# Spine Runtimes

This GitHub project hosts the Spine Runtimes which are needed to use [Spine](http://esotericsoftware.com/) 2D skeletal animation data with various game toolkits.

## Licensing

The Spine Runtimes may only be used for personal or internal use, typically to evaluate Spine before purchasing. If you would like to incorporate the Spine Runtimes into your applications, distribute software containing the Spine Runtimes, or modify the Spine Runtimes, then you will need a valid [Spine license](https://esotericsoftware.com/spine-purchase).  Please see the [Spine Runtimes Software License](http://esotericsoftware.com/git/spine-runtimes/blob/LICENSE) for detailed information.

The Spine Runtimes are developed with the intent to be used with data exported from Spine. By licensing Spine, `Section 2` of the [Spine Software License](https://esotericsoftware.com/files/license.txt) grants the right to create and distribute derivative works of the Spine Runtimes. A Spine license is needed to distribute any software containing the Spine Runtimes, even if you are not using the Spine editor.

## Documentation

See the [Spine Runtimes Guide](http://esotericsoftware.com/spine-runtimes-guide) for detailed information about using the Spine Runtimes. The Spine [documentation page](http://esotericsoftware.com/spine-documentation#runtimesTitle) provides further information about tools and data formats. For runtime specific documentation, refer to the `README.md` file in each runtime directory.

## Bugs, enhancements, and tasks

Review our backlog of bugs, enhancements, and tasks in the [spine-runtimes](https://github.com/EsotericSoftware/spine-runtimes/issues) and [spine-editor](https://github.com/EsotericSoftware/spine-editor/issues) issue trackers.The [spine-runtimes waffle](https://waffle.io/EsotericSoftware/spine-runtimes) and [spine-editor waffle](https://waffle.io/EsotericSoftware/spine-editor) provide a more convenient view of the same issue tracker information.

## Versioning

The default branch on GitHub is stable and works with data exported from the latest, non-beta version of the Spine editor. New development is done in an `X.X-beta` branch, which may be a work in progress. Important changes to the runtimes can be reviewed in the [CHANGELOG.md file](CHANGELOG.md). Occasionally the Spine Runtimes are [tagged](https://github.com/EsotericSoftware/spine-runtimes/releases) with the specific Spine editor version they work with.

It is highly suggested to [freeze](http://esotericsoftware.com/spine-settings#Version) the Spine editor version to match the Spine Runtimes source being used and to update them in lock step. See the [Spine Runtimes Guide](http://esotericsoftware.com/spine-runtime-architecture#Versioning) for more information.

## Contributing

In order to merge your contributions, we need a signed [contributor license agreement (CLA)](http://esotericsoftware.com/files/cla.txt) from you. You can send a copy of the CLA to contact@esotericsoftware.com.

When possible, it is best to base your contributions on the current beta branch (`X.X-beta`). Please be sure to follow the style and formatting you find in the respective runtime code to which you are contributing.
