Short answer: In the current pre-beta build, a fresh project starts from Blank or Basic sample. Blank is selected by default and gives you one scene, a backdrop and a narration line. Basic sample adds a character, music, a sound effect and a branching choice across two scenes. Both have a working default title menu that you can edit in Forge's Menu view.
The two starting templates
When you create a project from scratch, the new-project dialog asks you to "start with" one of two templates:
- Blank - a single scene titled "Start here" containing one placeholder backdrop and one narration line. There is no character, no music, and no choice. The narrator speaks one line so the project opens and runs immediately. This is best if you already know the structure you want and would rather build from nothing. Blank is the pre-selected default.
- Basic sample - a two-scene story ("Welcome" then "About this template"). It includes a character (Vee) with a sprite, a background music track, a one-shot sound-effect cue, and a single branching choice that sets a variable and changes Vee's reply. It exists to demonstrate narration, a character, audio, and a choice working together; everything in it is editable or deletable.
Both templates are intentionally lightweight starting points, not finished projects. Edit anything - the sample is just a walkthrough you can tear down.
The title menu
Every project resolves to a default title menu even before you customize one. It includes Start, Continue, Load, Settings and Chapters; unavailable actions appear disabled. The menu is separate from the story's scenes, so you do not need to add a menu scene or write menu script commands.
Open Forge's Menu view to customize it. Forge Preview and shared or reader playback open on this menu before the story starts. Creating the project itself lands you on Forge's Stage so you can begin editing.
Importing instead of starting fresh
The same new-project flow also lets you import an existing Ren'Py project rather than picking a template. An import builds your starting scenes from the uploaded source instead of from one of these templates.