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Release Notes:

1.0

Installation

Because we have always honored the CRYENGINE license agreement, the Community Edition is distributed only as a patch. This patch includes the modified source files and new files developed by our team. We cannot distribute a pre‑built version of CRYENGINE without Crytek’s permission. To use the Community Edition, you must first obtain the CRYENGINE 5.7 source code directly from Crytek. Once you have the official source, apply the patch files we provide and then build the engine yourself.

5.7 Source code

To begin, you will need to obtain the official CRYENGINE 5.7 LTS source code. Please note: the source code is private, and you must request access directly from Crytek in order to download it. Navigate to the official CRYENGINE GitHub repository. Follow the instructions provided in the repository’s README file.

CRYENGINE 5.7 GitHub Repository:

Getting Access

This part has been copied from the README file from the CRYENGINE repository.

Requesting Source Code for CE 5.7 LTS

We know that access to source code is important for the CRYENGINE developer community, and getting it fast can be crucial in the agile world of development. To expedite the process, we have created a way to request source code via your user dashboard.


All you have to do is navigate to the user dashboard area at the top right of your CRYENGINE.com account, then request to connect your GitHub account with CRYENGINE 5.7 LTS on GitHub and follow the steps prompted to you. And it’s done! Please allow 48 hours for your request to be processed.

Before proceeding to make a request, make sure that you have:

  1. Navigate to the user dashboard area at the top right of your CRYENGINE.com account.
  2. Request to connect your GitHub account with CRYENGINE 5.7 LTS on GitHub and follow the steps prompted to you.

CRYENGINE dashboard with GitHub account link:

Generate solution

Once you have the CRYENGINE 5.7 LTS source, you’ll need to generate the project/solution files before building.

  • Prerequisites: Ensure required tools (e.g., Visual Studio, Windows SDKs) are installed as specified in the repository’s README.
  • Follow README steps: Use the instructions in the CRYENGINE GitHub README to run the solution‑generation process.
  • Verify output: Open the generated .sln in Visual Studio and confirm all engine projects load without errors.

The following has been copied from the README file from the CRYENGINE repository:

Building

CRYENGINE uses the CMake project generation and build tools. For more information please visit the CMake Documentation. In order to compile, you will need to install: Visual Studio 2017, 2019 or 2022 with

  • Desktop Development with C++ Package
  • Optional Windows SDK 10.0.20348.0
  • Optional C++ MFC for your build tools (Required by Sandbox)
  • FBX SDK (2016.1) (Required by Sandbox)

Steps:

  1. Run cry_cmake.exe in the repository folder root. This will download and extract the SDK zip we provide to the correct location. Note: If for any reason the automatic SDK Zip download does not work, please follow the additional steps mentioned below:
    1. Download the SDKs zip from the releases page.
    2. Extract the SDK zip contents to Code/SDKs.
  2. If you want to build the Sandbox Editor:
    1. Download and Install the FBX SDK to the default location C:\Program Files\Autodesk\FBX\FBX SDK\2016.1.
    2. Copy C:\Program Files\Autodesk\FBX\FBX SDK\2016.1 to Code/SDKs and rename it to FbxSdk.
    3. You may uninstall the FBX SDK from the default location in step 2.
  3. Select the options in the CMake GUI dialog and click Configure. (Some options may require proprietary SDKs that we cannot provide and which you must license).
  4. Verify the options and then click Generate.
  5. If you would like to associate this Engine with the project’s right-click context menu in Windows File Explorer:
    1. Run the file Tools/CryVersionSelector/install.bat.
  6. If you would like to register this Engine to appear in the “Switch Engine version” project context menu options:
    1. Open the cryengine.cryengine file in the repository folder root with a plain text file editor (eg, Notepad).
    2. Modify the line "id": "engine-5.7", to something unique. For example: "id": "engine-5.7-git1",.
    3. Modify the line "name": "CRYENGINE 5.7", to something memorable. For example: "name": "CRYENGINE 5.7 - GitHub No.1",

Note: The generated Visual Studio solution file will be located at solutions_cmake/win64/CRYENGINE_Win64.sln

Copy and Import

Once you have successfully generated the solution for CRYENGINE 5.7 LTS, you can apply the Community Edition patch:

  • Save the updated solution.
  • Extract the patch files into your CRYENGINE source directory.
  • Allow files to be overwritten when prompted.
  • After extraction, some new source files created by the Community Edition team will need to be manually imported into the solution.
  • Open the generated .sln file in Visual Studio.
  • Add the new files to the appropriate projects (as outlined in the patch documentation).

Files Import

File Name:Code Location:Solution Location:
FlowFlashEnableDynTexNode.cppCode\CryEngine\CryFlowGraph\FlowSystem\Nodes\CRYENGINE_Win64\CRYENGINE\CryEngine\CryFlowGraph\Flow System\Nodes
D3D_DXC.cpp, D3D_RT.cpp, D3D_Shader.cppCode\CryEngine\RenderDll\XRenderD3D9\CRYENGINE_Win64\CRYENGINE\CryEngine\CryRenderD3D12, CryRenderD3D11\Source Files
D3D_DXC.h, D3D_RT.h, D3D_Shader.hCode\CryEngine\RenderDll\XRenderD3D9\CRYENGINE_Win64\CRYENGINE\CryEngine\CryRenderD3D12, CryRenderD3D11\Header Files

Example of the code location:

Example of the solution location:

Configure and Build the Solution

  • After importing and extracting all Community Edition patch files, locate the project:
  • EditorCommon and Sandbox (found in CRYENGINE/Sandbox).
  • Right‑click the project and select Properties.
  • Navigate to Configuration Properties → C/C++ → Advanced.
  • In Disable Specific Warnings
4996
  • This suppresses deprecation warnings that would otherwise interrupt the build.

Warning disable in Visual Studio:

  • Once this is set, build the entire solution.
  • Note: Building the full engine will take some time depending on your system.
  • After a successful build, navigate to: \bin\win_x64 Here you will find the engine executables:
  • Sandbox.exe → the CRYENGINE Editor
  • GameLauncher.exe → the standalone game executable

Executables location: