Game Project – Onboarding README

Welcome! This document is a quick guide to help new contributors understand the project structure and how to run and explore the game.

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Running the Project

• Run the project from the Main Menu: Press F5

  • This launches the game starting from the main entry point.

• Run a specific scene: Open a scene from the file explorer in Godot and press F6

  • Useful for testing individual menus, levels, or systems without loading the full flow.

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File Organization Overview

All core development happens inside the Source directory. High‑level structure:

Source/
├─ Audio/
├─ Entities/
├─ Game Container/
├─ Levels/
├─ Menu/
├─ Resources/
└─ Scripts/

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Key Folders

Game Container

Path:

Source → Game Container

This scene, game_container.tscn, acts as the root container for the game.

• Menus and levels are instanced under the Game Container
• It allows smooth transitions between menus and gameplay
• Keeps global systems centralized

Think of this as the "house" that everything else lives inside.

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Menus

Path:

Source → Menus

How menus work:

• Menus are instantiated under the Game Container

• When the player starts the game:

  • A level is loaded
  • The active menu is freed from the Game Container

This keeps menu logic separate from gameplay and avoids unnecessary scene overlap.

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Levels

Path:

Source → Levels

The primary level to look at (used for Pitch Night):

Source → Levels → test_level_parallax.tscn

This level demonstrates:

• General boss fight layout

• Scene composition standards

• Core gameplay components, including:

  • Player
  • Boss
  • Lock‑on system

Use this scene as the reference for how future levels should be structured.

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Core Gameplay Entities

Player

Path:

Source → Entities → Player → better_player.tscn

Contains:

• Player movement and combat logic
• Input handling
• Player‑specific systems

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Tank Boss

Path:

Source → Entities → Bosses → TankBoss

The specific Tank Boss scene is tank_boss.tscn

Contains:

• Boss behavior and attacks
• State logic
• Visual and gameplay components specific to the Tank Boss

Shared Components

Several boss systems rely on reusable components located at:

Source → Entities → Components

These components are shared across entities to avoid duplicated logic and keep behaviors modular.

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Suggested First Steps for New Contributors

1. Run the project with F5 to understand the full flow

2. Open and run test_level_parallax.tscn with F6

3. Explore:

   • Game Container scene
   • better_player
   • TankBoss

4. Review shared logic in Entities → Components

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If you’re ever unsure where something belongs, use test_level_parallax.tscn as the canonical example for scene layout and composition.

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Godot 4.6 Basics: Scenes and Nodes (2D)

If you’re new to Godot, it’s important to understand how Scenes and Nodes work, since almost everything in this project is built on top of them.

Nodes

• A Node is the smallest building block in Godot.

• Each node represents a single piece of functionality, such as:

  • A sprite (Sprite2D)
  • Collision (CollisionShape2D)
  • Logic (Node, Node2D, CharacterBody2D)
  • Cameras, audio players, timers, etc.

• Nodes are arranged in a tree structure, where child nodes inherit transforms and lifecycle behavior from their parents.

In this project, you’ll commonly see:

• Node2D – base node for 2D positioning
• CharacterBody2D – used for the player and enemies that move and collide
• Area2D – used for hitboxes, detection zones, and triggers

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Scenes

• A Scene is a collection of nodes saved together as a reusable unit (.tscn).

• Scenes can be:

  • Instanced inside other scenes
  • Nested multiple levels deep
  • Used like prefabs in other engines

Examples in this project:

• game_container.tscn – a high‑level scene that owns menus and levels
• better_player.tscn – a reusable player scene made of many child nodes
• tank_boss.tscn – a boss scene composed of visuals, hitboxes, and logic

A scene usually has:

• One root node (the top of the tree)
• Multiple child nodes that handle visuals, collisions, and behavior

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Scene Instancing

Instead of putting everything in one giant scene, Godot encourages instancing:

• Menus are instanced into the Game Container
• Levels are instanced when gameplay starts
• Players and bosses are instanced into levels

This keeps things modular, reusable, and easy to reason about.

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How This Project Uses Scenes and Nodes

• Game Container owns the high‑level flow (menus → levels)
• Menus are temporary scenes that get freed when gameplay starts
• Levels act as containers for gameplay entities
• Entities (player, bosses) are self‑contained scenes made of many nodes
• Components are reusable logic nodes that can be attached to multiple entities

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