Installation

Use the editor

1. Download the latest editor from the download page — Windows and macOS (Apple silicon), served from the project’s mirror. Every release, with its notes and checksums, is also on the releases page.

2. Install and open it, then click New project.

3. Pick a template — the Blank starter, or one of the bundled Examples — enter a project name and location, and click Create project. With Blank, the editor opens a default scene with a Camera entity.

Tip

Help → Check for Updates… downloads the update inside the editor and installs it on restart, from the same mirror (dl.estella.games) the installer above comes from, falling back to GitHub when the mirror has no answer or a staler one — the origin stays the authority on what exists. A build that cannot install its own update hands you a link instead.

Note

Installers are currently unsigned, so on first launch Windows SmartScreen or macOS Gatekeeper may warn about an unknown developer — choose Run anyway / allow it in System Settings → Privacy & Security.

Build from source

Prerequisites:

• Node.js ≥ 18 and pnpm ≥ 8
• Emscripten 5.0.0 (exact version, for CI parity)

1. Clone (with submodules) and install:

   git clone --recursive https://github.com/esengine/estella.git
   cd estella
   pnpm install
   pnpm emsdk:setup   # one-time: installs Emscripten 5.0.0 into tools/emsdk

2. Build the engine, SDK, and sync to the editor:

   node build-tools/cli.js build -t all

3. Run the editor:

   cd desktop && pnpm dev

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full build reference.