# The VASSAL Engine

http://www.vassalengine.org

### Overview

VASSAL is a general-purpose engine for building online versions of traditional turn-based games. To play a game using VASSAL, you must first have a module for that game. Many modules are available for download on the VASSAL Modules page, although a module need not be hosted on the web site to be playable.

### Quick Start

When you first run VASSAL, you will see the dialog above. Select your preferred language. The Take the tour button will load a sample module file that demonstrates some of the key features of the engine. After the module has loaded, hit the Step Forward button to step through the tour. To skip the tour, hit the Jump right in button.

From the VASSAL opening screen, you can either play a game or create a module file for others to play. Use the File menu to open a module for play, create a new module, or edit an existing one. You can also import modules created for Aide de Camp 2. The Module Library panel shows your recently-opened modules. Right click (Mac users: Command-click) on a module name to open/edit/remove it.
A module may have certain extensions available for download separately, each of which provides optional functionality for the game. To enable an extension, first select the corresponding module in the Module Library, hit the Add button in the Extensions panel and select the extension file that you downloaded to your machine. Right-click to activate/deactivate extensions once they've been added.
In the Tools menu, select Server Statusto see what games are being played on the live server. If you wish to help translate VASSAL into a different language, you can do this as well from the Tools menu.

### Further Documentation

Online documentation is available on the wiki.

- The Getting Started Guide has instructions on how to load and play games online using VASSAL
- The Reference Manual has detailed instructions on how to build modules for VASSAL, including how to use its Java programming interface
- See the version history for a list of recent changes.

### License

The VASSAL Engine is supported by an open-source project founded and administered by Rodney Kinney and distributed under the GNU Library General Public License (LGPL). This distribution includes a number of third-party binary libraries, distributed under terms of their respective licenses. Artwork and other media contained in module files are the property of their respective owners. The VASSAL web site administrators will comply with any request to remove copyrighted material from the web site.

Enjoy!

rk