NAME

TCOD::Console - Terminal emulator for rendering game screens

SYNOPSIS

use TCOD;

TCOD::Console::init_root( 10, 10, 'Test', 0, TCOD::RENDERER_SDL );

my $start = TCOD::Console->new( 10, 10 );
$start->print( 1, 1, 'X' );

my $end = TCOD::Console->new( 10, 10 );
$end->print( 8, 8, 'X' );

for ( 1 .. 255 ) {
    $start->blit( alpha => 1,       );
    $end->blit(   alpha => $_ / 255 );
    TCOD::Console::flush;

    TCOD::Sys::sleep_milli(5);
}

DESCRIPTION

This class represents a terminal emulator for rendering text-based games.

METHODS

new

$console = TCOD::Console->new( $width, $height );

You can create as many off-screen consoles as you want by using this function. You can draw on them as you would do with the root console, but you cannot flush them to the screen. Else, you can blit them on other consoles, including the root console. See blit.

This function returns a TCOD::Console object that can be used as a target in most console drawing functions.

from_file

$console = TCOD::Console->from_file( $path );

You can create an off-screen console from a .asc or .apf file created with ASCII Paint with this constructor

save_asc

$bool = $console->save_asc( $path );

You can save data from a console to ASCII Paint format with this function. The function returns false if it couldn't write the file. This is the only ASC function that works also with the root console!

save_apf

$bool = $console->save_apf( $path );

blit

$console->blit(
    src_x     => $source_x         // 0,
    src_y     => $source_y         // 0,
    width     => $source_width     // 0,
    height    => $source_height    // 0,
    dest      => $target,
    dest_x    => $target_x         // 0,
    dest_y    => $target_y         // 0,
    fg_alpha  => $foreground_alpha // 1,
    bg_alpha  => $background_alpha // 1,
    alpha     => $default_alpha    // 1,
    key_color => $key_color,
);

This function allows you to blit a rectangular area of the source console at a specific position on a destination console. It can also simulate alpha transparency with foreground and background alpha parameters.

By default, it will blit the entire source console onto the destination console at its origin, with full opacity.

The value in the alpha parameter is there as a convenience, and only used to set the default value for fg_alpha and bg_alpha if these are not set. It is useful for when both values are the same.

If key_color is set to a TCOD::Color object, cells of this color in the source console will not be printed on the target console. This can be used to blit only some parts of the console.

clear

$console->clear(
    fg => $foreground_color,
    bg => $background_color,
    ch => $char_code,
);

Reset all the cells in a console.

After calling this method, the color in all cells will be set to the ones specified in fg for the foreground, and bg for the background, and their character to the one set in ch.

The fg and bg parameters will default to the console's foreground and background colours respectively. The ch parameters will default to the ASCII code of a blank space (32).

print

$console->print( $x, $y, $string, %rest );
$console->print(
    x         => $x,
    y         => $y,
    string    => $string,
    fg        => $fg_color,
    bg        => $bg_color,
    bg_blend  => $flag      // TCOD::BKGND_SET,
    alignment => $alignment // TCOD::LEFT,
);

Print a string on a console with manual line breaks.

The x and y parameters specify, in tile coordinates, the position of the start of the string. The string parameter will be internally encoded as UTF-8 before printing.

The behaviour of the background can be controlled with the bg_blend parameter, which must be a value in the BackgroundFlag enum.

The alignment of the text can be set with the alignment parameter, which must be a value in the Alignment enum.

This function accepts named parameters, but the x, y, and string parameters may also be passed as the first three positional parameters in that order.

print_box

$height = $console->print_box(
    x         => $x,
    y         => $y,
    width     => $width,
    height    => $height,
    string    => $string,
    fg        => $fg_color,
    bg        => $bg_color,
    bg_blend  => $flag      // TCOD::BKGND_SET,
    alignment => $alignment // TCOD::LEFT,
);

Print a string constrained to a rectangle and return the height.

The x and y determine the starting tile, with 0, 0 as the upper-left corner of the console. The size of the frame is determined by the width and height parameters, in tiles. The string parameter will be internally encoded as UTF-8 before printing.

The foreground and background colors are set with fg and bg respectively. If set, they should be set to TCOD::Color objects. If none are provided, the colors will remain unchanged.

The behaviour of the background can be controlled with the bg_blend parameter, which must be a value in the BackgroundFlag enum.

The alignment of the text can be set with the alignment parameter, which must be a value in the Alignment enum.

Returns the actual height of the printed area.

draw_frame

$console->draw_frame(
    x          => $x,
    y          => $y,
    decoration => $decoration // ..., # See below
    fg         => $fg_color,
    bg         => $bg_color,
    bg_blend   => $flag       // TCOD::BKGND_SET,
    clear      => $clear      // 1,
);

Draw a framed rectangle.

The x and y determine the starting tile, with 0, 0 as the upper-left corner of the console. The size of the frame is determined by the width and height parameters, in tiles.

If clear is set to a true value, the region inside the frame will be cleared. This is the default.

The foreground and background colors are set with fg and bg respectively. If set, they should be set to TCOD::Color objects. If none are provided, the colours will remain unchanged.

The behaviour of the background can be controlled with the bg_blend parameter, which must be a value in the BackgroundFlag enum.

The value in decoration is a sequence of glyphs to use for rendering the borders. This can either be a string with 9 characters, or an array reference with 9 values, each of which should be a single character arranged in row-major order. If none is set, the default value will use the following glyphs:

┌─┐│ │└─┘

To print a title on the frame, call this function, and then use print_box to print your title on top, constrained to the right dimensions.

draw_rect

$console->draw_rect(
    x        => $x,
    y        => $y,
    width    => $width,
    height   => $height,
    ch       => $char_code,
    fg       => $fg_color,
    bg       => $bg_color,
    bg_blend => $flag // TCOD::BKGND_SET,
);

Draw characters and colors over a rectangular region.

The x and y determine the starting tile, with 0, 0 as the upper-left corner of the console. The size of the frame is determined by the width and height parameters, in tiles.

If ch is set to a non-zero integer value, the rectangle will be filled with the character that integer represents. Setting it to 0 will leave the characters as they were.

The foreground and background colors are set with fg and bg respectively. If set, they should be set to TCOD::Color objects. If none are provided, the colors will remain unchanged.

The behaviour of the background can be controlled with the bg_blend parameter, which must be a value in the BackgroundFlag enum.

get_width

$width = $console->get_width;

Get the width of the console.

get_height

$height = $console->get_height;

Get the height of the console.

set_background_flag

$console->set_background_flag( $flag );

Set the background mode for the console. The value of $flag should be a member of the BackgroundFlag enum, determines how the background color is modified.

get_background_flag

$flag = $console->get_background_flag;

Get the console's default background flag. It will be a value from the BackgroundFlag enum.

set_alignment

$console->set_alignment( $alignment );

Set the alignment for the console. The value of $alignment should be a member of the Alignment enum.

get_alignment

$alignment = $console->get_alignment;

Get the console's default alignment flag. It will be a value from the Alignment enum.

set_char_background

$console->set_char_background( $x, $y, $color, $flag );

Set the background color of a cell, leaving other properties (foreground color and ASCII code) unchanged. The value of $flag, which should be a member of the BackgroundFlag enum, determines how the background color is modified.

get_char_background

$color = $console->get_char_background( $x, $y );

Get the background color of a cell.

set_char_foreground

$console->set_char_foreground( $x, $y, $color, $flag );

Set the foreground color of a cell, leaving other properties (background color and ASCII code) unchanged. The value of $flag, which should be a member of the BackgroundFlag enum, determines how the background color is modified.

get_char_foreground

$color = $cosole->get_char_foreground( $x, $y );

Get the foreground color of a cell.

set_default_background

$console->set_default_background( $color );

Change the default background color for a console. This is used by several of the drawing functions described in this document.

get_default_background

$color = $console->get_default_background;

Get the default background color for a console. This is used by several of the drawing functions described in this document.

set_default_foreground

$console->set_default_foreground( $color );

Change the default foreground color for a console. This is used by several of the drawing functions described in this document.

get_default_foreground

$color = $console->get_default_foreground;

Get the default foreground color for a console. This is used by several of the drawing functions described in this document.

set_char

$console->set_char( $x, $y, $char_code );

Set the character at the specified coordinate to the specified character without changing its colors.

The character is passed as an integer code, like one returned by ord or one of the values in the Char enum.

get_char

$char_code = $console->get_char( $x, $y );

Return the character at the specified position in the console.

The character is returned as an integer code, like one returned by ord or one of the values in the Char enum.

put_char

$console->put_char( $x, $y, $char_code, $background_flag );

Draw a character on a console using the default colors.

The character is passed as an integer code, like one returned by ord or one of the values in the Char enum.

The value in $background_flag determines the behaviour of the background, and should be one of the values in the BackgroundFlag enum.

put_char_ex

$console->put_char_ex(
    $x,
    $y,
    $char_code,
    $foreground_color,
    $background_color,
);

Draw a character on a console using the default colors.

The character is passed as an integer code, like one returned by ord or one of the values in the Char enum.

get_height_rect

$height = $console->get_height_rect(     $x, $y, $w, $h, $string );
$height = $console->get_height_rect_utf( $x, $y, $w, $h, $string );

Returns the expected height of an auto-wrapped string without actually printing the string with one of the print_rect family of functions.

FUNCTIONS

init_root

TCOD::Console::init_root(
    $width,
    $height,
    $title,
    $fullscreen,
    $renderer,
);

Initialise the global game window.

The width and height parameters specify the dimensions of the screen in characters. The size of the window in pixels will depend on the font used. The default font uses characters that are 8x8 pixels. See set_custom_font for how to change this font after creation.

The title will be displayed on top of the window, except when in fullscreen mode. See set_window_title for how to change this after creation.

The window will be created in fullscreen if the value of $fullscreen is true. See set_fullscreen and is_fullscreen for ways to modify this after creation.

The renderer will be one of the elements of the Renderer enum. If you select a renderer that is not supported by the player's machine, the underlying library will scan the lower renderers until it finds a working one.

On recent video cards, GLSL (enabled with TCOD::RENDERER_GLSL) results in up to 900% increase of framerates in the true color sample compared to SDL renderer.

Whatever renderer you use, it can always be overridden by the player through the libtcod.cfg file.

You can dynamically change the renderer after calling this function with TCOD::Sys::set_renderer. You can also read the current renderer with TCOD::Sys::get_renderer. This might be different from the one you set when calling this function in case it's not supported on the player's computer.

set_custom_font

TCOD::Console::set_custom_font(
    $string,
    $flags,
    $horizontal_chars,
    $vertical_chars,
);

This function allows you to use a bitmap font (PNG or BMP) with custom character size or layout.

It should be called before initialising the root console with init_root.

Once this function is called, you can define your own custom mappings using mapping functions

The value in $flags will be a combination of a layout and a type from the FontFlag enum. The last two parameters determine the number of characters in the font along both axes. If set to 0, these will be deduced from the layout flag.

map_ascii_code_to_font

TCOD::Console::map_ascii_code_to_font( $code, $x, $y );

Maps a single ASCII code to a character in the current font.

map_ascii_codes_to_font

TCOD::Console::map_ascii_codes_to_font(
    $range_start,
    $range_length,
    $x,
    $y,
);

Maps consecutive ASCII codes to characters in the current font. The coordinate provided (in characters) corresponds to the first character in the range.

map_string_to_font

TCOD::Console::map_string_to_font( $string, $x, $y );

Maps the ASCII codes in a string to consecutive characters in the current font. The coordinate provided (in characters) corresponds to the first character in the range.

is_fullscreen

TCOD::Console::is_fullscreen;

Returns true if the current mode is fullscreen.

set_fullscreen

TCOD::Console::set_fullscreen( $bool );

Enable or disable fullscreen mode.

set_window_title

TCOD::Console::set_window_title( $title );

This function dynamically changes the title of the game window.

is_window_closed

$bool = TCOD::Console::is_window_closed;

When you start the program, this returns false. Once a "close window" event has been sent by the window manager, it will always return true. You're supposed to cleanly exit the game.

has_mouse_focus

$bool = TCOD::Console::has_mouse_focus;

Returns true if the mouse cursor is inside the game window area and the game window is the active application.

is_active

$bool = TCOD::Console::is_active;

Returns false if the game window is not the active window or is iconified.

credits

TCOD::Console::credits;

Render a credits screen with the message "Powered by libtcod $VERSION", with the current libtcod version you are running. This can be shown during startup by calling after init_root.

The credits screen can be skipped by pressing any key.

credits_render

$bool = TCOD::Console::credits_render( $x, $y, $alpha );

Render the credits message on top of an existing screen at the specified coordinates. If $alpha is set to a true value, the credits will be rendered transparently on the existing screen. For this to work, this function must be called between your screen rendering code and the console flush.

Returns true when the credits screen is finished.

credits_reset

TCOD::Console::credits_reset;

When using credits_render, you can restart the credits animation from the beginning before it's finished by calling this function.

flush

TCOD::Console::flush;

Once the root console is initialised, you can use one of the printing functions to change the background colors, the foreground colors or the ASCII characters on the console.

Once you've finished rendering the root console, you have to actually apply the updates to the screen with this function.

set_fade

TCOD::Console::set_fade( $fade, $color );

This function defines the fading parameters, allowing you to fade the game screen to/from a color. Once they are defined, the fading parameters are valid until changed (with another call to this function). You don't have to call this function for each rendered frame.

get_fade

$fade = TCOD::Console::get_fade;

Get the current fade amount. See set_fade for how this is set.

get_fading_color

$color = TCOD::Console::get_fading_color;

Get the current fade color. See set_fade for how this is set.

set_color_control

TCOD::Console::set_color_control(
    $code,
    $foreground_color,
    $background_color,
);

If you want to draw a string using different colors for each word, the basic solution is to call a string printing function several times, changing the default colors between each call.

An arguably simpler way to do this is to use "color control codes" in your string, which allows you to draw a string using different colors in a single call.

A color control code is associated with a foreground and background color set. If you insert this code in your string, the next characters will use the colors associated with the color control code.

There are 5 predefined color control codes:

TCOD::COLCTRL_1
TCOD::COLCTRL_2
TCOD::COLCTRL_3
TCOD::COLCTRL_4
TCOD::COLCTRL_5

This function allows you to associate a control code to a color set.

To go back to the console's default colors, insert in your string the color stop control code: TCOD::COLCTRL_STOP.

You can also use any color without assigning it to a control code, using the generic control codes: TCOD::COLCTRL_FORE_RGB and TCOD::COLCTRL_BACK_RGB.

These controls respectively change the foreground and background color used to print the string characters. In the string, you must insert the red, green, and blue components of the color as numbers between 1 and 255 immediately after this code. Note that using 0 in this context is not allowed, because it represents the end of the string in C/C++.

check_for_keypress

# Deprecated
$key = TCOD::Console::check_for_keypress( $mask );

Return immediately with a TCOD::Key populated with data from a recently pressed key.

The current recommendation, however, is to use SDL functions directly to check the keyboard state. Consider that option if available.

is_key_pressed

# Deprecated
$bool = TCOD::Console::is_key_pressed( $keycode );

Given a keycode from the Keycode enum, this function returns true if the key is currently pressed.

A better way to check for user input is to use TCOD::Sys::check_for_event.

The current best recommendation, however, is to use SDL functions directly to check the keyboard state. Consider that option if available.

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the Artistic License 2.0.

To install TCOD, copy and paste the appropriate command in to your terminal.

cpanm

cpanm TCOD

CPAN shell

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install TCOD

For more information on module installation, please visit the detailed CPAN module installation guide.

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NAME

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

METHODS

new

from_file

save_asc

save_apf

blit

clear

print

print_box

draw_frame

draw_rect

get_width

get_height

set_background_flag

get_background_flag

set_alignment

get_alignment

set_char_background

get_char_background

set_char_foreground

get_char_foreground

set_default_background

get_default_background

set_default_foreground

get_default_foreground

set_char

get_char

put_char

put_char_ex

get_height_rect

FUNCTIONS

init_root

set_custom_font

map_ascii_code_to_font

map_ascii_codes_to_font

map_string_to_font

is_fullscreen

set_fullscreen

set_window_title

is_window_closed

has_mouse_focus

is_active

credits

credits_render

credits_reset

flush

set_fade

get_fade

get_fading_color

set_color_control

check_for_keypress

is_key_pressed

SEE ALSO

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Module Install Instructions