Nerdcraft

ASCII art 2D sandbox/survival inspired by Terraria. Have any suggestions? Please submit them here

Current Features

• Procedural world generation with biome support
  • Biome smoothing/blending (surface_roughness, biome_size_weight, blend fraction)
  • Blended biome border materials for smoother transitions
• Save/load system with named save slots
• Main menu with configurable ASCII header (config/menu.json)
  • Generate new world
  • Load saved world
  • World-size selection (Small/Medium/Large)
  • World generation progress screen with percentage
• Mining, placement, inventory, hotbar, crafting
• JSON-driven items, tools, weapons, armor, mobs, recipes, biomes, colors, controls
• Tiered progression (tools/weapons/armor)
• Auto-jump (player + mobs)
• Day/night cycle, night spawns, torch lighting
• Water systems (first pass)
  • Swimming
  • Local water flow simulation
  • Breath / drowning
• Mobs with data-driven AI and drops

Screenshot

♥ 39  ☾                                                  1[/] 2[T] 3[=] 4[#] 5

                                          ==
&&&                                      =##=
&&&&                &&                  =#  #=
&&&&&             &&&&&                =#    #=
& &&&&           &&&&&&&&             =#      #=
 |               &&&&&&&&            =#        #=        K
                    |                 #        #
                    |                 #        #        ##WW#####WWWWWWW###WWWWWWWW
#############       |       ####      |   @    #      ####WW#####WWWWWWW###WWWWWWWW
############################################## ###########WW#####WWWWWWW###WWWWWWWW
##############################################  ##########WW#####WWWWWWW###WWWWWWWW
###############################################  #########WW######WWWWWW##WWWWWWWWW
################################################  ########ZW#######WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
#################################################  ################################
##################################################  ###############################
###################################################  ##############################
####################################################  #############W###############
#####################################                 ###########WWWW##############
###############WWWWW############################################WWWWWW#############
################WWW############################################WWWWWWWW############
 ✓ World saved!  |  A/D:Move  W:Jump  Space:Use  1-5/E/R:Hotbar  I:Inv  C:Craft

Controls

• A / D (or arrows): move
• W (or up): jump / swim stroke
• Space: use selected hotbar item
  • Consumables/armor use immediately
  • Tools/weapons/blocks/fist: directional use (press direction next)
• 1..5: select hotbar slot
• E / R: next/prev hotbar slot
• I or Tab: inventory
• C: crafting
• Q / Esc: quit

How to Play

Basic loop

• Start a new world from the main menu
• Gather nearby wood, stone, coal, and food
• Put useful blocks/items on your hotbar
• Craft a workbench to unlock more recipes
• Build shelter before night, because hostile mobs spawn after dark
• Upgrade from fists to tools, swords, bows, spears, armor, torches, and utility blocks

Survival tips

• Space uses the selected hotbar item
  • consumables and armor use immediately
  • tools, weapons, blocks, and empty-hand actions wait for a direction key
• Use torches to light up areas at night
• Water can be swum through, but you can still run out of breath underwater
• Spiders drop silk, which can be crafted into string which can be used to make a bow
• Bows attack in a straight line at long range, while spears trade damage for reach
• Doors only allow the player to pass through them
• Underground fog hides undiscovered tiles below a configurable depth threshold

Progression snapshot

• Wood and stone get you started
• Coal fuels smelting
• Iron and gold are processed at the forge
• Diamond gear is the current top tier
• Armor is split into helmet, chestpiece, and pants

Running

python3 main.py

CLI options(Optional, as the game now has a main menu):

python3 main.py --seed 123 --save myworld --new

• --seed: world seed
• --save: save slot name
• --new: force fresh generation

Configuration

Core files in config/:

• game.json – world/physics/water/save/day-night/underground fog
• blocks.json – block defs + mining tiers
• items.json – item defs + classes/stats/colors
• mobs.json – mob defs, timings, movement speed, drops, spawn rules
• recipes.json – crafting recipes
• biomes.json – biome generation rules/blending
• menu.json – main menu labels + ASCII header
• input.json – key bindings
• ui.json – UI strings/layout
• engine.json – engine timing knobs
• block_behaviors.json – on-mine drop behaviors

Detailed schemas: see CONTENT_FORMAT.md.

License

This project uses a custom Attribution + Non-Commercial license.

• You may use, modify, and redistribute the code with attribution.
• Commercial use requires prior permission from the project owner.

See LICENSE for full terms.

Docs

• Architecture: ARCHITECTURE.md
• Roadmap: PLAN.md
• Task tracker: TASKS.md
• Config progress audit: CONFIG_AUDIT.md