Far-Beyond-Pulsar/Pulsar-Native

PiE: Play In Editor

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#243 opened on Jun 9, 2026

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documentationenhancementgood first issuehelp wanted

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Description

Play in Editor (PiE) mode allows devs run the game directly in the engine's editor window without popping it out to another window allowing live previews of scene state via the normal level editor scene content tree and props panels.

The key here is to have PBGC and the core project compiler build a lib.rs file alongside the main.rs file. rather than creating a dedicated window this will export functions allowing GPU buffers and SceneDB refs to be shared between the game and the engine. this allows us to essentially compile and then "embed" the game directly in the engine on a temporary basis, pausing the built in Helio instance to save resources and perhaps even allow the same WGPU surface element to be used in the level editor to display in editor and in game frames

Contributor guide

Research direction
Investigate how Pulsar Native currently compiles and runs the game (main.rs) and how the editor (Helio) manages its window and rendering. Understand the PBGC and core project compiler to see how to produce a lib.rs alongside main.rs that exports GPU buffers and SceneDB references. Study the WGPU surface sharing mechanism to allow both the editor and game to use the same surface.
Tech stack
rust
Domain
game dev
Issue type
Feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
4
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
Over 1 week
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Clear
Prerequisites
RustGame Engine Concepts
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
30