ATF
A C#/.NET framework for building custom Windows-based authoring tools, used extensively in Sony game development.
What is ATF?
ATF (Authoring Tools Framework) is a C#/.NET component library for building custom Windows-based authoring and content creation tools. It solves the problem of developing robust, scalable tools from scratch by providing a proven framework used extensively in Sony's game studios for tools like level editors, shader editors, and animation tools. It offers reusable components that accelerate tool development for complex pipelines.
Tool developers and engineers at game studios or companies needing to build custom Windows-based authoring applications, particularly those working with C#/.NET and familiar with professional content creation workflows.
Developers choose ATF for its battle-tested components, modular design via MEF, and proven adoption in AAA game production, reducing development risk and time compared to building a custom framework. Its extensive sample applications and documentation lower the learning curve for creating sophisticated tools.
Overview
Authoring Tools Framework (ATF) is a set of C#/.NET components for making tools on Windows. ATF has been in continuous development in Sony Computer Entertainment's (SCE) Worldwide Studios central tools group since early 2005. ATF has been used by most SCE first party studios to make many custom tools such as Naughty Dog’s level editor and shader editor for The Last of Us, Guerrilla Games’ sequence editor for Killzone games (including the Killzone: Shadow Fall PS4 launch title), an animation blending tool at Santa Monica Studio, a level editor at Bend Studio, a visual state machine editor for Quantic Dream, sound editing tools, and many others.
Use Cases
Best For
- Building custom level editors for game development projects
- Creating shader or material editing tools for graphics pipelines
- Developing visual state machine editors for game logic or animation
- Constructing sequence or animation blending tools
- Making sound editing or audio authoring applications
- Rapid prototyping of Windows-based content creation tools
Not Ideal For
- Cross-platform or web-based tool development projects
- Small teams or startups needing lightweight, quick-to-deploy solutions
- Projects requiring integration with non-.NET ecosystems or modern UI frameworks
Pros & Cons
Pros
Used by Sony studios for AAA titles like The Last of Us, ensuring battle-tested reliability and scalability in demanding production environments.
Components integrate easily via Managed Extensibility Framework, allowing minimal code changes for extensibility, as shown in the Circuit Editor sample's Program.cs.
Provides reusable classes for DOM, UI controls, and data management, reducing development time for common authoring tool features.
Includes sample apps like LevelEditor and Circuit Editor, plus comprehensive wiki and PDF documentation to accelerate onboarding.
Cons
ATF is built exclusively for Windows and .NET, making it unsuitable for cross-platform, web, or mobile tool development.
The framework has great depth and requires significant background knowledge, as emphasized in the Getting Started section, which can slow initial progress.
Focused on game studio tools, it has a smaller community and fewer third-party integrations compared to general-purpose frameworks, limiting support options.
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