Game Bible
The game bible is intended to be an authoritative, up-to-date record of the community's agreed plan for the project. It is not the documentation for the actual game itself.
Auto-generated documentation of the Tuxemon codebase can be found here: http://docs.tuxemon.org/
To Add
- Leveling up
- Buying and selling items (distribution, price, etc.)
- Random encounter rates
- Money gained and lost from trainers after battles won or lost
- How conditions are marked in the GUI
The Project
To create an open source monster catching, collecting and battling game in Python, to run on Windows, Mac, Linux and Android devices.
The flow on from this is that:
- The Tuxemon game engine can be used for other games
- The Tuxemon game engine can be used for sequels ("Tuxemon the Game" becomes "Tuxemon Episode 1", and we can go Beyond Episode 1)
- The Tuxemon monsters, characters, places, techniques and so on can be used in other media
- The Tuxemon community is supportive and fun
Tuxemon was begun by ShadowApex in 2012.
Objectives
Tuxemon is ...
Legal
Tuxemon should not breach anyone's copyright, trade marks or patents. It must not use other people's work, including adaptations of other people's work, unless those works in the public domain or are under free and open copyright licences like Creative Commons Attribution, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike, and CC0.
Versatile
Tuxemon should be easy to modify, so people can create their own creatures, items, techniques, stories, music, etc., and insert them into the game. Within the main story, The Spyder in the Cathedral, there is even the Hunting Grounds that make inserting some of these things easier.
Original
Tuxemon draws inspiration from a number of monster battling games, but it is not a direct clone of any of them.
Democratic
As a project by the community, for the community, Tuxemon's creation should be directed by the volunteers who have contributed to its development. This means both respecting volunteers who disagree with a proposal, and respecting the volunteers who made the proposal.
The Forums
Old forum - some of the posts are recoverable through the Wayback Machine.
Github
Create a branch for every set of changes you make to the project (do not just let them build up into one big pull request).
The Wiki
The wiki should be the main repository of information, assets, and so on for the Tuxemon project.
A previous version of this wiki is archived at [[1]].
Tools
A Python script (stored in the git repository) can download the images for specified tuxemon on the wiki, allowing for easy importing into the game.
Related projects
There are other open source projects working on monster catching games. Many of Catch Challenger's assets have been added to the Tuxemon wiki.
See Related Projects for more.
See also Similar Games for proprietary examples of monster catching games, with reviews and reflections from Tuxemon project participants.
Contributing
Licensing
Posting any contributions (explicitly described as such) to this game on this web forum is a tacit acceptance of the fact that you are placing them under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International or any later version. You maintain your own full rights to the contributions, and may continue to do whatever you, the owner, wish to do with them, but you have given us the right to use them under the limitations of the CC BY-SA 4.0. You can read the details of the Creative Commons license here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Maps
Tuxemon
Story
Tuxemon has a main story, but it should be easy to create new stories and add them (see "versatile", above).
Region
There are many ideas for The Region that is the location of the first Tuxemon game.
The region is currently unnamed.
Maps
Tuxemon supports maps created with Tiled.
Tilesets
Tiles are 16x16 pixels. You can use any of the many tilesets that we have on the wiki, or design your own.
Map design
There should be one sign for each map transition. These are in the form:
dialogue 1: "Name of Location: Slogan for Location" dialogue 2: <- Name of Location --- Name of Location ->
Use ^ for North and v for South.
If long grass appears on the map, you need to specify the encounters for that map in a JSON file. Likewise if water is reachable on the map. Surfing on and fishing in water always carries the chance of an encounter, even if it's in a settlement.
Map implementation in Tiled
All objects (events and collisions) should be rectangles (drawn with the rectangle tool) or straight lines (drawn with just two points), not polylines, polygons or other shapes.
Animations are supported.
Types of location
All locations can have water.
Land routes
- 20x40 or 40x40 squares
- Long grass with encounters
- Trainer battles
Sea routes
- 20x40 squares
- Trainer battles
- Encounters while surfing
- Any land could have long grass
Dungeons
- 20x40 squares or 40x40 squares
- Trainer battles
- Encounters while walking anywhere
Settlements
- 20x40 squares or 40x40 squares
- No trainer battles
- No long grass
Interiors
- Any size
- Should have a back wall of two or three squares in height
- Side walls optional (style varies)
- Trainer battles okay, if it's a type of building that makes sense for them
Buildings
Each settlement should have some or all of the following:
Scoop Store
This is a general store.
Cathedral Centre
This is a government-run building funded by your taxes, but it is increasingly becoming corporatised. For example, to receive healing you have to sit through an advertisement - unless you're a Gold Pass holder. Gold Passes cost $1 more than the maximum wallet capacity in the game, and entitle you to all the services that used to be free.
At higher difficulties, the Centres would charge for healing instead of playing ads.
Other services:
- Renaming
- Retraining
- Daycare
- Tastes-Changing
- Breeding
All are restricted to Gold Pass holders, so ordinary citizens end up providing these services in their own homes.
Pillar HQ
The pillars are the five major corporations in this region. Their HQs are where most of their staff are based.
Cafe
These are informal meeting places, where you can re-battle trainers you've already fought, get new apps for your phone, get taught new techniques, trade tuxemon and receive free (and ad-free) healing.
Main Story
The main story is The Spyder in the Cathedral, set in the Fondent region. It follows a familiar model of the protagonist traveling from town to town, catching and battling creatures. However, the protagonist ends up discovering cruelty and corruption at the very heart of the region, and defeating their villainous scheme.
The main story is set in an unnamed country. There were plans to make the country Ancient Egypt-themed, as can be seen in some of the concept art. However, we have heavily used existing art assets, and therefore there is not currently an observable Egypt theme.
The game opens with the Introduction, which ends with the Protagonist being escorted to their home in Paper Town.
These are the country's locations, roughly in order as the protagonist heads through the game:
- Paper Town
- Route 1
- Cotton Town
- Route 2
- City Park
- Leather Town
- Route 3
- Route 4
- Flower City
- Route 5
- Timber Town
- Tunnel B
- Route 6
- Candy Town
- Sea Route C
The towns are loosely named after wedding anniversary gifts.
Travel
Your Mom gives you a Surfboard that can go over water. This is required to progress the game once you reach Candy Town; it's also required to access Volcoli in Dryad's Grove, Dragon's Cave in Sea Route C and the wild encounters in Route 6.
When you reach Timber Town, the Riverboat Stations open up for places you've visited so far. When you visit Candy Town, it becomes available too. The complete list is:
Cheat Codes
Cheat codes are a way to make the game easier (eg without spending too much time in leveling up and by focusing on the plot).
If you name the player ApexPlayer, then you'll start the game with all the starting monsters at level 100 (max evolution).
Soundtrack and Sound Effects
The game has a Soundtrack, which is currently mostly non-original music sourced from Open Game Art. There is no objection to having original music, but it hasn't been contributed so far.
OGG is the preferred format for music and sound files, but WAV and MP3 are also permitted.
Terminology
- Type or Element
- Morphing or evolving is what tuxemon do when they change from one life stage to another
- A single example of a creature is called an individual or a character. For example, "Beachcomber Harry's level 5 Memnomnom" is an individual creature.
- A variety or species is all creatures of that category. For example, "Memnomnom" is a variety of tuxemon.
- A family of creatures is a variety and all its morphs. For example, Memnomnom, Miaownolith, Criniotherme and Pyraminx are all varieties in the "Memnomnom family".
Creatures
Creatures, also called tuxemon or monsters, are the beings that the protagonist catches and battles.
We currently have complete sprites for over a hundred creatures, including all that we need for the game. Others are always welcome.
Variety
Creatures of a particular variety have a number of things in common:
- Species Stats
- Type or Types
- Body Type
- ID Number
- Blurb
- Life Stage
- Call
- Species Name
- Techniques that are available to learn
- What they morph from and morph into, and the circumstances of that morphing
Stats
An individual tuxemon's stats are calculated in a formula that accounts for four factors:
- Species Stat: The universal stat for that species, based on its Body Type, Sub-Element and Life Stage.
- Taste: One of ten tastes that increase or decrease stats by 10%.
- Level: Which level the tuxemon is.
There are six stats:
- Speed: The higher your Speed, the quicker you act in a round.
- Melee: Increased damage from melee techniques
- Armour: Reduced damage from melee techniques
- Ranged: Increased damage from ranged techniques
- Dodge: Reduced damage from ranged techniques
- HP: How much damage you can take
Techniques
Techniques are discrete attacks, blocks, tricks and other manoeuvres that tuxemon perform in combat. Every tuxemon knows between one and four techniques. Each creature learns techniques based on their variety. Some techniques are learned from leveling up ("nature techniques"), others require training ("nurture techniques"). That training can either come from an expensive, one-use Combat Codex or from another creature that also knows that technique (Technique Teachers).
Types
Techniques and monsters have one or two types, reflecting their nature, behaviour and structure. Tuxemon has five types - Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood - and the non-type of Aether.
A creature's type determines which type of techniques it is vulnerable towards, and which it is tough against. For example, a Wood creature that is hit by a Metal technique takes double damage. If it were hit by a Water technique, it would instead take half damage.
Techniques can also have the Aether type, which means that they take the type(s) of their user.
Damage Multipliers
When a technique is used on a monster, the type(s) of the technique is compared to the type(s) of the monster. In some cases, this results in the technique's damage being multiplied or divided.
Technique
- Fire techniques do half damage to Earth monsters and double damage to Metal monsters
- Earth techniques do half damage to Metal monsters and double damage to Water monsters
- Metal techniques do half damage to Water monsters and double damage to Wood monsters
- Water techniques do half damage to Wood monsters and double damage to Fire monsters
- Wood techniques do half damage to Fire monsters and double damage to Earth monsters
Monster
- Fire monsters take half damage from Wood techniques and double damage from Water techniques
- Earth monsters take half damage from Fire techniques and double damage from Wood techniques
- Metal monsters take half damage from Earth techniques and double damage from Fire techniques
- Water monsters take half damage from Metal techniques and double damage from Earth techniques
- Wood monsters take half damage from Water techniques and double damage from Metal techniques
Type Identifications
- Fire: Includes creatures associated with energy, like electricity and heat, dragons and other legendary beings, and poison.
- Water: Includes creatures associated with the sea, lakes and swamps, ice and snow, the weather, and fish and amphibians.
- Wood: Includes creatures associated with plants, lichen and fungi, forests, the natural environment, the wind and flying, and the wilderness.
- Earth: Includes creatures associated with the ground and underground, dirt and soil, mountains and rocks, caves, and ancient and buried things.
- Metal: Includes creatures associated with steel, darkness, mechanical and robotic things, psychic powers and other unnatural things, humankind, and the undead.
Sprites
Tuxemon have four sprite sets:
- Front Sprite: This 64x64 pixel sprite is what appears in the tuxemon's Tuxepedia entry, the individual creature's info page, and when you face the tuxemon in battle.
- Back Sprite: This 64x64 pixel sprite is what appears when the tuxemon faces a creature in battle.
- Face Sprites: These two 24x24 pixel sprites make an animation, which is used in menus to provide a readily-identifiable icon for the tuxemon.
- Overland Sprites: These 16x24 pixel sprites make walking animations, which are used if the tuxemon is ever wandering around the Overworld (i.e. the map). There are generic overland sprite sets that can be used for any tuxemon that need overland sprites that do not have their own.
At this time, there are no palette swaps, like for shiny and genetically engineered Creos in EvoCreo.
Morphing
Main article: Morphing
Capturing tuxemon
Main article: Capturing
Capture Devices can be used in battle to attempt to capture the tuxemon you are fighting (only if the tuxemon does not currently have a trainer). The device is consumed regardless of whether the capture is successful.
Fusions
Fusions, based on a similar system to that used by Alex Onsager, are a key part of the main plot but are not yet implemented. They would take the face of one tuxemon and the body of another, and apply the palette of the face to the rest of the body.
The Onsager technique adjusts the size of the face before applying it, meaning it can no longer be displayed at its native pixel size. We haven't resolved this problem yet.
Some manual fusions have been created as proofs of concept.
Pseudo-Tuxemon
Although not yet fully developed, there is an idea that some entities may be able to be battled, but will not be tuxemon. For example, your tuxemon may fight a martial artist, a killer robot, or a gunslinger.
These would not be able to be caught (so they don't need back or face sprites), but would otherwise behave like tuxemon.
Plot-Specific Tuxemon
Most of the over a hundred tuxemon that we design could be placed in the game in any situation or area. However, there are a few that have a specific role in the plot:
Old Starters
Main article: Category:Starting Tuxemon
These are the starters the Protagonist can choose from in Paper Town:
New Starters
Main article: Category:Starting Tuxemon
These are the exclusives that your Rivals can choose from.
Exchange Student Starters
Main article: Category:Starting Tuxemon
These are the starters that the exchange students in Flower City offer to trade with you. They don't morph, suggesting that some unique process is required to unlock their morphs.
Gifts
- Vivipere (from Flower City)
- Sampsage or Sampsack (for completing the Dojo of the Five Elements)
- Chloragon (hatches from Ancient Egg given in Candy Town)
Fossils
Main article: Category:Fossil
Both found in Tunnel B as fossils.
Uniques
Main article: Category:Unique
Other Tuxemon
Apart from the plot-specific tuxemon, it would be good to keep a mix of:
- Tuxemon that are unique to particular routes or other places
- Tuxemon that are found in several routes or other places
- Tuxemon that can only be gotten by trading
- Tuxemon that can only be gotten by swimming or fishing
Battle
Order
Main article: Combat Order
Combat actions are sorted by category (healing, swapping, attacking, etc) and monster Speed.
To ensure that multiplayer is compatible, rules can't be things like "Protagonist goes first".
Dual Duels
A couple of places in the story anticipate that double battles will exist. On Route 5 the Little Heirs and the Dynamic Dynasts represent two trainers each, and at Omnichannel HQ it's expected that you'll team up with your Rivals to fight a series of double battles. Category:Duo is the category for sprites for double battles.
This is not a necessary feature if it is not able to be implemented.
People
The humans of the world - the protagonist and any NPCs. These fall into two classes: ordinary people and trainers. These behave differently.
Regardless, all people have a profession, which determines their overland sprite and (if they are trainers) their battle sprite. They also all have dialogue. Trainers will also have a team, which is the tuxemon that they carry with them that they will battle you with.
There are currently sprites for dozens of professions.
Templates
Trainers are written in the following template:
Profession FIRSTNAME:
- Dialogue when first confronted
- Team of tuxemon
- Dialogue when defeated
No dialogue is needed if the trainer defeats the protagonist, because the protagonist just blacks out.
Ordinary people are written in the following template:
Profession FIRSTNAME:
- Dialogue
- If dialogue is different after the first conversation, subsequent dialogue goes here
Character Maker
The Character Maker allows you to design an overland sprite by picking and choosing different features.
Items
The protagonist has money, most of which comes from defeating other trainers in battle. This money can be used to buy certain items; other items come from completing quests, or are found by exploring the map.
Code, Programming and Technical
- The game is nominally 256 x 144 pixels, but is displayed at five times that size. Text is displayed at a higher resolution (so "five pixel high" text is actually 25 pixels high, with all the detail and nuance that that suggests).
Features
- In-game language translations
- Allows up to three save files (for that retro GameBoy experience).
Combat
Networking
Tuxemon Mobile Controller Project
Would allow you to use your Android phone or tablet as a controller for Tuxemon.
Related (open source) projects
- Catch Challenger (and accompanying datapack)