Installation Guide

Get your development environment ready for Playcast

📋 Prerequisites
🛠️ Tools Setup
📦 Project Setup
✅ Verification

📋 System Requirements

Click the check button to verify each requirement:

  • Windows 10/11 (64-bit)
    Required for development environment
  • 8GB RAM minimum (16GB recommended)
    For smooth development experience
  • 20GB free disk space
    For tools, dependencies, and projects

1 Install Node.js v20+

Node.js is required for the Playcast development environment and build tools. 

# Download and install Node.js v20 LTS
# Visit: https://nodejs.org/en/download/
# Or use chocolatey:
choco install nodejs --version=20.11.0

Verify Installation

node --version
npm --version

2 Install Java 17 JDK

Java 17 is required for Android development and some build tools. 

# Download Oracle JDK 17 or OpenJDK 17
# Visit: https://jdk.java.net/17/
# Or use chocolatey:
choco install openjdk17

Verify Installation

java -version
javac -version

3 Install Visual Studio 2022

Visual Studio 2022 is required for C++ development and Windows-specific tooling.

Required Workloads:

  • Desktop development with C++
  • Game development with C++
  • .NET desktop development
# Download Visual Studio 2022 Community (free)
# Visit: https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/community/
# Or use chocolatey:
choco install visualstudio2022community

4 Install Git 

# Download Git for Windows
# Visit: https://git-scm.com/download/win
# Or use chocolatey:
choco install git
git --version

5 Clone and Setup Project 

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/your-org/playcast-apps.git
cd playcast-apps

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Install Nx globally (optional)
npm install -g nx@latest

6 Final Verification

Let's verify everything is working correctly by running a test build. 

# Test the development environment
nx run-many --target=build --all --skip-nx-cache

# Start development servers
npm run serve-all:dev

macOS Support

Playcast is primarily designed for Windows development. While some components may work on macOS, full functionality requires a Windows environment.

Consider using:

  • Windows Virtual Machine
  • Boot Camp (Intel Macs)
  • Cloud Windows instance

Linux Support

Playcast requires Windows-specific tools and libraries. While Node.js components may work on Linux, the full development experience requires Windows.

Consider using:

  • Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2)
  • Docker with Windows containers
  • Windows Virtual Machine

🔧 Common Issues & Solutions

▼

Node.js Installation Issues

  • Clear npm cache: npm cache clean --force
  • Use Node Version Manager (nvm) for version switching
  • Ensure PATH includes Node.js installation directory

Visual Studio Issues

  • Verify C++ build tools are installed
  • Run Visual Studio as Administrator for first setup
  • Install Windows 10/11 SDK if missing

Permission Issues

  • Run Command Prompt/PowerShell as Administrator
  • Check antivirus software isn't blocking installations
  • Ensure user has local administrator rights

🎉 Installation Complete!

Your development environment is ready. What would you like to do next?