User's Manual

Tips

• Use a starter pack the first time you build — opening a real, painted, playable map is the fastest way to learn how tiles, maps, NPCs, monsters, items and quests reference each other.
• Everything seeded by a starter pack is editable like any other content: rename the NPC, repaint the cave, rewrite the quest. The pack is a starting point, not a lock-in.

Tips

• Aim to clear the checklist in order — tiles first, then the map, then NPCs, monsters, items, quests, test, publish. Each step builds on the one before it.
• Starter packs complete most of the checklist immediately; opening a seeded game and clicking Test play is often a one-click playable experience.

Steps

1. Open Tile editor under your game. You'll see every tile grouped by category (terrain, water, buildings, monsters, npcs, …).
2. Click New tile to create one, or click Edit on any existing tile to open it in the full editor (pixel canvas, properties, animation, AI generation).
3. Give the tile a name and pick a Category — this matters: tiles saved under npcs only appear in the NPC editor's Character Tile dropdown, and tiles saved under monsters only appear in the Monster editor's Monster Tile dropdown.
4. Paint pixel-by-pixel on the canvas, or use the Generate with AI panel to seed a graphic from a short prompt (e.g. "Make a werewolf", "Mossy stone wall", "Healing potion"). The result is downsampled to the tile's native pixel size (16/32/64) and dropped onto the canvas — you can then edit it pixel-by-pixel like any other tile.
5. Toggle Walkable off for walls, water and any impassable terrain. Set Blocks sight and Movement cost on the Properties tab.
6. To animate the tile, switch to the Animation tab and follow the dedicated steps below (section 6a). In short: turn Animated ON, click Add frame for each frame, paint each one on the canvas, set Frame duration (ms), and watch the Live preview.
7. Save — the tile is now usable in the Map builder, NPC editor, Monster editor, and Items / Weapons editors.

Tips

• Aim for 8–12 base tiles before painting your first map. You can always add more.
• Stick to a tight 8–16 color palette for an authentic retro look.
• Use distinct shapes for paths so players can read where they can walk at a glance.
• AI generation works best with short, concrete prompts and the category set correctly first — "Make a werewolf" with category npcs gives a clean character sprite; the same prompt under terrain may look out of place on a map.
• Generated tiles are just starting points — touch them up on the pixel canvas to nail the silhouette and your palette.

Steps

1. Open the tile in the Tile editor and click the Animation tab (next to Properties).
2. Toggle Animated ON. The frame strip and Frame duration field become active.
3. Set Frame duration (ms) — this is how long each frame holds before advancing. 200ms is the lively default; 100ms feels fast (fire, sparkles), 400ms feels ambient (water, banners).
4. Click Add frame. The current canvas is copied into a new frame and selected. Edit it on the pixel canvas — every change applies to the active frame only.
5. Repeat Add frame for each additional frame. Two frames is enough for water or a torch; three or four is plenty for a character idle or a walk cycle.
6. Click any frame thumbnail to select and edit it. Click Edit base tile to return to the non-animated base art (used as the static preview in lists and as the fallback if the tile is later un-animated).
7. Watch the Live preview panel at the bottom of the Animation tab — it loops the frames at your chosen duration so you can judge timing without saving.
8. Save. The Map builder and the Play / Test player will now render the tile animated wherever it appears on a map.

Tips

• Change the smallest thing per frame. Move 2–4 pixels — a flame tip, a ripple, a glint — not the whole tile. Bigger changes read as a glitch, not animation.
• Reuse the palette. An animated frame should pull from the same colors as the base tile so it never flashes a new hue.
• Match phase across copies. Every instance of a water tile on a map animates on the same clock, so a whole lake sways together. Don't try to offset them — let the synchrony do the work.
• Good frame counts: 2 frames for water, lava, torches, sparkles. 3 frames for a slow swaying tree or banner. 4 frames for a character idle bob or a walk cycle.
• Good frame durations: 100–150ms for fire / sparkles, 200ms for character idles, 300–450ms for water and ambient props.
• AI generation runs on a single frame. Generate your base art, then click Add frame and hand-edit each additional frame from the duplicate it gives you.
• Turning Animated OFF preserves your frames in storage but the tile falls back to the base art — flip it back on later without losing work.
• Animated tiles also animate when used as NPC portraits, monster sprites, items on the ground, party heroes and dialogue portraits — not just on map cells.

Steps

1. Open Map builder, create a new map and set its width and height in tiles.
2. Pick a tile from the palette and paint cells on the grid. The toolbar has Paint, Erase, Fill, Start position, and Portal tools.
3. Use the Start tool to mark the player's spawn tile on the map you want as your entry point.
4. Use the Portal tool to link a cell to another map: click the cell, then pick a destination map and arrival x/y in the dialog. Portals show as a purple ⇆ marker on the canvas.
5. The Erase tool removes both tiles and portals. The side panel shows a live count of portals on the current map.

Tips

• Start with a single small map (12×12) to learn the flow.
• Place a return portal in the destination map so players can walk back the way they came — otherwise they'll be stuck.
• Portals live on the triggers layer and co-exist with the terrain underneath, so a doorway tile can be both walkable scenery and a warp.
• Use one obvious entry tile per map and keep portals near map edges so players can find them.

Steps

1. In the Tile editor, click **Share to community** in the header. A dialog lets you set the uploader name shown to others (defaults to your display name) and an optional description.
2. Click Share. The tile — including its category, walkable flag, base art, and any animation frames — is published to the public library.
3. To browse community tiles, open the Tile library dialog (Browse Library in the Map builder or Tile list) and switch to the **Community** tab. Search by tile name or creator, filter by category, and sort by Most recent or Most popular (by install count).
4. Select one or more community tiles and click Import — they're added to the current game's tile set as editable copies.
5. Tiles you've shared show a trash icon on the community feed — use it to remove a tile from the public library at any time. Admins can also remove inappropriate uploads.

Tips

• Set the tile's Category before sharing — community browsers filter by category, so a character tile published under terrain will be hard to find.
• Animated tiles share their full frame list. A well-animated water or torch tile is one of the most useful things you can contribute.
• Importing a community tile copies it into your game — edit it freely without affecting the original or other people's copies.

Steps

1. Open NPCs, create one, give it a name, role and a portrait.
2. Pick the map and tile coordinates where the NPC stands.
3. Write a greeting, then add scripted lines the player can step through with the Listen button.
4. Add keyword responses (name, job, help, rumor, …) — each one becomes a clickable chip in the dialogue UI, and players can also type free-form questions in the Ask box.
5. Use **Gives item on first chat** to hand the player an item the first time they speak to the NPC (e.g. the Old Man's Wooden Sword).
6. Use **Wants an item (gift quest)** to make the NPC accept a specific item from the player's inventory via the Give button — set the acceptance line, refusal line, and reward (gold, XP, another item, and/or permanent stat boosts: Max HP, Max MP, ATK, DEF, SPD).
7. Enable **Thank the source NPC** (default on) so when an item received from NPC A is delivered to NPC B, B's acceptance line automatically appends a line thanking A by name — chaining two NPCs into a courier-style quest.

Tips

• Greetings set the tone — keep them short and characterful.
• Use scripted lines for story beats and keywords for lore the player can pull on demand.
• Hook quest hand-offs to a specific keyword (e.g. quest, triforce) so players have to actually engage to advance the story.
• For fetch quests, always pair the in-world hint with a Wants entry so the player can actually deliver the item — otherwise the quest dead-ends.
• Stat rewards apply to every living hero and stack across quests — a small +1 ATK from three different NPCs becomes a meaningful party-wide bonus.

Steps

1. Open Classes under the game and create the roles you want.
2. Set base HP, MP, attack and defense. Add abilities with MP costs and unlock levels.
3. Pick a portrait from the included library or upload your own.

Tips

• Two to three well-differentiated classes (tank, damage, support) is plenty for a focused first game.

Steps

1. HP (Hit Points) — life. When a hero's HP hits 0 they're knocked out and skip their turn until revived; when a monster's HP hits 0 it's defeated. Restored by potions, inn rest, regen effects, and some class abilities.
2. MP (Magic Points) — the resource spent to cast class abilities (spells, special attacks, heals). Each ability lists an MP cost; if a hero doesn't have enough MP, that ability is disabled. Restored by ether-style items and rest.
3. ATK (Attack) — how much raw damage a basic Attack action deals. The defender's DEF is subtracted from it, so final damage ≈ ATK − DEF (minimum 1). Equipped weapons add to a hero's effective ATK.
4. DEF (Defense) — damage reduction. Subtracted from incoming ATK before HP is lost. Equipped shields and armor add to a hero's effective DEF. The Defend action temporarily boosts DEF for one round.
5. SPD (Speed) — turn order and field behavior. Higher SPD acts earlier within a round and improves the chance of a successful escape. For monsters, SPD ≥ 6 also makes them chase the party on the map; slower monsters wander randomly.
6. XP (Experience) — awarded by defeating monsters. When a hero accumulates enough XP they level up, raising their HP, MP, ATK and DEF and unlocking class abilities tied to that level.

Tips

• Rule of thumb for early-game balance: a starter hero's ATK should beat a starter monster's DEF by 2–4 so basic attacks feel meaningful, and the monster's HP should fall in 1–2 hits.
• If a class has no MP-cost abilities, you can safely leave its MP at 0 — the engine just hides the MP bar for that hero.

Steps

1. Open Items (or Weapons) and create one.
2. Set its effect — HP/MP delta, attack/defense bonus, status effects like poison or regen.
3. Choose a tile and a discovery method: visible, hidden (search with E), bombable, etc.
4. Save — the item appears in-world the next time you Test.

Tips

• Hidden items reward exploration — mix them with visible loot.
• Traps with self_on_pickup fire the moment they're stepped on; use them sparingly in dungeons.
• Items can declare any equip_slot string (weapon, shield, ring, tunic, tool…). The engine treats unknown slots generically.

Steps

1. Open Monsters, create one, set HP, attack, defense, speed, XP and gold rewards.
2. Place it on a map tile, or let the engine spawn roaming enemies on walkable tiles.
3. Test combat — Attack, use abilities (MP cost), Throw items, Use items on allies, or Revive fallen heroes.

Tips

• Balance early monsters so a starter party kills them in 1–2 hits — new players bounce off long, brutal early fights.

Steps

1. On a hero's turn, pick Attack, Ability, Throw, Use item, or Defend from the Party Actions row.
2. If a hero is at 0 HP, the turn skips to the next living hero. Use a Revive item or class ability that revives to bring them back.
3. If every hero falls, the run ends and you return to the title.

Tips

• On phones and small screens, the combat panel collapses into a scrollable, single-column layout: the enemy card stacks on top, hero cards become compact rows, and the Party Actions row sticks to the bottom so you can always reach Attack/Ability/Defend without scrolling.

Steps

1. Open Quests, create one, write its description.
2. Define completion conditions (e.g. kill monster X, collect item Y, talk to NPC Z).
3. Hook quests into NPC dialogue so players pick them up in-world.

Steps

1. Open Test player. Build a party of 1–4 heroes by picking classes; reorder them to set the combat sequence.
2. Move with arrow keys / WASD or the on-screen D-pad.
3. Press E to search hidden tiles (works on the cell you stand on or any of the 8 adjacent cells).
4. Walk into NPCs to talk, into items to pick them up, into monsters to start combat.
5. Combat starts automatically when you collide with a field enemy.
6. Watch the proximity highlights: yellow ring = visible item nearby, amber ✨ = hidden item nearby, cyan ring = NPC, red pulse = enemy. The Nearby strip below the map lists the 5 closest points of interest with directional arrows and distance.

Tips

• Test after every change — it's the fastest way to catch broken portals or unwalkable starts.
• If a Nearby entry shows ✨, walk within one tile and press E to dig it up.

Steps

1. currency_label — string, e.g. "Rupees" or "Gold". Replaces the HUD currency name.
2. currency_icon — single glyph, e.g. "💎" or "🪙". Replaces the coin icon.
3. display_hp — set to "hearts" to render life as Zelda-style hearts; anything else uses HP bars.
4. hp_per_heart — number (default 4). How many HP one heart represents.

Tips

• The pre-built Zelda tribute under the admin account uses all four flags — copy that game as a template.

Steps

1. Open Publish, give your game a public slug.
2. Click Publish. Your game goes live at /play/<slug>.
3. Share the link. Players don't need an account to play.
4. Re-publish at any time to push updates — the slug stays the same.

Steps

1. Arrow keys / WASD — move the party leader.
2. E — interact, search hidden tiles.
3. Enter / Space — confirm dialogue and menu choices.
4. Esc — pause, close menus.
5. 1–4 — quick-select party member during combat.