AeThex GameForge Starter Kit

Get a game project running in minutes using AeThex GameForge — the AeThex Engine, a Godot 4 fork with AeThex cloud services built in.

---

What is AeThex GameForge?

AeThex GameForge is AeThex's game development platform:

• AeThex Engine — A Godot 4 fork extended with native support for AeThex cloud services
• AeThex Passport — Unified player authentication across all AeThex games
• Cloud Saves — Server-side save data that follows players across devices
• Leaderboards — Global and friend leaderboards with no backend code required
• Multiplayer — Relay-based cloud multiplayer built into the engine

This starter kit gives you a working Godot 4 project with the right structure and integration stubs already in place.

---

Prerequisites

• AeThex Engine installed — download from studio.aethex.tech/engine
  • Minimum version: 4.2.0-aethex
  • Standard Godot 4 will mostly work but cloud service features won't be available
• An AeThex account for cloud features (passport.aethex.tech)
• Git (to clone this repo)

---

Getting Started

# Clone the starter kit
git clone https://git.aethex.tech/aethex/gameforge-starter-kit.git my-game
cd my-game

# Open in AeThex Engine
# File → Open Project → select this folder

Or use AeThex Studio's "New Project from Template" feature.

---

Project Structure

gameforge-starter-kit/
├── project.godot              # Godot project configuration
├── src/
│   ├── main.gd                # Entry point — initializes cloud, shows title
│   ├── player/
│   │   ├── player.gd          # Player controller (movement, jump, animation)
│   │   └── player.tscn        # Player scene
│   ├── ui/
│   │   └── hud.gd             # HUD — health and score display
│   └── managers/
│       ├── game_manager.gd    # Singleton: scene management, settings, save/load
│       └── aethex_cloud.gd    # AeThex cloud services stub (auth, saves, leaderboards)
├── assets/                    # Sprites, sounds, fonts
└── exports/                   # Export builds (gitignored)

---

Connecting to AeThex Cloud Services

The src/managers/aethex_cloud.gd file contains stubs for all cloud integrations. Each method has a TODO comment explaining what to implement.

To enable cloud features:

1. Create a project at studio.aethex.tech
2. Copy your Project API Key
3. In the AeThex Engine, go to Project → Project Settings → AeThex and paste your key

Authentication is handled via AeThex Passport — players log in once and their identity is available across all AeThex games.

See docs.aethex.tech/gameforge for full cloud integration documentation.

---

Export Options

AeThex GameForge supports all standard Godot 4 export targets plus:

Target	Notes
Windows	Standard desktop export
macOS	Requires signing for distribution
Linux	AppImage or raw binary
HTML5/Web	Exports to WebGL2; cloud features work in browser
Android	Requires Android SDK
iOS	Requires Xcode and Apple Developer account
AeThex Arcade	Direct publishing to the AeThex Arcade platform (coming soon)

---

Next Steps

• Replace src/player/player.gd with your game's player logic
• Add your game's scenes under src/
• Drop assets into assets/
• Implement the TODOs in aethex_cloud.gd for cloud features
• Check out gameforge-template-v1 for a more complete starting point

---

Getting Help

• #game-dev on the AeThex Discord
• docs.aethex.tech/gameforge
• Open an issue on this repo