Studio file reference

Game File Reference

Overview

• dbmodel.sql - database model
• gameinfos.inc.php - meta-information
• gameoptions.json - game options & user preferences
• img/ - game art
• Game Metadata Manager - tags and metadata media
• material.inc.php - static data
• misc/ - studio-only storage
• modules/ - additional game code
• states.inc.php - state machine
• stats.json - statistics
• X.action.php - player actions
• X.css - interface stylesheet
• Game.php - main logic
• X.js - interface logic
• X.view.php - dynamic game layout
• X_X.tpl - static game layout

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Useful Components

Official

• Deck: a PHP component to manage cards (deck, hands, picking cards, moving cards, shuffle deck, ...).
• Draggable: a JS component to manage drag'n'drop actions.
• Counter: a JS component to manage a counter that can increase/decrease (ex: player's score).
• ExpandableSection: a JS component to manage a rectangular block of HTML than can be displayed/hidden.
• Scrollmap: a JS component to manage a scrollable game area (useful when the game area can be infinite. Examples: Saboteur or Takenoko games).
• Stock: a JS component to manage and display a set of game elements displayed at a position.
• Zone: a JS component to manage a zone of the board where several game elements can come and leave, but should be well displayed together (See for example: token's places at Can't Stop).

Undocumented component (if somebody knows please help with docs)

• Wrapper: a JS component to wrap a <div> element around its child, even if these elements are absolute positioned.

Unofficial

• BGA Code Sharing - Shared resources, projects on git hub, common code, other links
• BGA Studio Cookbook - Tips and instructions on using API's, libraries and frameworks
• Common board game elements image resources

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Game Development Process

• First steps with BGA Studio
• Create a game in BGA Studio: Complete Walkthrough
• Tutorial reversi
• Tutorial gomoku
• Tutorial hearts
• BGA Studio Guidelines
• BGA game Lifecycle
• Pre-release checklist
• Post-release phase
• Player Resources - add player help/rules to your game page

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Guides for Common Topics

• Translations - make your game translatable
• Game Replay
• Mobile Users
• 3D
• Compatibility

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Miscellaneous Resources

• Studio FAQ
• Tools and tips of BGA Studio - Tips and instructions on setting up development environment
• Studio logs - Instructions for log access
• Practical debugging - Tips focused on debugging
• Troubleshooting - Most common "I am really stuck" situations
• Studio Bugs - Reports against Studio itself (not BGA!)

This is a quick reference for the files used to implement a game. For more information, follow the wiki links.

software versions

Versions currently used by BGA framework (as of May 2020):

• Dojo Toolkit 1.15
• PHP version: 7.4
• SQL: MySQL 5.7
• JS/CSS/HTML: limited by what minimization tools support, see...Game_interface_logic:_yourgamename.js#Javascript_minimization_.28after_July_2020.29

img/

This directory contains the images for your game (the game art).

When game graphics changes it require full reload in browser (Ctrl+F5) to clear the cache. Changing marketing graphics and deleting files require extra actions from control panel.

See Game art: img directory

gameinfos.inc.php

In this file you describe the meta-information for your game: game name, publisher name, number of player, game categories, etc...

When this file changes it requires special reloading using control panel.

See Game_meta-information:_gameinfos.inc.php.

dbmodel.sql

File for creating specific database tables that you will need to persist data during the game (for example a table for cards).

When this file changes it requires restart of the game. If game was already in production it requires migration.

See Game database model: dbmodel.sql

gameoptions.inc.php

File for describing your game options (or game variants).

When this file changes it requires special reloading using control panel.

See Game options and preferences: gameoptions.inc.php.

<gamename>.action.php

File used to describe methods that can be called from the client interface through javascript, get parameters and call the appropriate game functions.

When this file changes reloading is not required.

See Players actions: yourgamename.action.php.

<gamename>.css

CSS styles specific to your game.

When this file changes it requires forced reloading (Ctrl+F5) to clear the cache.

See Game interface stylesheet: yourgamename.css.

<gamename>.game.php

This is the main file for your game logic. Here you initialize the game, persist data, implement the rules and notify changes to the client interface.

When this file changes reloading is not required.

See Main game logic: yourgamename.game.php.

<gamename>.js

This is the main file for your game interface. Here you will define:

• which actions on the page will generate calls to the server
• what happens when you get a notification for change from the server and how it will show in the browser.

When this file changes you need to do simple reloading of currently running game (F5).

See Game interface logic: yourgamename.js.

<gamename>.view.php, <gamename>_<gamename>.tpl

Files are used to set up the page layout ('view') for the game.

When this file changes you need to do simple reloading of currently running game (F5).

See Game layout: view and template: yourgamename.view.php and yourgamename yourgamename.tpl.

material.inc.php

File used to describe all the game material (cards with their description, dices, tokens...). You can also use it to define game constants.

When this file changes reloading is not required, however if your js side using some data from there (which it should) do simple reloading of currently running game (F5) .

See Game material description: material.inc.php.

states.inc.php

This file describes the game states machine of your game (all the game states properties, and the transitions to get from one state to another).

When this file changes it requires simple reloading, however if changes are breaking it requires to start a new game.

See Your game state machine: states.inc.php.

stats.inc.php

File used to list statistics that you want to update during the game to be presented to players at the end of the game.

When this file changes it requires special reloading using control panel.

See Game statistics: stats.inc.php.

version.php

Don't edit this file. It is used internally by the build system.

modules/

Modules directory can contain additional php files which can be included in main game.php via include or require. It also can contain addition js files. This directory is checked in version control.

misc/

Directory containing files you would like to keep with project but not needed on production server. This directory is checked in version control. Total limit is 1 Mb for this directory.

<other files>

You can use other files but they won't be checked in source control and published in production. That includes any additional .js or .php files. If you need them use modules/ directory.