Home modified by Jack Murray

Jack Murray — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 03:00:45 -0000

--- v1
+++ v2
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@

 ---

-## 📂 Echo Hub: The Project Gateway
+## 📂 [Echo Hub](https://github.com/DirectedHunt42/EchoEngine/wiki/Echo-Hub): The Project Gateway

 The **Echo Hub** is the central management utility and the primary gateway for all Echo Engine projects. It handles core project lifecycle tasks and provides one-click access to the associated tools. It manages the contents of your local **Working Directory** (`Working_game/`).

@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@

 ---

-## 🛠 Echo Editor: Project Configuration & Level Design
+## 🛠 [Echo Editor](https://github.com/DirectedHunt42/EchoEngine/wiki/Echo-Editor): Project Configuration & Level Design

 The **Echo Editor** is a GUI-based configuration tool for Echo Engine projects. It streamlines setup of game metadata, narrative content, gameplay parameters, and asset management—all without manually editing files or code.

@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@

 ---

-## 🎨 ASCII Art Converter: Text-Based Asset Utility
+## 🎨 [ASCII Art Converter](https://github.com/DirectedHunt42/EchoEngine/wiki/ASCII-Art-Converter): Text-Based Asset Utility

 The **ASCII Art Converter** is a dedicated utility for transforming digital images (PNG, JPG, BMP, GIF) into customizable text-based art. It is accessible directly from the Echo Hub.

Home modified by Jack Murray

Jack Murray — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 03:00:44 -0000

🚀 Echo Engine Suite Wiki

Welcome to the comprehensive documentation for the Echo Engine suite of tools, developed by Jack Murray (Nova Foundry).

The Echo Engine is a system for creating game projects, focusing heavily on GUI-based configuration and narrative content setup without the need for manual code editing. The suite consists of a central management utility, a project editor, and an auxiliary asset creation tool.

📂 Echo Hub: The Project Gateway

The Echo Hub is the central management utility and the primary gateway for all Echo Engine projects. It handles core project lifecycle tasks and provides one-click access to the associated tools. It manages the contents of your local Working Directory (Working_game/).

Main Actions

Button	Function	Description
New Project	`copy_folder_contents()`	Creates a project by copying template files into the `Working Directory` (overwrites existing files after confirmation).
Import Project	`import_zip()`	Extracts a compressed .echo project file into the `Working Directory`, overwriting current contents.
Export Project	`export_zip()`	Packages the current project contents into a single compressed .echo archive for backup or distribution.
Clear Working Directory	`clear_folder()`	Permanently deletes all files within the `Working_game/` folder after confirmation, resetting the workspace.

Integrated Tools

The Hub provides launchers for the primary suite components, closing the Hub upon launch:

Open Project in Editor: Launches the main Echo Editor for configuration and level design.
ASCII Art Generator: Launches the auxiliary ASCII Art Converter utility for creating text-based assets.

🛠 Echo Editor: Project Configuration & Level Design

The Echo Editor is a GUI-based configuration tool for Echo Engine projects. It streamlines setup of game metadata, narrative content, gameplay parameters, and asset management—all without manually editing files or code.

Core Capabilities

Configure titles, fonts, icons, and background music.
Write or import narrative text (prolog, cutscenes, endings).
Set gameplay variables (health, damage chance, win conditions).
Build Tutorial and Main Levels using a grid-based editor.
Export your project into a distributable package.
Test your game directly within the editor.

🗃️ Documentation Index (Editor Tabs)

Getting Started: Overview of initial setup, UI navigation, and core interaction.
Game Setup Tab (Core Configuration): Defines essential settings (title, music, credits), narrative content, and gameplay parameters.
Tutorial Tab: Grid-based level editor for creating tutorial floors.
Main Level Tab: Editor for building the game’s primary multi-floor levels.
Export Tab: Instructions for packaging the Working_game/ directory for distribution.
Test App Tab: Allows running a playable preview of the game using the current configuration.

Best Practices

Manual Save: The editor only writes changes when you click "Save."

Validation First: Invalid fields turn red; resolve issues from top to bottom.

External Editing: Large narrative texts are best written in an external editor and then imported.

Prerequisite: You must have a valid Echo Engine project folder (Working_game/), usually created via the Echo Hub.

🎨 ASCII Art Converter: Text-Based Asset Utility

The ASCII Art Converter is a dedicated utility for transforming digital images (PNG, JPG, BMP, GIF) into customizable text-based art. It is accessible directly from the Echo Hub.

💻 Conversion Workflow

Image Input: Selects the source image file via the Browse... button.
Conversion Settings: Fine-tunes the output:
- Art Style: Selects the character set for mapping grayscale values (e.g., Standard, Blocks, Complex).
- Width (Chars): A slider (50 to 250) defining the horizontal resolution; height is auto-calculated to preserve the aspect ratio.
- Contrast Multiplier: Adjusts image contrast (0.0 to 3.0) before character mapping.
- Invert Light/Dark Mapping: Reverses the character-to-density logic (e.g., for dark-on-light printouts).
Result and Output: Displays the final ASCII art and includes a Save as .txt button for exporting the result.

⚠️ Troubleshooting

Common issues across the suite often relate to invalid file paths (re-select via file picker), unsupported file formats (check extensions), or permission errors during save/load operations.

Recent changes to Home

Home modified by Jack Murray

Home modified by Jack Murray

🚀 Echo Engine Suite Wiki

📂 Echo Hub: The Project Gateway

Main Actions

Integrated Tools

🛠 Echo Editor: Project Configuration & Level Design

Core Capabilities

🗃️ Documentation Index (Editor Tabs)

Best Practices

🎨 ASCII Art Converter: Text-Based Asset Utility

💻 Conversion Workflow

⚠️ Troubleshooting