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What's Overload?

Overload is a free, open-source 3D game engine made in C++ with Lua as its scripting language.

Originally created in 2019 by Benjamin VIRANIN, Max BRUN, and Adrien GIVRY as a graduation project, it has since evolved into an community-driven initiative supported by dozens of contributors.

Overload pillars are:

• 🐣 Ease of use – Inspired by other commercial engines, so you feel right at home.
• 🧊 Simplicity – Minimalistic by design, avoiding unnecessary complexity.
• 💭 Pragmatic Design – Features are carefully considered and deeply integrated.
• 📄 Documentation – Scripting API and documented source-code.
• 🤝 Community-Driven – Welcoming contributions and feedback from all developers.
• ⚙️ Modern C++20 – Leveraging the power and safety of up-to-date C++ features.

Features

• Lua scripting
• Game editor
• Prefab system
• Physically-Based Rendering (PBR)
• Custom shaders support
• Windows game building
• Profiling tools
• Material editor
• Spatial audio
• Rigidbody physics
• Skeletal animation
• And many more to come...

Check out our issues and pull requests to learn more about what's coming next!

Documentation

Check-out Overload's documentation to find sample projects, tutorials & the scripting API!

Getting Started

Before running Overload, we highly recommend downloading one of Overload's sample projects!

Pre-Built Binaries

In a rush? Get the latest release!

Building From Sources

Windows (MSVC)

git clone https://github.com/Overload-Technologies/Overload
cd Overload
.\gen_proj.bat vs2022 # generate project files for Visual Studio 2022
.\Overload.sln # Open the solution in Visual Studio

[!note] Officially supported actions for gen_proj.bat are: vs2022 (default), gmake, codelite.
Refer to premake's website for more information.

Linux (Clang)

git clone https://github.com/Overload-Technologies/Overload
cd Overload
./gen_proj.sh gmake # generate project files for Makefile
make -j$(nproc) # build the project using all available CPU cores

[!important] The editor requires zenity to be installed on Linux.

[!note] Officially supported actions for gen_proj.sh are: gmake (default), codelite.
Refer to premake's website for more information.

Architecture

Overload is divided into 11 modules: 9 libraries (SDK), and 2 executables (Applications).

Overload SDK

The Overload SDK is the core of the engine. It is a set of libraries used by our applications: OvGame and OvEditor. We designed theses libraries with reusability in mind. They are highly modular and easy to extract from a game engine context.

• OvDebug: Logging and assertions.
• OvTools: Serialization, file system, platform, events, clock, and more.
• OvMaths: Vectors, matrices, quaternions, transforms.
• OvAudio: Audio engine, built around SoLoud.
• OvPhysics: Physics engine, built around Bullet3.
• OvRendering: Rendering engine, built around BareGL.
• OvWindowing: Handles inputs and windows using GLFW.
• OvUI: Widget-based UI, leveraging ImGui under the hood.
• OvCore: Component-based scene system, scripting, and resource management.

Overload Applications

Overload applications use the Overload SDK to operate.

• OvGame: A data-driven executable for any game built with Overload.
• OvEditor: An editor for building your game.

Dependencies

Overload depends on a few third-party libraries:

• BareGL (C++20 OpengGL 4.5 wrapper)
• GLFW (Windowing and inputs)
• Assimp (3D model loader)
• Bullet3 (Physics)
• SoLoud (Audio)
• Tinyxml2 (XML serializer)
• Sol3 (Lua binding)
• ImGui (GUI)
• Premake5 (Project generation)

Contributing

Overload is open to contributions of all kinds. Feel free to open issues (feature requests or bug reports) or submit pull requests.

If you'd like to contribute, please refer to our contribution guildelines.

Minimum Requirements

RAM	1GB
OS	Windows 7 & Linux
GPU	Graphics card supporting OpenGL 4.5
CPU	x86_64

Screenshots