Getting Started

Welcome to our browser-based game engine! We’re thrilled to have you here, and we promise—no complicated downloads, no long-winded installations. Just open your browser, log in, and let the magic begin. (Pajamas optional, but recommended.)

Accessing the Platform

To access the game engine, follow these delightfully simple steps:

  1. Open your web browser (we recommend the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, or Edge—because old browsers are like floppy disks: charming but not very useful).

  2. Navigate to the platform URL: https://lemonate.io/. You must already be here, or you’d probably not be reading this.

  3. Log in or sign up for a free account using your email. (Don’t worry, we’ll treat your data well.)

  4. Once logged in, you’ll be greeted by your home view, aka your new creative playground. You can create new games or assets here.

Exploring the Interface

The interface is designed to be intuitive and user-friendly. Here’s a quick tour so you don’t feel like a tourist:

  • My Lemonate: Your central hub for managing projects and assets: https://lemonate.io/home

  • Games: This is the place where you can find all Lemonate-created games. Yours could be one of them: https://lemonate.io/games

  • Assets: The big repository of assets that other people have built and that you can use for your game. You can also find the assets directly in the editor to drag and drop. So this here is better for just browsing: https://lemonate.io/assets

  • Editor: The magical place where ideas become reality. Click “New Game” or open an existing project to enter the zone.

Creating Your First Game

Time to unleash your inner game designer! Follow these steps to make your debut masterpiece:

  1. Click the “New Game” button on the dashboard. (Go ahead, it won’t bite.)

  2. Give your project a name. Be creative! Or don’t. We’re not here to judge.

  3. After selecting your new game, you can click the Edit button and the editor will open in a new tab.

  4. A new game project already contains some test content to work with. Go ahead and click play, and you’ll see what it does. (Not much admittedly, but it will get you started.) Also, feel free to watch the initial tutorial video in case this is your first visit to our game editor. If you want to watch it later, you will find it in the tutorials menu in the menu bar at the top.

Using the Asset Store

No game is complete without some cool assets. Here’s how to raid—uh, browse—our Asset Store:

  1. The editor contains an asset store dock that you can use to search for assets.

  2. Any slot in the inspector that takes an asset, click on the magnifying glass, and the asset store will open up automatically with matching assets (if there are any).

  3. Drag and drop from the asset store to the slot. Matching slots will light up green, non-matching ones red. Feel free to do forbidden things if you want to and drag to the red slots. But consider yourself warned!

Publishing and Sharing

Ready to show off your masterpiece? Publishing is as easy as 1-2-3 (and sometimes 4):

  1. Click the “Publish” button in the top menu bar in the Game Editor.

  2. In case your game uses any assets from the store that are only referenced, you will be asked to copy them to your project first.

  3. Enter the metadata about your game. You might want to describe it to give people some information about it. Also, add some tags, categories, and a license if you want.

  4. Hit publish, and if everything goes well, your game will be playable by everyone within seconds.

Get more details here: Publishing

Import Your Own Assets

Importing is easy and possible in the Lemonate web app and the editor. Many different formats are supported. The way you import your assets depends greatly on the type of asset. Check the importing documentation for details: Importing

Tips and Best Practices

  • Remix: Creating games from scratch is cool. But it might just be easier to remix an existing one to learn from it and hit the ground running.

  • Save Regularly: Use the “Save” button often. Trust us, you don’t want to reenact that “I forgot to save” nightmare.

  • Learn from Tutorials: Check out our step-by-step guides and videos in the “Tutorials” menu in the editor. Think of it as your personal Yoda.

  • Engage with the Community: Join discussions, ask questions, and share your work on our Discord. It’s like a virtual campfire, but with fewer marshmallows.

  • Report Bugs: If you find any bugs, use the integrated feedback feature in the editor or the web app at the top right, or come to our Discord and tell us about your issues.

What’s Next?

Congratulations on starting your journey with our game engine! What’s next? Well, the sky’s the limit (unless you’re building a space game—then the limit is the galaxy).

Now go forth, create something amazing, and remember: every gaming legend started somewhere. Why not here? Happy creating!