doodle/README.md

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# Project: Doodle (Working Title)
> **Homepage:** https://www.kirsle.net/doodle
Doodle is a drawing-based maze game.
The theme of Doodle is centered around hand-drawn, side-scrolling platformer
type mazes. You can draw your own levels using freehand and basic drawing tools,
color in some fire or water, and drag in pre-made "Doodads" like buttons, keys
and doors to add some interaction to your level.
This is a _very_ early pre-release version of the game. Expect bugs and slowness
but get a general gist of what the game is about.
This alpha release of the game comes with two example levels built-in for
playing or editing and a handful of built-in Doodads.
# Features
(Eventually), the high-level, user-facing features for the game are:
* **Draw your own levels** freehand and then play them like a 2D platformer
game.
* In **Adventure Mode** you can play through a series of official example
levels that ship with the game.
* In **Edit Mode** you can draw a map freehand-style and lay down physical
geometry, and mark which lines are solid or which ones behave like fire.
* Drag and drop **Doodads** like buttons, doors and keys into your level and
link them together so that buttons open doors and levers activate devices.
* In **Play Mode** you can play your level as a 2D platformer game where you
collect keys, watch out for enemies, and solve puzzles to get to the exit.
* Easily **Share** your custom maps with friends.
## Mod-friendly
(Eventually) all these features will support custom content in the
game:
* Users can create **Custom Doodads** to extend the game with a scripting
language like JavaScript. The sprites and animations are edited in-game
in Edit Mode, but the scripting is done in your text editor.
* In **Edit Mode** you can drag custom doodads into your maps.
* To **Share** your maps, you can choose to **bundle** the custom
doodads inside your map file itself, so that other players can play
the map without needing to install the doodads separately.
* If you receive a map with custom doodads, you can **install** the doodads
into your copy of the game and use them in your own maps.
# Keybindings
Global Keybindings:
```
Escape
Close the developer console if open, without running any commands.
Exit the program otherwise.
Enter
Open and close the developer console, and run commands while the
console is open.
F3
Toggle the Debug Overlay.
F4
Toggle debug collision hitboxes.
```
In Play Mode:
```
Cursor Keys
Move the player around.
"E" Key
Edit the map you're currently playing if you came from Edit Mode.
```
In Edit Mode:
```
Cursor Keys
Scroll the view of the map around.
"P" Key
Playtest the current map you're working on.
"F" Key
Switch to the Pencil (Freehand) Tool
"L" Key
Switch to the Line Tool
"R" Key
Switch to the Rectangle Tool
Ctrl-Z
Undo
Ctrl-Y
Redo
```
# Built-In Doodads
A brief introduction to the built-in doodads available so far:
- **Characters**
- Blue Azulian: this is used as the player character for now. If
dragged into a level, it doesn't do anything but is affected
by gravity.
- Red Azulian: an example mobile mob for now. It walks back and
forth, changing directions only when it comes across an
obstacle and can't proceed any further.
- **Doors and Keys**
- Colored Doors: these act like solid barriers until the player or
another doodad collects the matching colored key.
- Colored Keys: these are collectable items that allow the player or
another doodad to open the door of matching color. Note that
inventories are doodad-specific, so other mobs besides the
player can steal a key before the player gets it! (For now)
- Electric Door: this mechanical door stays closed and only
opens when it receives a power signal from a linked button.
- Trapdoor: this door allows one-way access, but once it's closed
behind you, you can't pass through it from that side!
- **Buttons**
- Button: while pressed by a player or other doodad, the button
emits a power signal to any doodad it is linked to. Link a button
to an electric door, and the door will open while the button is
pressed and close when the button is released.
- Sticky Button: this button will stay pressed once activated and
will not release unless it receives a power signal from another
linked doodad. For example, one Button that links to a Sticky
Button will release the sticky button if pressed.
- **Switches**
- Switch: when touched by the player or other doodad, the switch will
toggle its state from "OFF" to "ON" or vice versa. Link it to an
Electric Door to open/close the door. Link switches _to each other_ as
well as to a door, and all switches will stay in sync with their ON/OFF
state when any switch is pressed.
## Developer Console
Press `Enter` at any time to open the developer console.
Commands supported:
```
close
Exit to the game's title screen.
new
Show the "New Level" screen to start editing a new map.
save [filename]
Save the current map in Edit Mode. The filename is required if the map has
not been saved yet.
edit [filename]
Open a map or doodad in Edit Mode.
play [filename]
Open a map in Play Mode.
echo <text>
Flash a message to the console.
clear
Clear the console output history.
exit
quit
Close the developer console.
```
# Known Bugs
* In an **Unbounded** map, the game will sometimes spaz out in Play Mode when
the character moves into negative coordinates (off the top or left edge of
the level). Stick with only "Bounded" and "No Negative Space" levels instead.
# Author
Copyright (C) 2019 Noah Petherbridge. All rights reserved.