nalchi

nalchi is a C++23 library that provides utilities for efficient message sending over ValveSoftware/GameNetworkingSockets.

Features

• Efficient multicast support with reference counted nalchi::shared_payload.
• Bit-level serialization support with nalchi::bit_stream_writer & nalchi::bit_stream_reader

See https://nalchi-net.github.io/nalchi/ for the full API reference.

C# binding

If you want to use nalchi with C#, you can with NalchiSharp, the C# binding of nalchi.

Don't forget to bring the C++ shared libraries too, without it the binding won't work.

Build

nalchi supports either building with the stand-alone version of GameNetworkingSockets or Steamworks SDK version of it.

Build with stand-alone GameNetworkingSockets

If you don't need the Steamworks SDK integration because you're building your game for platforms other than Steam,
you can build the stand-alone GameNetworkingSockets which is licensed under the BSD 3-Clause "New" or "Revised" License.

1. Recursively clone this repo to get GameNetworkingSockets/ submodule.
2. Prepare the dependencies of the GameNetworkingSockets.
   • Refer to the BUILDING.md on GameNetworkingSockets.
     • If you're using Developer Powershell for VS 2022 on Windows, do note that it defaults to x86 environment, which obviously doesn't work when building for the AMD64.
       You need to switch to AMD64 environment manually with following:

       Enter-VsDevShell -DevCmdArguments "-arch=x64 -host_arch=x64" -VsInstallPath "C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community" -SkipAutomaticLocation

3. Run cmake --preset nalchi-gns to configure.
   • If you're on Windows, you need to specify the vcpkg toolchain file location with CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE variable.
     You could create a seperate CMakeUserPresets.json which inherits the nalchi-msvc-gns preset to do this. e.g:

     {
         "version": 6,
         "configurePresets": [
             {
                 "name": "my-preset",
                 "inherits": "nalchi-msvc-gns",
                 "cacheVariables": {
                     "CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE": "C:/vcpkg/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake"
                 }
             }
         ]
     }

     And then you can run cmake --preset my-preset instead.
4. Depending on the preset, different build directory must have been created.
   Run cmake --build <build directory> to build.

Build with Steamworks SDK

If you need to integrate with Steamworks SDK to make use of other Steamworks API functionality, you can build with Steamworks SDK.

1. Download the Steamworks SDK from the Steamworks partner site.
2. Unzip it, and copy the public/ and redistributable_bin/ into the sdk/ directory.
3. Run cmake --preset nalchi-steamworks to configure.
   • If you're on Windows, you might want to run cmake --preset nalchi-msvc-steamworks instead.
   • If you're using Developer Powershell for VS 2022 on Windows, do note that it defaults to x86 environment, which obviously doesn't work when building for the AMD64.
     You need to switch to AMD64 environment manually with following:

     Enter-VsDevShell -DevCmdArguments "-arch=x64 -host_arch=x64" -VsInstallPath "C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community" -SkipAutomaticLocation

4. Depending on the preset, different build directory must have been created.
   Run cmake --build <build directory> to build.

License

nalchi is licensed under the MIT License.

This project depends on either the stand-alone GameNetworkingSockets or the Steamworks SDK.

• Stand-alone GameNetworkingSockets is licensed under the BSD 3-Clause "New" or "Revised" License.
  • Refer to the GameNetworkingSockets' GitHub repo for other dependencies' licenses.
• Steamworks SDK is licensed under the STEAMWORKS SDK license.