lovr-docs/guides/Getting_Started.md

Getting Started

This guide will help you install LÖVR and teach you how to create a simple scene. You'll need to have an HTC Vive or Oculus Rift handy, and you'll also need to have SteamVR installed on your computer.

Installing LÖVR

First, download LÖVR from the website:

Next, extract the zip file and open up the folder. You should see a file called lovr.exe and a bunch of .dll files.

Double click on lovr.exe to open LÖVR. If you see a window with a black screen, don't panic! That means LÖVR is working. If you don't tell LÖVR what project you want to run, it will just open a blank window. That's super boring though. Let's create a project with a cube in it.

To create a project, just create a new folder somewhere. You can call the folder whatever you want. I'm going to call it SuperEpicCube.

Writing Code

Now we're going to have to write some code. Code is really scary, so we're going to download a text editor to make it easier for us to write code. There are lots of different kinds of text editors. Some good ones are Sublime Text, Atom, or Zero Brane Studio. I'll use Sublime Text for this tutorial, but the approach should be similar no matter what text editor you use.

Every LÖVR project needs a special file called main.lua. Open a new file in your text editor and type out this Lua code. If you don't know what Lua is or don't know what the code does or are beginning to have an out of body experience, that's fine. It's not important to understand all the details of the code right now. However, I recommend that you avoid just copying and pasting it! Typing out each line does this magical thing to your brain that helps you read, write, and understand the code better. I promise.

function lovr.draw()
  lovr.graphics.cube('line', 0, 1, 0)
end

Whew, that wasn't so bad. Okay, save the file inside the SuperEpicCube folder and be sure to name it main.lua. Now we're ready to run our project!

Note: If you're trying this out without a VR headset, use the coordinates 0, 0, -2 instead of 0, 1, 0 so the cube shows up correctly!

Running a Project

We're going to run our project with LÖVR and experience our cube in VR. First, start SteamVR if it isn't started already:

Now, drag the SuperEpicCube folder on to the lovr.exe application we ran earlier:

Ok, put on your headset! You should see a cube floating in the middle of the play space. Walk around, introduce yourself to it, befriend it.

That's it for this guide. I knew you could do it. If you want to make something even more cool, you'll need to learn a little bit more about Lua. Continue on to the How to Lua guide to learn more about Lua!