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Blender Forks

Blender Launcher V2 supports multiple Blender forks in addition to official Blender builds. This page provides detailed information about each supported fork.

Overview

The launcher supports the following Blender forks:

  • Bforartists - A fork focused on improving the user interface and user experience
  • UPBGE (Uchronia Project Blender Game Engine) - A fork dedicated to game development

Bforartists

What is Bforartists?

Bforartists is a fork of Blender that focuses on providing a more user-friendly interface and improved usability. It maintains compatibility with Blender while offering an alternative UI design philosophy.

Version Information

  • Bforartists uses its own version numbering that is offset by one minor version compared to Blender
  • Example: Bforartists 5.0.0 is based on Blender 5.1.0
  • Configuration files follow Blender’s versioning scheme for compatibility

Getting Bforartists Builds

The launcher automatically fetches Bforartists builds from their official Nextcloud server at cloud.bforartists.de.

To enable/disable Bforartists in the launcher:

  1. Open Settings (gear icon)
  2. Go to Blender Builds tab
  3. Toggle Bforartists in the repository list
  4. Enable/disable both Library (show installed builds) and Download (fetch new builds)

Executable Names

Bforartists uses different executable names than Blender:

  • Windows: bforartists.exe
  • Linux: bforartists
  • macOS: Bforartists.app

Official Resources

UPBGE (Uchronia Project Blender Game Engine)

What is UPBGE?

UPBGE is a fork of Blender that continues development of the Blender Game Engine (BGE), which was removed from official Blender in version 2.8. It’s designed specifically for real-time game development and interactive 3D applications.

Build Types

UPBGE offers two types of builds in the launcher:

UPBGE Stable

  • Branch: upbge-stable
  • Description: Stable releases for production use
  • Version Pattern: Official numbered releases (e.g., 0.30, 0.36, 0.40)

UPBGE Weekly

  • Branch: upbge-weekly
  • Description: Alpha/development builds with latest features
  • Version Pattern: Weekly alpha releases (e.g., 0.40-alpha)
  • Update Frequency: Weekly updates

Version Information

  • UPBGE versions use a unique versioning scheme (e.g., 0.30, 0.36, 0.40)
  • Configuration files are mapped to the underlying Blender version
  • Example: UPBGE 0.40 uses Blender 4.0 configuration and is based on the same Blender version
  • Minimum supported version in the launcher: 0.30

Getting UPBGE Builds

UPBGE builds are fetched from the official GitHub repository at github.com/UPBGE/upbge/releases.

GitHub Token for UPBGE

UPBGE builds are fetched from GitHub’s API. If you frequently check for updates, consider adding a GitHub Token to avoid rate limiting (60 requests/hour without authentication, 5,000 with authentication).

To enable/disable UPBGE in the launcher:

  1. Open Settings (gear icon)
  2. Go to Blender Builds tab
  3. Toggle UPBGE and/or UPBGE Weekly in the repository list
  4. Enable/disable both Library and Download options for each type

Executable Names

UPBGE uses the same executable names as Blender:

  • Windows: blender.exe
  • Linux: blender
  • macOS: Blender.app

The launcher automatically identifies UPBGE builds by their directory structure and version information.

Official Resources

Configuration and Settings

Library Folder Structure

Each fork has its own folder in the library:

Library Folder/
├── stable/          # Official Blender stable releases
├── daily/           # Official Blender daily builds
├── experimental/    # Official Blender experimental branches
├── bforartists/     # Bforartists builds
├── upbge-stable/    # UPBGE stable releases
├── upbge-weekly/    # UPBGE weekly/alpha builds
└── custom/          # Manual custom builds

See Library Folder Structure for more details.

Visibility Settings

Control which forks appear in the launcher:

  • Library Tab: Toggle to show/hide installed builds in the Library
  • Downloads Tab: Toggle to check for and display available downloads

These settings are independent, allowing you to:

  • Show installed builds without checking for new ones
  • Check for new builds without displaying old ones
  • Enable/disable individual fork types (e.g., UPBGE Stable but not UPBGE Weekly)

Update Management

Each fork type has independent update settings when using Advanced Update Button mode:

  1. Show Update Button: Display quick update button per fork
  2. Update Behavior: Choose replacement or keep-both strategy
  3. Version Checking: Automatic version comparison for update notifications

Configure these in Settings → Blender Builds.

Custom Builds

If you want to use other Blender forks not officially supported, you can add them manually through the User → Custom library. See Manual Build Installation for details.