Skip to main content
Part of the make-game skill. The skill links here when your agent needs the detail.
The content layer on top of 2d-rpg.md: enemies, NPCs and dialogue, quests, inventory, loot, perks, status effects, and save/load. Everything here talks to the rest of the game only through EventBus and the autoloads.

​
Enemies (data-driven, five archetypes)

EnemyData resource defines stats + behavior; enemy_base.gd implements all five behaviors and reads the data. No per-enemy scenes.
  • CHASE (slime): direct pursuit, melee lunge, low knockback resistance.
  • RANGED (skeleton archer): holds preferred distance, fires projectiles, strafes at range, backs off when crowded.
  • SWARM (bat): fast, random jitter movement, contact damage.
  • TANK (golem): slow, high HP, knockback_resistance 0.8, ground slam with screen shake.
  • BOSS (dark mage): cycling pattern (single shot -> fan of 3 -> charge), phase 2 at 40% HP (faster everything + aura), can summon minions. Emits boss_health_changed for the HUD boss bar.
EnemyData fields that matter for tuning: max_health, contact_damage, move_speed, detection_range 200, attack_range 35, attack_cooldown 1.2, knockback_resistance, xp_value, gold_min/max. EnemyDatabase registers everything in code (no .tres files): db.get_enemy("slime"), db.get_enemies_for_wave(5) returns a wave-appropriate mix. Built-ins: slime, skeleton_archer, bat, golem, dark_mage. Contract: every enemy is in the “enemies” group and exposes take_hit(damage: int, source_position: Vector2, is_crit: bool = false). Weapons and projectiles call it directly. Death drops XP + gold orbs via _drop_loot() and emits EventBus.enemy_killed(enemy, xp_value). EnemySpawner is wave-based: wave_interval 12s, enemies_per_wave_base 3, enemies_per_wave_growth 1, max_enemies 20, difficulty_scale 1.08 (HP/damage multiplier per wave). spawn_boss("dark_mage", pos) for arenas.

​
NPCs and dialogue

DialogueData is a resource with a speaker name and a lines array. Each line is a dictionary supporting optional keys:
Actions: start_quest:<id>, give_item:<resource_path>, give_gold:<n>, heal. Conditions: quest_complete:<id>, quest_active:<id>, has_item:<id>. This tiny string DSL covers most RPG dialogue needs - resist building a graph editor. Interaction flow (the pause dance):
NPC = CharacterBody2D + CollisionShape2D + child Area2D named EXACTLY “InteractionArea” on the interactions layer. Player entering shows a prompt; interact key starts dialogue. When building NPCs in code, add the node tree first, add_child it, THEN set script properties (npc_name, dialogue, quest_to_give) - properties set before the script enters the tree can be stomped by _ready. DialogueBox: typewriter at 40 chars/sec, click skips to full text, click again advances, choices render as buttons. Must be process_mode ALWAYS (tree is paused during dialogue).

​
Quests

QuestData: id, title, description, objectives array ({"id": "kill_slimes", "description": "Kill 3 slimes", "target": 3}), xp_reward, gold_reward, prerequisite_quest_id. QuestManager (autoload) API: start_quest(data), progress_objective(quest_id, objective_id, amount = 1), is_quest_active/complete(id), get_objective_progress(id, obj_id). When all objectives hit target the quest auto-completes, grants rewards, and emits quest_completed. Wiring kills to quests happens in the LEVEL script, not the enemy:
Enemies stay dumb; levels decide what counts.

​
Inventory and items

InventoryManager (autoload): 20 item slots, 3 equipment slots (weapon, armor, accessory), gold. add_item() returns false when full; use_item() only works on consumables; equip_item() auto-routes by the item’s slot; get_total_stat_bonus("attack") sums equipment bonuses for the stats pipeline; clear() on restart. ItemData: ItemType (CONSUMABLE/WEAPON/ARMOR/ACCESSORY/KEY_ITEM), Rarity (COMMON/UNCOMMON/RARE/EPIC with white/green/blue/purple colors), stat_bonuses: Dictionary (“attack” -> 5), heal_amount, buy/sell price.

​
Loot

  • LootTable: guaranteed gold range + guaranteed XP, then drop_chance roll over weighted entries ({"item", "weight", "min_count", "max_count"}). table.roll() returns the drops.
  • PickupOrb: XP/gold orbs from dead enemies, magnet-pull within 100px, accelerating toward the player.
  • TreasureChest: interactable static body - guaranteed item + gold orbs + a loot table roll on open.
  • ItemDrop: dropped items render with a rarity glow.

​
Perks (level-up progression)

PerkData: id, name, description (supports a {value} token), max_level 3, stat_modifiers: Dictionary, special_effect: String + effect_value for non-stat perks. Built-in pool: PerkPool: roll_selection(3) (unowned or upgradable only), acquire_perk(), get_stat_bonus("attack"), has_effect("lifesteal") + get_effect_value(), reset() per run. Level-up flow: stats.add_xp() true -> emit player_leveled_up then level_up_ready -> PerkSelectionUI shows 3 cards (LEVEL_UP state pauses tree) -> pick emits perk_selected -> player acquires and applies stat modifiers via stats.add_modifier -> resume. Special effects (lifesteal, thorns, multishot) are checked at their point of use via pool.has_effect(), not applied as stats.

​
Status effects

StatusEffect base (Node): effect_id, duration 3s, tick_interval 1s, max_stacks 3. Override tick(), on_expire(), on_max_stacks(), get_speed_multiplier(). add_stack() refreshes duration. EffectManager attaches to any entity: apply_effect(BurnEffect, entity) handles stacking, get_speed_multiplier() returns the product of all active effects (feed it into movement), remove_effect/remove_all. Built-ins and their max-stack payoffs (the interesting design bit - stacking to cap triggers a burst):
  • Burn: 3 dmg per 0.5s, 5 stacks; at cap, a 15x damage burst.
  • Freeze: 30% slow per stack, 3 stacks; at cap, full 2s stun.
  • Poison: 2 dmg/s, 3 stacks; each new stack extends duration 2s; supports lifesteal back to the source.

​
Juice quick reference

If register_camera is never called, shake silently does nothing - a classic “why is there no juice” bug.

​
HUD and notifications

HUD subscribes to EventBus only: health/energy/XP bars, level, gold, active quest list, and a notification label (fade in, 2s hold, fade out) driven by EventBus.notification_requested.emit("Quest complete!", Color.GOLD). HUD also owns pause and inventory toggles.

​
Audio

AudioManager: play_music(path) crossfades (pass false for hard cut), play_sfx(stream, pitch_variation), play_sfx_at(stream, pos, variation) positional. Auto-creates Music and SFX buses if missing. Town theme in the hub, battle music in combat areas, switch on scene_ready.

​
Save/load

GameManager saves to user://savegame.cfg (ConfigFile): current level path
  • spawn position, player stats (level, XP, health, attack, defense), inventory + equipment as resource paths, gold, quest state (active with progress, completed ids). save_game() from the pause menu, load_game() -> bool from Continue, has_save() gates the button. restart_game() clears inventory, resets perks, returns to town.
Save items by resource path, not serialized objects - paths survive schema changes; serialized Resources do not.

​
Order of content work

  1. Enemy roster (CHASE first, then RANGED; TANK/SWARM/BOSS after combat feels right) + spawner in the forest level.
  2. Loot orbs + level-up perks (progression pull).
  3. One NPC with dialogue in town, one kill quest wired through the level.
  4. Inventory + a treasure chest + equipment stat bonuses.
  5. Status effects on weapons/perks (burning_strikes, frost_touch).
  6. Boss + dungeon kill gate, then save/load last - it serializes everything above, so build it when the shapes are stable.
Source: library/skills/make-game/references/2d-rpg-content.md, rendered from summer-engine@4.3.0 on npm.