Talesmith is a 2D game engine and editor for .NET 10. You build scenes from tile maps, sprites, lights, particles and prefabs, write
gameplay in C#, play the game inside the editor and export it for Windows or Linux. Maps are hexagonal or rectangular and use the .hexy
format of the Hexy map editor.
Each release has a Windows installer, a package for Debian and Ubuntu, an archive for other Linux distributions and a Nix flake; Installation explains each one. To work on the engine itself, build it from source as below.
- The .NET 10 SDK, version 10.0.400 or later (
global.jsonpins it). - Windows or Linux. A Vulkan driver is optional; without one, games and the editor render with Skia.
- Node.js 20 or later, only to work on the documentation site.
dotnet build Talesmith.slnx
dotnet run --project src/Talesmith.AppThe project hub opens. Create a project from a template, or open one of the samples:
dotnet run --project src/Talesmith.App -- samples/LanternGroveIn the editor, Ctrl+P plays the open scene and stops it again, Ctrl+K searches every command, and F1 lists the shortcuts. File › Build settings exports a standalone game.
Games also run without the editor:
dotnet run --project src/Talesmith.Player -- samples/IsleHopperWhile a game runs, F3 shows the performance overlay, F4 cycles the debug views, F9 saves a profiler report and F12 saves a
screenshot, all to ./captures.
| Sample | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Lantern Grove | A platformer made only of editor content: a map, a scene, a prefab, particle presets, sounds and C# scripts |
| Isle Hopper | A platformer on a rectangular map with a parallax backdrop, written as a plugin |
| Hex Quest | A hex adventure written as two plugins, one for gameplay and one for cutscenes and dialogue |
Building the solution also builds the sample plugins and Lantern Grove's scripts into each game folder, so all three run straight away.
The full guide is at talesmith.dev: using the editor, C# scripting, writing plugins, performance, the
architecture, every file format, and building and testing this repository. Its sources are in website/; to
read it locally:
cd website
npm install
npm startContributions are welcome. CONTRIBUTING.md explains how to propose a change, and SECURITY.md how to report a vulnerability privately.
Talesmith is licensed under the Apache License 2.0; see also NOTICE. You may use it for any purpose, including
making and selling games. The libraries it uses keep their own licenses: THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md lists them, and
every exported game carries them in its licenses folder, which you ship with the game.
The license does not cover the Talesmith name or logo, so a fork needs a name of its own.