Get the Simulator

Get the simulator

You'll need: a Windows, Linux or Mac computer (see the table below) · Time: about 10 minutes

The simulator comes as one download with everything inside: the program, its own Python and Lola's code. There's nothing else to install.

Your computer	Download the file that starts with
Windows 10 or 11	ddl0-sim-windows- … .zip
Linux (64-bit PC)	ddl0-sim-linux- … .tar.gz
Mac with an Apple chip (M1 or newer, macOS 11 or later)	ddl0-sim-macos-arm64- … .tar.gz

Older Macs with an Intel chip can't run it.

On Windows

1. Go to the latest release.
2. Under Assets, click ddl0-sim-windows-…zip to download it.
3. Open your Downloads folder.
4. Right-click the ZIP file and choose Extract All…, then click Extract.
5. In the new folder, open simulator, then dist, and double-click ddl0-sim.exe.
6. If Windows shows "Windows protected your PC", click More info, then Run anyway. This appears because the program is new and not signed by a big company.

On a Mac

1. Go to the latest release.
2. Under Assets, click ddl0-sim-macos-arm64-…tar.gz to download it.
3. Double-click the downloaded file in Finder to unpack it.
4. In the new folder, open simulator, then dist.
5. Right-click ddl0-sim, choose Open, then Open again. On macOS 15 or later: try to open it once, then go to System Settings > Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway.

The Mac asks this the first time because the app isn't signed by Apple.

On Linux

1. Go to the latest release and download ddl0-sim-linux-…tar.gz.

2. Open a terminal in your downloads folder and unpack it (put the version you downloaded in place of <version>):

   tar -xzf ddl0-sim-linux-<version>.tar.gz

3. Start it:

   ./ddl0-sim-linux-<version>/simulator/dist/ddl0-sim

It needs a Vulkan graphics driver (Mesa's mesa-vulkan-drivers on Debian and Ubuntu) and a normal desktop (X11 or Wayland). Most desktop installs already have everything.

✅ It should look like this

After a few seconds Lola appears and starts her start-up wiggle, then breathes slowly.

Choose the firmware folder

The simulator needs the robot's code (the folder with code.py in it) to know what Lola should do.

• The download already has it, so the simulator finds it by itself.
• If it can't, it asks you to pick a folder. Choose the PropMaker_Feather folder.

To switch to a different copy later, click 🗁 Firmware at the right of the toolbar.

Add her sounds

The sound files aren't in the download. Without them Lola still moves and lights up, but stays quiet. To hear her, put WAV files in PropMaker_Feather/sounds/ with the names on the Sound list. See Adding sounds.

⚠️ Something went wrong?

What you see	Try this
Nothing happens when you double-click (Windows)	Wait 10 seconds; the first start is slow. Check you extracted the ZIP: running the exe from inside the ZIP doesn't work.
"Windows protected your PC" with no Run anyway	Click More info first. If your computer is managed by a school or work, it may block new programs; ask whoever looks after it.
Mac says it "can't be opened" or "is damaged"	That's Gatekeeper. Use right-click > Open, or Open Anyway in Privacy & Security (step 5).
Linux: nothing opens, or an error about Vulkan or Wayland	Install your graphics card's Vulkan driver, and check libwayland-client, libxkbcommon and libasound2 are installed.
It asks for a folder	Pick the PropMaker_Feather folder inside the download.
Lola looks simpler than in the pictures	There are two 3D models: Lola (detailed) and Primitive (simpler and faster). Pick one under Model in the toolbar's Options.

More fixes: Troubleshooting and FAQ.

More detail (for tinkerers)

• Check the download: each release lists every file's SHA-256 (also in SHA256SUMS). Compare it with yours:

  Get-FileHash .\ddl0-sim-windows-<version>.zip -Algorithm SHA256

  On Linux use sha256sum, on a Mac shasum -a 256.

• Mac, from the terminal: instead of right-click > Open, clear the quarantine flag on the unpacked folder: xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine ddl0-sim-macos-arm64-<version>.

• Linux limits: a panel torn off into its own window opens at the default position, and Follow system reads GNOME's settings only. The 🗁 Firmware dialog needs an XDG desktop portal.

• Newer than the last release: every CI run attaches a build (ddl0-sim-windows, ddl0-sim-linux, ddl0-sim-macos-arm64) for 14 days. Open the Simulator runs, pick a green run, and download it at the bottom (you need to be signed in). It's only the dist folder, so put it at simulator/dist/ in a copy of the project. On Linux and Mac, also run chmod +x ddl0-sim.

• The simulator picks its firmware in this order: a code.py path given as the first command-line argument; the folder last chosen with 🗁 Firmware (if it still has code.py); PropMaker_Feather/code.py in a folder above the program. If none is found it asks.

• Its own files (3D model, sim.toml, parts.toml, scenarios) come from the simulator folder above dist, so the firmware can live anywhere: a copy, another checkout, or even the CIRCUITPY drive.

• Your settings are kept in ddl0-sim.prefs.toml next to the program. Delete it to go back to the defaults.

• To build it yourself, see Building the simulator.