Keeping Cocos2d-x 3.x Alive

cocos2d-x
1

Hi everyone,

I still use Cocos2d-x 3.17 for several games.

The original project is no longer maintained, so I created a fork. My goal is
to keep old games working with modern tools while preserving the original
cocos2d namespace and APIs.

Axmol is an active Cocos2d-x fork and a good option. It has a different
namespace and includes broader changes. My fork stays closer to the original
engine.

I have published two releases:

3.17.3

A backward-compatible update for 3.17 projects:

  • Updated Android and macOS support
  • Modern Gradle, SDK, NDK, CMake, and JDK
  • Python 3 support
  • Reusable Debug and Release prebuilts
  • Font and rendering fixes

3.18.0

A larger update:

  • Dependencies are built from source
  • Updated Box2D, GLFW, LuaJIT, OpenSSL, curl, and more
  • Improved CMake and Android builds
  • Faster builds using engine prebuilts
  • New Box2D examples and tests

Repository:
https://github.com/shivmsit/cocos2d-x

Releases:

Fixes, issues, and pull requests are welcome. I also plan to update the Cocos2d-x v4 fork soon.

2

Great initiative! :clap: Supporting long-term Cocos2d-x projects is a valuable contribution to the community. Many developers still maintain production games built on 3.x, and keeping the original cocos2d namespace while modernizing the toolchain provides a practical path for extending those projects without requiring major code changes. The separation between a compatibility-focused fork and feature-rich alternatives like Axmol is also a thoughtful approach, giving developers the flexibility to choose what best fits their needs. Thank you for investing the time to update dependencies, improve build systems, and maintain compatibility with modern Android, macOS, and development tools. Open-source efforts like this help preserve existing games and reduce maintenance challenges for teams that continue to rely on Cocos2d-x. Wishing you success with future releases, including the planned updates for the v4 fork.:+1::blush:

1 Like
3

Thank you for the kind words and support. That is exactly the goal: keep
existing Cocos2d-x projects maintainable without forcing a namespace or engine
migration.

I have now released Cocos2d-x 3.18.0 and 4.1.0.

Highlights:

  • Third-party dependencies are included and built from source.
  • Reusable prebuilts speed up macOS and Android builds.
  • Modern Android build tools are supported.
  • Builds are tested on macOS, Linux, Windows, iOS, and Android.
  • The original cocos2d namespace and familiar project structure are kept.

Cocos2d-x 3.18.0 is intended for long-term 3.x projects. Cocos2d-x 4.1.0
brings the same maintenance work to the v4 engine.

Please test them with your existing games. Issues and fixes are welcome.