First Steps First Steps


We strongly recommend using the installer shown at the top of the download page for the easiest setup. Before installing Delta Engine, it is recommended to have a current version of the Visual Studio IDE installed.
The shipped templates and solutions have been made for Visual Studio 2012, but also work in later and earlier editions. Supported on: Visual Studio 2010 (or C# Express), Visual Studio 2012 (or Express), Visual Studio 2013 (or Express).


2. Installation


Run the Installer, accept the license agreement, select a destination location and the components you wish to install. The DeltaEnginePath environment variable is used by the editor to find the sample games and templates. For details, check out the Starting with C# page.



The installer will create a directory per framework containing all binaries of the Sample Games and the Editor. To develop an application, this is all you need. 

To get the source code and compile the engine yourself, you can check out Delta Engine's public repositories, for example on GitHub. The Delta Engine uses NuGet. In case of trouble, read the Nuget guide or copy the required dlls yourself into the output directory from the Editor. 

For each framework you want to use the redistributables of it need to be installed.(Xna requires XNA 4.0 to be installed, SharpDX requires DirectX)


The Editor can be either accessed via the desktop icon or by going to the directory and starting DeltaEngine.Editor.exe.





Open the Samplebrowser by clicking the plugin from the plugin list. 

A list of all Sample Games appears inside the Samplebrowser. Press the "Start"-Button of the Sample Game of your choice. The game will open. Also, you have the option to view the source code of the games. 





To create a new project, open the Project Creator. Enter a project name which should be unique if possible. The project name is used as the content project name for the Editor and for your Visual Studio project name, which is created at the path you provide. By default an empty game is created. You can also select any of the Starter Kits to get started. Pick the framework you are most comfortable with. 



After creating your project, you can add content. This page describes the supported content formats. Also check out the "Content Import and Creation" page, which provides tutorials like importing static meshes using Fbx. 

Simply drag and drop your files onto the Viewport of the Editor. For example, drag a png image or a sound file from a local folder onto the Editor. The imported file will be automatically processed for all the platforms you later exported to via the App Builder. 

To replace images inside Materials, open the Material Editor and choose another image from the Dropdownlist. 



Back in the Game, the Ghosts are replaced with Pizzas. 


The App Builder in the Editor can be used to convert your project to other platforms (mobile, web, consoles, etc.).

If not already done, select the solution folder the project is in (saved by the editor for each content project). Choose the platform you want to deploy to. By default, each user can only deploy to Windows, once you acquire a license you can build all other supported platforms (Android, Web, etc.). 

On the bottom you can see all the previously created packages or any build issues after you click the Build-Button (similar to Visual Studio).


  • There are many more editor plugins which you can checkout on the Editor page. 
  • On how to perform most basic tasks, you may consult our Tutorials page and/or seek help on the Forum.
  • For more in-depth information, the automatically generated Documentation might be the place to go. 
  • Also check out the Wiki. 
  • If you want to study the source code or are considering submitting code to us, you might also want to look at the page about Delta Engine's Coding Style.