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182 lines
10 KiB
182 lines
10 KiB
# An Homage to Rogue
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When I was a kid I played a game that used only text characters in a terminal called [Rogue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_(video_game). This game ran in my little MSDOS computer using only the ASCII characters the computer supported. No graphics and I think no sound but I can't remember. Despite this very low quality graphical experience the game delivered an amazing game experience. Even today the term "roguelike" denotes certain qualities that come from the original _Rogue_:
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* Dying is permanent but each time you restart you'll retain some previous skills or equipment so the next run is easier.
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* However, it's only easier to the point where you previously died, as each level through the dungeon gets more and more difficult.
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* A randomly generated world (dungeon) that features a new experience every time.
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* A focus on mechanics rather than graphics, but creative use of the limited graphical characters to make the game playable.
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* This lack of graphics weirdly makes the game _more_ imaginative because you have to fill in what's going on with your own imagination, similar to a game of Dungeons and Dragons.
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This is why I chose Rogue as the basis for my first actual game in C++.
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## A "Classical" Game Development Education
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In the world of art there's a concept of a "classical education," which means you learn to paint and
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draw using old methods meant to teach a realistic style. These methods are hundreds--maybe even
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thousands--of years old and work very well...assuming you have the patience. Learning to paint and
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draw like this is almost an art history lesson since not many people do art using these techniques
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anymore.
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I'm planning to do my study of game development in the same way by making games in historic order.
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Rather than run off and start using Unreal Engine immediately I'm going to make an homage to each
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kind of game I played when I was younger. Each game I make will hopefully teach me both the history
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of Game Development and also a technique that's either very useful or long forgotten.
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My little Rogue game is the first entry in this series.
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## It's Not 1980 Anymore
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My goal is to maintain the constraint of "Text Only, but not Terminal Only." What I mean by this is
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I'll use only text glyphs for the graphics in the game but I won't restrict myself to the textual
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grid, layout, or traditional Terminal constraints. I'm rendering these characters using modern
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graphics capabilities that allow me to create a more fun experience.
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For example, I code the whole UI in a Terminal UI (TUI) library named [FTXUI](https://github.com/ArthurSonzogni/FTXUI) but I render the ANSI terminal output of FTXUI into an [SFML](https://www.sfml-dev.org/) window using an [ANSI Code Parser](https://git.learnjsthehardway.com/learn-code-the-hard-way/roguish/src/branch/main/ansi_parser.rl) that renders to a [Render Pipeline](https://git.learnjsthehardway.com/learn-code-the-hard-way/roguish/src/branch/main/render.cpp). This lets me render full Text UIs at one scale while rendering the map in a different scale and allow zooming.
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I also use a full true color encoding so I can implement things like lighting effects and complex
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color changes. I even have sounds, simple camera shake effects when you take damage, and other
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things found in top-down games.
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In addition to that, I'm not limited to _one character per cell_. Since I'm only treating
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characters as sprites I'm actually able to layer them in the same cell, so I can show weapons being
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held, damage effects, and other changes using character on the player or other entities.
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## Why Not Just Use Pixel Art?
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I mean...I am...it just looks like text. An Homage doesn't mean you copy something exactly. It
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means you create something that's your own, but references or takes things from another artist's
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work. It's a respectful copy that doesn't really steal but instead pays respects to those who came
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before while still creating something new for the future.
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In my game I'm using the constraint of "Text Only, not Terminal Only" to give me an artistic
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constraint and to keep the game an homage to all the Rogues that came before.
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But also, I mean c'mon folks, it's 2025. We do have sound now.
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## Where's the LICENSE?
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You don't need a LICENSE that gives everything away to thieving corporations just to publish your
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works online. Nobody makes artists, musicians, painters, photographers, or sculptors get a license
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before posting online, so why do programmers need one? You worried you'll get sued? Ok, so just put
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a disclaimer but why do you _also_ have to give your hard work away for anyone to steal and profit
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from just so they don't sue you?
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You don't, and no matter what the OSI says, nobody can sue you if they steal your code and cause a
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plane to crash. _They_ would get sued for stealing your code and putting it in a plane, not you.
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Requiring _only_ programmers to release their code with a license to avoid lawsuits creates a
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[Chilling Effect](https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/chilling-effect-overview) on programmer free speech and that violates the First Amendment.
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So this code isn't licensed, it's copyright by default. I'm publishing it using my free speech
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rights to express myself and that means you can look at it the same as if I posted a painting or an
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essay on my blog. I obviously can't sue you for just looking at it and playing the game because I
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published it so you can, but _that doesn't mean you own shit._ You can't resell it, fork it,
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nothing.
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Just grab the code and play it. That's it. Tell people about it. Fair use says you can even record
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videos reviewing it and talking about it.
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See? That's how Free Speech works. You don't need a LICENSE.
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## Build Instructions
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On all platforms you'll need these components:
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* [Meson](https://mesonbuild.com/) -- which needs Python.
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* C++ Compiler -- Tested with Clang and G++. You can use my [C++ Setup Guide](https://learncodethehardway.com/courses/learn-cpp-the-hard-way/1-the-basics/01-gearing-up/) which features an automated installer for Windows.
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* [GNU make](https://www.gnu.org/software/make/) -- For the convenience Makefile. On Windows you should have this if you used my setup scripts. Otherwise `winget install ezwinports.make` will set you up.
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* [git](https://git-scm.com/) -- Which should be on almost every platform, and is installed by default with my Windows setup scripts.
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### Windows Instructions
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I primarily develop in Windows using the above setup, so this should work the best. Open [Windows
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Terminal](https://github.com/microsoft/terminal) and run these commands _one at a time_. Don't
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copy-past bomb this:
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```shell
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git clone https://git.learnjsthehardway.com/learn-code-the-hard-way/roguish.git
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cd roguish
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# ignore the errors the first time
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./scripts/reset_build.ps1
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# first compile takes a while
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make
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# this copies the binary so you can run it
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make run
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```
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After that the game should be running. It'll be in different states depending on how far I've
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pushed it, but you should at least have two enemies, some loot that gives you a better torch, and a
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room with a light in it. Go find them.
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## Linux and OSX
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Linux and OSX have the same requirements as Windows and almost the same install steps. The only
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difference is that once you get your developer tools installed then you only need [Meson](https://mesonbuild.com/). Linux and OSX should have everything else you need or there's a package for it.
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Once you have that installed you can run these commands:
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```shell
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git clone https://git.learnjsthehardway.com/learn-code-the-hard-way/roguish.git
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cd roguish
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# ignore the errors the first time
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./scripts/reset_build.sh
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# first compile takes a while
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make
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./builddir/roguish
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```
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You don't need `make run` because Linux and OSX are sane operating systems that don't lock every
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damn thing a process touches.
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### Other Platforms
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No testing done on other platforms but let me know if you get it to build somewhere fun and I'll
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mention it.
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## Development Guide
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You can look in the `status.txt` file for my informal TODO list of things to fix and make. I'm not
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really accepting contributions from others, but if you want to follow along then that's what I'm
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doing.
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If you're just starting out in C++ or programming then the project is designed to be readable by
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someone who knows very little. Every file is small and should be easy to read. I don't use any
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insane tricks or weird C++ idioms. I also try to avoid too many external libraries so I'll use
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plain old [std::vector]() and [std::unordered_map]() rather than external libraries that might be
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faster. This is done _on purpose_ so people (myself included) can learn about the basics of C++ and
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the STL.
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I also don't do a lot of performance tuning or obsession over _THE CACHE_. Clean, simple, readable
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code is more important than squeezing 4% performance out of the code. I do however attempt to
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design things so that it doesn't do useless work because the fastest thing you can do in a computer
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is nothing. If I can architect away a performance issue and not make the code too complex then I'll
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do that instead.
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That means if you have a suggestion for a micro-benchmark improvement that will dramatically boost
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performance, but the code is convoluted and hard to understand, then it won't work. If your
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suggestion is interesting and provides a massive boost then let me know and I'll check it out. But,
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I would also like statistics that show it's better, not just your word.
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## Known Bugs
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* Map Generation isn't refined enough so sometimes it makes a map with no path out. Just start it
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again.
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Look in `status.txt` for more bugs that aren't as major as this.
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## OSX Build Notes
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* Quite a bad experience. Need to install Python, cmake, meson, and ninja all which are in homebrew but if you don't use homebrew then this is a problem.
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* You need to run the .command script in Application/your python that updates the SSL certs.
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* You have to give iTerm access to your keystrokes...because wtf it already has them?
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* This points out a problem that I'm getting the keys using FTXUI but should either get them from SFML _or_ connect FTXUI to SFML's keyboard input events instead.
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* No actually this first run delay seems to be related to the security feature that blocks keyboard access on iTerm, so probably fixing that would speed it up.
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