Why a base project layout?

⭐ Works for many different project types: game, website, app.
⭐ /main lets us have supporting files excluded from Caddy, Godot, etc with zero extra config!
⭐ Avoids industry jargon.

Use ideas you like, leave ideas you dislike. The intention is to be simple adaptable starting point.

Project Layout

📂 /<group> - 🏦 Group to contain many related projects (ex: "company")
- 📂 /<name> - 💼 Project name (ex "blah.com", "fungame"). Good level to start git.
  - 📁 /main - 💻 Main project files.
    - 📁 /common - 🚚 Internal dependencies.
    - 📁 /vendor - 🚚 External dependencies.
  - 📁 /notes - 📝 Scratch pad. Can be docs, diagrams, "also" files.
  - 📁 /run - ⚙️ Files to run project: Caddy, Godot, Dockerfiles, etc.
  - ⚙️ run.sh - Task runner. Often calls into /run (Unified github /scripts directory into 1 file)

Project Ideas

Website

📂 /<group>
- 📂 /<name>
  - 📁 /main
    - 📁 /public - 🌐 Point the web server here!
      - 📁 /css - 🎨 CSS assets.
      - 📁 /images - 🖼️ Image assets.
      - 📁 /js - 📜 Javascript assets.
    - 📁 /systems - 🤖 Singletons, libraries, helpers, managers, utilities.
      - 📁 /languages - 💬 Translations, countries.
      - 📁 /tables - 🥞 Tables in data store. (models)
    - 📁 /templates - 📐 Snippets used in /urls. (views)
    - 📁 /urls - 👁 URL endpoints using 1:1 file based routing. (PHP? just use /public)

Game

📂 /<group>
- 📂 /<name>
  - 📁 /release - 🚢 Releaseable builds (if applicable).

Versioning

📂 /<group>
- 📂 /<name>
  - 📁 /main
  - 📁 /demo

Stages / Environments

Why move away from dev / staging / production ?
- Reduced ambiguity. Remove industry jargon.
- Better applied to non-developer teams (ex: art)
- Better applied to Task Board categories.
- Better applied to web, game and apps.
🛠 work - Development.
- Environments for working.
- "workspace" ... "workstation" ... "workflow"
🔬 test - Review, feedback, staging.
- Environments where feedback, reviews, testing and benchmarks happen.
- "The feature is in testing."
- Deploy to Testing: test.yml
🌎 live - Release, production, shipping.
- Environments available to customers.
- You "release" to the live environment.
- "The feature is live." - Super obvious.
- "The bug is live." - Super obvious.
- Deploy to Live: live.yml

Task Board (Kanban)

Can be good to adjust these depending on the team (developers, art, business, etc). Ex: "Testing" does not make sense for artists. However these should work for most teams.

📬 Ideas ➡️ 🚧 Filter ➡️ 🛠 Working ➡️ 👁 Feedback ➡️ 🌎 Live ➡️ 🚫 Cancelled

📬 Ideas: Stories to consider.
🚧 Filter: Pitfall reminders to be avoided, references and notes.
🛠 Working: Ideas being developed.
👁 Feedback: Test and review for release.
🌎 Live: Released and finished ideas.
🚫 Cancelled: Ideas that were not implemented for some reason.

Notes

Other considered ideas.

retiring "staging" is a big deal.
what also makes sense for game dev?
work / feedback / live
work / test / live
edit / test / live
doing / review / live
create / review / release
dev / feedback / live
dev / testing / live
dev / review / live
dev / review / release
dev / review / launch
deploy, launch, live, production, shipping / shipped, release
publish -- too much of a verb only
too common as language keywords: public, online

Synonyms for MVC for games

views: actors, entities, parts
controllers: scenes, sets, groups
models: data, state, records, resources
libraries: managers, directors, common, helpers, functions

Synonyms

actors / directors / scenes
actors / directors / sets
actors / systems / scenes
parts / systems / groups
parts / systems / scenes
entitys / systems / screens
things / systems / scenes
things / systems / views
entitys / managers / screens
entitys / systems / screens
objects / managers / scenes
Godot project (Organize by feature; not type. Avoid moving things and keep the root clean!)
- 📁 /actors - Good because each entity has a consistent structure.
  - 📁 /player
    - 📜 main.gd
    - 📐 main.tscn
    - 🖼️ main.png
  - 📁 /scene_block_grass
    - 📜 main.gd
    - 📐 main.tscn
    - 🖼️ main.png
  - 📁 /enemy_b
    - 📜 main.gd
    - 📐 main.tscn
    - 🖼️ main.png
- 📁 /common - Shared resources.
  - 📁 /any - Grab bag. Keep the root clean!
  - 📁 /fonts
  - 📁 /images
  - 📁 /languages - 💬 Strings and translations.
  - 📁 /models
  - 📁 /music
  - 📁 /scripts
  - 📁 /shaders
  - 📁 /sounds
  - 📁 /vendor - 🚚 External dependencies.
- 📁 /directors - Singletons, managers, helpers.
  - 📜 any.gd - Misc utilities.
  - 📜 asset.gd - Special setup of assets.
  - 📜 camera.gd - Camera management.
  - 📜 entity.gd - Entity management.
  - 📜 level.gd - Level management.
  - 📜 main.gd - Main loop management.
  - 📜 map.gd - When and how to display various screens.
  - 📜 screen.gd - When and how to display various screens.
  - 📜 sound.gd - SFX, Music.
  - 📜 story.gd - One big switch case.
- 📁 /scenes - Good because each level has a consistent structure.
  - 📁 /planet_blah
    - 📜 main.gd
- 📁 /uis
Godot project (Organize by feature; not type. Avoid moving things and keep the root clean!)
- 📁 /common - Shared resources.
  - 📁 /any - Grab bag. Keep the root clean!
  - 📁 /fonts
  - 📁 /images
  - 📁 /languages - 💬 Strings and translations.
  - 📁 /models
  - 📁 /music
  - 📁 /scripts
  - 📁 /shaders
  - 📁 /sounds
  - 📁 /vendor - 🚚 External dependencies.
- 📁 /entitys - Good because each entity has a consistent structure.
  - 📁 /player
    - 📜 main.gd
    - 📐 main.tscn
    - 🖼️ main.png
  - 📁 /level_block_grass
    - 📜 main.gd
    - 📐 main.tscn
    - 🖼️ main.png
  - 📁 /enemy_b
    - 📜 main.gd
    - 📐 main.tscn
    - 🖼️ main.png
- 📁 /levels - Format that can be created and shared easily.
  - 📝 `planet1_level1.json"
  - 📝 `planet2_level3.json"
- 📁 /managers - Singletons, managers, helpers.
  - 📜 any.gd - Misc utilities.
  - 📜 asset.gd - Special setup of assets.
  - 📜 camera.gd - Camera management.
  - 📜 entity.gd - Entity management.
  - 📜 level.gd - Level management.
  - 📜 main.gd - Main loop management.
  - 📜 map.gd - When and how to display various screens.
  - 📜 screen.gd - When and how to display various screens.
  - 📜 sound.gd - SFX, Music.
  - 📜 story.gd - One big switch case.
- 📁 /screens - Good because each level has a consistent structure.
  - 📁 /menu
    - 📜 `main.gd
  - 📁 /planet_blah
    - 📜 main.gd
- 📁 /uis

gnat/project_layout.md