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diff --git a/doc/sly.texi b/doc/sly.texi index 3898e5d..e70274a 100644 --- a/doc/sly.texi +++ b/doc/sly.texi @@ -4,9 +4,7 @@ @settitle Sly @c %**end of header @copying -Sly is a 2D game development framework for GNU Guile. - -Copyright @copyright{} 2013 David Thompson +Copyright @copyright{} 2013, 2014 David Thompson @email{davet@@gnu.org} @quotation Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document @@ -28,8 +26,8 @@ The document was typeset with @titlepage @title Sly 0.1 -@subtitle Sly is a 2D game development framework for GNU Guile -@author David Thompson <dthompson@@member.fsf.org> +@subtitle Using the Sly game engine +@author David Thompson @page @vskip 0pt plus 1filll @insertcopying @@ -47,24 +45,128 @@ The document was typeset with @c Generate the nodes for this menu with `C-c C-u C-m'. @menu -* Introduction:: -* Games and Scenes:: -* Graphics:: -* Audio:: -* Scripting:: -* Math:: -* Copying This Manual:: +* Introduction:: About Sly. +* Installation:: Installing Sly. +* Getting Started:: Writing your first Sly program. +* API Reference:: Sly programming interface. +* Contributing:: Help improve Sly! +* Copying This Manual:: The license of this manual. * Index:: @end menu @c Update all node entries with `C-c C-u C-n'. @c Insert new nodes with `C-c C-c n'. -@include introduction.texi -@include game.texi -@include graphics.texi -@include audio.texi -@include scripting.texi -@include math.texi + +@node Introduction +@chapter Introduction + +Sly is a 2D/3D game engine written in the GNU Guile dialect of the +Scheme programming language. With the help of Guile, Sly provides all +of the essential building blocks for making video games, such as: +window management, input even handling, rendering, linear algebra, and +powerful scripting capabilities. Sly differentiates itself from +traditional game engines by providing a dynamic live coding +environment, functional reactive programming, and a declarative scene +graph. + +Live coding is the practice of improvised interactive programming. +Sly provides a suitable environment for live coding by leveraging +Emacs, Geiser, and Guile's cooperative REPL server. With these tools, +programmers may evaluate arbitrary code and see the effects of their +modifications in real time. This tight feedback loop allows for +faster prototyping, greater productivity, and most importantly, more +fun. + +Functional reactive programming (FRP) is a technique used to model +time-varying values with pure functions. A pure function is a +function that produces no side-effects, such as calling 'set!' on a +variable or writing to the contents of an array. Sly encapsulates +time-varying values in ``signals'', a high-level data structure for +controlling the flow of events. Unlike imperative event callbacks, +signals can easily be composed to form new signals. By modeling game +state with pure functions and immutable data, a game can be seen as a +function of time, in the mathematical sense. Constructing a game this +way allows for deterministic behavior that is easier to reason about +than the accumulation of side-effects seen in traditional game +engines. + +A scene graph is a data structure for positioning renderable objects +relative to one another. Child nodes inherit the transformations +applied to their parent, making it easy to move a large amount of +objects around as a group rather than individually. Sly's implements +a declarative scene graph API, which means that the programmer +describes @emph{what} to render, rather than @emph{how} to render it. + +These three major components form a powerful, high-level environment +for building video games. + +@node Installation +@chapter Installation + +Sly is available for download from its website at +@url{sly.dthompson.us}. This section describes the software +requirements of Sly, as well as how to install it. + +The build procedure for Sly is the same as for GNU software packages, +and is not covered here. Please see the files @file{README.org} and +@file{INSTALL.org} for additional details. + +@menu +* Requirements:: Software needed to build and run Sly. +* Examples:: Run example programs. +@end menu + +@node Requirements +@section Requirements + +Sly depends on the following packages: + +@itemize +@item @url{https://gnu.org/software/guile, GNU Guile}, version 2.0.11 or later; +@item @url{https://gnu.org/software/guile-opengl, GNU guile-opengl}, version 0.1 or later. +@item @url{https://gnu.org/software/guile-sdl, GNU guile-sdl}, version 0.5.0 or later; +@item @url{https://gnu.org/software/gsl, GNU Scientific Library}, version 1.16 or later; +@item @url{http://freeimage.sourceforge.net/, FreeImage}, version 3 or later +@end itemize + +@node Examples +@section Examples + +To test your Sly installation, try running some of the included +example programs. Examples can be found in the +@file{share/sly/examples} directory, relative to the installation +prefix. + +To run an example, invoke Guile with the relevant file, such as: +@code{guile simple.scm}. If successful, a window with a sprite in the +center will open. + +A more complex example can further test your installation and show off +what Sly can do. Try running the ``2048'' example in +@file{share/sly/examples/2048} with @code{guile 2048.scm}. + +@node Getting Started +@chapter Getting Started + +@node API Reference +@chapter API Reference + +@menu +* Signals:: Functional reactive programming. +@end menu + +@include api/signals.texi + +@node Contributing +@chapter Contributing + +This project is a cooperative effort, and we need your help to make it +grow! Please get in touch with us on @code{#sly} on the Freenode IRC +network. We welcome ideas, bug reports, patches, and anything that +may be helpful to the project. + +The git source code repository can be found on Gitorious at +@url{https://gitorious.org/sly/sly}. @node Copying This Manual @appendix Copying This Manual @@ -81,7 +183,9 @@ The document was typeset with @node Index @unnumbered Index -@printindex cp +@syncodeindex tp fn +@syncodeindex vr fn +@printindex fn @bye |