Skip to content

Game Engine & Architecture

Overview

This section documents the core architecture behind the R-Type execution engine, centered around the GameEngine class which directly manages the ECS subsystems (EntityManager, SystemManager, RenderManager).

GameEngine acts as a facade that owns and coordinates the core ECS managers. It provides a unified API for entity lifecycle, component management, system execution, rendering, and audio.

What You'll Find Here

Game Engine

Learn about the GameEngine class responsible for:

  • Initialization: Creating EntityManager, SystemManager, RenderManager, and AudioManager
  • Entity Management: Spawning, destroying, and querying entities
  • Component Management: Registering component types and adding/removing components
  • System Management: Registering systems and updating them each frame
  • Rendering: Coordinating window, input, and sprite rendering via RenderManager
  • Audio: Managing music and sound effects via AudioManager

Coordinator (Gameplay Layer)

The Coordinator is a gameplay-level class that wraps a GameEngine instance:

  • Network Integration: Processes server/client packets to sync game state
  • Entity Factories: Provides helpers to spawn players, enemies, projectiles with proper components
  • Packet Handlers: Translates network messages into ECS operations
  • Packet Builders: Creates outgoing packets based on entity state

The Coordinator does not replace the GameEngine—it uses it as its ECS backend.

Architecture Principles

This new engine layer follows several key architectural principles:

  1. Direct Ownership The GameEngine directly owns its subsystems (EntityManager, SystemManager, RenderManager, AudioManager), providing a clear facade API for ECS operations.

  2. Separation of Concerns Each manager has a clear responsibility:

  3. EntityManager: Entity lifecycle and component storage
  4. SystemManager: System registration and execution
  5. RenderManager: Window, input, and rendering (client-side only)

  6. AudioManager: Music and sound effects (client-side only)

  7. Coordinator as Integration Layer The gameplay Coordinator wraps GameEngine to handle:

  8. Network packet processing and state synchronization
  9. Entity factory methods (players, enemies, projectiles)

  10. Translation between network protocol and ECS operations

  11. Template-Based API GameEngine uses C++ templates for type-safe component and system operations:

  12. registerComponent<T>() and addComponent<T>()

  13. registerSystem<T>() and setSystemSignature<T>()

  14. Testability GameEngine can be instantiated and tested independently, with optional RenderManager/AudioManager initialization for client-side features.

Quick Navigation