cat-snacks 😸

It is an explicit goal of this project to be patient with and friendly to everyone participating!

@catsnacks is a collaborative Twitter bot & exists to explore the universe of adorable cat faces. You can help @catsnacks do this by adding new ways to draw cat faces!

Note: the first iteration of @catsnacks had a very Neko Atsume feel to it (I was playing and enjoying the game around the time I made the original prototype) but I want to expand way beyond that aesthetic to encompass all kinds of cartoon kitties.

How to contribute

First, take a look at the code of conduct! After that, please feel free to:

Open issues with questions

• you will be met with patience and kindness!
• it is totally acceptable to ask for tech support via creating an issue here

Open issues with suggestions

• even if you can't or don't want to code!
• you could...
  • describe your idea
  • add a sketch or drawing
  • link to a reference image of something you think should be added

Send pull requests

• these don't have to be perfect! (the caveat being, if I make changes to your code after merging it, please don't be sad! it's only done in the spirit of making things modular & readable for future cat-face explorers)

Getting started

$ git clone https://github.com/beaugunderson/cat-snacks
$ cd cat-snacks
$ npm install
$ npm start # this starts a browser version with live reload

To figure out how bezier curve math works this interactive curve tool can be helpful.

How to add a new part

Let's say you wanted to add tabby markings, you could accomplish that with these steps:

• make a new file for the drawing code: ./parts/tabby-markings.js
• put a function in module.exports of that file that takes ctx and options parameters
• add options to generate-cat.js if it makes sense to (for example maybe you want to be able to expose some of the parameters for tweaking)
• import your module from the module that will call it, in this case ./parts/head-markings.js and call it where it makes sense to (in this case by adding it to the list of randomly-chosen facial marking functions)

Help wanted!

• more colors (or color sets, colors that work well together)
• accessories (snacks, toys, hats)
• different mouths, eyes, noses, stripes, fur patterns
  • notched ears
• different backgrounds (gradients? stripes? chevrons?)
• reference images of cartoon cat faces for inspiration, maybe a ./reference directory?
• filters?
  • ascii using aalib.js or ascii?
  • glitch mode