Reality Engine

Overview

• ZRE is a lightweight, portable programming language for permacomputing, game preservation, and indie game development.
• Built in C89 for cross-platform compatibility (desktop, microcontrollers, and web via Emscripten).
• Designed for simplicity, performance, and creative exploration.
• It is inspired by uxn, Dusk OS, Dis VM, Lox, Lua, Lisp, C, and Zig.

Key Features

Core Philosophy

• Simple, portable, lightweight
• Targets permacomputing, game world preservation, rapid prototyping, and indie games.
• No macros or object hierarchies—prioritizes clarity and explicit behavior.
• C/Zig like syntax. Lisp/Lua like development workflow.

Engine & Tooling

• Integrated 2D/3D rendering system:

  • Immediate-mode canvas-based 3D rendering with low-poly 5th-6th gen console aesthetics.
  • 2D overlays styled after ImGui.
  • SDL2 backend for input, audio, and cross-platform compatibility.

• Tree-walk interpreter:

  • Compile bytecode to files for performance.
  • REPL with hot-code reloading for rapid iteration.
• Emacs major mode included; Vim, VSCode, and Lite XL support planned.

Language Design

• Strongly typed but with a friendly 'let' syntax.
• real type (f32).
• int for integer numbers (i32).
• nat for unsigned integer numbers (u32).
• byte arrays for interop (u8, i64, etc.).
• str Strings with interpolation, split, replace, trim, etc.

• Error handling:

  • try-catch
  • Null coalescing (??) and null checks (?.).
• Fortran style array operations.
• Lightweight coroutines with event-loop-driven multitasking.
• FFI via C-defined "system calls" (examples provided in VM).

Modularity & Ecosystem

• Fortran-like arrays.
• Standard library: math, networking, 3D rendering, minimal GUI.
• use keyword for modular code organization via file-based namespaces.

Technical Details

VM Architecture

• register based bytecode interpreter written in C89.
• Portable to new systems, microcontrollers, and web via Emscripten.

Memory Management

• Frame scoped arena allocators

Rendering & I/O

• SDL2-based abstraction for input, audio, and rendering.
• Immediate-mode 3D canvas with 2D overlay support.

Planned Projects

1. Code Editor with Terminal Emulator

   • Built-in development tooling.

2. 3D Chat Room

   • Multiplayer cube avatars navigating a shared low-poly world.

Community & Collaboration

• Website: https://alfrescocavern.com/">https://alfrescocavern.com/
• License: MIT
• Chat: Not yet

Roadmap

• MVP: Core VM, REPL, and SDL2 integration.
• 3D rendering pipeline + ImGui-style GUI.
• Standard library and FFI examples.
• Emacs/Vim tooling + website launch.
• Fixed point for numbers for microcontrollers/retro computers without fpu
• Custom renderer without SDL for portability

Motivation

ZRE bridges retro-inspired creativity with modern portability for:

• Game jams (rapid prototyping + 3D engine).
• Indie games (5th/6th-gen aesthetics).
• Permacomputing (low-resource, sustainable code).
• Education (simple VM/language design).