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Version: Next (dev)

Launcher Setup

This walkthrough takes you from a freshly installed launcher to an open project in the editor. It has two parts: install an engine version, then create a project that uses it.

1. Install an engine version​

Open the Engines tab. On a fresh install it is empty apart from the install tiles.

The Engines tab with an installed release and the install tile

  1. Click Install New Version in the top-right corner. The launcher downloads the latest stable release into the default engine directory (%AppData%\com.plasmatech.launcher\engines\<version>). A progress bar shows the download; a release is a few gigabytes, so this can take a while.
  2. When the download finishes the version appears as a Stable Release card, and Installed Paths below the cards lists where it went.
  3. Click Launch Engine on the card once to confirm the editor starts. Close it again; you will open it with a project in the next step.

If you need an older release instead, use Install Archived Version and pick the version you want. Several versions can be installed side by side.

Building the engine yourself?

If you compiled the engine from source, you do not need to download a release. Click Add Local, give the build a label such as dev-local, and point it at the engine root folder. See Building Plasma for how to produce a build.

2. Create a project​

There are two ways to get a first project: start from a sample, or create an empty one.

From a sample​

Samples are the quickest way to see the engine running with real content.

The Samples tab with the featured Bistro sample

  1. Open the Samples tab and make sure the Engine dropdown shows the version you just installed. The sample list is specific to each version.
  2. Pick a sample. Learning samples focus on one feature; Showcase samples such as Bistro and Sponza are full scenes.
  3. Click Create Project. The launcher copies the sample into your default project directory and adds it to the Projects tab. Large samples show a progress bar while they copy.

An empty project​

The Projects tab showing the project grid

  1. Open the Projects tab and click Create Project.
  2. Enter a project name and a location. The default project directory from Settings is preselected; Browse picks a different folder.
  3. Choose the engine version the project should use and click Create.

The new project appears as a card showing its engine version and folder.

3. Open the project​

Click Open on the project card. The launcher starts the editor for the project's engine version with the project loaded. From here, continue with Create Your First Scene, or read the Editor manual for a tour of the workspace.

Next steps​

  • Change where projects and engines are stored in Settings.
  • Register a project that already exists on disk with Add Existing, or pull one from a repository with Clone from Git. Both are described under Projects.
  • Keep more than one engine version installed and move projects between them with the card's ⋮ menu, as covered in Retargeting a project.