diff --git a/examples/core-custom-entrypoint/App.zig b/examples/core-custom-entrypoint/App.zig
index 7b088a7d..afef225f 100644
--- a/examples/core-custom-entrypoint/App.zig
+++ b/examples/core-custom-entrypoint/App.zig
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ pub const Mod = mach.Mod(@This());
 
 pub const systems = .{
     .init = .{ .handler = init },
+    .after_init = .{ .handler = afterInit },
     .deinit = .{ .handler = deinit },
     .tick = .{ .handler = tick },
 };
@@ -20,6 +21,11 @@ pub fn deinit(core: *mach.Core.Mod, game: *Mod) void {
 }
 
 fn init(game: *Mod, core: *mach.Core.Mod) !void {
+    core.schedule(.init);
+    game.schedule(.after_init);
+}
+
+fn afterInit(game: *Mod, core: *mach.Core.Mod) !void {
     // Create our shader module
     const shader_module = core.state().device.createShaderModuleWGSL("shader.wgsl", @embedFile("shader.wgsl"));
     defer shader_module.release();
@@ -62,7 +68,6 @@ fn init(game: *Mod, core: *mach.Core.Mod) !void {
     core.schedule(.start);
 }
 
-// TODO(important): remove need for returning an error here
 fn tick(core: *mach.Core.Mod, game: *Mod) !void {
     // TODO(important): event polling should occur in mach.Core module and get fired as ECS event.
     // TODO(Core)
diff --git a/examples/custom-renderer/App.zig b/examples/custom-renderer/App.zig
index fa4cb209..9cea5b10 100644
--- a/examples/custom-renderer/App.zig
+++ b/examples/custom-renderer/App.zig
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ pub fn deinit(core: *mach.Core.Mod, renderer: *Renderer.Mod) void {
     core.schedule(.deinit);
 }
 
-// TODO(important): remove need for returning an error here
 fn init(
     // These are injected dependencies - as long as these modules were registered in the top-level
     // of the program we can have these types injected here, letting us work with other modules in
@@ -53,6 +52,7 @@ fn init(
     renderer: *Renderer.Mod,
     game: *Mod,
 ) !void {
+    core.schedule(.init);
     renderer.schedule(.init);
 
     // Create our player entity.
@@ -80,7 +80,6 @@ fn init(
     core.schedule(.start);
 }
 
-// TODO(important): remove need for returning an error here
 fn tick(
     entities: *mach.Entities.Mod,
     core: *mach.Core.Mod,
diff --git a/examples/glyphs/App.zig b/examples/glyphs/App.zig
index 73bc77c5..e2517ac7 100644
--- a/examples/glyphs/App.zig
+++ b/examples/glyphs/App.zig
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ fn deinit(core: *mach.Core.Mod, sprite_pipeline: *gfx.SpritePipeline.Mod, glyphs
 }
 
 fn init(core: *mach.Core.Mod, sprite_pipeline: *gfx.SpritePipeline.Mod, glyphs: *Glyphs.Mod, game: *Mod) !void {
+    core.schedule(.init);
     sprite_pipeline.schedule(.init);
     glyphs.schedule(.init);
 
@@ -55,8 +56,6 @@ fn init(core: *mach.Core.Mod, sprite_pipeline: *gfx.SpritePipeline.Mod, glyphs:
 
     // Run our init code after glyphs module is initialized.
     game.schedule(.after_init);
-
-    core.schedule(.start);
 }
 
 fn afterInit(
@@ -65,6 +64,7 @@ fn afterInit(
     sprite_pipeline: *gfx.SpritePipeline.Mod,
     glyphs: *Glyphs.Mod,
     game: *Mod,
+    core: *mach.Core.Mod,
 ) !void {
     // Create a sprite rendering pipeline
     const texture = glyphs.state().texture;
@@ -96,6 +96,8 @@ fn afterInit(
         .time = 0,
         .pipeline = pipeline,
     });
+
+    core.schedule(.start);
 }
 
 fn tick(
diff --git a/examples/hardware-check/App.zig b/examples/hardware-check/App.zig
index fd983b72..dbbd874c 100644
--- a/examples/hardware-check/App.zig
+++ b/examples/hardware-check/App.zig
@@ -66,8 +66,13 @@ fn init(
     text_pipeline: *gfx.TextPipeline.Mod,
     text: *gfx.Text.Mod,
     sprite_pipeline: *gfx.SpritePipeline.Mod,
+    core: *mach.Core.Mod,
     game: *Mod,
 ) !void {
+    // If you want to try fullscreen:
+    // try core.set(core.state().main_window, .fullscreen, true);
+
+    core.schedule(.init);
     audio.schedule(.init);
     text.schedule(.init);
     text_pipeline.schedule(.init);
diff --git a/examples/piano/App.zig b/examples/piano/App.zig
index 50402d41..8a1efee0 100644
--- a/examples/piano/App.zig
+++ b/examples/piano/App.zig
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ pub const components = .{
 ghost_key_mode: bool = false,
 
 fn init(core: *mach.Core.Mod, audio: *mach.Audio.Mod, app: *Mod) void {
+    core.schedule(.init);
     audio.schedule(.init);
     app.schedule(.after_init);
 
diff --git a/examples/play-opus/App.zig b/examples/play-opus/App.zig
index c905ab78..b71009ff 100644
--- a/examples/play-opus/App.zig
+++ b/examples/play-opus/App.zig
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ fn init(
     audio: *mach.Audio.Mod,
     app: *Mod,
 ) !void {
+    core.schedule(.init);
     audio.schedule(.init);
     app.schedule(.after_init);
 
diff --git a/examples/sprite/App.zig b/examples/sprite/App.zig
index edb35e0d..8a4953d5 100644
--- a/examples/sprite/App.zig
+++ b/examples/sprite/App.zig
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ pub const Mod = mach.Mod(@This());
 pub const systems = .{
     .init = .{ .handler = init },
     .deinit = .{ .handler = deinit },
+    .after_init = .{ .handler = afterInit },
     .tick = .{ .handler = tick },
     .end_frame = .{ .handler = endFrame },
 };
@@ -52,14 +53,22 @@ fn deinit(
 }
 
 fn init(
+    core: *mach.Core.Mod,
+    sprite_pipeline: *gfx.SpritePipeline.Mod,
+    game: *Mod,
+) !void {
+    core.schedule(.init);
+    sprite_pipeline.schedule(.init);
+    game.schedule(.after_init);
+}
+
+fn afterInit(
     entities: *mach.Entities.Mod,
     core: *mach.Core.Mod,
     sprite: *gfx.Sprite.Mod,
     sprite_pipeline: *gfx.SpritePipeline.Mod,
     game: *Mod,
 ) !void {
-    sprite_pipeline.schedule(.init);
-
     // We can create entities, and set components on them. Note that components live in a module
     // namespace, e.g. the `.mach_gfx_sprite` module could have a 3D `.location` component with a different
     // type than the `.physics2d` module's `.location` component if you desire.
diff --git a/examples/text/App.zig b/examples/text/App.zig
index 1dcb5481..cc8c9605 100644
--- a/examples/text/App.zig
+++ b/examples/text/App.zig
@@ -61,10 +61,12 @@ fn deinit(
 }
 
 fn init(
+    core: *mach.Core.Mod,
     text: *gfx.Text.Mod,
     text_pipeline: *gfx.TextPipeline.Mod,
     game: *Mod,
 ) !void {
+    core.schedule(.init);
     text.schedule(.init);
     text_pipeline.schedule(.init);
     game.schedule(.after_init);
diff --git a/src/Core.zig b/src/Core.zig
index b3be208c..4b251e5d 100644
--- a/src/Core.zig
+++ b/src/Core.zig
@@ -11,8 +11,13 @@ pub const name = .mach_core;
 pub const Mod = mach.Mod(@This());
 
 pub const systems = .{
+    .init = .{ .handler = init, .description = 
+    \\ Send this once you've configured any options you want on e.g. the core.state().main_window
+    },
+
     .start = .{ .handler = start, .description = 
-    \\ Send this once your app is initialized and ready for .app.tick events.
+    \\ Send this once your .app.init has been handled, you've sent .mach_core.init, and you are ready
+    \\ for .app.tick events.
     },
 
     .update = .{ .handler = update, .description = 
@@ -38,7 +43,7 @@ pub const systems = .{
 
     // TODO(important): need some way to tie event execution to a specific thread once we have a
     // multithreaded dispatch implementation
-    .init = .{ .handler = init },
+    .init_module = .{ .handler = initModule },
     .main_thread_tick = .{ .handler = mainThreadTick },
     .main_thread_tick_done = .{ .handler = fn () void },
 };
@@ -74,6 +79,10 @@ pub const components = .{
     .height = .{ .type = u32, .description = 
     \\ The height of the window in virtual pixels
     },
+
+    .fullscreen = .{ .type = bool, .description = 
+    \\ Whether the window should be fullscreen (only respected at .start time)
+    },
 };
 
 /// Prints into the window title buffer using a format string and arguments. e.g.
@@ -113,27 +122,44 @@ fn start(core: *Mod) !void {
     core.state().run_state = .running;
 }
 
-fn init(entities: *mach.Entities.Mod, core: *Mod) !void {
+fn init(core: *Mod) !void {
+    try mach.core.init(.{
+        .display_mode = if (core.get(core.state().main_window, .fullscreen).?) .fullscreen else .windowed,
+        .size = .{
+            .width = core.get(core.state().main_window, .width).?,
+            .height = core.get(core.state().main_window, .height).?,
+        },
+        // TODO: expose this option
+        .power_preference = .high_performance,
+    });
+
+    // TODO(important): update this information upon framebuffer resize events
+    try core.set(core.state().main_window, .framebuffer_format, mach.core.descriptor.format);
+    try core.set(core.state().main_window, .framebuffer_width, mach.core.descriptor.width);
+    try core.set(core.state().main_window, .framebuffer_height, mach.core.descriptor.height);
+    try core.set(core.state().main_window, .width, mach.core.size().width);
+    try core.set(core.state().main_window, .height, mach.core.size().height);
+
+    core.state().allocator = mach.core.allocator;
+    core.state().device = mach.core.device;
+    core.state().queue = mach.core.device.getQueue();
+}
+
+fn initModule(entities: *mach.Entities.Mod, core: *Mod) !void {
     mach.core.allocator = gpa.allocator(); // TODO: banish this global allocator
 
     // Initialize GPU implementation
     if (comptime !mach.use_sysgpu) try mach.wgpu.Impl.init(mach.core.allocator, .{});
     if (comptime mach.use_sysgpu) try mach.sysgpu.Impl.init(mach.core.allocator, .{});
 
-    try mach.core.init(.{});
-
     const main_window = try entities.new();
-    // TODO(important): update this information upon framebuffer resize events
-    try core.set(main_window, .framebuffer_format, mach.core.descriptor.format);
-    try core.set(main_window, .framebuffer_width, mach.core.descriptor.width);
-    try core.set(main_window, .framebuffer_height, mach.core.descriptor.height);
-    try core.set(main_window, .width, mach.core.size().width);
-    try core.set(main_window, .height, mach.core.size().height);
-
+    try core.set(main_window, .fullscreen, false);
+    try core.set(main_window, .width, 1920 / 2);
+    try core.set(main_window, .height, 1080 / 2);
     core.init(.{
-        .allocator = mach.core.allocator,
-        .device = mach.core.device,
-        .queue = mach.core.device.getQueue(),
+        .allocator = undefined,
+        .device = undefined,
+        .queue = undefined,
         .main_window = main_window,
     });
 
diff --git a/src/core/main.zig b/src/core/main.zig
index d09a0cd9..bd3e3511 100644
--- a/src/core/main.zig
+++ b/src/core/main.zig
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ pub fn initModule() !void {
     // Initialize the global set of Mach modules used in the program.
     try mods.init(std.heap.c_allocator);
 
-    mods.schedule(.mach_core, .init);
+    mods.schedule(.mach_core, .init_module);
 }
 
 /// Tick runs a single step of the main loop on the main OS thread.