TownShell

Download "TownShell.exe" here,

Townshell v2.2 : "Write" feature added. "Flip" and "Load" screens added. "Merge" and "Level" have new options.

Youtube :

Wanna save some clicks on Townscaper, this small app will help you !

Get additional keyboard shortcuts to relax your fingers while building your town.

Get access to useful tools to accelerate your building process. Change the height of many blocks at a time. Change the color of your whole structure with a few words.

Quickstart

Download "TownShell.exe" here,

Click 'TownShell.exe'

Since I do not have any certificates, Windows and firewalls might prevent you from opening the .exe. Just skip warning to enjoy TownShell features

Open "Townscaper", Click "New", Press "Space" few seconds,

Enjoy the fast click !

Click "Save to Clipboard", Tap "tab" to open "TownShell", Explore the functions

Back to "Townscaper" click "Load from Clipboard", Enjoy the time you've saved !

Explore this file for more features

Table of contents

1. Installation
2. Usage
   • Startup screen
   • Keyboard Shortcuts
   • Level
   • Paint
   • Dig
   • Replicate
   • Merge
   • Capture
   • Write
   • Flip
   • Load
3. Details
   • Advanced installation
   • Shortcuts configuration
   • More
4. Future Releases

Installation

The easiest way to get started is by following the link here

For advanced users familiar with Python and Kivy, see Advanced installation

Usage

Startup screen

Keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are active by default once TownShell is started. It works only when Townscaper is the foreground window. Default shortcuts are as follows :

'Open TownShell' ==> 'tab'

'left_click' ==> 'space'

'right_click' ==> 'c'

'undo click' ==> 'v'

'redo click' ==> 'b'

'custom_left_click' ==> 'shift+space'

'custom_right_click' ==> 'shift+c'

'custom_undo' ==> 'shift+v'

'custom_redo' ==> 'shift+b'

'undo last command' ==> 'ctrl+alt+z'

'redo last command' ==> 'ctrl+alt+x'

For example, by default, keeping 'x' pressed will result in block creation every 0,05 seconds.

Custom shortcuts allow you to have one event done a precise number of times:

1. Press one or several digits
2. Use one of the custom shortcuts described above Note that if you press several digits, the time between the press needs to be less than one second. For example, if you press "1" then "2" quickly then you use 'custom_left_click' keyboard shortcut, it will result in 12 blocks getting created.

If you're not satisfied with these shortcuts see Shortcuts configuration

Level

'level' command give you the ability to elevate your structure at any height (<255) with a bunch of options. To use it, click "Save to Clipboard" on the structure you want the height to change, press "²" to open TownShell and enter a command following the rules below. Then on Townscaper click "Load from Clipboard".

Note that your original file is not modified.

Paint

'paint' command give you the ability to change the color of many blocks at a time with a bunch of options. To use it, click "Save to Clipboard" on the structure you want the height to change, press "²" to open TownShell and enter a command following the rules below. Then on Townscaper click "Load from Clipboard".

Note that your original file is not modified.

Dig

Replicate

Merge

Capture

Best practices :

• Since screen recording can be quite demanding on your computer ressources. Close as many application outside of Townshell and Townscaper to get the best quality.
• After finishing the mouse move, Townshell will still need some time to finish rendering the video. It will be improved in the future but for now it will freeze Townshell window until it's done.
• If you're not satisfied with the fps of your recording, you can put Townscaper on window mode and decrease the size of the window. It should boost fps.
• Default encoding is set to run as fast as possible but the quality of the final record can be disappointing. In 'townshell.cfg' you can change 'preset' from 'ultrafast to the following values to get improve quality : ultrafast, superfast, veryfast, faster, fast, medium, slow, slower, veryslow Note that it can increase CPU usage a lot and decrease FPS performances. You can also set 'bitrate' to improve quality, default value is 3000 (ko/s), the higher the bitrate, the bigger the output file.

Tips :

• Before Recording use "Test" tp check the move match your expectations
• If you want to record Townscaper with no move, set Distance to 0 and press 'Record'

Write

Many options are available using "Advanced" field, it follows JSON format, example : {"full": true, "alternate": "both"}

Here are the available options (case sensitive) :

• full: (true or false) // Defines if the full length of wallpath should be used or not, default to "false", should be used only when background is set too
• alternate: ("text", "background", "both") // Colors will be used alternatively. Should be used with at least two colors in "Colors" or "Background" to be effective. (need improvement)
• mode: ("1l1c", "1w1c", "1li1c") // "1l1c" = "1-letter-1-color", "1w1c" = "1-word-1-color", "1li1c" = "1-line-1-color" it changes how colors are given to blocks. Can't be used with "dict_colors", can be used with "alternate" (need improvement)
• crown: (positive integer) // use the background colors to draw a crown around letters
• dict_colors: (ex: {"dict_colors": {"a": 1, "n": 0}}) associate colors and letters
• INTERLINE: (positive integer) // amount of blocks between lines of blocks
• SPACE_LEN: (positive integer) // amount of blocks to represent "spaces"
• LINE_LENGTH: (positive integer) // max amount of blocks in one line, by default it's the amount of corners in the path
• INTERLETTER: (positive integer) // amount of blocks between letters
• INTERWORD: (positive integer) // amount of blocks between words (not sure how it's different from SPACE_LEN...anyway)
• start: (positive integer) // Defines the corner position where the text will start, if the end is reached, corners before the given "start" position are used. Default is 0. It can be useful for circular path to choose the position of the text
• template: (true or false) // If true, the template used to define the path will be thrown back instead of the text

The following ones can be used and would override values of the GUI.

• color:
• plain:
• background:
• reverse:
• font:
• wordwrap:
• align:
• wallpath:

Tip : If you do not input any text you might get a surprise after clicking "Save to Clipboard" and loading the build in Townscaper ;-)

Flip

Load

A lot of templates are available for you start building on them.

Details

Advanced installation

TownShell is written in Python qnd Kivy language. If you do not have Python installed on your computer, you can download it and install it from here If you do not have Kivy, you can download it and install it from here

Use 'pip' to install the required librairies

pip install keyboard mouse pyperclip mss ffmpeg pyfiglet

ffmpeg needs to be installed on your computer to use 'Capture' : https://www.ffmpeg.org/download.html

(If you're wondering why there is pyfiglet in the list well it's linked with the next feature coming, hey, hey tell me if you guess what it is and thank you for reading so much of what I wrote)

Then download the master branch on Git then run "main.py" to start using TownShell.

Shortcuts configuration

At any time, you can see the active shortcuts on Main screen. If you're not satisfied with the shortcuts provided by default, you can modify them by opening 'townshell.cfg' file.

1. Use your native notepad application to open it
2. Modify the lines related to the keyboard shortcuts to personify your TownShell. Note that 'pause' is the interval between to automatic clicks in seconds.
3. Save the file, then either restart TownShell or switch Keyboard shortcuts button.

Warning ! Beware that Townscaper use already a few keyboard shortcuts, so it's recommended not to use these ones. See: https://www.yekbot.com/townscaper-controls-useful-shortcuts-for-fast-building/

Concepts

In Townscaper saved files, each position on the grid of Townscaper is called a 'corner'. On each 'corner' you can have one or more blocks. A block is called a 'voxel'. Therefore, every Townscaper building is an assembly of corners of voxels. If you wish to read more about how Townscaper saved files are made, you can go to the following website : https://medium.com/@chrisluv/getting-hacky-with-townscaper-5a31cf7f4c6a

From clipboard to customizable dictionaries

Townscaper provides us strings through "Save to clipboard" that will be called "clip" in TownShell program. These clips contain all the information describing a given structure, allowing Townscaper's users to share their creations.

alvaro-cuesta made a very good script that converts clips to dictionary of corners and voxels using Javascript. Since TownShell is written in Python, the core part of townsclipper code has been translated and adjusted.

Configuration file

'townshell.cfg' is the configuration file of TownShell.

Keyboard shortcuts are stored inside.

Logging

In 'townshell.cfg', 'loglevel' setting determine the level of log that will be saved in 'town.log'. By default it's "INFO". It can be useful to set it to "DEBUG" when a bug is encountered and needs to be shared.

'town.log' contains only the log information related to the running TownShell. If you're looking for older log information, it's in 'town_old.log'

Kivy log files are also stored in 'log' repository

Write templates

In "townshell.cfg", the property "write_templates" allows you to have your own templates for drawing in "Path" in GUI. You can fill it with file paths or directories. example : "write_templates": ["C:\Users\someone\something.txt", "C:\Users\someone\"]. File paths need to be .txt files

To sort corners, Townshell will use the maximum height of voxels on that corners. Here is an example :

Future releases

Here are a few stuffs I'd like to add, implementation is not guaranteed :

• "Capture" : make it more intuitive, add "Register Move"

Contributing

I'm not very experienced at programming or using github, so any help on making this project easier to understand will be appreciated. Do not hesitate to report bugs.

Copyright © 2020, Álvaro Cuesta. //=> Copyright (c) 2020 Álvaro Cuesta