# Valheim-like Survival Game (working title)

A stylised-realistic, low-poly survival game built in **Godot 4**, inspired by
Valheim (look/feel) and Rust (survival depth, player-run servers). Cross-platform
(Windows / macOS / Linux). Self-hosted authoritative dedicated server. Sandboxed
addon SDK with guard rails.

## North star
- **Look:** low-poly meshes + atmospheric lighting + fog/post-processing. Mood over texture detail. (Valheim recipe — a 5-person team made it run on potatoes.)
- **World:** mesh/heightmap terrain, procedurally generated, biomes. NOT voxels.
- **Building:** snap-together prefab pieces (walls, floors, roofs) with structural rules.
- **Survival loop:** gather → craft → build → defend. Health/stamina, day/night, enemies.
- **Multiplayer:** authoritative headless dedicated server, same codebase, self-hostable on any OS. Clients are never trusted.
- **Addons:** sandboxed (Lua), capped API, CPU/memory quotas, no host filesystem/network/escape. Guard rails from day one.

## Status
See `docs/ROADMAP.md` for milestones and `docs/ARCHITECTURE.md` for the design.

**Cinderwild 0.6.1** is released (download page and player guide:
https://cinderwild.psbailey.uk, builds on the Gitea releases). Up to 0.6.0 it
was called Emberwild (a name already taken on Steam); before that, Valheimlike.
Built so far:
- M0-M1: the island, survival, crafting, building, weather, wildlife, hunting, fishing.
- M2: self-hosted multiplayer (Host Game, dedicated servers, rules, chat, admin).
- P1-P5 (`docs/PROGRESSION_DESIGN.md`): iron, stone building, the wolf moon and
  alpha, the bear, crows and foxes, the barrow, hazards, the Old Stag. P6: a use
  for every material, lights to place, dropping items, bag rows on the hotbar.
- T1, T2, T4 (`docs/TUTORIAL_DESIGN.md`): the tutorial with Old Tam (spoken),
  and his tips in normal worlds.
- M4 so far: packaged builds, the update check, music, ambience, sound effects
  and creature voices (`assets/audio/CREDITS.md`), the trailer and help pages,
  the map (N) and compass.
- W0-W3, J1, J3 (`docs/WORLDLETS_DESIGN.md`): worldlets as data, the Cove
  (beach, pier, sea fishing, a stream), and the cliff tunnel between them,
  with a save file per worldlet; on a server, a server per land (the Valley's
  starts the Cove's on the next UDP port), with chat, the player list,
  admin commands and sleep across lands, and one clock everywhere.
- 0.6.0, the Cove's own (`docs/WORLDLETS_DESIGN.md` §5): the wreck, a
  treasure map and a dig for each player, the drowned crew, crabs and gulls,
  and a rowing boat to build and moor at the pier (sailing comes with the
  Highlands). Report a bug in the pause menu; `docs/PLAYTEST.md` for testers.
Next: after the playtest, J2 (each tunnel's own gate and supplies), then the
Highlands (by sail).
Running from the source, `godot --path . -- --dev-worldlets` lets New World
start in any worldlet, to try one directly.

## Requirements
- **Godot 4.3+** (standard build; no C# needed — this project uses GDScript).
- Git.

## Quick start (once Godot is installed)
```bash
# Open the project
godot --path . --editor        # or open Godot and import this folder's project.godot

# Run the game
godot --path .

# Run the headless dedicated server (later milestone)
godot --headless --path . -- --server
```

## Packaged builds
```bash
tools/export.sh          # build/Cinderwild-<version>-macos.zip and -windows.zip
tools/export.sh macOS    # or just one ("macOS" / "Windows")
```
Needs the Godot export templates for your Godot version (Editor > Manage
Export Templates). The version number is `application/short_version` in
`export_presets.cfg`.
- **Mac:** a universal .app, ad-hoc signed but not notarised. On another Mac,
  the first launch needs right-click > Open (or System Settings > Privacy &
  Security > Open Anyway).
- **Windows:** unzip and run `Cinderwild.exe` (keep `Cinderwild.pck` beside
  it). It's unsigned, so SmartScreen says "Windows protected your PC":
  More info > Run anyway.
- A packaged copy is also a dedicated server:
  `Cinderwild.app/Contents/MacOS/Cinderwild --headless -- --server` (Mac) or
  `Cinderwild.exe --headless -- --server` (Windows). Saves and settings live in
  the same user folder as a copy run from source.

## Trailer and download page
```bash
tools/trailer/make_trailer.sh   # build/Cinderwild-trailer.mp4: recorded in-game (Movie Maker), needs ffmpeg
tools/site/make_shots.sh        # build/shots/*.jpg: the page's screenshots, rendered in a window
tools/site/make_site.sh         # build/site/: index.html, guide.html, the shots, poster and trailer for the current release
```
The page's download links point at the Gitea release named in
`build/version.json`, so rebuild it after each `tools/export.sh` release.
Gitea doesn't serve HTML pages: copy `build/site/` to any static web host.

## Layout
```
project.godot          Godot project definition
scenes/                game scenes (.tscn)
scripts/               GDScript (.gd)
  core/                shared systems (world, net, save)
  player/              player controller, camera
  world/               terrain, chunks, generation
  building/            snap-together building system
  addons_sdk/          the sandboxed addon host + API
addons_examples/       example mods written against the SDK
assets/                models, materials, textures (low-poly)
docs/                  architecture, roadmap, addon SDK spec
```

## License
TBD (lean toward MIT or a source-available license — decide before first public release).