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Running Schola

Schola V2 uses a protocol-simulator architecture to interact with Unreal Engine. It supports both creating a standalone instance of Unreal Engine running as a child process of your Python script, or connecting to a running Unreal Engine process. The architecture separates:

  • Protocols (BaseRLProtocol) - Handle communication with Unreal Engine

  • Simulators (BaseSimulator) - Manage the Unreal Engine process lifecycle

Launch An Unreal Environment From Python

Schola supports running environments entirely from Python using the UnrealExecutable simulator combined with a communication protocol like GrpcProtocol.

from schola.core.protocols.protobuf.grpc_protocol import GrpcProtocol
from schola.core.simulators.unreal import UnrealExecutable


# Define the communication protocol
protocol = GrpcProtocol(
    url="localhost",  # Connect to the engine over localhost
    port=50051,  # Port for gRPC communication (default: 50051)
)


# Define the simulator to manage the Unreal Engine executable
simulator = UnrealExecutable(
    executable_path="Path/To/Your/Game.exe",  # Path to your packaged game binary
    headless_mode=True,  # Skip rendering (faster training)
    display_logs=True,  # Show Unreal Engine logs in terminal
    map=None,  # Use default map, or specify "/Game/<MapName>"
    set_fps=60,  # Fixed framerate for deterministic training
    disable_script=True,  # Ignore RunScriptOnLaunch setting
)

Initialize the Standalone Environment

from schola.core.protocols.protobuf.grpc_protocol import GrpcProtocol
from schola.core.simulators.unreal import UnrealExecutable
from schola.gym.env import GymVectorEnv


# Setup protocol and simulator
protocol = GrpcProtocol(url="localhost", port=50051)
simulator = UnrealExecutable(
    executable_path="Path/To/Your/Game.exe",
    headless_mode=True
)


# Create vectorized Gymnasium environment
env = GymVectorEnv(simulator=simulator, protocol=protocol)


# Use the environment
obs, info = env.reset()
actions = env.action_space.sample()
obs, rewards, terminated, truncated, info = env.step(actions)

Connect To a Running Unreal Environment

Schola supports connecting to an already running Editor or Game, for debugging and Unreal Engine driven workflows using the UnrealEditor simulator.

from schola.core.protocols.protobuf.grpc_protocol import GrpcProtocol
from schola.core.simulators.unreal import UnrealEditor


# Define the communication protocol
protocol = GrpcProtocol(
    url="localhost",  # Connect to the engine over localhost
    port=50051,  # Must match the port in your Unreal Engine Schola Plugin Settings
)


# Define the simulator (no process management needed for editor)
simulator = UnrealEditor()

Initialize the Editor Environment

from schola.core.protocols.protobuf.grpc_protocol import GrpcProtocol
from schola.core.simulators.unreal import UnrealEditor
from schola.gym.env import GymVectorEnv


# Setup protocol and simulator
protocol = GrpcProtocol(url="localhost", port=50051)
simulator = UnrealEditor()


# Create vectorized Gymnasium environment
env = GymVectorEnv(simulator=simulator, protocol=protocol)


# Use the environment
obs, info = env.reset()
actions = env.action_space.sample()
obs, rewards, terminated, truncated, info = env.step(actions)