Install and first launch
System requirements, the installer, what happens on first launch, where worlds and caches live, and how to read the terrain capability status.
Dayside is a Windows desktop app. It installs from a single MSI, brings everything it needs with it, and runs entirely on your machine. There is nothing to sign in to and no web version.
What you need#
These requirements are provisional and will be confirmed before release.
| OS | Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit |
| GPU | NVIDIA GPU (CUDA), for terrain synthesis (Generate, Enhance world terrain). Two optional colour simulations also use the graphics card. |
| Memory | 16 GB RAM. 32 GB for 32K exports. An 8192 px globe preview needs about 13 GB of free memory. |
| Disk | 20 GB, plus room for your worlds. |
Terrain synthesis (Generate, Enhance world terrain) needs an NVIDIA GPU (CUDA). Two optional colour inputs, Simulate water and Wind streaks, run a simulation on the graphics card. Both are off by default.
Everything else runs on the processor: painting, stamps, the coastline lasso, Erode, the colour render (Acquire), the globe colour pass, and every export. If you bring your own already-realistic heightmap, you can run the entire colour and export loop with no suitable graphics card at all. When terrain generation is not available the app says so and tells you that import remains available.
Install the MSI#
- Run the installer and accept the elevation prompt. It installs for every user on the machine.
- Launch from the Start menu shortcut.
There is nothing else to fetch. The installation carries everything the app needs, including its own copy of the WebView2 component that draws the interface, so it does not depend on what else is installed on the machine.
The 90 m terrain model ships inside the installation, about 1.1 GB. You never download or install it by hand: if it goes missing, the fix the app offers is to repair or reinstall.
If the app ever reports that a packaged component is missing or has changed, use your package manager's Repair action before anything else. The app checks its own installation at launch and refuses to start if files have been damaged or changed, so a broken install tells you rather than misbehaving.
First launch#
The app starts its engine (the part that does the work behind the window), then opens the worlds picker. Only one copy of the app runs at a time; a second launch brings the first window forward.
On first launch two example worlds are added to your list: dayside-example-earth, a whole Earth built from public elevation and climate data, and dayside-example-honshu, a 90 m/px flat section of central Honshu. Your first world describes both. They are added once. If you delete them, they stay deleted.
When your list is empty, for example after you remove the example worlds, the picker is replaced by a first-run panel: a NO WORLDS YET chip, buttons for Import a world and New world, and a status line reading FIRST RUN · THE ENGINE IS HEALTHY AND WAITING. That last line is the useful one. It tells you the engine started.
If the engine has not started, you get an ENGINE OFFLINE panel with a Retry connection button instead, and the picker retries by itself every 5 seconds. Your worlds are untouched in this state; nothing can render until the engine is back.
Click New world and the setup wizard opens. Its header carries a capability chip that checks this machine:
Checking this PC…while the check runs.- This PC can import, colour and export when everything for the main workflow is in place.
- Some components need attention otherwise, with a Check again button and any repair actions that apply.
That chip covers import, colour and export. It does not promise that terrain generation is ready, which has its own readout.
Check the terrain capability status#
Open a section and click Generate. The dialog's footer, on the left, says whether generation can run:
- Native NVIDIA CUDA ready means terrain synthesis will run on the graphics card. The Generate button carries a lightning icon.
- Anything else means generation is not available on this machine. The message gives the reason, the button carries a CPU icon, and the dialog reminds you that import remains available.
Above the footer, one message covers the terrain model and generator:
| State | What it says | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Provisioning | Installing terrain-diffusion… or Downloading the <model> model…, with a stage and a percentage | Wait. |
| Model missing | A message saying what is wrong, then a fix line | The fix reads Repair or reinstall Dayside to restore the packaged model. |
| Runtime missing | A message saying what is wrong, then a fix line | The fix reads Repair or reinstall Dayside to restore the packaged runtime. |
| Ready | Nothing. The message disappears entirely. | Nothing. |
The installer provides the terrain model, so there are no Install or Download buttons to press. The model list shows only the models this machine can run. Troubleshooting explains each message.
The globe's Whole-world passes dialog has its own readout: the Enhance world terrain checkbox is disabled with a Runtime not configured badge when the whole-world terrain models are not installed. See Ranges and drainage.
Where your files live#
Everything the app writes for the current Windows user sits in one data folder:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Loresat\v1\| Folder | What it holds |
|---|---|
imported_worlds\ | worlds you created by importing a heightmap |
synthetic_worlds\ | worlds generated from a seed |
uploaded_worlds\ | worlds created from an uploaded project, created when first needed |
render-queue\ | records of queued and finished renders and exports, and the list of worlds you have opened |
renders\ | render working files |
paint_uploads\ | guide images and other images added while painting |
onboarding\ | setup drafts in progress, including a heightmap you dropped but have not built yet |
preferences\ | saved setup preferences |
terrain-runtime\ | the terrain generator's working folder and caches |
sidecar-state\ | terrain generator bookkeeping |
logs\ | the app's logs |
temp\ | temporary files |
lifecycle\ | launch and shutdown records |
Loresat. That is deliberate and permanent. Loresat was this product's original name, and renaming the folder would orphan every world, preference and cache already written under it on machines that have them. The paths above are what you will find on disk.Projects you open in place#
A project you open from a folder you chose is not stored in the data folder. It lives where you put it, and the app saves changes in that folder. Removing such a project takes it out of your worlds list and leaves the folder on disk untouched. Only worlds inside the three world folders above can be erased from disk, and that is a separate second confirmation.
Exports#
An export defaults to a folder beside the world:
<world folder>\loresat_exports\<time>_<section>_<destination>You can point it anywhere on the machine; the folder is created if it is missing, and the finished acquisition shows the full path to copy.
Reclaiming disk#
Render and export records are held to a 20 GiB budget. When it fills, Dayside clears the oldest finished jobs before starting new work. If it still cannot make room, a render is refused with a storage message rather than filling the drive; Troubleshooting covers what to do.
For a deeper clean, About & credits carries a data-removal tool. It previews exactly what it would delete, grouped into worlds, renders, preferences, logs and caches, asks you to type a confirmation phrase, and works on the current Windows user only. Installed application and model files are never touched. Removing data stops the engine, so you close the window and start the app again afterwards.