Pixel Dungeon Rush

A fast-paced 2D roguelike dungeon crawler game built with C++17 and SFML 3.0, featuring procedural dungeon generation, dynamic enemy AI, loot systems, and boss encounters.

🎮 Game Features

• Top-down action gameplay with tile-based movement and collision
• Procedurally generated dungeons with progressive difficulty
• Dynamic enemy AI with pathfinding and line-of-sight mechanics
• Boss encounters that spawn at key progression points
• Loot system with randomized item drops and rarity tiers
• Power-ups including health recovery, damage boost, and speed boost
• Minimap display showing current position and visibility
• Progressive floors with increasing difficulty
• Damage feedback with floating damage numbers

🛠️ Technology Stack

• Language: C++17 (MSVC v143)
• Graphics: SFML 3.0 (Simple Fast Multimedia Library)
• Build System: Visual Studio 2026 / MSBuild
• Platform: Windows (x64, x86)

📋 Project Structure

PixelDungeonRush/
├── src/                    # Source files
│   ├── Game.cpp/hpp       # Main game loop and logic
│   ├── Player.cpp/hpp     # Player entity with movement
│   ├── Enemy.cpp/hpp      # Enemy AI and pathfinding
│   ├── Dungeon.cpp/hpp    # Procedural dungeon generation
│   ├── Entity.cpp/hpp     # Base class for game objects
│   ├── UI.cpp/hpp         # User interface (minimap, HUD)
│   ├── Loot.cpp/hpp       # Loot drop system
│   ├── Assets.cpp/hpp     # Asset management
│   ├── Constants.hpp      # Game constants and settings
│   └── Main.cpp           # Entry point
├── assets/                # Game resources (fonts, textures)
├── PixelDungeonRush.sln   # Solution file
├── PixelDungeonRush.vcxproj # Project file
└── README.md              # This file

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Visual Studio 2019 or newer
• SFML 3.0 library
• C++17 support

Building

1. Clone the repository
2. Update SFML path in PixelDungeonRush.vcxproj if needed:
   • C:\SFML-3.0.0\include (includes)
   • C:\SFML-3.0.0\lib (libraries)
3. Open PixelDungeonRush.sln in Visual Studio
4. Build solution (Ctrl+Shift+B)
5. Run (F5)

Game Controls

• W/Up Arrow - Move up
• S/Down Arrow - Move down
• A/Left Arrow - Move left
• D/Right Arrow - Move right
• Left Mouse Button - Attack
• Close window - Quit

📚 Documentation

This project includes comprehensive documentation:

• IMPROVEMENTS_SUMMARY.md - Overview of code improvements and refactoring done
• CODE_CHANGES_DETAILED.md - Before/after code examples and detailed change explanations
• REFACTORING_ROADMAP.md - Future improvements, optimization strategies, and architectural recommendations

Key Improvements Made

• ✅ Removed 5 unused/incomplete files (Projectile, Room, SaveSystem)
• ✅ Replaced raw pointers with smart references for memory safety
• ✅ Centralized all magic numbers into Constants.hpp
• ✅ Improved error handling and error messages
• ✅ Simplified state management (reduced redundancy)
• ✅ Better code organization and naming conventions

🎯 Gameplay

Core Loop

1. Exploration - Navigate procedurally generated dungeon
2. Combat - Defeat enemies and collect loot
3. Progression - Complete floors, face increasingly difficult enemies
4. Boss Battles - Encounter boss enemies at progression milestones
5. Death - Game ends when player health reaches zero

Enemy Types

• Normal enemies - Basic melee attackers
• Elite enemies - Stronger variants with better loot
• Boss enemies - Unique powerful enemies at floor milestones

Power-ups

• Health Restore - Recover player health
• Damage Boost - Increase attack damage temporarily
• Speed Boost - Increase movement speed temporarily

🔧 Configuration

Game constants can be adjusted in Constants.hpp:

namespace Constants {
    namespace Gameplay {
        inline constexpr float AttackRadius = 40.f;           // Player attack range
        inline constexpr int AttackCooldownMs = 500;          // Attack cooldown in ms
        inline constexpr int VisionRadiusTiles = 5;           // Enemy vision range
        inline constexpr float BossSpawnThreshold = 10;       // Enemies before boss
        inline constexpr int BossFloorInterval = 3;           // Spawn boss every N floors
    }
}

🐛 Known Issues

• Save/load functionality not implemented (SaveSystem.cpp)
• Projectiles not yet implemented
• Room system structure exists but not fully integrated

📈 Performance

• Target: 60 FPS at 1280x720 resolution
• Supports hundreds of enemies on-screen
• Optimized collision detection with AABB checks
• Line-of-sight calculations for enemy vision

🎨 Future Enhancements

High Priority

• Extract Game class into smaller managers
• Add unit test project
• Implement configuration file system

Medium Priority

• Spatial partitioning (quadtree) for optimization
• Object pooling for frequent allocations
• Sound and music system
• Particle effects system

Nice to Have

• Cross-platform build support (CMake)
• Save/load game functionality
• Additional visual effects and shaders
• Leaderboard system

See REFACTORING_ROADMAP.md for detailed improvement strategies.

📊 Code Quality

• Build Status: ✅ Successful (0 errors, 0 warnings)
• Code Standard: C++17
• Memory Safety: Reference-based design
• Error Handling: Validated font loading and asset paths

🤝 Contributing

When contributing code, please follow these guidelines:

• Use PascalCase for class names
• Use camelCase for functions and variables
• Use UPPER_SNAKE_CASE for constants
• Maintain const correctness
• Add meaningful comments for complex logic
• Keep functions focused and under 50 lines when possible

📄 License

[Add your license information here]

👤 Author

Pixel Dungeon Rush Development Team

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Last Updated: 2026-05-08
Status: Active Development
Version: 1.0.0-beta