Crate Engine Documentation

Build 3D games by typing natural language commands. 6,218 real 3D models, 27+ world recipes, real-time physics, multiplayer, and AI-powered creation — all in your browser.

Quick Start

Open crateshipgames.com/play.html and type commands in the prompt bar at the bottom:

add tree                 — drops a 3D tree into the scene
add castle               — places a castle model
build medieval village   — generates a full village with NPCs
play                     — enter first-person play mode (WASD + mouse)
exit                     — return to editor mode

Architecture

Objects & Models

World Building

All 27 World Recipes

Type build [name] for any of these:

medieval village    medieval town    medieval city    fantasy town
castle             castle town      pirate port      pirate island
farm               forest camp      desert town      fishing village
mountain settlement market district  military fort    cyberpunk city
space base         zombie wasteland post-apocalyptic frozen tundra
horror             dungeon          jungle           dinosaur valley
underwater ruins   modern city      arena

Characters & NPCs

Combat & Weapons

Play mode controls: Left-click to attack/shoot, R to reload, Shift to sprint.

Environment

Camera & View

Scene Management

Physics Engine (Rapier 3D) NEW

Crate Engine integrates Rapier 3D — a high-performance rigid-body physics engine written in Rust, compiled to WebAssembly. Objects gain realistic gravity, collisions, bouncing, and impulse forces.

Using Physics in the Editor

Click any object to open the Inspector panel, then click "Add Physics". The object becomes a dynamic rigid body that falls under gravity and collides with other physics objects and the ground.

Scripting API

// Access the physics module
const phys = window._physics;

// Initialize (loads Rapier WASM — call once)
await phys.init();

// Make an object physical
phys.addRigidbody(myMesh, 'dynamic');   // falls under gravity
phys.addRigidbody(wall, 'static');      // immovable collider
phys.addRigidbody(platform, 'kinematic'); // script-controlled

// Apply forces
phys.applyImpulse(myMesh, 0, 20, 0);   // launch upward
phys.applyForce(myMesh, 10, 0, 0);     // push right

// Remove physics
phys.removeRigidbody(myMesh);

// Query
phys.isReady();    // true after init()
phys.bodyCount();  // number of active physics bodies
phys.clear();      // remove all physics bodies

Physics Types

Animation System

Crate Engine supports skeletal animation via Three.js AnimationMixer with automatic Mixamo retargeting.

Available Animations

Locomotion:  idle, walk, run, sprint, strafe_left, strafe_right, crouch
Combat:      attack, slash, parry, block, dodge, cast_spell
Emotion:     celebrate, sad, angry, happy, agree, disagree
Special:     swim, climb, fall, glide, dance, point, wave

Audio System

Fully procedural — no audio files needed. All sound is synthesized via Web Audio API.

Multiplayer

Click the globe icon to open the multiplayer lobby. Supports WebSocket rooms with:

• Player position/animation sync
• Shared building (commands broadcast to room)
• In-game chat
• Custom room names

AI Build Agent AI

The AI agent interprets natural language and builds worlds. It works locally with zero API keys for built-in commands. For advanced LLM-powered interpretation, add an OpenRouter key in Settings.

// Examples of natural language commands:
"make a spooky haunted house with fog"
"create a racing track with 3 cars"
"build me a village with a tavern and 10 villagers"
"add a dragon flying over the castle"

Scripting API

Access engine internals via window._engineBridge:

const engine = window._engineBridge;

// Load a 3D model
engine.loadGLBModel('car', 'car', 5, 0);

// Access the Three.js scene
const scene = engine.scene;
const camera = engine.camera;
const renderer = engine.renderer;

// Run a text command programmatically
engine.exec('add tree at 10 5');

// Get all scene objects
const objects = engine.getObjects();

// Physics (NEW)
const phys = window._physics;
await phys.init();
phys.addRigidbody(objects[0], 'dynamic');

Keyboard Shortcuts

Voice Commands

Click the microphone button or press V to activate voice input. Crate Engine supports 50,000+ phrase variations with fuzzy matching.

// Examples:
"add a big red castle"
"make it rain"
"spawn ten soldiers"
"build me a dungeon"
"play mode"

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