It's very easy to set-up a local server in order to test and contribute to the development version of the game.
It uses web languages like HTML, CSS, Javascript and Node.js. The game engine used is free open source, named Phaser.
If you're not very keen on using git from the CLI, I recomment using Git Cola for cloning the project and creating patches.
You can create a clone of the project by using git from CLI or with the use of a tool, like the one recommended above.
https://github.com/FreezingMoon/AncientBeast.git
First Install NodeJS. Linux users: if you installed from repository, you might need to create a path link.
After you've successfully installed the Node.js package, open up a terminal and use the next command:
npm install -g grunt-cli
Still in the terminal, use the following command in order to easily install all project dependencies:
npm install
This will read package.json and install all of the gameplay established npm package dependencies.
The npm install command will also update any required dependencies if package.json file changes.
To have the game properly set-up and opened in the default browser, simply run this terminal command:
grunt
Grunt will work in the background so that when you change any game scripts, the re-compile will occur.
After you've playtested the development version of the game, there are 2 main ways you can contribute to the project.
For a more comprehensive guide on how to help out the project, you can check out the Make Your Contribution guide.
If you encounter any problems with the version, you can report them to our GitHub Issue tracker, try to avoid duplicates.
Very often, it will be very helpful for debugging purposes to fetch game logs when encountering issues.
You can use this function from the browser console window in order to fetch the log G.gamelog.get().
To replay a match, you can start a new game and paste the log between brackets of G.gamelog.play().
The main coding language used is Javascript, feel free to create patches and propose them by making a Pull Request. You should look around on GitHub Issue tracker for open issues, priority being the ones that are assigned to the next milestone and are tagged "Priority", while also lacking the "Brainstorm" tag. You can ping DreadKnight in the Discord server in order to be assigned to something specific, otherwise you can comment on a specific issue in order to receive the green light for it, making sure there's nobody else currently working on the issue or that design hasn't changed and a patch is still required.
You are free to browse existing issues and comment on the ones that you want to take a swing at in order to make sure the issue is still relevant and that nobody else is working on it. You can also drop by the project's Discord server and mention your skills and that you're interested in helping out; you'll be assigned to a specific issue. When you're done, simply create a Pull Request, note that you might need to pull in from master repository before doing so. Your patches will get reviewed and tested, if there are issues with them you'll receive feedback in order to make corrections, otherwise your pull request will get approved and merged into the master branch and you'll getting you credited for your work.
Coding is not the only thing required in order to make this project as awesome as possible, see the How to Contribute guide.