Quickstart¶

Get a 2D game running and make your first code change in under three minutes.

Create a Project¶

Pite comes with starter templates to help you get moving quickly. Generate a new project using the minimal-2d template:

pite new hello-pite --template minimal-2d
cd hello-pite

This scaffolds a complete project directory with a working 2D scene, spritesheet atlas, player and enemy scripts, audio, and UI elements.

Launch the Visual Editor¶

To launch the interactive graphical editor, run pite inside your project folder:

pite

(You can also use pite edit).

The Pite editor layout is designed around clarity and speed:

• Center Panel: The Viewport renders your game at its design resolution. Switch to the Code tab to view and edit Python scripts.
• Top Bar: Contains the menu bar (Scene, Project, Help) and playback controls: Play (▶) and Stop (■).
• Left Panel: The Scene Tree hierarchy on top shows all nodes in the active scene (Main, Player, Camera, HpLabel, HitBtn, etc.), with the Assets browser below.
• Right Panel: The Inspector displays the editable properties (props) and script attachments for the currently selected node.
• Bottom Panel: The Console shows debug traces, log messages, and error diagnostics.

Press the Play (▶) button in the top-right corner (or press Ctrl+R / F5) to test the scene in the viewport.

• Move the player using the Arrow keys or WASD.
• Press Space or click the HIT button on screen to hit the enemy. Notice how the enemy flinches, the sound effect plays, and the HP counter decrements!

Run Directly from the Terminal¶

You don't need the editor open to test your game. Run the standalone engine runtime straight from your terminal:

pite run

This launches your project's main scene directly in a lightweight window with full hot reload active.

pite run scenes/enemy.ptscn

Edit a Script and Watch Hot Reload¶

Pite scripts are standard Python files powered by an embedded Python 3.12 runtime. You can edit scripts inside the editor's Code tab or using any external code editor such as VS Code, Zed, or PyCharm.

Open scripts/player.py and locate the speed variable on line 6:

import pite


class Player(pite.Node2D):
    hit = pite.signal(int)
    speed: float = 200.0

    def _ready(self):
        self.position = (160.0, 240.0)

    def _process(self, delta: float):
        if pite.held.right:
            self.position.x += self.speed * delta
        if pite.held.left:
            self.position.x -= self.speed * delta
        if pite.held.down:
            self.position.y += self.speed * delta
        if pite.held.up:
            self.position.y -= self.speed * delta
        if pite.pressed.space:
            self.position.x += 10.0
            self.hit.emit(1)

Change speed: float = 200.0 to speed: float = 500.0, then save the file (Ctrl+S).

If your game is running in pite run or inside the editor, hot reload immediately reloads the Python module in place. Tap the arrow keys: your player character now moves across the screen at high speed without restarting the game.

Check Project Health¶

Pite includes a built-in static validator that inspects your manifests, scenes, asset references, and Python scripts:

pite check

pite check verifies:

• Scene node hierarchies, missing parents, and invalid node types.
• Missing or moved res:// assets (and suggests automatic re-import commands).
• Script syntax and unresolved dependencies.
• Manifest configuration syntax and schema.

Export a Standalone Build¶

When you are ready to distribute your game, Pite packages a standalone, single-folder release with a bundled Python runtime and runner binary:

pite export windows

pite export linux

pite export macos

You can export to any supported platform from any development OS — for example, building Windows and macOS releases while working on Linux, or producing Linux builds from Windows. Pite handles fetching the target platform's runner binary and embedded Python environment automatically without requiring external SDKs, cross-compilers, or virtual machines.

The output lands in dist/ containing an executable launcher and all required assets, ready to distribute to players.

Next Steps¶

Now that you have seen how Pite projects work, dive deeper into the engine: