[Feature]: Add a debug menu for developers only

.vscode/settings.json

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+  "java.configuration.updateBuildConfiguration": "interactive"
+}

README.md

@@ -143,6 +143,15 @@ mvn jpro:run
 # Open http://localhost:8080
 ```
 
+#### Debug Menu (Developers Only)
+The debug menu is hidden by default. To enable it, pass `-DdebugMenu=true` when running:
+```bash
+mvn javafx:run -DdebugMenu=true
+
+# Or with the browser version:
+mvn jpro:run -DdebugMenu=true
+```
+
 📖 **More details:** [Java Setup Guide](https://github.com/jvondermarck/dinosaur-exploder/wiki/Java-Installation-Guide)
 
 </details>

pom.xml

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
         <junit.version>6.0.3</junit.version>
         <mainClassName>com.dinosaur.dinosaurexploder.DinosaurApp</mainClassName>
         <mainClassJProName>com.dinosaur.dinosaurexploder.DinosaurWebApp</mainClassJProName>
+        <debugMenu>false</debugMenu>
         <sonar.projectKey>jvondermarck_dinosaur-exploder</sonar.projectKey>
         <sonar.organization>jvondermarck</sonar.organization>
         <sonar.host.url>https://sonarcloud.io</sonar.host.url>
@@ -160,6 +161,9 @@
                     <jlinkImageName>game</jlinkImageName>
                     <jlinkZipName>fxgl-game</jlinkZipName>
                     <mainClass>${mainClassName}</mainClass>
+                    <options>
+                        <option>-DdebugMenu=${debugMenu}</option>
+                    </options>
                 </configuration>
             </plugin>
 
@@ -170,6 +174,9 @@
                 <version>${jpro.version}</version>
                 <configuration>
                     <mainClassName>${mainClassJProName}</mainClassName>
+                    <JVMArgs>
+                        <JVMArg>-DdebugMenu=${debugMenu}</JVMArg>
+                    </JVMArgs>
                 </configuration>
             </plugin>
 

src/main/java/com/dinosaur/dinosaurexploder/view/DebugMenu.java

@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 jvondermarck
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+ */
+
+ package com.dinosaur.dinosaurexploder.view;
+
+ import com.almasb.fxgl.app.scene.FXGLMenu;
+ import com.almasb.fxgl.app.scene.MenuType;
+ import com.dinosaur.dinosaurexploder.components.CollectedCoinsComponent;
+ import com.dinosaur.dinosaurexploder.components.ScoreComponent;
+ import javafx.geometry.Insets;
+ import javafx.geometry.Pos;
+ import javafx.scene.control.Button;
+ import javafx.scene.control.Label;
+ import javafx.scene.control.TextField;
+ import javafx.scene.layout.VBox;
+ import javafx.scene.paint.Color;
+ import javafx.scene.text.Font;
+ import javafx.scene.text.FontWeight;
+
+ /**
+  * Developer-only debug menu for manually overriding game state during testing.
+  * This view should never be exposed to players in production builds.
+  */
+ public class DebugMenu extends FXGLMenu {
+
+     public DebugMenu(ScoreComponent scoreComponent, CollectedCoinsComponent coinsComponent) {
+         super(MenuType.GAME_MENU); // ← FXGLMenu requires a MenuType, not a spacing int
+
+         // Build a VBox to hold all the controls, same layout as before
+         VBox layout = new VBox(12);
+         layout.setPadding(new Insets(16));
+         layout.setAlignment(Pos.TOP_LEFT);
+         layout.setStyle("-fx-background-color: rgba(0,0,0,0.85); -fx-border-color: yellow; -fx-border-width: 2;");
+         layout.setMaxWidth(280);
+
+         Label title = new Label("DEBUG MENU [DEV ONLY]");
+         title.setTextFill(Color.YELLOW);
+         title.setFont(Font.font("System", FontWeight.BOLD, 14));
+
+         // --- Score section ---
+         Label scoreLabel = new Label("Set Score:");
+         scoreLabel.setTextFill(Color.WHITE);
+         TextField scoreField = new TextField();
+         scoreField.setPromptText("Enter score value...");
+         Button setScoreButton = new Button("Set Score");
+         setScoreButton.setOnAction(e -> {
+             // TODO: wire up to scoreComponent.setScore(int)
+         });
+
+         // --- High score section ---
+         Label highScoreLabel = new Label("Set High Score:");
+         highScoreLabel.setTextFill(Color.WHITE);
+         TextField highScoreField = new TextField();
+         highScoreField.setPromptText("Enter high score value...");
+         Button setHighScoreButton = new Button("Set High Score");
+         setHighScoreButton.setOnAction(e -> {
+             // TODO: wire up to HighScore.setHigh(...)
+         });
+
+         // --- Coins section ---
+         Label coinsLabel = new Label("Set Coins:");
+         coinsLabel.setTextFill(Color.WHITE);
+         TextField coinsField = new TextField();
+         coinsField.setPromptText("Enter coin amount...");
+         Button setCoinsButton = new Button("Set Coins");
+         setCoinsButton.setOnAction(e -> {
+             // TODO: requires CollectedCoinsComponent.setCoin(int) to be added first
+         });
+
+         layout.getChildren().addAll(
+             title,
+             scoreLabel, scoreField, setScoreButton,
+             highScoreLabel, highScoreField, setHighScoreButton,
+             coinsLabel, coinsField, setCoinsButton
+         );
+
+         // ← FXGLMenu uses getContentRoot(), not getChildren() directly
+         getContentRoot().getChildren().add(layout);
+     }
+ }

src/main/java/com/dinosaur/dinosaurexploder/view/DinosaurMenu.java

@@ -46,6 +46,9 @@
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.NotNull;
 
 public class DinosaurMenu extends FXGLMenu {
+  private static final boolean DEBUG_MENU_ENABLED =
+      Boolean.parseBoolean(System.getProperty("debugMenu", "false"));
+
   private final LanguageManager languageManager = LanguageManager.getInstance();
   private final Settings settings = SettingsProvider.loadSettings();
   private final MediaPlayer mainMenuSound;
@@ -55,6 +58,9 @@ public class DinosaurMenu extends FXGLMenu {
   private final Button startButton = new Button("Start Game".toUpperCase());
   private final Button quitButton = new Button("Quit".toUpperCase());
   private final Button settingsButton = new Button("Options".toUpperCase());
+  // Dev-only debug menu button
+  private final Button debugButton = new Button("Debug Menu".toUpperCase());
+
   private final Label languageLabel = new Label("Select Language:");
 
   public DinosaurMenu() {
@@ -258,6 +264,12 @@ private void configureButtons() {
     applyStylesheet(startButton);
     applyStylesheet(quitButton);
     applyStylesheet(settingsButton);
+    if (DEBUG_MENU_ENABLED) {
+      applyStylesheet(debugButton);
+      debugButton.setMinSize(140, 60);
+      debugButton.setTranslateY(660);
+      debugButton.setOnAction(event -> FXGL.getSceneService().pushSubScene(new DebugMenu(null, null)));
+    }
 
     startButton.setMinSize(140, 60);
     startButton.setTranslateY(420);
@@ -310,18 +322,20 @@ private void addComponentsToScene(
       ImageView mute,
       // VBox language,
       VBox volumeControls) {
-    getContentRoot()
-        .getChildren()
-        .addAll(
-            background,
-            title,
-            startButton,
-            quitButton,
-            settingsButton,
-            dino,
-            creditsBadge,
-            mute,
-            volumeControls);
+    var children = getContentRoot().getChildren();
+    children.addAll(
+        background,
+        title,
+        startButton,
+        quitButton,
+        settingsButton,
+        dino,
+        creditsBadge,
+        mute,
+        volumeControls);
+    if (DEBUG_MENU_ENABLED) {
+      children.add(debugButton);
+    }
   }
 
   private void setupButtonCentering() {
@@ -351,12 +365,25 @@ private void setupButtonCentering() {
                 settingsButton.setTranslateX(getAppWidth() / 2.0 - newBounds.getWidth() / 2.0);
               }
             });
+    if (DEBUG_MENU_ENABLED) {
+      debugButton
+          .layoutBoundsProperty()
+          .addListener(
+              (obs, oldBounds, newBounds) -> {
+                if (newBounds.getWidth() > 0) {
+                  debugButton.setTranslateX(getAppWidth() / 2.0 - newBounds.getWidth() / 2.0);
+                }
+              });
+    }
 
     javafx.application.Platform.runLater(
         () -> {
           startButton.requestLayout();
           quitButton.requestLayout();
           settingsButton.requestLayout();
+          if (DEBUG_MENU_ENABLED) {
+            debugButton.requestLayout();
+          }
         });
   }