SimStarter

SimStarter is a Windows launcher for racing sims and their companion tools. It provides:

• A shared catalog of Sims and Addons (CrewChief, SimHub, etc.).
• “Starters” that pair one Sim with selected Addons.
• Desktop/Start Menu shortcuts per Starter (with composed icons).
• CLI launcher for quick starts.
• WPF UI with tabs for Sims, Addons, and Starters.

Requirements

• Windows with .NET 8+ SDK installed.

Projects

• SimStarter.Core: shared models, config, and runner.
• SimStarter (CLI): minimal console launcher.
• SimStarter.UI (WPF): tabbed UI to manage sims/addons/starters, create shortcuts, and start profiles.
• SimStarter.IconTests: icon verification tests.

Getting it

• Download the latest UI ZIP from the Releases page.
• Extract and run SimStarter.UI.exe.
• (Optional) CLI: build/run locally with dotnet run --project SimStarter.csproj.

What it does (and doesn’t)

• You bring your own sims and addons; SimStarter does not include them.
• Add sims and addons you already have installed, then create “Starters” that pair a single sim with selected addons.
• Launch starters from the app, or create desktop/Start Menu shortcuts whose icons reflect the sim and included addons.
• Right-click a sim or addon in the UI to open its location in Explorer.

Config

Profiles/config are stored alongside the built binaries as profiles.json. Use the UI to manage sims/addons/starters.

Tests

Icon tests:

dotnet test SimStarter.IconTests/SimStarter.IconTests.csproj

CI

GitHub Actions workflow builds the UI on push/PR to main: .github/workflows/build-ui.yml.