The launcher builder
Design your launcher with a live preview, then publish it.
The launcher builder, under Launcher in the dashboard, designs the launcher your players see. On the left are the controls; on the right is a live preview that runs the launcher's own screens with sample content, so what you see is what players get.
Presets#
A preset is a complete launcher design you start from. There are three, and more are added over time:
- Default: a library sidebar, the selected game's key art with the play button, a status line, then news and patch notes side by side. Dark graphite surfaces, an expanded display typeface, monospaced figures and your accent color.
- Vanguard: console style. Your key art fills the window, games sit on a shelf of large tiles, patch notes and news are in a side panel, and the play button and download progress are in a bar along the bottom. Players can move around with the arrow keys. Vanguard is dark only; your accent color is used for the play button, the selected game and the focus ring.
- Nova: glass. Translucent panels float over your key art: the library on one side, news and patch notes on the other, and a dock with the play button and download progress under the game's title. Nova follows your theme's colors, dark by default or light if you choose a light palette. Text stays readable over any key art, and when a player's system asks for less transparency, the panels turn solid.
Switching presets applies that preset's look and its own default sections; your studio details, images and accent stay. On plans without full theme editing, the launcher uses Default. If you have a designer layout, switching presets changes only the colours, fonts and corners: your layout is never removed or replaced.
Layout: your designer layout or a built-in screen#
Once you have made a layout in the launcher designer, the Look tab shows a Layout choice above the presets:
- Your designer layout (with the template it started from): the launcher shows the layout you arranged, in the colours, fonts and art set here. Edit in the designer opens it.
- Built-in screen (with the preset's name): the launcher shows the selected preset's own screen and sections. Your designer layout stays saved but players don't see it.
You can switch between them at any time, and switching back brings your designer layout back exactly as it was. The preview shows the one you chose, and players see it when you publish. Publishing from the designer always publishes your designer layout, so it also switches this choice back to Your designer layout; the designer's publish page says so first. Published versions remember the choice, and Restore only the look brings it back too (a version from before you had a designer layout leaves the choice as it is). With your designer layout, the sign-in and settings screens follow its template's look, which the Preset panel names.
To arrange the launcher yourself, with your own elements, sizes and buttons, use the launcher designer. Colours, fonts and art set here apply to designer layouts too.
The sections of the launcher#
The Default preset is made of these sections, top to bottom. Vanguard and Nova have the same sections in their own places; Vanguard hides studio links until you turn them on:
| Section | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Key art | Your background art, the game's name and a short line from your latest news. |
| Play button | Install, update or play. Always shown. |
| Update progress | Download progress, speed and time left while installing or updating. |
| Status strip | Up to date, update available, offline or temporarily unavailable, and the install folder. |
| News | Your latest news and maintenance alerts. |
| Patch notes | The newest patch notes. |
| Studio links | Your website, community and support links. |
What each plan can change#
| You can change | Free | Starter | Pro | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logo, background art and icon | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Accent color | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| All colors, fonts and corner radius | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Other presets, as they are added | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Order and hide sections | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Remove the Powered by Deltaship mark | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Built-in interface sounds and a colour per game | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Your own interface sounds and music | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Rules are applied on the server whenever you save or publish, so the launcher always matches your plan. Text on your accent color is chosen automatically for contrast. Low-contrast color choices show a warning but never block publishing.
Images#
- Logo (required to publish), background art and icon.
- On the Hero and games tab: a layered Hero that moves in depth with the mouse, with an optional ambient effect, and per game a Cover and, if you like, a hero of its own.
- PNG, JPEG or WebP, up to 5 MB each.
What to make, at what size, and where to place the subject in each preset: Prepare your launcher art. It also has three sample kits to download and try.
Sound and a colour per game#
Your launcher can have interface sounds and music, and each game can have an accent colour of its own. You set them in the launcher designer, under Brand & art: Sound, and each game in Games. Saving on the Launcher page keeps them as they are.
- Interface sounds: Off (the default), Subtle (the launcher's own short, quiet sounds) or Custom (your own sounds for Select, Back and Play: MP3, OGG or WAV, up to 200 KB and 2 seconds each).
- Music: MP3 or OGG, played quietly behind the launcher at the volume you choose (30% unless you change it). It loops, fades in, and fades out while a game runs or the launcher is hidden. A game can have music of its own; without it, the game plays yours.
- A colour per game: while a game is selected, the launcher uses that game's accent instead of yours, and picks the text on it for contrast. The designer warns when text on a game's accent is hard to read (below 4.5:1); it never blocks publishing.
- Careful defaults: nothing plays unless you turn it on, and even then players hear nothing until they turn sound on. The first time, the launcher asks "This launcher has sound. Turn it on?"; players can mute it at any time with the speaker button in the title bar (or the M key), and turn interface sounds and music on or off in Settings.
Your plan's largest music file (uploads count toward your plan's space for launcher art):
| Free | Starter | Pro | Enterprise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Largest launcher music file | 8 MB | 8 MB | 8 MB | 8 MB |
Built-in sounds and a colour per game are included from the designer's Templates level; your own sounds and music from Custom (see the table above).
Sound and a colour per game need launcher 0.8.0 or later. With a designer layout, older launchers show the closest built-in look instead; without one, they show your launcher without sound and in your studio accent. Build a new launcher on Launcher → Launcher builds once; players get it the next time they restart their launcher.
Studio details#
- Your support link and up to eight studio links (website, community and so on), shown in the launcher. Links must be https.
- Players must sign in to use the launcher: always on, and cannot be turned off. Installing and updating a game need a signed-in player, so a launcher without sign-in could not install anything. Players sign in with the account they have on your player portal.
Publish a design#
Choose Publish. Your design is signed by Deltaship and installed launchers pick it up the next time they start. Publishing a new design does not need a new launcher build.
Designing and publishing need a role that can design the launcher (owner, admin or developer). Viewers can look at the design but not change it.