zinc

Command line tool for the Zinc game framework. Needs the .NET 10 SDK or later; nothing to install:

dnx zinc new mygame
cd mygame
dnx zinc package mac

dnx downloads the tool on first use and runs it. Inside a project that pins zinc in its tool manifest (zinc new does this), dnx zinc runs the pinned version.

Commands

zinc new [NAME]

Creates a game from Zinc.Template: a fresh git repository with the template's submodules (Zinc) at the commits the template pins, the solution and assembly named after the game, and this version of zinc pinned. --template <repo> and --branch <branch> start from something else.

zinc package mac

Publishes the game and packages it as dist/macos/<App>.app.

zinc package mac                                  # ad-hoc signed, for testing on this Mac
zinc package mac --sign                           # signed with your Developer ID
zinc package mac --sign --notarize my-profile     # signed, notarized, stapled, zipped: ready to ship
zinc package mac -- -p:DefineConstants=DEMO       # anything after -- goes to dotnet publish

zinc always runs dotnet publish itself (Release, self-contained, single-file, no .pdb files, into dist/.stage/) so a package never picks up a stale or Debug build. Every command it runs is printed, so any step can be rerun by hand. To package a folder you published yourself, pass --from <dir>; it has to be a Release, single-file publish with the zinc.publish.json Zinc writes.

In the bundle, the executable and native libraries go in Contents/MacOS and everything else (res/, data/) in Contents/Resources, where Zinc looks for content when it runs from a bundle.

zinc package windows

Publishes the game for win-x64 and packages it as dist/windows/<App>/, plus dist/windows/<App>-windows.zip holding that folder.

zinc package windows                              # the folder to upload as a Steam depot, and a zip of it
zinc package windows -- -p:PublishSingleFile=false

It publishes the same way as on macOS (--from, --project, -o and -- work the same), and also single-file by default. That isn't required on Windows, but it leaves players with the .exe, the native libraries and the game's content instead of a few hundred assemblies. The folder is the publish as it is, since Zinc finds content next to the executable on Windows.

The .exe gets its icon from ZincAppIcon, which zinc turns into an .ico before publishing because the SDK builds the icon into the executable. A game that sets its own <ApplicationIcon> keeps it. The SDK only adds the icon and version info when it builds on Windows, so package on Windows. The .exe isn't code signed: installs through Steam don't need it, but SmartScreen warns about an unsigned executable downloaded from the web.

zinc doctor

Checks the machine and project: .NET SDK, git, Xcode tools, signing identities, the project's packaging settings. --notary-profile <name> also checks notarization credentials. Lists how to fix whatever's missing.

Project settings

zinc reads packaging settings from the game's .csproj, through the zinc.publish.json that Zinc's Zinc.Publish.targets writes into every publish:

<PropertyGroup>
  <ZincAppName>My Game</ZincAppName>                 <!-- defaults to AssemblyName -->
  <ZincBundleId>com.yourstudio.mygame</ZincBundleId> <!-- required to sign -->
  <ZincAppIcon>res/icon.png</ZincAppIcon>            <!-- relative to the publish folder -->
</PropertyGroup>

<Import Project="..\Zinc\Zinc.Publish.targets" />

Signing and notarizing on macOS

One-time setup (zinc doctor walks through it):

1. Create a Developer ID Application certificate: Xcode → Settings → Accounts → your team → Manage Certificates → + → Developer ID Application. Only the team's Account Holder can.
2. Make an app-specific password at account.apple.com (Sign-In and Security → App-Specific Passwords).
3. Save notarization credentials to the keychain:

   xcrun notarytool store-credentials my-profile --apple-id <your Apple ID> --team-id <TEAMID>
   

Then zinc package mac --sign --notarize my-profile.

Developing

dotnet run -- doctor                      # run from source
dotnet pack -c Release                    # artifacts/zinc.0.0.0-local.nupkg
dnx zinc@0.0.0-local --add-source ./artifacts --yes -- doctor

Releasing

Push a version tag; the version comes from the tag, not the .csproj:

git tag v0.1.0 && git push origin v0.1.0

.github/workflows/publish.yml packs that version and publishes it to nuget.org through Trusted Publishing, so no API key is stored anywhere.