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This guide gets FORGE running and walks you through the neutral baseline so you can confirm the framework works before you start building your own server.

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Prerequisites

  • A HELIX project (Unreal Engine) with UnLua enabled.
  • The FORGE framework, clone or fork FORGE-FRAMEWORK.

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Install

1

Drop FORGE into your Scripts folder

The repository root is your Scripts/ directory. Place the packages so HELIX loads them from Scripts/forge-core, Scripts/forge-items, and so on.
2

Confirm the package list

config.json registers every package and its load order. forge-core must load first; the example content (forge-examples/forge-example-content) loads last.
3

Enter Play-In-Editor

On boot, forge-core initializes, every package registers its exports, and the test suites run. Read the Output Log.
A healthy boot logs ... ready for each package, [FORGE-SMOKE] DONE 153 passed, 0 failed, and [FORGE-TEST] DONE ... pass=625 fail=0.

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Walk the neutral baseline

With no themed content, a fresh character can already exercise the core loop. (The example content ships dev keybinds, G to grant starter items, I to open the inventory, to make this quick.)
1

Create a character

The character-select screen lets you create a character with a structured name and identity fields, then spawn in.
2

Get starter items

The shipped neutral items include a bandage, bread, water, cloth, a simple dagger, and a coin. A new character also starts with 100 coin (forge-economy starting balance).
3

Craft a bandage

recipe:bandage is common knowledge, turn 2× cloth into a bandage with no station required.
4

Eat bread → get a buff

Using bread applies effect:well_fed: a timed +2 Constitution buff.
5

Equip an item → stats change

Equipping an item with an equip.modifiers block applies its attribute modifiers; unequipping reverts them.
Type dumpchar in the in-game console (dev tooling) to print your character’s live attributes, active effects, equipment, and progression to the Output Log, handy for confirming a buff applied.

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Next steps

Understand the architecture

How packages talk to each other.

Learn the content model

Keep, edit, or switch off the neutral defaults.

Make it your own

The fork workflow for building your server.

Add your first item

Register content through the public API.