Choosing raylib
I selected the free and open source raylib to act as the core library for this project primarily due to the creator's philosophy:
raylib is a programming library to enjoy videogames programming; no fancy interface, no visual helpers, no gui tools or editors... just coding in pure spartan-programmers way.
The purpose of this project, besides personal entertainment, is to strengthen my grasp of more advanced C++ techniques for game development. So, while opting to avoid conventional game engines may seem like shooting myself in the foot at first, I strongly believe that use of a library like raylib strikes a better balance for learning.
The library provides most basic functions needed for game development, while still requiring nearly all high-level elements such as GameObjects or Scenes to be coded manually. I see this as an opportunity to gain hands-on appreciation for many of the features that game engines handle automatically.
Latest Update
Successfully compiled & run a C++ raylib project in Visual Studio 2022.
Created a Setup project for creating LiftraptorsInstaller.msi file.
Successfully installed, run, and uninstalled Liftraptors on my local machine as well as an external machine.
Felt this deserved a gif, see below.
(It's pronounced "giff"... the way 'g' for 'Graphics' is pronounced...) :D