About#
Pycraft is a 3D open-source, open-world video game made in Python. For a long time attempts to make large 3D games in Python have been ignored, we believe there are two reasons: one; People use Python primarily for data handling and processing and not graphics and, two; there is little to no documentation out there to do anything more than make a 3D rotating cube in Python. Making a 3D game in Python for us hasn’t been an easy experience, far from it but we have decided to share my project, complete with tutorials, explanations, articles and code explanations in the hope that 3D game development in Python can be seen as a more easily attainable target, and to fill that gap in documentation. Pycraft then is a trial project, as we learn and experiment on what goes best where and how thing go together, this is why development can sometimes appear to have stopped, because we are learning and testing what we have learned, so hopefully for people in the future it will be an easier experience. Also, don’t forget there is more to game development than just graphics, there is AI, sound, physics and all the other GUIs that go with it, and as we learn the quality of the overall program will improve. Pycraft is not going to be the final name of the game, however until something better becomes available, we shall stick to it.
Setup#
Installing the project from GitHub (Method 1)#
The project will download as a (.zip) compressed file. Please make sure you have the project decompressed before use. Next make sure that any folders and files outside of the ‘Pycraft’ folder are removed and that the ‘Pycraft’ file is in the intended place for the file to be run from. This file can be freely moved around, transported between drives, computers and folders in this form!
Just make sure that if you plan to use the installer that you make sure the file location is correct after you have moved the project, to do this simply remove everything in the ‘pycraft/Data*Files/InstallerConfig.json’ file and re-load the game, it will try to repair the file and write the new path instead, during this process it may appear that Pycraft has crashed as it will likely bring up an error message, a more user-friendly experience is coming soon*
When running the program please make sure you have a minimum of 1GB of free space on the drive and also have Python 3.7 or above installed on your device. This can be found here: (www.python.org/downloads). The version of Python isn’t too important in this circumstance however the project has been tested in Python 3.7 and above and is known to work. In addition to all this please make sure you have the following modules installed on your device:
Pygame, Numpy, Pillow, PyAutoGUI, Psutil, PyWaveFront, CPUinfo, Ctypes, ModernGL, ModernGL*Window, GPUtil, Pyrr, PyJoystick, Noise and Matplotlib.
For those not familiar they can be found here: (pypi.org).
You can use the following syntax to install, update and remove these modules:
pip install <module>
pip uninstall <module>
Here is a short video tutorial walk you through all this: (https://youtu.be/DG5YbE-umw0)
Installing the project from GitHub (Method 2)#
If you are installing the project from the GitHub releases page or through Source Forge, then this will be relevant for you. After you have selected your preferred file type (it’ll be either a compiled (.exe) file or a (.zip) file, those that download the (.zip) file will find the information above more relevant.
If you, however, download the (.exe) type file, then this will be more relevant for you. If you locate the file in your file explorer and double click it, then this will run the project. You do not need Python, or any of the projects required modules, as they come built-in with this method. This method does also not install anything extra to your devise, to remove the project, simply delete the (.exe) file in your file explorer. Please note that it can take a few moments for everything in the (.exe) file to load and initialise, so nothing might not appear to happen at first. Also, you can only run one instance of Pycraft at any time (even if you are using another method).
Installing from PyPi (preferred)#
If you are installing the project from PyPi, then you will need an up-to-date build of Python (3.7 or greater ideally) and also permission to install additional files to your device. Then you need to open a command-line interface (or CLI), we recommend Terminal on Apple based devises, and Command Prompt on Windows based machines. You install the latest version of Pycraft, and all its needed files though this command:
pip install Python-Pycraft
and you can also uninstall the project using the command:
pip uninstall Python-Pycraft
And now you can run the project as normal. Please note that at present it can be a bit tricky to locate the files that have downloaded, you can import the project into another python file using:
import Pycraft
Installing using Pipenv#
You can alternatively run these commands in the directory containing a file called Pipfile:
pip install pipenv then: pipenv install python-pycraft
And to start the game: pipenv run python <PATH to 'main.py'>
Running The Program#
When running the program, you will either have a (.exe) file, downloaded from the releases page, or you will have the developer preview, if you have the developer preview, which can be found in the files section of this repository then this is how you run that program.
Now you have the program properly installed hopefully (you’ll find out if you haven’t promptly!) you need to locate and run the file “main.py” if it crashes on your first run then chances are you haven’t installed the program correctly, if it still doesn’t work then you can contact us. We do hope however that it works alright for you and you have a pleasant experience. This program has been developed on a Windows 64-bit computer however should run fine on a 32-bit Windows machine (uncompiled) or through MacOS although they remain untested for now.
We recommend creating a shortcut for the “main.py” file too so it’s easier to locate.
Credits#
With thanks to;#
Tom Jebbo (PycraftDeveloper) @ www.github.com/PycraftDeveloper
Count of Freshness Traversal @ www.twitter.com/DmitryChunikhin
Dogukan Demir (demirdogukan) @ www.github.com/demirdogukan
Henri Post (HenryFBP) @ www.github.com/HenryFBP
PyPi @ www.pypi.org
PIL (Pillow or Python Imaging Library) @ www.github.com/python-pillow/Pillow
Pygame @ www.github.com/pygame/pygame
Numpy @ www.github.com/numpy/numpy
PyAutoGUI @ www.github.com/asweigart/pyautogui
Psutil @ www.github.com/giampaolo/psutil
PyWaveFront @ www.github.com/pywavefront/PyWavefront
Py-CPUinfo @ www.github.com/pytorch/cpuinfo
GPUtil @ www.github.com/anderskm/gputil
Tabulate @ www.github.com/p-ranav/tabulate
Moderngl @ www.github.com/moderngl/moderngl
Moderngl*window @ www.github.com/moderngl/moderngl-window
PyJoystick @ www.github.com/justengel/pyjoystick
Matplotlib @ www.github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib
FreeSound: - Erokia’s “ambient wave compilation” @ www.freesound.org/s/473545
FreeSound: - Soundholder’s “ambient meadow near forest” @ www.freesound.org/s/425368
FreeSound: - monte32’s “Footsteps*6*Dirt*shoe” @ www.freesound.org/people/monte32/sounds/353799
Freesound: - Straget’s ‘Thunder’ @ www.freesound.org/people/straget/sounds/527664/
Freesound: - FlatHill’s ‘Rain and Thunder 4’ @ www.freesound.org/people/FlatHill/sounds/237729/
Freesound: - BlueDelta’s ‘Heavy Thunder Strike - no Rain - QUADRO’ @ - www.freesound.org/people/BlueDelta/sounds/446753/
Freesound: - Justkiddink’s ‘Thunder » Dry thunder1’ @ www.freesound.org/people/juskiddink/sounds/101933/
Freesound: - Netaj’s ‘Thunder’ @ www.freesound.org/people/netaj/sounds/193170/
Freesound: - Nimlos’ ‘Thunders » Rain Thunder’ @ www.freesound.org/people/Nimlos/sounds/359151/
Freesound: - Kangaroovindaloo’s ‘Thunder Clap’ @ www.freesound.org/people/kangaroovindaloo/sounds/585077/
Freesound: - Laribum’s ‘Thunder » thunder*01’ @ www.freesound.org/people/laribum/sounds/353025/
Freesound: - Jmbphilmes’s ‘Rain » Rain light 2 (rural)’ @ www.freesound.org/people/jmbphilmes/sounds/200273/
Uncompiled Pycraft Dependencies#
When you’re installing the uncompiled Pycraft variant from here you need to install the following ‘modules’, which can be done through your Control Panel in Windows (First; press <windows key + r> then type “cmd” then run the below syntax) or on Apple systems in Terminal.
pip install <module>
pip uninstall <module>
pip is usually installed by default when installing Python with most versions.
PIL (Pillow or Python Imaging Library) @ www.github.com/python-pillow/Pillow
Pygame @ www.github.com/pygame/pygame
Numpy @ www.github.com/numpy/numpy
PyAutoGUI @ www.github.com/asweigart/pyautogui
Psutil @ www.github.com/giampaolo/psutil
PyWaveFront @ www.github.com/pywavefront/PyWavefront
Py-CPUinfo @ www.github.com/pytorch/cpuinfo
GPUtil @ www.github.com/anderskm/gputil
Tabulate @ www.github.com/p-ranav/tabulate
Moderngl @ www.github.com/moderngl/moderngl
Moderngl*window @ www.github.com/moderngl/moderngl-window
PyJoystick @ www.github.com/justengel/pyjoystick
Matplotlib @ www.github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib
Disclaimer; unfortunately, lots of these python modules (first and third party) can require some external modules that will be installed during the installing process of the above modules, unfortunately this makes it really difficult to give credit to those modules, if you have any recommendations, please contact me appropriately.
Changes#
Pycraft v9.5.5 is now live! Here is a list of all the added features to this minor update:
Feature: We have extensively reworked the directory structure of Pycraft to make it more user friendly and easier to find and access necessary files.
Feature: Pycraft has been entirely restructured to reduce the reliance on the ‘self’ parameter to make Pycraft’s source code easier to work with.
Feature: We have simplified events in Pycraft now so that they all use the same method of detecting them regardless of if you’re using Pycraft’s 2D or 3D engine.
Feature: We have changed the 3D windowing engine to match the 2D windowing engine to bring feature parity and to make the transition between windowing engines easier. By doing this we managed to improve in game performance, significantly simplify the method of sharing data between windowing engines, allow changes to the new settings menu to control more of the 3D engine, and to allow changes to the settings in the settings menu to be applied to the 3D engine without necessitating a restart.
Feature: We have added back in the Loading, Inventory and Map UIs, and all of them have been extensively reworked and changed to be more featureful and behave better with the new 3D engine.
Feature: A new dropdown element in the settings menu has been added.
Feature: We have used the new dropdown element for the settings menu to add in translations and adjustments to the rendering resolution of Pycraft.
Bug-Fix: we have finished one of the most extensive pre-release testing processes yet - due to the large number of changes we have made - and fixed a variety of known bugs, with a particular focus on the 3D engine, controller compatibility and the installer.
Documentation: We have started the process of adding in docstrings to the start of every class, function and procedure in Pycraft, and later this will extend to also include at the start of each module.
Documentation: We have completely restarted the documentation for Pycraft and will be using a new automated method to make the process of compiling the new docstrings together and formatting them properly, in addition to formatting this ReadMe automated for future ease of use. This has yet to be publicly released though.
Again, feedback would be much appreciated this update was released on; 23/12/2022 (date format; DD/MM/YYYY). As always, we hope you enjoy this new release and feel free to leave feedback.
Understanding the release notes#
This section will hopefully provide additional information on helping to read the release notes.
Points detailed after the “Feature” tag are what was focused on in the update and will likely always be present in each update, often this is the most significant area of the update.
Points detailed after the “Bug-Fix” tag are likely to be the most frequent, they outline the most major bugs that have been fixed in this update, although they are not the only bugs that have been fixed.
Points detailed after the “Performance” tag are used where there have been significant performance improvements to the project.
Points detailed after the “Identified-Bugs” tag are bugs that have been identified in the project and that haven’t been fixed as of writing the release notes, these are significant issues and will be fixed as soon as possible.
Points detailed after the final “Documentation” tag are indicators of significant improvements to the documentation. The “PEP8” tag is used to signify that significant changes have been made to Pycraft to bring it in line with the PEP8 standards.
Input mapping#
This section will be replaced with a dedicated file for keymapping as well as an in-game guide when this area of Pycraft is completed.
Keyboard#
Use W, A, S, D in game to move around, and use these keys in the map GUI to move that around.
Use SPACE to jump in game, reset your zoom in the map GUI, start the benchmark section, or press 10 times to enter Devmode.
Use E in game to access your inventory
Use R in game to access the map
Use F11 to toggle full-screen
Use Q to access a resource value screen
Use L in game to toggle locking your mouse (forcing it to stay in the window or not)
Use X to exit Devmode
Mouse#
SCROLL in the map to zoom in/out, or to scroll the settings menu
LEFT CLICK to select
A detailed map of inputs for keyboard and mouse or controller combinations is coming; for now, see the section below, toggling between full-screen is currently not bound to a button on the controller because we will need all the different buttons for gameplay
Our Update Policy#
New releases will be introduced regularly, it is likely that there will be some form of error or bug, therefore unless you intend to use this project for development and feedback purposes (Thank you all!) we recommend you use the latest stable release; below is how to identify the stable releases.
Version Naming#
Pycraft’s versions will always now follow the structure; “vA.B.C”
Where “A” is the major revision number.
Where “B” is the minor revision number.
Where “C” is the patch and developer preview numbers (combined).
Every version of Pycraft as of the 27/10/2022 (DD/MM/YYYY) must feature all 3 values. Updates also now go sequentially, so Pycraft v9.6.4 is newer than Pycraft v9.5.7. If either of the “A” or “B” version numbers is incremented in a release, documentation MUST be suitably updated, in addition Pycraft MUST be released on PyPi, SourceForge and as a release on GitHub.
Releases#
All past versions of Pycraft are available under the releases section of Pycraft, this is a new change, but just as before, major releases like Pycraft v0.9 and Pycraft v0.8 will have (.exe) releases, but smaller sub-releases will not, this is in light of a change coming to Pycraft, this should help with the confusion behind releases, and be more accommodating to the installer that’s being worked on as a part of Pycraft v0.9.4. This brings me on to another point, all past updates to Pycraft will be located at the releases page (Thats all versions), and the previous section on the home-page with branches will change. The default branch will be the most recent release, then there will be branches for all the sub-releases to Pycraft there too; and the sister program; Pycraft-Insider-Preview will be deprecated and all data moved to relevant places in this repository, this should hopefully cut down on the confusion and make the project more user-friendly.
Other Sources#
We now post a roughly monthly article about Pycraft, showing behind the scenes, tips and tricks and additional information, this is shared to both Medium (medium.com/@PycraftDev) and Dev (dev.to/PycraftDev) and builds on the regular posts we share to Twitter (twitter.com/PycraftDev) and Dev (dev.to/PycraftDev).
Final Notices#
Thank you greatly for supporting this project simply by running it, we are sorry in advance for any spelling mistakes. The program will be updated frequently and we shall do my best to keep this up to date too. we also want to add that you are welcome to view and change the program and share it with your friends however please may we have some credit, just a name would do and if you find any bugs or errors, please feel free to comment in the comments section any feedback so we can improve my program, it will all be much appreciated and give as much detail as you wish to give out.