The Vaelis Hub
Projects, starter templates, Learn and Installs tabs, offline PWA install and .vs file association.
#Overview
The Hub is the launcher page (index.html of the Vaelis site). Choose Open Editor or open a project card to enter the editor. A narrow icon rail on the left switches between three tabs.
| Tab | What it does |
|---|---|
| Projects | Recent projects with name, template and last-opened time. Click a card to open it, use the pencil to rename inline (Enter saves, Esc cancels) and the trash to remove it from the launcher. New Project opens the template picker. |
| Learn | Documentation entry point (quick start, scripting API, safety). Works offline because it is in the offline cache. |
| Installs | Shows the single engine build that ships with the Hub (Vaelis 1.0.0, Stable). |
#Starter templates
| Template | Contents |
|---|---|
| Blank Canvas | An empty environment for pure 2D rendering and custom logic (default). |
| Platformer Kit | Kinematic controller, one-way platforms and coyote-time jump tuning. |
| Top-Down | Playable starter with player, NPCs, collectible coins and a lit dungeon scene. |
| Flappy Bird | Complete flap-to-fly clone with state machine, scoring and juice, commented for beginners. |
| Sky Jumper | Endless cloud-hopping jumper with bouncy platforms, collectible stars, climbing camera and jump SFX. |
| Physics Sandbox | Rapier2D bodies, colliders and joints pre-wired for prototyping. |
Templates other than Blank Canvas are bundled real projects, applied the first time the new project opens in the editor.
#Install and offline use
- Serve the client over HTTP(S) and open
/index.htmlonce while connected. - Wait for the first load to finish so the service worker can precache the editor, player, runtime and vendor files listed in
offline-manifest.json. - Install the PWA from the browser. The editor, player and engine then launch without a network.
The service worker also serves the /editor, /play and /player aliases while offline. Android APK creation still needs the external build server. If the editor looks out of date after an update, reload once while online to refresh the cache.
#.vs project files
A .vs file is a ZIP archive with Vaelis's own extension. The web manifest declares a file handler for it. After installing Vaelis from Chrome or Edge, .vs files get the Vaelis icon (Windows, ChromeOS and Linux Chromium browsers), and double-click or Open with → Vaelis opens the editor with that project loaded as an unsaved session; use File → Save Project to write changes out. macOS and mobile browsers keep a generic icon.
For machines without the installed app, file-association/ in the distribution has an optional Windows .reg file and a Linux install script. They set only the icon and type name, and are untested on real desktops.