Environment Setup

This document explains how to set up your development environment and build Saturn from source. It describes required tools, supported platforms, dependency management, and platform-specific setup steps. You should follow this guide before attempting to configure or build the engine.

Supported platforms and compilers

Saturn targets Windows, Linux, Web, and Android. You may ignore setup steps for platforms you do not intend to build.

On Windows, Visual Studio 2022 provides the most reliable CMake integration and debugging experience. The default compiler is MSVC, although Clang is also supported. On Linux and Web targets, Clang is the preferred compiler. Web builds rely on Emscripten.

Install Visual Studio 2022

Install Visual Studio 2022 with the following components:

Desktop development with C++
C++ CMake tools for Windows
MSVC v143 toolset or later
Windows 10 or Windows 11 SDK

Visual Studio provides first-class CMake preset support and simplifies debugging large native codebases.

Install other required tools

choco install python --version 3.14.2 -y
choco install fvm --version 4.0.5 -y
choco install git --version 2.52.0 -y
choco install vscode --version 1.107.1 -y
choco install androidstudio --version 2025.2.2.8 -y

Install vcpkg

Saturn uses vcpkg in manifest mode to manage most third-party dependencies. You must install vcpkg separately, but you do not need to integrate it globally.

Clone the vcpkg repository.

git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg.git

Bootstrap vcpkg for your platform.
Terminal window
```
./vcpkg/bootstrap-vcpkg.bat
```
If required, set the VCPKG_ROOT environment variable to the vcpkg directory.

Web (Emscripten) Experimental

Saturn uses Emscripten to target WebAssembly.

Install the Emscripten SDK.

git clone https://github.com/emscripten-core/emsdk.git
cd emsdk
./emsdk install latest
./emsdk activate latest

Load the Emscripten environment.
Terminal window
```
.\emsdk_env.bat
```
Verify that emcc is available in your PATH before running CMake.

Android Experimental

Install Android Studio.
Open the SDK Manager and install:
- Android NDK r23 or newer
- CMake and LLDB
- Android SDK tools for API level 24 or later
Set the ANDROID_NDK_HOME environment variable to the NDK installation path.

Claude Code AI Integration Optional

Saturn supports Claude Code AI integration for code generation and assistance. To install it run the following PowerShell command:

irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

We use Gemini CLI in conjunction with Claude Code for improved AI capabilities. To install Gemini CLI you need Node.js:

choco install nodejs --version 25.2.1 -y
npm install -g @google/gemini-cli

Install system packages

Install the required system packages for building and running Saturn:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install \
  build-essential \
  cmake \
  git \
  ninja-build \
  python3 \
  python3-pip \
  libx11-dev \
  libxcursor-dev \
  libxrandr-dev \
  libxi-dev \
  libgl1-mesa-dev \
  libvulkan-dev

You may need additional packages depending on your distribution and window system (e.g., Wayland).