Prerequisites Before you begin, make sure you have:
Talon installed on your system (Installation Guide )
A text editor or IDE of your choice
Basic familiarity with programming concepts
New to Wren? Check out the Wren documentation - you can learn the basics in under 30 minutes! Create Your First Game Let’s create a simple “Hello World” window with Talon. This will introduce you to the core concepts of Talon game development.
Create a Project Directory
Create a new directory for your game and navigate into it: mkdir my-first-game cd my-first-game
Create Your Main Script
Create a file called index.wren and open it in your text editor:
Write Your Game Code
Add the following code to index.wren: import "raylib" for Color, Raylib, Rectangle, Vector2, Camera2D, KeyCode, Texture2D var width = 800 var height = 450 var title = "Sample" Raylib.initWindow(width, height, title) Raylib.setTargetFPS(60) var camera = Camera2D.new( Vector2.new(2.0, 0.0), Vector2.new(0.0, 0.0), 0.0, 1.0 ) var target = Raylib.loadRenderTexture(width, height) while (!Raylib.windowShouldClose()) { Raylib.beginDrawing() Raylib.clearBackground(Color.Red) Raylib.drawText("Congrats! You created your first window!", 190, 200, 20, Color.Green) Raylib.getScreenWidth() Raylib.getScreenHeight() if (Raylib.isKeyDown(KeyCode.KEY_SPACE)) { System.print("Space is Pressed") } Raylib.drawTexturePro(target.texture, Rectangle.new(0.0, 0.0, target.texture.width, target.texture.height), Rectangle.new(0.0, 0.0, target.texture.width, target.texture.height), Vector2.new(0.0, 0.0), 0.0, Color.new(255, 255, 255, 255 ) ) Raylib.endDrawing() } Raylib.clearBackground(Color.Gray) Raylib.unloadRenderTexture(target) Raylib.closeWindow()
Run Your Game
Execute your game with Talon: You should see a window with a red background and green text! Understanding the Code Let’s break down what each part of the code does:
import "raylib" for Color, Raylib, Rectangle, Vector2, Camera2D, KeyCode, Texture2D
This imports the Raylib module and specific classes you’ll use. The raylib module provides access to all Raylib functionality.
var width = 800 var height = 450 var title = "Sample" Raylib.initWindow(width, height, title) Raylib.setTargetFPS(60)
This creates a window with the specified dimensions and title, then sets the target frame rate to 60 FPS.
var camera = Camera2D.new( Vector2.new(2.0, 0.0), // offset Vector2.new(0.0, 0.0), // target 0.0, // rotation 1.0 // zoom )
Creates a 2D camera for more advanced rendering. The camera allows you to control viewport, zoom, and rotation.
while (!Raylib.windowShouldClose()) { Raylib.beginDrawing() // ... drawing code ... Raylib.endDrawing() }
The main game loop runs until the user closes the window. All drawing must happen between beginDrawing() and endDrawing().
Raylib.clearBackground(Color.Gray) Raylib.unloadRenderTexture(target) Raylib.closeWindow()
Always clean up resources and close the window when your game exits. Try Hot Reload One of Talon’s best features is hot reload. Let’s try it!
Run with Hot Reload
Start your game with the --hot flag:
Make a Change
While the game is running, edit index.wren and change the background color: Raylib.clearBackground(Color.Blue) // Changed from Color.Red
See Instant Updates
Save the file and watch your game automatically reload with the new background color! Hot reload is perfect for tweaking colors, positions, and game parameters without restarting.
Next Steps Congratulations! You’ve created your first Talon game. Here’s what to explore next:
Learn Wren Master the Wren language to unlock Talon’s full potential.
Core Concepts Understand the game loop, project structure, and more.
Explore Examples Study complete game examples like Breakout and Asteroids.
API Reference Explore all available Raylib functions and data types.
Build a Simple Interactive Game Ready for something more interactive? Here’s a simple example with movement:
import "raylib" for Color, Raylib, KeyCode var screenWidth = 800 var screenHeight = 450 Raylib.initWindow(screenWidth, screenHeight, "Simple Movement") Raylib.setTargetFPS(60) // Player position var playerX = 400 var playerY = 225 var playerSpeed = 5 while (!Raylib.windowShouldClose()) { // Update: Handle input if (Raylib.isKeyDown(KeyCode.KEY_RIGHT)) playerX = playerX + playerSpeed if (Raylib.isKeyDown(KeyCode.KEY_LEFT)) playerX = playerX - playerSpeed if (Raylib.isKeyDown(KeyCode.KEY_DOWN)) playerY = playerY + playerSpeed if (Raylib.isKeyDown(KeyCode.KEY_UP)) playerY = playerY - playerSpeed // Draw Raylib.beginDrawing() Raylib.clearBackground(Color.RayWhite) // Draw player as a circle Raylib.drawCircle(playerX, playerY, 20, Color.Blue) Raylib.drawText("Use arrow keys to move", 10, 10, 20, Color.DarkGray) Raylib.endDrawing() } Raylib.closeWindow()
Save this as movement.wren and run it:
Use the arrow keys to move the blue circle around!
Common Patterns Here are some common patterns you’ll use in Talon games:
Update-Draw Cycle while (!Raylib.windowShouldClose()) { // 1. Update game state // Handle input, update positions, check collisions, etc. // 2. Draw Raylib.beginDrawing() Raylib.clearBackground(Color.RayWhite) // Draw your game objects here Raylib.endDrawing() }
Working with Colors // Use built-in colors Color.Red Color.Green Color.Blue // Create custom colors (R, G, B, Alpha) var customColor = Color.new(255, 128, 0, 255)
// Keyboard if (Raylib.isKeyPressed(KeyCode.KEY_SPACE)) { /* one-time press */ } if (Raylib.isKeyDown(KeyCode.KEY_SPACE)) { /* held down */ } // Mouse var mouseX = Raylib.getMouseX() var mouseY = Raylib.getMouseY() if (Raylib.isMouseButtonPressed(0)) { /* left click */ }
Tip : The difference between isKeyPressed() and isKeyDown() is that isKeyPressed() triggers once per press, while isKeyDown() returns true every frame the key is held.
Troubleshooting
Make sure you’re calling Raylib.initWindow() before any other Raylib functions, and check that your screen dimensions are reasonable (not too large or negative).
Game runs too fast or too slow
Use Raylib.setTargetFPS(60) to set a consistent frame rate. The default may vary by system.
Make sure you’re importing the correct module name ("raylib") and that you’re importing the classes you need (like Color, Raylib, etc.).
Ensure you’re running with the --hot flag and saving your file. Note that some errors may prevent hot reload from working until the syntax is corrected.
Need Help? If you’re stuck, check the GitHub issues or create a new issue for help.