raylib 3.7.0.post2

Python CFFI bindings for Raylib

Python Bindings for Raylib 3.7

New CFFI API static bindings. Faster, fewer bugs and easier to maintain than ctypes.

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Install

Option 1: Install from Pypi (easiest but may not be up to date or be available for your platform)

We distribute a statically linked binary Raylib library, install from Pypi.

pip3 install raylib==3.7.0

Some platforms that should be available:

Windows 10 (64 bit): Python 3.7 - 3.9

Linux (Ubuntu 16.04+): Python 3.6 - 3.9

If yours isn't available then pip will attempt to build from source, so you will need to have raylib development libs installed.

See here for a Raspberry Pi build: https://github.com/electronstudio/raylib-python-cffi/issues/31#issuecomment-862078330

Option 2: Build from source

If you're using a platform we don't have binary builds for yet then you can either use the dynamic binding with your own dll or else you will have to build from source. If you do build on a new platform please submit your binaries as a PR.

These instructions have been tested on Ubuntu 20.10 and 16.04. Mac should be very similar. Windows is probably different.

Clone this repo including submodules so you get correct version of Raylib.

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/electronstudio/raylib-python-cffi

Windows

Open Visual C++ command shell.

Fix the symlink that doesnt work on Windows

cd raylib-python-cffi
copy raylib-c\src\raylib.h raylib\raylib.h

Build and install Raylib from the raylib-c directory.

cd raylib-python-cffi/raylib-c
mkdir build
cd build
cmake -DWITH_PIC=on -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..
msbuild raylib.sln /target:raylib /property:Configuration=Release
copy raylib\Release\raylib.lib ..\..
cd ..\..

To update the dynamic libs, download the official release, e.g. https://github.com/raysan5/raylib/releases/download/3.7.0/raylib-3.7.0_win64_msvc16.zip and extract raylib.dll into raylib/dynamic. Delete the files for other platforms, unless you want them in your distribution.

To build a binary wheel distribution:

rmdir /Q /S build
pip3 install cffi
pip3 install wheel
python setup.py bdist_wheel

and install it:

pip3 install dist\raylib-3.7.0-cp37-cp37m-win_amd64.whl

(Note: your wheel's filename will probably be different than the one here.)

Linux etc

Build and install Raylib from the raylib-c directory.

sudo apt install libasound2-dev mesa-common-dev libx11-dev libxrandr-dev libxi-dev xorg-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libglu1-mesa-dev
cd raylib-python-cffi/raylib-c
mkdir build
cd build
cmake -DWITH_PIC=on -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..
sudo make install

Optional: Build the Raylib shared libs, if you plan to use raylib.dynamic binding.

rm -rf *
cmake -DWITH_PIC=on -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=on -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..
sudo make install

Optional: Make a patched version of raylib header. (Not necessary if you've already got raylib_modifed.h from repo and haven't changed anything.)

cd ../../raylib
cp raylib.h raylib_modified.h
patch  -p0 <raylib_modified.h.patch

Build

pip3 install cffi
cd ..
rm -rf build raylib/static/_raylib_cffi.*
python3 raylib/static/build.py

To update the Linux dynamic libs (names will be different on other platfroms):

rm raylib/dynamic/*.so*
cp -P /usr/local/lib/libraylib.so* raylib/dynamic/

To build a binary wheel distribution:

pip3 install wheel
python3 setup.py bdist_wheel

and install it:

pip3 install dist/raylib*.whl

To build a complete set of libs for Python 3.6, 3.7, 3.8 and 3.9:

./raylib/static/build_multi.sh

(NOTE pypi wont accept Linux packages unless they are built --plat-name manylinux2014_x86_64 so on linux please run ./raylib/static/build_multi_linux.sh )

(TODO move the dynamic libs into a separate package rather than include them with every one.)

Raspberry Pi

The integrated GPU hardware in a Raspberry Pi ("VideoCore") is rather idiosyncratic, resulting in a complex set of software options. Probably the most interesting two options for Raylib applications are:

1. Use the Broadcom proprietary Open GL ES 2.0 drivers, installed by Raspbian into /opt/vc. These are 32-bit only, and currently X11 doesn't use these for its acceleration, so this is most suitable for driving the entire HDMI output from one application with minimal overhead (no X11).

2. Use the more recent open-source vc4-fkms-v3d kernel driver. This can run in either 32-bit or 64-bit, and X11 can use these, so using X11 is probably the more common choice here.

With option 2, the regular linux install instructions above should probably work as-is.

For option 1, then also follow the above instructions, but with these modifications:

• With cmake, use cmake -DWITH_PIC=on -DSTATIC=on -DSHARED=on -DPLATFORM='Raspberry Pi' ..

Use

raylib.static

Goal is make usage as similar to the original C as CFFI will allow. There are a few differences you can see in the examples. See test_static.py and examples/*.py for how to use.

from raylib.static import *

InitWindow(800, 450, b"Hello Raylib")
SetTargetFPS(60)

camera = ffi.new("struct Camera3D *", [[18.0, 16.0, 18.0], [0.0, 0.0, 0.0], [0.0, 1.0, 0.0], 45.0, 0])
SetCameraMode(camera[0], CAMERA_ORBITAL)

while not WindowShouldClose():
    UpdateCamera(camera)
    BeginDrawing()
    ClearBackground(RAYWHITE)
    BeginMode3D(camera[0])
    DrawGrid(20, 1.0)
    EndMode3D()
    DrawText(b"Hellow World", 190, 200, 20, VIOLET)
    EndDrawing()
CloseWindow()

raylib.pyray

Wrapper around the static bindings. Makes the names snakecase and converts strings to bytes automatically. See test_pyray.py.

from raylib.pyray import PyRay
from raylib.colors import *

pyray = PyRay()

pyray.init_window(800, 450, "Hello Pyray")
pyray.set_target_fps(60)

camera = pyray.Camera3D([18.0, 16.0, 18.0], [0.0, 0.0, 0.0], [0.0, 1.0, 0.0], 45.0, 0)
pyray.set_camera_mode(camera, pyray.CAMERA_ORBITAL)

while not pyray.window_should_close():
    pyray.update_camera(camera)
    pyray.begin_drawing()
    pyray.clear_background(RAYWHITE)
    pyray.begin_mode_3d(camera)
    pyray.draw_grid(20, 1.0)
    pyray.end_mode_3d()
    pyray.draw_text("Hello world", 190, 200, 20, VIOLET)
    pyray.end_drawing()
pyray.close_window()

raylib.dynamic

In addition to the API static bindings we have CFFI ABI dynamic bindings in order to avoid the need to compile a C extension module.

Currently the github version includes bundled DLLs in raylib/dynamic but the pypi version requires a system installed Raylib. You can put your own versions in raylib/dynamic if you prefer.

If your system already has the Raylib library installed, you can set the environment variable 'USE_EXTERNAL_RAYLIB' and it will always be used instead of the bundled DLLs.

See test_dynamic.py for how to use.

(Note There have been some weird failures with dynamic bindings and ctypes bindings before and often the failures are silent so you dont even know. Also the static bindings should be faster. Therefore I personally recommend the static ones. But the dynamic bindings have the big advantage that you don't need to compile anything to install. You just need a Raylib DLL.)

richlib

A simplified API for Raylib for use in education and to enable beginners to create 3d games

HELP WANTED

• converting more examples from C to python
• testing and building on more platforms

Performance

For fastest permformance use Pypy rather than standard python.

Every call to C is costly, so it's slightly faster if you use Python data structures and functions when calculating in your update loop and then only convert them to C data structures when you have to call the C functions for drawing.

Bunnymark

Library	Implementation	Bunnies (60 FPS)	Percentage
Raylib 3.7	C	168100	100%
Raylib Python CFFI 3.7	Pypy 3.7	33800	20%
Raylib Python CFFI 3.7	Python 3.9	7700	4.5%
Raylib Python CFFI 3.7	Python 3.9 Nuitka	8600	5.1%
Raylib Python CFFI 3.7 Dynamic	Python 3.9	6300	3.7%

Packaging your app

You can create a standalone binary using the Nuitka compiler. For example, here is how to package Bunnymark:

pip3 install nuitka
cd examples/textures
python3 -m nuitka --onefile --linux-onefile-icon resources/wabbit_alpha.png textures_bunnymark.py