Make your own game¶

From a fresh clone to your own game running, in four steps. You'll end with a character you can walk, run, jump, vault and climb with, in a small level whose layout lives in a Lua file you can edit while the game runs.

1. Build the engine¶

Install the system packages and build once, as in Install and build. On Debian or Ubuntu:

git clone https://github.com/Khyretos/kk-engine.git
cd kk-engine
cmake --workflow --preset default

The first build fetches every library from source and takes a while; later builds only compile what changed.

2. Try the starter game¶

The build already made the starter game from games/template/:

cd build/bin
./starter_game

Click the view to take the mouse, then:

Key	Does
`W` `A` `S` `D`	move (relative to the camera)
mouse	look
`Space`	jump; in front of the fence it vaults, in front of the block it climbs
`Shift`	sprint
`Alt`	walk
`V`	first or third person
`Esc`	let go of the mouse
`F1`	developer panels: the Scripts panel with its console, and frame stats

A controller works too, with the same actions on its buttons and sticks.

3. Make your copy¶

From the repository root:

tools/new_game my_game            # or: cmake -DNAME=my_game -P tools/new_game.cmake
cmake --build build
cd build/bin && ./my_game

tools/new_game copies games/template/ to games/my_game/, names the executable, the window and the manifest after it, and adds it to the build (through games/my_games.cmake). Use lower-case letters, digits and _.

Your game folder:

File	What it is
`main.cpp`	The list of modules your game is made of, and the lights
`PlayerModule.cpp`	The player: movement, camera, and the `player` table for Lua
`scripts/game.lua`	The level and the rules
`game.json`	The manifest: name, description, tags (shown by the marketplace)
`CMakeLists.txt`	How it's built; `GAME_NAME` is the executable's name

4. Change something while it runs¶

Leave the game running, open games/my_game/scripts/game.lua and change the colour of the stairs:

local accent = Vec(0.2, 0.7, 0.9)

Save. The game reloads the script within half a second: the level is rebuilt with blue stairs, and nothing is built twice. If you make a mistake, the error (file and line) shows in the log and in the Scripts panel (F1), and the game keeps running; fix it and save again.

The game reads its scripts straight from your source folder, so there is nothing to rebuild for Lua changes. C++ changes (main.cpp, PlayerModule.cpp) need cmake --build build and a restart.

Next¶

Carry on with the tutorials: walk around and shape the level, throw things, script a pickup, and add sound.