Getting Started
Installing the SDK
Run the Chisel installer for your platform. It checks for Git, .NET 8, and (on Windows) the Visual C++ 2013 redistributable, and installs whichever of those you’re missing.
Once that’s done, it asks for your license key. Enter it and the installer downloads the SDK and hands off straight to the SDK Launcher. It will remember your key for you.
On Linux, the installer’s dialogs need zenity. If it’s not already on your system, install it first: sudo apt install zenity, sudo dnf install zenity, or sudo pacman -S zenity depending on your distro.
Setting Up a Root
The first time the Launcher opens, it asks you to point at a folder to hold your projects and the SDK content. This is called a root.
Create a folder for it
Click Create New Folder and give it a name, somewhere like Documents/Chisel Games. Don’t point it directly at Documents itself, use a dedicated subfolder.
Or link an existing one
If you’ve already got a Chisel root set up, from another machine, or shared with a team, click Select Existing Folder instead and browse to it.
A root holds three things: games.sln, the SDK content itself (in sdk-content/, you generally won’t need to touch this directly), and a folder for each of your projects, sitting right alongside it.
You can add more roots later from the SDK Info dropdown in the sidebar (+ Add New Root…), and switch between them anytime. Each root tracks its own SDK version and project list independently.
Running the FPS Template
Once you’re in, FPS Template is already selected in the Projects list, it’s the starting point every new project forks from. Click Quick Launch, in the footer or under Utilities, and the Launcher builds a Release build (if it isn’t already up to date) and runs it.
Quick Launch Builds if needed, then runs the game as-is.
Launch Developer Same as Quick Launch, but starts with the developer debug overlay on. See CVars & Console Commands for what that shows.
Launch Map Builds if needed, then lets you pick a compiled map from the project’s Working/Maps folder to launch straight into.
Opening the Code
Click Open in Visual Studio under Utilities to open games.sln. It already has the Engine and FPSTemplate projects in it, along with any project you’ve created, ready to edit! You can run directly from Visual Studio (or whatever IDE you use), or you can run from the launcher itself.
Where to Go Next
- Creating new projects, versioning, and building for distribution. See The SDK Launcher.
- Building levels in Rockwall 2. See Mapping.
- Adding your own gameplay code. See Writing Your First Entity.