Show HN: Evolved.lua – An Evolved Entity Component System for Lua
a year ago
- #Game Development
- #Lua
- #ECS
- evolved.lua is a fast and flexible ECS (Entity-Component-System) library for Lua.
- It uses an archetype-based approach for storing entities and components in contiguous arrays (SoA) for performance.
- The library minimizes GC pressure and avoids unnecessary allocations.
- Provides a simple and intuitive API with self-explanatory functions.
- Supports complex systems with features like queries, deferred operations, batch operations, and systems processing.
- Entities and fragments are identifiers, with fragments representing component types.
- Components are any data attached to entities via fragments.
- Uses chunks to group entities with the same component sets for efficient processing.
- Structural changes (adding/removing fragments) migrate entities between chunks and should be minimized for performance.
- Supports deferred operations to queue structural changes.
- Batch operations allow efficient modifications across multiple entities.
- Systems can be organized into groups and processed in specific orders.
- Provides hooks for component lifecycle events (set, assign, insert, remove).
- Includes features like tags (fragments without components), unique fragments, and explicit fragments.
- Supports component duplication and default values.
- Allows setting destruction policies for fragments (destroy entity or remove fragment).
- Debug mode helps catch incorrect API usage.
- Installable via luarocks or by cloning the repository.