Build from source

Requirements: macOS 11+, Xcode command line tools, CMake ≥ 3.24.

git clone https://github.com/emdzej/openrf.git
cd openrf

Quick build (Homebrew SDL3)

brew install cmake sdl3
cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build -j
open "build/Return Fire.app"

If a cd/ folder with the game data exists in the checkout at configure time, the build links it into the app bundle (Contents/Resources/data), so the app runs from Finder straight away.

Universal, self-contained build

This is what the release workflow does: SDL3 is built from source and linked statically, for both architectures.

cmake -S . -B build-universal -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
      -DOPENRF_BUNDLED_SDL=ON -DCMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES="arm64;x86_64"
cmake --build build-universal -j --target openrf
lipo -info "build-universal/Return Fire.app/Contents/MacOS/Return Fire"

CMake options

Option	Default	Meaning
CMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES	arm64	arm64;x86_64 for a universal binary
CMAKE_OSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET	11.0	Minimum macOS version
OPENRF_BUNDLED_SDL	OFF	Fetch SDL3 and link it statically