEngine_DIR=../PrismaEngine/build/linux-x64-debug

# Installed SDK
cmake -B build -DPrismaEngine_DIR=/opt/PrismaEngine-SDK/cmake

find_package sets the following variables used internally by the helper functions:

Variable	Description
`PRISMAENGINE_INCLUDE_DIR`	Path to the public engine headers
`PRISMAENGINE_LIB_DIR`	Path to the compiled engine libraries
`PRISMAENGINE_CMAKE_DIR`	Path to the installed CMake modules

`prisma_create_app()`

Creates a C++20 executable target linked against PrismaEngine::Engine. It handles include directories, C++ standard enforcement, optional extra libraries, output folder configuration, and — on Windows — automatically copies the engine DLL next to the built executable.

Signature

prisma_create_app(<target>
    [FOLDER <output_dir>]
    [SOURCES <source_file>...]
    [LIBRARIES <library>...]
)

Parameters

target

string

required

Name of the CMake executable target to create. This becomes the binary name (MyGame, MyGame.exe).

FOLDER

string

Sets RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY on the target. The compiled executable is placed in this directory. If omitted, CMake’s default output directory is used.

SOURCES

string[]

List of source files added to the target via target_sources(... PRIVATE ...). If omitted, you must add sources yourself with a separate target_sources() call.

LIBRARIES

string[]

Additional libraries linked privately against the target. The engine itself (Engine / PrismaEngine::Engine) is always linked automatically — only list extra dependencies here.

What it does internally

# Simplified equivalent of prisma_create_app()
add_executable(${APP_NAME})
target_sources(${APP_NAME} PRIVATE ${ARG_SOURCES})
set_target_properties(${APP_NAME} PROPERTIES
    CXX_STANDARD 20
    CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON
    CXX_EXTENSIONS OFF
    RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${ARG_FOLDER}   # if FOLDER was given
)
target_link_libraries(${APP_NAME} PRIVATE Engine ${ARG_LIBRARIES})
target_include_directories(${APP_NAME} PRIVATE ${PRISMAENGINE_INCLUDE_DIR})

# Windows only: copy Engine.dll to output dir after build
if(WIN32)
    add_custom_command(TARGET ${APP_NAME} POST_BUILD
        COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy_if_different
            $<TARGET_FILE:Engine>
            $<TARGET_FILE_DIR:${APP_NAME}>
    )
endif()

Examples

Minimal game project:

find_package(PrismaEngine REQUIRED)

prisma_create_app(MyGame
    SOURCES src/main.cpp
)

Game with multiple sources and an extra physics library:

find_package(PrismaEngine REQUIRED)

prisma_create_app(MyGame
    FOLDER output/bin
    SOURCES
        src/main.cpp
        src/GameApp.cpp
        src/levels/Level1.cpp
    LIBRARIES
        MyPhysicsLib
)

Using the SDK to build the BasicTriangle sample:

cd sdk/samples/BasicTriangle
cmake -B build -DPrismaEngine_DIR=../../../build/linux-x64-debug
cmake --build build
./build/BasicTriangle

`prisma_create_editor_extension()`

Creates a shared library target linked against the Editor target. Editor extensions are loaded by the Prisma editor at startup and can add panels, tools, asset importers, and scene components to the editor UI.

Signature

prisma_create_editor_extension(<target>
    [SOURCES <source_file>...]
)

Parameters

target

string

required

Name of the CMake shared library target. The output is a .dll (Windows) or .so (Linux) that the editor discovers and loads at runtime.

SOURCES

string[]

Source files compiled into the extension. The extension must export its entry point using the EDITOR_EXTENSION_EXPORTS=1 macro, which the function defines automatically.

What it does internally

# Simplified equivalent of prisma_create_editor_extension()
add_library(${EXTENSION_NAME} SHARED ${ARG_SOURCES})
set_target_properties(${EXTENSION_NAME} PROPERTIES
    CXX_STANDARD 20
    CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON
    CXX_EXTENSIONS OFF
)
target_link_libraries(${EXTENSION_NAME} PRIVATE Editor)
target_include_directories(${EXTENSION_NAME} PRIVATE ${PRISMAENGINE_INCLUDE_DIR})
target_compile_definitions(${EXTENSION_NAME} PRIVATE EDITOR_EXTENSION_EXPORTS=1)

Example

find_package(PrismaEngine REQUIRED)

prisma_create_editor_extension(MyExtension
    SOURCES
        src/Extension.cpp
        src/ExtensionPanel.cpp
)

Editor extensions require PRISMA_BUILD_EDITOR=ON in the engine build that produced the SDK. The Editor link target will be absent from SDK builds produced without the editor.

Complete working example

The following CMakeLists.txt builds a game executable and an optional editor extension from a single project:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.20)
project(MyGame VERSION 1.0.0 LANGUAGES CXX)

set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 20)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)

# Locate the PrismaEngine SDK
# Pass -DPrismaEngine_DIR=<path> at configure time
find_package(PrismaEngine REQUIRED)

# ── Game executable ──────────────────────────────────────────
prisma_create_app(MyGame
    FOLDER output
    SOURCES
        src/main.cpp
        src/MyGameApp.cpp
        src/scenes/MainMenu.cpp
        src/scenes/GameLevel.cpp
)

# ── Editor extension (optional) ──────────────────────────────
if(TARGET Editor)
    prisma_create_editor_extension(MyGameEditorPlugin
        SOURCES
            editor/Extension.cpp
            editor/MyGamePanel.cpp
    )
endif()

A matching src/main.cpp:

#include <PrismaEngine/PrismaEngine.h>

using namespace PrismaEngine;

class MyGame : public IApplication<MyGame> {
public:
    bool Initialize() override {
        LOG_INFO("MyGame", "Initializing");
        return Platform::Initialize();
    }

    int Run() override {
        // Main game loop
        return 0;
    }

    void Shutdown() override {
        Platform::Shutdown();
    }
};

int main() {
    MyGame game;
    game.Initialize();
    return game.Run();
}

Configure and build:

cmake -B build -DPrismaEngine_DIR=/opt/PrismaEngine-SDK/cmake
cmake --build build
./build/output/MyGame

System requirements

Requirement	Minimum version
CMake	3.20
GCC (Linux)	11+
Clang (Linux)	13+
MSVC (Windows)	Visual Studio 2022
NDK (Android)	r25+
Vulkan SDK	1.3+

If you see a linker error about missing Engine or Editor targets after find_package, verify that the PrismaEngine_DIR path points to a directory containing PrismaEngineConfig.cmake — not the SDK root itself.

Engine Core

Rendering

Assets & Resources

CMake

CMake helper functions for Prisma Engine games

Setup: finding the package

`prisma_create_app()`

Signature

Parameters

What it does internally

Examples

`prisma_create_editor_extension()`

Signature

Parameters

What it does internally

Example

Complete working example

System requirements

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Engine Core

Rendering

Assets & Resources

CMake

Documentation Index

​Setup: finding the package

​prisma_create_app()

​Signature

​Parameters

​What it does internally

​Examples

​prisma_create_editor_extension()

​Signature

​Parameters

​What it does internally

​Example

​Complete working example

​System requirements

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Setup: finding the package

`prisma_create_app()`

Signature

Parameters

What it does internally

Examples

`prisma_create_editor_extension()`

Signature

Parameters

What it does internally

Example

Complete working example

System requirements