Grimwar/SDK setup

Overview · Getting started · SDK setup · Maps · Custom content · Entities · VSig · VMod · Workshop · Addons · Servers · Help

The Grimwar SDK includes Vertex for maps, VSDK for setup and standalone resources, and Grimwar's assets and compiler. This wiki is the maintained source for Vellocet SDK guidance.

Install the SDK

1. In Steam's Library, enable the Tools filter and install Grimwar SDK. Install Grimwar too if you want to playtest.
2. Launch the SDK to open VSDK.
3. For map builds, install and activate Unity 6000.3.17f1 through Unity Hub. Add build support for the targets you will use. VSDK detects standard installations; choose the Unity executable if detection misses yours.
4. Choose your installed Grimwar executable or macOS app for playtesting.
5. Select Finish setup and open Vertex. Setup prepares a writable compiler cache and registers the game.
6. Create a map and save it outside the SDK installation.

Map compilation runs Unity through the SDK. You author in Vertex and play in Grimwar. You do not need to create a Unity project or install a Unity package by hand for this workflow.

A VMod containing only scripts, sounds, or ordinary data can be validated and built without Unity. Imported models, materials, textures, fonts, and video use the Unity compiler. Map lighting also needs a working graphics device.

Choose a workflow

What you are making	Start here
Map	Open Vertex, then make a map.
Map logic	Open the map's Code workspace and follow VSig.
Standalone server mod	In VSDK, select VMod and Create…. See Grimwar/VMod.
C# behavior attached to one map	Use Map → SDK resources → VMod → Create… in Vertex.
Reusable media	In VSDK, select Media pack, create it, and open Content…. See Grimwar/Custom content.
Unity materials or model prefabs for a map	Follow Grimwar/Unity custom content to make a personal SDK copy, author assets in Compiler/Assets/CustomContent/, and register them with Vertex.

Files and updates

Keep your maps, scripts, thumbnails, content.json, and imported files together in a source folder you control. Keep build output separate. Steam can replace SDK files during an update.

Update the complete SDK through Steam and launch VSDK again. Do not mix an editor executable from one SDK release with the catalogs or compiler from another. Your source files and local preferences stay outside the installation.

In Vertex, use Settings → Game and resources → Reload resources after changing or refreshing the game connection. Engine and game executable paths are under Build → Advanced. Standalone Vertex can open the same installation through File → Open game SDK….

Build profiles

Vertex's Preview profile builds for local testing on the selected platform. VSDK calls its local standalone-resource output a Development package. These packages are for testing and cannot be published to Workshop.

Release map exports include Windows client, macOS client, and Linux dedicated-server artifacts. Install the matching Unity build modules. The SDK enforces the required navigation, spatial, occlusion, and lighting policy.

Choose a 1920 × 1080 thumbnail before publishing. Vertex maps accept PNG or JPEG through Map → Thumbnail; standalone VMods use a PNG path in mod.json.thumbnail. A map can compile without artwork, but Workshop publication requires it. See Grimwar/Steam Workshop addons.

If you are integrating your own game

Read Vertex/Integrating your game. Your game supplies its own catalogs, entity behavior, compiler, and runtime loader. A local developer connection can offer Save to Unity for that game project. Grimwar's public SDK supplies a compiler, so its community workflow is Export add-on and Play in Game.