Startup Sequence

From main() to the main menu, step by step, as of 2026-11-10.

The files involved are src/GalaxyEggbertCNA/main.cpp (entry point and flags), GalaxyEggbertGame.cpp (constructor), GalaxyEggbertGameLoad.cpp (LoadContent()), GalaxyEggbertGameUpdate.cpp (the first updates) and GalaxyEggbertGameMissions.cpp (title scene, missions). The host class is GalaxyEggbertGame, a Microsoft::Xna::Framework::Game from CNA.

1. main()

main() only calls RunGame() inside a try. An escaping exception is printed (GalaxyEggbertCNA: fatal exception: ...) and rethrown, because in the browser it would otherwise arrive as a bare pointer with no text. On Android CNA's Entrypoint.hpp renames main() so the Java side can start it.

RunGame() first does the platform-specific preparation:

• Android: RedirectStdioToLogcat() and PrepareAndroidAssets() (AndroidAssets.cpp); it returns 1 if the assets cannot be prepared.
• Web: Editor::ApplyCampaignEdits("worlds3d", CampaignOriginalsDir()) lays the player's in-browser edits of shipped worlds over the page's packed worlds3d/ before anything loads a world (see World Loading).

2. The player's folder: ChooseUserFolder()

On desktop builds the folder for savedata.txt, resume.txt, demos/ and customworlds/ is chosen before the game object exists:

1. --user DIR on the command line, else
2. the environment variable GALAXY_USER_DIR (the test scripts use their run folder), else
3. CNA's StorageDevice root for the application name "Galaxy Eggbert" (~/.local/share/Galaxy Eggbert or $XDG_DATA_HOME on Linux, %LOCALAPPDATA%\Galaxy Eggbert on Windows).

In the default case the files an earlier build kept in the working folder are copied over once (Game::CopyOldUserFiles(), only if the new folder has no savedata.txt; nothing is moved or overwritten). Game::SetUserFolder() records the choice (UserFolder.hpp). If no folder can be created the game keeps the working folder. The web build keeps /save and Android its private storage; this step is skipped there.

3. Constructing GalaxyEggbertGame

The constructor (GalaxyEggbertGame.cpp):

• sets the window title to "Galaxy Eggbert";
• reads GALAXY_PERF=1 (timing output) and GALAXY_MODEL_CULL=0 (disable model culling);
• creates the GraphicsDeviceManager and selects the HiDef profile (the screenshot and golden-capture paths use GetBackBufferData, a HiDef operation);
• loads savedata.txt (saveData_.Load(), SaveData) and applies its full-screen preference;
• subscribes to CNA's Keyboard::KeyDownEXT for ordered key presses: demo key events, the editor's command keys and text entry, demo names, and typed cheat letters in Play.

Members such as Sound, Hud, InputPad, WorldRuntime, InteractionSystem and WorldEditor are plain value members, constructed with the game.

4. Command-line flags

RunGame() then scans argv and switches modes on the game object. All flags as of 2026-11-10:

See Running the Game and Configuration for the environment variables.

5. Run() and LoadContent()

game->Run() enters CNA's loop. As in XNA, CNA's Game::DoInitialize() creates the graphics device, then calls Initialize(), which calls LoadContent(). GalaxyEggbertGame does not override Initialize(); everything happens in LoadContent() (GalaxyEggbertGameLoad.cpp), synchronously, in this order:

1. A first world. worldRuntime_.LoadFromVwrFile("worlds3d/world001.vwr"), the main hub. If it is missing the function prints a hint ("run the binary from its own build directory") and returns: the game needs its data next to the executable.
2. Texture scale. 1x or 2x for this run, decided once: the Setup's "Textures" setting, GALAXY_TEXTURES, or Auto (2x with Ultra effects on a display at least 1000 px tall). Web and Android always use 1x.
3. The terrain sheet. Content/icons/object-m.png (or icons2x/): tile coverage is classified from its alpha (TileCoverage.hpp), brick edges and clear texels of opaque tiles are filled, and a padded, mipmapped copy is built for the TileAtlas. Average tile colours and water tints for the 3D effects are taken from it.
4. The world's presentation. RebuildWorldPresentation(): background picture, TerrainRenderer meshes, block models (see World Loading). Then the terrain and grass effects (textures3d/grass_top.png).
5. 2D layers. hud_.LoadContent() and inputPad_.LoadContent() load their own sheets (text.png, pad.png, menu backgrounds).
6. Object sheets for billboards: element.png, explo.png, blupi.png, blupi1.png.
7. 3D models. Blupi from avatars3d/blupi/avatar.skinnedmodel.json with its clips.txt and face textures, or the fox placeholder in avatars3d/blupi_placeholder/ if the real model is absent (without any model the camera stays first-person). Then the object model library: avatars3d/objects/index.txt, and per model its icons.txt (into the ObjectModelTable), materials.txt, measured BigDecor shapes, spark textures and sign decals.
8. Blupi's start. PlaceBlupi() at the world's spawn cell, or (0, 1, 0).
9. Sound. sound_.LoadContent() loads whichever of Content/sounds/sound000.wav to sound092.wav exist (Sound); sound on/off, effects volume and the jump-button side are restored from SaveData.

The WorldEditor has no loading step; it builds what it needs when it is opened.

6. The first frames: Wait, title scene, menu

The game starts in the Wait phase (GamePhase, include/GalaxyEggbert/Def/GamePhase.hpp). Each Update() runs a fixed 1/60 s step:

• Title scene. While in Wait (and later in the main menu and the editor's world list) the game requests the title scene. LoadTitleScene() loads worlds3d/title.vwr into WorldRuntime (replacing the hub loaded above), rebuilds the presentation, puts a fresh Blupi at the world's spawn facing the camera, and marks the scene active. UpdateTitleScene() animates the world, lets Blupi idle and sways the camera 7 degrees either way over 14 seconds. If title.vwr is missing the plain screens are used.
• Wait. The original's 5-second loading gauge, now purely cosmetic (kWaitDurationSeconds = 5.0f): loading already finished in LoadContent(). When it ends, the game reads resume.txt (ReadResumeLog()) and goes to Resume if there is an interrupted mission or saved progress, otherwise to Init, the main menu.
• Resume. "Continue" replays the interrupted mission from its recorded start (BeginResume(), ResumeLog) or, failing that, loads the saved mission (LoadMission(saveData_.GetMissionNumber())). See Save Data & Resume.
• Main menu (Init). Play calls LoadMission(1) (the main hub) and enters Play; Galaxy calls StartGalaxy() (Your Own Galaxy); Editor opens the WorldEditor's world list; Setup enters MainSetup; Demo, Help, Fullscreen/Window and Exit do what they say. 40 seconds without input in the settled menu start the demos (Demos & Recordings).

7. The --mission shortcut

With --mission N the menus never appear. On the first Update() (GalaxyEggbertGameUpdate.cpp):

if (startMission_ != 0)
{
    SetPhase(GalaxyEggbert::Def::GamePhase::Play, /*bypassFade=*/true);
    if (startGalaxy_) { galaxyGamer_ = saveData_.GetSelectedGamer(); saveData_.SetGalaxyMode(true); ... }
    LoadMission(startMission_);
    startMission_ = 0;
    if (startSpawnSet_)
    {
        PlaceBlupi(startSpawnX_ - WorldRuntime::kWorldCenterX, startSpawnY_,
                   startSpawnZ_ - WorldRuntime::kWorldCenterZ);
        blupi_.SetYaw(startYawDegrees_ * 3.14159265f / 180.0f);
        ...
    }
}

The golden-capture modes do the same with the fixed showcase world, LoadMission(999). Once in Play with the mission loaded, StartResumeLog() records the mission's start (build, world path and hash, seed, Blupi's position, settings) and input recording begins; an armed demo recording starts at the same moment.

Related pages

• World Loading (what LoadMission() does)
• Game Loop, GalaxyEggbertGame
• Running the Game, Configuration, Platform Support