DarkRoast Help

DarkRoast is a game engine that uses Blender as its editor. You build the level in Blender, give objects behaviour with a few lines of Lua, and press Play. When it’s done, Package Game turns it into a standalone Windows game.

🚀 Getting startedInstall the engine and add-on, then make and play your first level in ten minutes. 🎨 The Blender add-onEvery button and setting in the BlendForge tab: physics, sound, particles, AI and world. 📜 Lua scriptingHow scripts work, the callbacks, and the complete API reference. 🍳 Script cookbookReady-made scripts: coins, doors, guards, timers, cutscenes, save games and more. 🎮 2D gamesOrthographic cameras, sprites and sprite sheets, pixel art and 2D physics: build a side-scroller. 🏎️ Cars & racingDrivable cars with suspension and gears, a chase camera, AI drivers, laps and positions. 🧩 Logic graphsVisual scripting: build gameplay from nodes in a Blender node editor, no code needed. 🌐 MultiplayerHost and join, replicated objects, players’ bodies, messages and shared state. 🧩 PluginsAdd Lua modules, scripts for every level, Logic graph nodes or native C/C++ code to your games. 📦 Shipping your gamePackage Game, multiple levels, and what to send your players. 🔧 Tips & troubleshootingDebug keys, command-line options, known limits and common fixes.

How it fits together

Blender + DarkRoast add-on  —(.glb + components + Lua scripts + sounds)→  DarkRoast engine
 objects, lights, materials,                                       OpenGL 4.5 renderer, Jolt physics,
 animation, scripts, Play                                          Lua 5.4, navmesh AI, 3D audio

Build your level in Blender as usual: meshes, materials, lights, animation.
Tag objects in the BlendForge tab: is it a wall, a crate you can throw, a trigger, a sound source?
Script the interesting parts with short Lua scripts attached to objects.
Play to test. Press Play again (or keep Live Link on) to see changes instantly.
Package it into a folder and zip anyone can run.

The five-minute version

Attach this script to a cube, set its Body to Trigger and tick Visible In Game. Duplicate it a few times and press Play — you have a coin-collecting game.

function on_update(self, dt)
  self:rotate(0, 0, 90 * dt)            -- spin 90 degrees per second
end

function on_trigger_enter(self, other)
  if other.is_player then
    game.score = (game.score or 0) + 1
    ui.set("score", "Score " .. game.score)
    self:destroy()
  end
end

Ready? Start with Getting started.

Getting started →