Installation

This guide walks you through importing MCE into a Unity project and getting it running.

Prerequisites

• Unity 6 LTS (6000.3.8f1 or later) installed via Unity Hub.
• A new project created with the "Universal 2D" or "Universal 3D" template.

That is the whole list. There is nothing to buy or install first.

No third-party tweening library needed

Earlier versions of this page told you to install DOTween Free before importing. That is no longer true and you can skip it: the animation layer is NovaMotion, an MCE component that ships with the engine behind OpenMon's own OpenMon.Foundation.Tweening API, so the engine compiles with nothing but the URP template. An edit-mode test enforces it — no engine file may import DG.Tweening, so the dependency cannot come back by accident.

If you already have DOTween in the project it does no harm; the engine simply does not use it.

Import into a blank project. Both URP templates already include URP, the Input System and TextMeshPro. Neither includes Cinemachine or the VFX Graph, and the 3D template also lacks 2D Tilemap Extras and 2D Sprite: the installer in Step 2 adds whatever is missing.

Step 1: Import the .unitypackage

1. In Unity: Assets > Import Package > Custom Package.
2. Select your OpenMon .unitypackage file for your edition.
3. Click Import — import ALL files.
4. Wait for Unity to compile scripts (~30-60 seconds).

Step 2: Automatic Setup (Two Dialogs)

After compilation, two dialogs appear automatically:

Dialog 1: "OpenMon — Install Dependencies"

The PackageDependencyInstaller detects missing UPM packages and offers to install them:

Package	Purpose
com.unity.cinemachine	Battle camera system
com.unity.2d.tilemap.extras	SiblingTile, RuleTile, autotiles
com.unity.2d.sprite	Sprite editor tools (Importer)
com.unity.render-pipelines.universal	URP (usually already present)
com.unity.inputsystem	Input handling (usually already present)
com.unity.visualeffectgraph	Weather, climbing dust and battle effects (every .vfx of the engine and the demo)

Click "Install All". Unity will install the packages and recompile.

After package installation, TMP Essential Resources (fonts, shaders, sprites) are auto-imported from com.unity.ugui.

How it works

The installer uses [InitializeOnLoad] in an isolated assembly (OpenMon.Setup) with zero external references. It tracks state via a file in Library/ (per-project, not global). If you skip the dialog, use Tools > MCE > Setup > Re-check Package Dependencies to retry.

Dialog 2: OpenMon Hub — Setup Status

Open the Hub via Tools > MCE > OpenMon Hub (or Ctrl+Shift+H). The Welcome tab shows a GREEN/RED setup status indicator.

The two buttons under the status bar pick the mode, and the blue one is the mode you are in — above, the project is Offline. Pressing the other one switches: it flips the scripting define, registers the scenes that mode needs, points the config at the right place, and seeds the data. See The OpenMon Hub for the rest of the tabs.

If RED, click "Run Full Setup" which runs ProjectQuickSetup:

Configuration	What it does
Custom Layers	Creates BattleElement (6), Camera (7), EvolutionStage (8), MapScreen (9)
Render Pipeline	Sets MCERenderPipelineAsset (2D Renderer) for all quality levels
Build Settings	Adds detected project/system scenes when present; no edition ships the demo scenes (the demos are separate downloads)
Player Settings	Sets company name, product name, resolution
TMP Essentials	Imports TextMeshPro resources if not already present

When all checks pass, the indicator turns GREEN.

Manual re-run: Tools > MCE > Setup > Run Full Quick Setup

Step 3: Play

No edition ships a demo project: the demos are separate downloads (the full MIT Licensed Demo for Indie and every edition above it, and its own 77-species demo for the Starter). Continue with Your First Monster and Your First Battle to author content and press Play.

Included Physical Plugins

MCE bundles its own plugins physically in Assets/Plugins/ (not via UPM):

Plugin	Path	Why physical?
NovaInspector	Assets/Plugins/NovaInspector/	.unitypackage cannot include UPM packages. Without it, 100+ files fail to compile.
NovaMotion	Assets/Plugins/NovaMotion/	The animation (tweening) layer behind OpenMon.Foundation.Tweening.
Zenject (Extenject)	Assets/Plugins/MCELibs/	DI framework used throughout the engine. Included as precompiled DLLs.

NovaInspector already ships with MCE

NovaInspector is the engine's own inspector layer — a relicensed derivative distributed exclusively as part of MCE, under the terms in Assets/Plugins/NovaInspector/LICENSE.md. It is not on the Package Manager and does not need to be, so installing a separate inspector package alongside it is redundant.

Project Structure

Assets/
  OpenMon/
    Core/
      Runtime/           # Core engine (battles, monsters, world, saves, UI)
      Editor/            # Editor tools, Hub, Command Palette, Map Editor
      Art/               # Included art assets
      RPSettings/        # URP 2D Renderer configuration
    Foundation/          # Shared framework (DI, audio, localization, toolbar)
    Online/              # Nakama multiplayer layer (Pro, Source and Studio)
    Importer/            # Pokemon Essentials import pipeline (Indie and above)
    Setup/               # PackageDependencyInstaller + ProjectQuickSetup
  Plugins/
    MCELibs/             # Zenject, ExtendedEditor
    NovaInspector/       # Inspector attributes (physical, not UPM)
    NovaMotion/          # Tweening layer (physical, not UPM)
  Resources/             # Runtime-loaded assets (ProjectContext, singletons)

Verify Installation

1. Open the Hub: Tools > MCE > OpenMon Hub (Ctrl+Shift+H).
2. Continue with Your First Monster and Your First Battle to author content for your own scene.
3. Run validator: open the OpenMon Hub (Tools > MCE > OpenMon Hub) → Database tab → Validate Database — 0 errors, 0 warnings.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
"Install Dependencies" dialog never appeared	Tools > MCE > Setup > Re-check Package Dependencies
Hub shows RED setup status	Click "Run Full Setup" button
Inspector attribute errors (GroupAttribute not found)	The attributes live in Assets/Plugins/NovaInspector/ — check that folder came across with the import
Battle sprites invisible	Ensure com.unity.2d.sprite is installed (the installer should handle this)
Missing tileset layer	Run Tools > MCE > Setup > Configure Layers
TMP text not rendering	Run Tools > MCE > Setup > Run Full Quick Setup to import TMP Essentials
Cinemachine errors	Run Tools > MCE > Setup > Re-check Package Dependencies

Keyboard Shortcuts

Action	Shortcut
OpenMon Hub	Ctrl+Shift+H
Command Palette	Ctrl+Shift+M
Map Editor: Pencil	B
Map Editor: Eraser	E