frinky-engine

Getting Started

Use this guide when you want the fastest path from “I have the engine” to “I can launch a project and see it run.”

Prerequisites

• .NET 8 SDK
• Windows for .bat helper scripts, or use the equivalent dotnet commands directly

Choose Your Starting Path

Use a release if you want to try the editor quickly. Use source if you want the latest code, example projects, or to work on the engine itself.

Release Build

1. Download a packaged release from GitHub Releases.
2. Extract it to a normal writable folder.
3. Launch FrinkyEngine.Editor.exe.
4. Create or open a project in the editor.

Source Build

Clone the repository with submodules:

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/frinky04/FrinkyEngine.git
cd FrinkyEngine

If you already cloned without submodules:

git submodule update --init --recursive

Build the solution:

.\build.bat

dotnet build FrinkyEngine.sln -c Release

Launch the editor:

.\launch-editor.bat

dotnet run --project src/FrinkyEngine.Editor

First Success

The goal here is simple: prove the editor, project loading, and play loop work on your machine.

Fastest path from source

Open the included example project:

.\launch-editor.bat ExampleGames\PrefabTestingGround\PrefabTestingGround.fproject

dotnet run --project src/FrinkyEngine.Editor -- ExampleGames/PrefabTestingGround/PrefabTestingGround.fproject

Then:

1. Wait for the project to finish loading.
2. Press F5 to enter Play mode.
3. Confirm the scene runs from the main camera.
4. Press F5 again to stop.

Fastest path from a release build

1. Launch the editor.
2. Create a project with File -> New Project.
3. Save it to a normal writable folder.
4. Open the default scene or create one.
5. Press F5 to enter Play mode.
6. Confirm the project runs and returns to the editor when you stop.

Create a New Game Project from Source

Install the template:

.\install-template.bat

dotnet new install ./templates/FrinkyEngine.Templates --force

Create a project:

dotnet new frinky-game -n MyGame

This generates:

MyGame/
  MyGame.fproject
  MyGame.csproj
  Assets/
    Scenes/MainScene.fscene
    Scripts/
      RotatorComponent.cs
  .gitignore

The dotnet new template .csproj includes a placeholder comment for FrinkyEngine.Core. Add a ProjectReference to your local src/FrinkyEngine.Core/FrinkyEngine.Core.csproj if you are using the template path from source. The editor’s File -> New Project flow generates a project file that already points at the running editor’s engine DLL instead.

After creating the project:

1. Open the .fproject in the editor.
2. Build scripts with File -> Build Scripts or Ctrl+B.
3. Press F5 to confirm the project runs.

What Success Looks Like

You are in a good state when all of these are true:

• The editor opens your project without path errors.
• Ctrl+B completes without script build errors.
• F5 enters Play mode and renders the scene.
• The runtime starts in dev mode:

dotnet run --project src/FrinkyEngine.Runtime -- path/to/MyGame.fproject

Quick Editor Tour

Panel	Description
Viewport	3D scene rendering with transform gizmos
Hierarchy	Entity tree with drag-and-drop reordering and parenting
Inspector	Component editing with attribute-driven reflection
Assets	File browser for models, prefabs, scenes, and scripts
Console	Log stream viewer
Performance	Frame time and rendering statistics

Next Steps

• Editor Guide to learn the normal authoring loop.
• Scripting to add your first gameplay component.
• Components to choose common built-in setups.
• Prefabs to build reusable entities.

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