Main Page

Introduction

What is OpenBOR?

OpenBOR is a royalty-free, open-source game engine. Typical OpenBOR games consist of three-dimensional worlds rendered with pre-generated two-dimensional assets, commonly called sprites. This makes OpenBOR ideal for creating side-scrolling beat ’em ups such as Double Dragon or Streets of Rage, but the engine can accommodate many other genres, including two-dimensional platformers, shoot ’em ups, role-playing games, puzzle games, and others.

OpenBOR is advertised as the world’s most powerful sprite-based engine, and most agree it lives up to that branding. Its native functionality is fully self-contained, with control mapping, precise physics, level mapping, artificial intelligence, and asset handling included. This gives the engine a plug-and-play approach to game development that is so beginner-friendly it is sometimes mistaken for an emulator running modified ROMs.

When you are ready for the next level, the engine is fully extendable. Advanced creators can take advantage of OpenBOR’s powerful high-definition graphics suite and native C-derived scripting interpreter to create virtually anything imaginable.

What Open Source Means

Because the term has caused confusion and disputes in the past, it is important to clarify what open source means in the context of OpenBOR.

OpenBOR’s existing codebase is available under a permissive BSD-derived license. Creators may use the engine to make, license, and sell games and other content they rightfully own. The OpenBOR license does not claim or control that content.

Open source does not mean a free-for-all. It provides no implied permission to modify or redistribute another creator’s work without consent. The license also permits binary distribution without requiring source disclosure - it does not compel the team to release existing or future source code, and by extension it does not entitle anyone to the source code of closed-source extensions or obligate the development team to release it. The public repository is provided and maintained as a voluntary act of good faith, not as an obligation imposed by the license.

The OpenBOR development team may produce proprietary features, such as encrypted pack handling, and license them separately at its discretion.

Getting Started

This wiki is the reference bible for OpenBOR, but please note it is not intended as a walk-through. For more in-depth instruction, consult the tutorials and guides available through the ChronoCrash community.

Guides and Resources

• OpenBOR Overview – Starting point with links to feature documentation and topic categories.
• OpenBOR Index – Simple index of OpenBOR commands, settings, and functions.
• ChronoCrash – OpenBOR’s home community, including its help forum, downloadable games, and in-depth tutorials.
• Legacy Manual – Archival monolithic manual.
• OpenBOR Repository - Public facing OpenBOR code base.

Development Environment

Essential Tools

The following tools are required to begin building games with OpenBOR. You will need a ChronoCrash community account to download some resources.

• OpenBOR engine executable – The latest stable engine release.
• Edit Pack – Contains a legacy copy of the engine, a legacy game module with basic examples, an application for packing and unpacking game modules, and an application for converting .wav files to the proprietary .bor music format.
• Development environment – OpenBOR uses a combination of text files and optional script files to configure game functionality. You may use any text editor of your choice.
• Graphics software – A graphics-editing application capable of exporting .png images. Adobe Photoshop and GIMP are recommended.
• Audio software – An audio-editing application capable of exporting .wav files for sound effects and, optionally, .ogg files for music. Adobe Audition and Audacity are recommended.

Optional Tools

These tools are optional but highly recommended.

• ChronoCrash Modders Tools (CMT) – Visual editing application for building OpenBOR games.
• PalApply – Applies a palette to one or more images and exports optimized .png files ready for use with OpenBOR.