zinc 0.1.0

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 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>                 
  <ZincBundleId>com.yourstudio.mygame</ZincBundleId> 
  <ZincAppIcon>res/icon.png</ZincAppIcon>            
</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.