Phaser Editor is built with web technologies. You can run it on your desktop, your private network, or in the cloud.
We provide two different types of distributions: Phaser Editor Core and Phaser Editor Desktop. Each distribution is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
In this chapter we cover how to install both distributions.
Install Phaser Editor Desktop
The Phaser Editor Desktop distribution wraps Phaser Editor Core in an ElectronJS application. It works like a common desktop application and allows the opening of multiple projects and windows. It also provides project templates for creating new projects.
Each platform has a different way of installing Phaser Editor Desktop.
Windows installation
Click the Windows option in the Desktop section of the downloads page. It should start the download of the MSI (Microsoft Installer) file. Execute it and follow the steps.
You can configure the installation by pressing the Configure option in the Install menu:
macOS installation
Click the macOS (Apple silicone) option to download the image file. Open it (double click), and drag the Phaser Editor icon to the Applications folder.
Note there are two installers for macOS. One for ARM-based Macs and another for Intel-based Macs. The ARM-based Macs are the new Macs with the M1 chip. If you are not sure which one to download, you can download the ARM-based version.
Linux installation
We don't have a proper installer for the Linux, so we distribute the binaries in a ZIP file.
Click the Linux option to download the file and unzip it. Open the terminal and run the PhaserEditor file:
$ ./PhaserEditor
However, we recommend creating a shortcut in the desktop and a menu entry in the Desktop Environment. To do this, execute the script install.sh:
$ ./install.sh
And uninstall.sh to remove the shortcuts:
$ ./uninstall.sh
In both cases, you don’t have to provide root privileges.
The Phaser Editor Core binaries are in the resources/app/server folder. You can run it alone.
Install Phaser Editor Core
Phaser Editor Core is a server application that serves the Phaser Editor IDE in a web browser. It is a lightweight server that provides the necessary services to run Phaser Editor in the cloud or the desktop.
Phaser Editor Core is distributed as a ZIP file. To download it, click the platform option of the Core section in the Downloads page.
Un-compress the downloaded file, open the terminal and run:
$ cd /path/to/downloaded/PhaserEditor
$ ./PhaserEditor -project path/to/project
The server starts and opens the default browser in the address: http://127.0.0.1:1959/editor.
The -project flag is mandatory, its value must be the path to the game project.
Check the Create your first project section for creating a new game.
By default, the server runs in application-mode. It means it does its best on providing better integration with your OS:
- It opens the default browser at the right URL (you can change it with the
-browser-commandoption). - It allows launching third-party OS applications like Visual Studio Code or the file manager (Windows Explorer, macOS Finder, etc…).
- It denies remote connections.
However, you can run the server in a remote host using the -public option:
$ ./PhaserEditor -public
It allows remote connections but disables all the OS integration described before.