Dean Hall releases BRUTAL, a free open-source C# and Vulkan game framework

Dean Hall, creator of DayZ, has made BRUTAL publicly available. BRUTAL is the game development framework used by his studio, RocketWerkz. According to 80 Level, it is open-source and free to use, including in commercial games, provided the framework is credited. Hall announced it in a detailed Reddit post.

Hall stresses that BRUTAL is a framework, not an engine. Developers can build a game directly on it or use it as the base for a separate engine. At its core is a custom interop layer that gives C# access to native APIs and libraries. Supporting libraries cover mathematics, memory management, strings, job scheduling, logging and localization, among others.

The framework runs on Windows and Linux and is built on the latest versions of C# and Vulkan. 80 Level reports it has been in development for about four years. RocketWerkz has used it to replace engines in several games now in development, and it was the basis for the spaceflight simulator Kitten Space Agency. Ludeon used it as the foundation for its new Waylith engine for the strategy sim RimWorld.

Hall presents BRUTAL as a response to developers' growing dependence on a few large engine makers. He argues that Unity and Unreal are not accountable enough to developers. He also says people should not abandon either engine, since both remain the right choice for many projects, and that BRUTAL is not meant to replace what they offer.

If you are considering it, read Hall's Reddit post and the project's license terms for the credit requirement. The 80 Level report does not give a repository link, version number or documentation details, so check those at the source before planning around it.