Building BodySlide and Outfit Studio on Linux

This page is for developers building BodySlide and Outfit Studio from source on Linux. If you already have a Linux build and only want to install it, see Installation on Linux.

Build requirements

• CMake 3.16 or newer.
• A C++17 compiler and normal build tools.
• wxWidgets 3.2 or newer, including the OpenGL component.
• OpenGL, GLU, and GLEW development files.
• Optional: Autodesk FBX SDK for Outfit Studio FBX import/export support.

On Ubuntu 24.04, the development packages are typically:

sudo apt install build-essential cmake libwxgtk3.2-dev libwxgtk-gl3.2-dev libglew-dev libgl-dev libglu1-mesa-dev

Package names vary by distribution. The important parts are wxWidgets 3.2 or newer, wxWidgets OpenGL support, and GLEW.

wxWidgets notes

If you get errors about an ABI mismatch, wxWidgets was built with a different compiler version than BodySlide and Outfit Studio. Build both with the same compiler.

Either GTK 2 or GTK 3 can work. GTK 2 tends to have more background color problems. GTK 3 can distort some widgets because they do not have enough space.

Some wxWidgets configure options, such as --enable-universal, can produce a broken wxWidgets library for this project. Prefer as few wxWidgets build options as possible. Some distribution-provided wxWidgets packages are also broken, so you may need to build wxWidgets yourself.

Building wxWidgets with CMake

If you build wxWidgets with CMake, install it to a local prefix:

cmake -S /path/to/wxWidgets -B wx-build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DwxBUILD_TOOLKIT=gtk3 -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$HOME/opt/wxwidgets-gtk3
cmake --build wx-build --parallel
cmake --install wx-build

Then configure BodySlide and Outfit Studio with that prefix:

cmake -S . -B Release -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=$HOME/opt/wxwidgets-gtk3

The project first looks for an installed wxWidgets CMake package and then falls back to CMake's FindwxWidgets module, which uses wx-config on Linux.

If CMake still does not find wxWidgets, point it directly at the package directory or root:

cmake -S . -B Release -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DwxWidgets_DIR=$HOME/opt/wxwidgets-gtk3/lib/cmake/wxWidgets
cmake -S . -B Release -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DwxWidgets_ROOT=$HOME/opt/wxwidgets-gtk3

Building wxWidgets with configure and make

For a wxWidgets build made with configure and make instead of CMake, pass the wx-config path:

cmake -S . -B Release -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DwxWidgets_CONFIG_EXECUTABLE=$HOME/opt/wxwidgets-gtk3/bin/wx-config

Configure and build BodySlide and Outfit Studio

From the repository root:

cmake -S . -B Release -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build Release --parallel

The possible values for CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE are:

• Release
• RelWithDebInfo
• Debug
• MinSizeRel
• Empty, for no explicit build type

Useful build options:

cmake --build Release --verbose
cmake --build Release --parallel 4

Selecting a compiler

Set CC and CXX before running CMake:

CC=clang CXX=clang++ cmake -S . -B Release -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release

The build directory must be empty when you change compilers. Otherwise, CMake keeps using the compiler it found during the first configure. Build wxWidgets with the same compiler; the wxWidgets configure script also uses CC and CXX.

FBX SDK support

FBX SDK support is optional. By default, CMake enables FBX support when it can find the SDK and builds Outfit Studio without FBX import/export when it cannot.

To disable FBX support explicitly:

cmake -S . -B Release -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DBSOS_ENABLE_FBXSDK=OFF

To enable FBX support from a non-standard location, pass the SDK root with BSOS_FBXSDK_ROOT, the legacy fbxsdk_dir cache variable, or the FBXSDK_ROOT environment variable:

cmake -S . -B Release -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DBSOS_FBXSDK_ROOT=/opt/fbxsdk

Runtime files for local testing

The BodySlide and OutfitStudio executables must be able to find the res directory. It contains required program data such as XRC files, icons, shaders, and images.

By default, the executables look for res in the same directory as the executables. When copying a local build into the BodySlide directory inside a game or modding setup, copy the whole res directory with the executables.