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Version: 0.4.0

Install and Launch

How to install Solar Sailer on a Windows machine and what to expect the first time it starts.

Install Solar Sailer​

Solar Sailer ships as a single Windows installer named SolarSailer-Setup-<version>.exe.

  1. Double-click the installer.
  2. Follow the steps. You can change the install folder if the default doesn't suit you.
  3. Finish the installer.

The app installs just for your Windows user account, so you don't need admin rights. Everything Solar Sailer needs is bundled inside the installer. You don't have to install any other software first.

You only install by hand once. From 0.4.0 on, you update from inside the app, described below.

Launch the app​

Start Solar Sailer from the Start menu. A small splash window appears right away, showing the app version and a status line such as Starting video engine….

The very first launch can take a few minutes. Windows scans all the newly installed files, and the splash window tells you it's still working. This only happens once. Later launches are much faster.

When startup finishes, you land on the welcome screen. From there you create or open a project. See Create Your First Project.

If a launch does nothing, or you get an error box titled Solar Sailer is already running, a previous session is stuck in the background. See Troubleshooting.

Keep the app up to date​

Solar Sailer checks for a new version shortly after launch. When one exists, the Help menu entry changes to Download Update with the new version number. Nothing pops up on its own, so glance at the Help menu if you're wondering whether there's something new.

  1. Open the Help menu and click Download Update. A card appears in the corner reading Downloading update… with a progress bar.
  2. When the download finishes, the card reads Update ready with two buttons. Click Install.
  3. The app closes and a small window reads Installing the Solar Sailer update... with the note This takes about a minute. Leave it alone. When it's done, Solar Sailer reopens on its own.

Click Later instead and nothing is lost. The update installs the next time you quit the app anyway, and the Help menu keeps offering Restart to Install until then.

You can also check by hand any time with Help → Check for Updates. If you're current, a note says Solar Sailer is up to date. If the check or the download fails, a message titled Update check failed or Update download failed explains, and running the check again retries.