Getting Started

Vespera's production-supported path is Windows x64 + Direct3D 12. Vulkan is available as a preview backend on Windows, while Linux + Vulkan remains experimental. The normal workflow is: build the engine once, use the Project Hub to create or open a project, work in the editor, test with Play Mode, then use Build → Build Game… for a standalone build.

What you need

For a source build, install:

Visual Studio 2022 or 2026 with C++ desktop/CMake tooling.
CMake. Vespera can use CMake from your PATH or the copy bundled with Visual Studio.
The .NET 8+ SDK if you want C# gameplay scripting.

Vespera's build script will warn if .NET is missing. Native engine/editor binaries can still build, but C# gameplay will not be available until .NET is installed.

Build the engine

Open PowerShell in the Vespera source folder:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process Bypass
.\build.ps1

The script configures an x64 Visual Studio CMake build and builds the editor, Project Hub, shared player, reference game, and managed scripting support.

Open the Project Hub

.\vespera.ps1

Create one of the available starter projects:

3D / 2.5D Game — the main starter for scene-based games.
2D / UI Foundation (Experimental) — a screen-space game starter built around RmlUi and C#.
Empty Project — a minimal scene and C# bootstrap.

The Hub creates project-owned assets and managed code. Your game does not borrow scripts from Vespera's reference project.

Open the editor and play

Open your project from the Hub. The editor loads the project's startup scene, asset catalog, C# metadata, and project settings.

Use the Play controls to enter the runtime. Play Mode uses the same project input map and gameplay code used by standalone builds. Stop returns you to your authored scene state.

Good first test: create the 3D starter, press Play, move the starter actor with WASD, then Stop. That proves the project, input map, C# assembly, scene, and runtime path are all connected.

Build a standalone game

Use Build → Build Game… or press Ctrl+Shift+B.

Choose a configuration and build. Vespera saves the project, validates the package closure, builds project C# when configured, packages the shared player and required assets, and writes the result to the project's build output directory.

For a build intended for another machine, choose Portable (.NET bundled) in Project Settings if you do not want to require a compatible .NET runtime on that machine.

Where to go next

Read Your First Game for a small project walkthrough. Use Project Structure and File Types when you want to understand what Vespera stores on disk.