glue-project-loading

Loading Glue Projects

FRB2 reads the JSON files Glue writes and builds Screens and Entities from them at runtime. There is no generated C#: src/Glue/ is the whole implementation, GlueProject is the entry point.

Booting one is a single call in Game1.Initialize, after base.Initialize():

FlatRedBallService.Default.Initialize(this, "Content/FrbEditor/MyGame.gluj");

The project names its own start-up screen, Gum project and resolution, so nothing else is passed — the engine wires the screen's Save/Project itself. The path must be relative: it resolves through TitleContainer, which throws on a rooted path, so an absolute one loads the project and then fails every asset it references. To load a project but boot your own screen instead, use Initialize<MyScreen>(game, new EngineInitSettings { GlueProjectFile = … }).

Where to start

Every loaded element shares one C# type

GlueScreen and GlueEntity are what a loaded element is; only its Save data distinguishes it. So MoveToScreen<T>() and Factory<T> cannot tell two loaded screens apart — the by-name overloads (MoveToScreen(string), GlueProject.CreateEntity(name, screen)) exist for exactly this reason. Both directions work: a loaded screen can still MoveToScreen<AHandWrittenScreen>().

Names are Glue's own, with the folder: Screens\Level1, Entities\Player. Either separator is accepted and case is ignored, but the prefix is required — a bare leaf is ambiguous, since a screen and an entity can share one.