Open Solarus Quest Editor. Since this is the first launch, there is no quest yet. You can create a new one with the File > New quest... menu. A popup dialog will open, asking for the location of your quest. Create a new folder called your-quest-name (for instance) where to save your quest to.
your-quest-name
The basic skeleton of a Solarus quest is then generated in the your-quest-name folder, and looks like this. These folders already contain basic examples for each content: note that this Solarus quest is already ready to be run, without any more configuration.
π your-quest-name ββ π data ββ π enemies ββ π entities ββ π fonts ββ π items ββ π languages ββ π maps ββ π musics ββ π scripts ββ π shaders ββ π sounds ββ π sprites ββ π tilesets ββ π main.lua ββ π project_db.dat ββ π quest.dat
The content of each folder will be explained in a further chapter. Let's still detail what are the 3 files at the root:
main.lua is the starting point for your game. You'll be able to edit this Lua script to configure how your game starts.
main.lua
quest.dat contains your project metadata (title, author, screen size, Solarus required version, etc.). It is not visible in Solarus Quest Editor's file tree, because usually you don't edit it manually. Metadata are edited with the File > Quest properties menu (Ctrl+P) or by right-clicking on your quest's top item in the file tree.
quest.dat
Ctrl+P
project_db.dat is a file that contains all information about how your resources are configured. Usually, you never have to edit it manually. This file is automatically modified by Solarus Quest Editor when you edit a map, a sprite or any resource.
project_db.dat
The Solarus Quest Editor window is divided in 4 main parts. Here is a quick overview.
To run a quest when you're developing it, you can hit the F5 key or press the "play" button.
F5
The quest will start in a separate window. Output will be displayed in the console at the bottom of the window, which is really useful for debugging.
For the majority of players, who don't like using the command-line, Solarus Launcher provides a convenient way to launch quests. Players have to add a quest (a .solarus file or quest.dat file) to the quest library managed by Solarus Launcher, with the Add Quest button, select it, and click on Play (or hit Enter).
.solarus
Enter
Here too, the game's output will be printed to the built-in console. It allows players to give you some useful information about bugs or errors.
solarus-run is the command-line program to start a Solarus quest, that you pass as an argument. It is able to actually launch a Solarus quest from two types of input parameters:
solarus-run
solarus-run path/to/your/quest.solarus
data/quest.dat
solarus-run path/to/your/quest