#About Impact Bootstrap For Windows 8

Impact Bootstrap is a simple collection of scripts, code and stock art/sounds that can help you create HTML5 games faster. The Bootstrap consists of the following features:

• impact additions that contains a plugins, entities and sample code to extend the core impact framework and offer extra functionality in the map editor. Here is a list of important directories that make up the Bootstrap:
  • impact/lib/bootstrap is the main directory where all the Bootstrap code lives in your impact project.
  • impact/lib/bootstrap/entities is where you can find all the entities for the Bootstrap.
  • impact/lib/bootstrap/platforms is a collection of modules that will modify your game based on the type of platform it will run on. (Web is the only finished platform and more are coming soon.)
  • impact/lib/bootstrap/plugins is where all the Bootstrap plugins live.
  • impact/lib/bootstrap/bootstrap.js is a module that will load all the Bootstrap plugins. Simply add 'bootstrap.bootstrap' to the requires block of your main.js module.
  • impact/lib/bootstrap/weltmeister-bootstrap.js will load in all the Bootstrap plugins for Weltmeister (Impact's level editor). Simply add 'bootstrap.weltmeister-bootstrap' to the requires block of the impact/weltmeister/weltmeister.js module.
• resources contains a collection of stock art and sounds to help you prototype out your ideas quickly.

Here is a brief overview of the Impact Bootstrap and how to use it: ##Getting Started Once you check out the bootstrap you can simply drop it into a Visual Studio project include the bootstrap files and add a copy of Impact's source code to the lib's folder so you can run the project.

(More info coming soon)

##Impact Bootstrap The Impact directory is set up exactly like any default Impact project. Inside, you will find the following directories and files:

• lib/bootstrap contains the core of the Impact Boostratp and the plugins which modify the core of Impact.

• lib/game contains the Bootstrap directory, some demo games, a test level and a sample game file (main.js && config.js) so you can test out the Bootstrap.

• default.html is a modifieddefault.html file to replace Impact's index.html file. This file includes a reference to WinJS, a modified CSS, which is located in the css directory, as well as placeholder artwork for touch controls.

Most of the core code that makes up the Impact Bootstrap lives in the `lib/bootstrap' directory. Let's take a quick look at how the Bootstrap's plugins and entities work:

###Bootstrap Plugins Each of the plugins that make up the Impact Bootstrap were designed to work together or independently allowing you to pick and choose which parts of the Bootstrap you want to include in your game. The plugins are broken down into two groups: impact and weltmeister.

To import the entire collection of plugins, simply add 'bootstrap.bootstrap' to your main game module's requires block.

• camera.js is a simple camera class that follows an entity and allows you to set a region around the player to trigger scrolling. It also handles basic lighting effects via a PNG overlay.
• caption.js is a plugin that patches the main game class and allows you to display a text message at the bottom of the screen that disappears after a set number of seconds. This is ideal for showing instructions at the beginning of a level or displaying status messages during the game.
• menu.js adds the ability to overlay a 'screen' on top of the game. This is useful for pause menus or displaying stats at the end of a level or a game-over screen. There is a default menu that lets you display text. Simply extend this and override the draw() method with your own graphics.
• pause.js adds support to pause all entities in the game on the screen by calling togglePause() on the ig.game class. This will not update any entities when paused, but they will continue to draw.
• tracking.js is a wrapper for Google Analytics to do tracking in your game. This plugin automatically adds Google tracking code to your game. All you need to do is supply your tracking account number.
• utils.js adds some basic utilities to your game, such as padding strings with zeros for high scores and the ability to load a level by its file name via a newly injected loadLevelByFileName() method on the ig.game class.

---

More plugins are planned. Here are a few coming soon:

• mini-map.js will add a mini map to your game.
• random-map.js will allow you to generate random maps on the fly similar to the Weltmeister random map generation plugin.
• utils.js will have more utilities added to it, such as an experience/level calculator and more.

###Weltmeister Plugins To import the entire collection of Weltmeister-specific plugins, simply add 'bootstrap.weltmeister-bootstrap' to the weltmeister/weltmeister.js module's requires block. Here is a list of the plugins currently in the bootstrap.

• random-map.js adds the ability to generate random map generation via a new button in the level editor. (A full panel to configure the random map generation settings is coming soon!) If you would like to use the bootstrap's entities, you will need to configure your weltmeister/config.js. Simply replace:

  'entityFiles': 'lib/game/entities/*.js',

with

'entityFiles': ['lib/game/entities/*.js',
                'lib/bootstrap/entities/*.js']

which tells the editor to load entities from the lib/bootstrap/entities directory. This is also a good technique to use if you want to keep your custom entities in another location. (I am working on making this automated a little better for future releases of the bootstrap.)

###Entities The Impact Bootstrap comes with its own set of entities, which you can use out of the box or extend off of in order to help speed up game development. Entities are broken down into two groups: base and ready to use.

####Base Entities Base entities are 'abstract classes' designed to allow you to extend them in your own game. They cannot be directly placed on the map without being extended and finalized with artwork and logic. The Impact Bootstrap comes with a set of examples showing how to use these base entities, which you can find inside the impact/entities directory. Let's take a look at the base entities:

• base-actor represents any entity in your game that will move, have death animation and possibly need some kind of AI. The base-actor supplies some stub methods and logic, such as the ability to become "invincible", spawn particles when it receives damage or is killed, can be crushed by moving platforms, fall to its death (happens when the entity falls for too long then hits a fixed entity or something in the collision map) and more. Take a look at the class to see what has been added. The base-player and base-monster extend off this class.
• base-monster is a template for a simple monster in your game. Right now, the monster knows how to walk back and forth on a platform without falling off. (In the future, the base-monster will have additional AI, such as walking off platforms, follow the player and hooks to interact with other entities in the game world.)
• base-player is a template to help build your player entity off of. The base-player has logic to handle being killed (which calls an onPlayerKilled() method on the ig.game class) and also has generic logic for handling input. The player monitors the ig.input class for actions and will automatically call methods on your player class that correspond to 'pressed', 'down' and 'released'. Here is an example of how to implement this into your own game:
  1. Extend the base-player.js class.

  • Make sure you have bound keys to input class:

      ig.input.bind('RIGHT_ARROW', 'right');
    

  • In your new player class, add the following methods, which will automatically be called based on the state of the binding:

      rightPressed: function()
      {
          // Nothing to do when pressed for the first time
      },
      rightDown: function()
      {
          // Move the player to the right
      },
      rightReleased: function ()
      {
          // Perform any cleanup needed when the right button is released
      } 
    

• base-item is a template for items that an actor can pick up or equip in the game. It supports the notion of flagging the item as equipable which will hide the item entity on the game map but add it to an actor's inventory. From there you can handle each call to equip to do specific actions for each type of item. *(This item and it's full set of functionality is still being fleshed out.)
• base-door.js is simple door that allows the player to hide inside without taking damage. The door can be extended to offer rewards to the player for going inside or when leaving.
• base-elevator.js is a complex moving platform comprised of two invisibly moving platforms that stay in sync and form the top and bottom of the elevator. This allows the player to stand on top and not fall through the bottom of the elevator while still walking through it. It also has the ability to crush other entities that extend the base-actor class.
• base-weapons.js - is a base set of weapons for players and enemies to use. This package includes the build to build automatic and non-automatic weapons and projectiles such as grenades.

####Ready-To-Use Entities The entities in the root of the Bootstrap entity directory can be used as is. These entities do have some dependencies on artwork in the media folder, but you can simply inject new properties into them if you need to resize or replace artwork. Here is a list of the ready-to-use entities:

• level-exit.js allows the player to exit a level. When the player enters this invisible entity it calls exitLevel() which is injected into the ig.game class allowing you to handle exiting to the next level. The is useful of showing an end of level screen or simply returning to beginning of the game or start/level picker screen.
• outofbounds.js is an invisible area that calls an outofbounds() handler on any entity that collides with it. This method is automatically added to any entity that extends the base-actor class. It is useful for holes in floors or areas that should instantly kill an entity.
• particle-emitter.js handles spawning particles on an entity. Simply provide a target and the name of the particle entity you want to spawn and the emitter will handle managing pooling of each instance. There are several built in particles such as fire(EntityFirerParticle), snow(EntitySnowParticle) and water(EntityWaterParticle). (I'll be adding in more particles and templates for the emitter to help simulate different effects)
• spawner.js - will spawn other entities based on a set time and has a built-in object pool. When an entity is created via the spawner, they will get a reference to the spawner instance in the settings object passed into the init() constructor. This allows spawned entities to call back to the spawner when destroyed in order to return to the pool.
• teleporter.js is a simple entity that can move the player over to a target or random targets depending on how many are passed into the teleporter instance.
• text.js is a simple entity that can display text on maps. This is useful for anywhere you would need text on a map without having to generate tiles for it. Also, these entities can be set to fixed collision so other entities can stand on them. (This entity still needs to be optimized and incurs in a draw() call for every letter being rendered. Future versions of this entity will cache its bitmap data to speed up rendering.)
• void.js is an entity with no visuals or logic and is intended to be used as targets spawners, platforms and elevators.

Now that we have covered how plugins and entities work, let's look at the last directory that makes up the Impact Bootstrap:

##Resources The resources directory includes artwork and sound effects you can use to help prototype out your game quickly without having to worry about creating new artwork. The resource directory is broken down into artwork and sound effects:

###Artwork More stock artwork will be added as the Impact Bootstrap evolves. Right now there is a core set of artwork which is used by a few of the Bootstrap entities as well as folders specifically set up for each of the demos. You are free to repurpose the demo game artwork for yourself.

###Sound Effects Impact Bootstrap comes with a set of pre-generated sound effects, which you can use as placeholders or put them in your final game. In addition to the source wavs, you get a bfxrlibrary to see how the originals were created with bfxr. You will also find MP3 and Ogg versions in the media/bootstrap/sounds folder for use in Impact. (.caf files for iOS are coming soon.)

• Death.wav
• ElevatorBeep.wav
• Empty.wav
• GrenadeBounce.wav
• GrenadeExplosion.wav
• GunFire.wav
• HitHard.wav
• HitSoft.wav
• Jump.wav
• MachineGunFire.wav
• MineBeep.wav
• MineExplosion.wav
• OpenDoor.wav
• PlayerMonsterFall.wav
• PowerUp.wav
• PowerUp2.wav
• ShotgunFire.wav
• StartGame.wav

##Demos Impact Bootstrap comes with some demo games in order to show off how you can build your own games off of the bootstrap. I'll be filling in more details here as I build out each of the demo games.

###Jetroid More info coming soon on this game, how it works and how to run in. Right now it's set up by default in the bootstrap. Check out its source code in lib/bootstrap/demos/jetroid.

#Coming Soon The Impact Bootstrap is still a work in progress. Here are some features I plan on adding:

###Better Demo Game Right now I include a few example classes showing off how to set up a game using the Impact Bootstrap. I will eventually turn this into a full featured game. For now, check out the main.js module to see some techniques I use for configuring my games, customizing the main game class to handle auto-binding for touch and keyboard as well as a sample level showing off a few of the Bootstrap entities.

###Game Templates These demo games will show off how to prototype our your ideas faster. Here are some ideas of templates I would like to include in the Bootstrap:

• Side Scroller is the default template for Impact games.
• Top Down - for Zelda-like games.
• Turn Based - is useful for rogue-like games and builds off the top-down template.
• Endless Runner - auto-scrolls the map at a set speed and is based off a side scroller template.

###More Stock Artwork/Sounds I will continue to add more artwork for each of the game templates as well as more sound effects such as background music.

###More Entities I plan on porting over other entities from my games such as:

• barricade.js is a destructible object that can be placed to slow down monsters.
• power-up-spawner.js allows you to spawn monsters that grow increasingly stronger as they return back to the object pool.
• spawn-boss.js is a trigger to spawn a boss battle when the player enters a location on the map.

###Documentation On Platform Plugins I plan on finishing up the platform-specific plugins and documenting how to use them. ###Demo Site I'll be building a site to showcase each of the plugins along with example code on how to use them.

##Change Log v0.1.0-alpha Initial Import from my original Impact Bootstrap with a modified version of Super Resident Raver and Win8 specific additions such as resizing, touch controls and stripping out platform plugins not needed on Win8.