YodaStoriesNG/README.md

Yoda Stories NG

A modern reimplementation of Star Wars: Yoda Stories (1997) and Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures (1996) built with C# and SDL2.

About

Yoda Stories NG is a fan-made recreation of the classic LucasArts Desktop Adventures games. It parses the original game data files and reimplements the game engine from scratch. Both Star Wars: Yoda Stories (YODESK.DTA) and Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures (DESKTOP.DAW) are supported.

Key Features

• Dual game support - Plays both Yoda Stories (.dta) and Indiana Jones (.daw) files
• Complete data file parsing - Reads original game assets with automatic game type detection
• Procedural world generation - Each playthrough generates a unique 10x10 or 15x15 world map
• 15 mission cycle - Full mission progression with item chains and NPC puzzles
• Combat system - Melee and ranged weapons with NPC AI and ammo system
• Score system - Force Factor (Yoda) / Indy Quotient (Indy) end-game scoring
• Color palette animation - Authentic animated water, lava, and fire effects
• R2D2 help system - Context-sensitive hints from your droid companion
• Save/Load system - JSON-based save files with full game state
• Save Game Editor - Inspect and modify save files, add items to inventory
• Native menu bar - Windows-style menu integration
• Widescreen UI - Modern layout with sidebar HUD and inventory scrolling
• Xbox controller support - Full gamepad controls
• Configurable graphics - 2x and 4x scaling options
• Automated Mission Bot - AI-powered gameplay with A* pathfinding
• Complete script engine - All 30+ condition and instruction opcodes implemented
• CI/CD Pipeline - Automated builds for Windows, Linux, and macOS

Screenshots

Yoda Stories Gameplay

Indiana Jones Gameplay

Score Screen (Force Factor)

Palette Animation (Water/Lava Effects)

World Map Viewer

Script Editor

Asset Viewer

R2D2 Help System

Requirements

• .NET 8.0 SDK
• Original game files:
  • Star Wars: Yoda Stories - YODESK.DTA
  • Indiana Jones Desktop Adventures - DESKTOP.DAW (optional)
• Windows, Linux, or macOS

Building

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/YodaStoriesNG.git
cd YodaStoriesNG

# Build the project
dotnet build src/YodaStoriesNG.Engine

# Run (make sure yodesk.dta is in the data folder)
dotnet run --project src/YodaStoriesNG.Engine

Controls

Keyboard

Key	Action
WASD / Arrow Keys	Move
Shift + Direction	Pull blocks
Space	Action / Talk / Attack
1-8	Select inventory slot
Tab	Toggle weapon
O	Show mission objective
X	Travel (X-Wing)
R	Restart game
M	Toggle sound mute
Escape	Quit

Debug Controls

Key	Action
F1	Toggle Debug Overlay
F2	Toggle Map Viewer
F3	Toggle Script Editor
F4	Toggle Asset Viewer
B	Toggle Mission Bot
I	Inspect (console dump)
N/P	Next/Previous zone
F	Find zone with content

Xbox Controller

Button	Action
Left Stick / D-Pad	Move
A	Action / Talk / Attack
B	Cancel / Dismiss dialogue
X	Travel (X-Wing)
Y	Show mission objective
LB / RB	Toggle weapon
Start	Restart game
Back	Quit

Menu System

File Menu

• New Game: Small/Medium/Large/X-tra Large - Start new game with different world sizes
• Save Game - Save current progress
• Load Game - Load saved game
• Exit - Quit the game

Debug Menu

• Map Viewer (F2) - See the full world map with zone types
• Script Editor (F3) - View and analyze IACT action scripts
• Asset Viewer (F4) - Browse game tiles and characters
• Enable/Disable Bot - Toggle automated gameplay

Config Menu

• Graphics: 2x/4x Scale - Change window size and rendering scale
• Keyboard Controls - View keyboard control mappings
• Controller Controls - View Xbox controller mappings
• Select Data File - Choose which .dta file to load

World Generation

The game generates procedural worlds using the original algorithm:

Size	Grid	Puzzles	Description
Small	10x10	4-8	Quick adventure
Medium	10x10	6-12	Standard game
Large	10x10	8-16	Extended quest
X-tra Large	15x15	12-24	Epic journey

Yoda Stories Worlds

• Spaceport - Landing zone with X-Wing for travel
• Puzzle zones - Contain items and NPCs for trading
• Blockades - Require specific items to pass
• Travel zones - X-Wing connections to islands
• Islands - Remote areas (Dagobah) with special puzzles
• The Force - Guaranteed lightsaber at distance 2 from start

Indiana Jones Worlds

• Home Base - Starting location (no vehicle)
• Puzzle zones - Artifacts and NPC traders
• Blockades - Obstacles requiring items to pass
• Travel zones - Vehicle/boat connections
• Remote areas - Temples and dig sites
• Weapon cache - Guaranteed weapon near start

Score System

Upon completing 15 missions, you receive a score evaluation:

Force Factor (Yoda Stories) / Indy Quotient (Indiana Jones)

Component	Max Points	Description
Time Bonus	200	Faster completion = more points
Puzzles Solved	100	Percentage of puzzles completed
Difficulty	100	Based on puzzle complexity
Exploration	100	Zones visited vs world size

Ratings

Score	Force Factor (Yoda)	Indy Quotient (Indy)
450+	Legendary Hero!	Master Archaeologist!
400-449	Jedi Master	Professor of Antiquities
350-399	Jedi Knight	Seasoned Explorer
300-349	Padawan	Field Researcher
250-299	Force Sensitive	Museum Curator
200-249	Adventurer	Graduate Student
<200	Beginner	Amateur

Debug Tools

Map Viewer (F2)

Shows the complete world grid with color-coded zones:

• Player position highlighted with pulsing border
• Zone types: Puzzle, Spaceport, Blockade, Travel, Island
• Mission progress and current objective

Script Editor (F3)

Browse and analyze zone action scripts:

• View IACT conditions and instructions
• Click on referenced positions to highlight in-game
• Teleport to zones for testing

Asset Viewer

Browse the complete tile atlas:

• All 2000+ game tiles
• Character frames and animations
• Filter by tile type

Console Inspector (I)

Dumps detailed game state to console:

• Current zone objects and NPCs
• Tile data at player position
• Full IACT script dump
• Inventory and weapon status

Save System

Games are saved to %APPDATA%/YodaStoriesNG/saves/ in JSON format.

Save files include:

• Player position, health, inventory
• World map and zone connections
• Mission progress and puzzle state
• All game variables and flags

Mission Bot

The automated Mission Bot (press B) plays the game automatically:

• A pathfinding* for optimal movement
• Auto-combat with melee and ranged weapons
• Item collection from crates and NPCs
• Puzzle solving through item trading
• Zone exploration to find objectives

The bot displays its current task in the HUD when active.

Note: The Mission Bot is currently optimized for Yoda Stories (X-Wing travel, Dagobah missions). Indiana Jones support is planned for a future update.

Project Structure

YodaStoriesNG/
├── src/
│   ├── YodaStoriesNG.Engine/    # Star Wars: Yoda Stories
│   │   ├── Audio/               # Sound playback
│   │   ├── Bot/                 # Automated mission bot
│   │   │   ├── MissionBot.cs
│   │   │   ├── BotActions.cs
│   │   │   ├── MissionSolver.cs
│   │   │   └── Pathfinder.cs
│   │   ├── Data/                # Game data structures
│   │   ├── Debug/               # Debug tools
│   │   ├── Game/                # Core game logic
│   │   │   ├── GameEngine.cs
│   │   │   ├── GameState.cs
│   │   │   ├── WorldGenerator.cs
│   │   │   ├── MapGenerator.cs
│   │   │   ├── ActionExecutor.cs
│   │   │   ├── SaveGameManager.cs
│   │   │   └── NPC.cs
│   │   ├── Parsing/             # DTA file parser
│   │   ├── Rendering/           # SDL2 renderer
│   │   │   ├── GameRenderer.cs
│   │   │   ├── TileRenderer.cs
│   │   │   ├── Palette.cs       # Palette animation
│   │   │   └── BitmapFont.cs
│   │   └── UI/                  # UI components
│   │       ├── MenuBar.cs
│   │       ├── TitleScreen.cs
│   │       ├── SaveGameEditor.cs
│   │       ├── ControlsWindow.cs
│   │       ├── DebugMapWindow.cs
│   │       ├── ScriptEditorWindow.cs
│   │       ├── AssetViewerWindow.cs
│   │       └── ScoreWindow.cs
│   │
│   └── IndyNG.Engine/           # Indiana Jones Desktop Adventures
│       ├── Data/                # Game data structures
│       ├── Game/                # Game logic
│       ├── Parsing/             # DAW file parser
│       └── Rendering/           # Renderer with palette support
│
├── .gitlab-ci.yml               # CI/CD pipeline
└── README.md

Technical Details

Data Format

The game parses the proprietary .dta format:

Section	Description
TILE	32x32 pixel tiles with palette indices
ZONE	Map data with 3 tile layers (18x18 or 9x9)
CHAR	Character definitions and walk frames
PUZ2	Puzzle definitions for quest chains
IACT	Action scripts (conditions + instructions)
IZAX	Zone auxiliary data (NPC spawns with items)
STUP	Title screen image (288x288)

Palette Animation

The game features authentic color cycling animation for environmental effects:

Effect	Speed	Description
Water	Fast (150ms)	Blue shimmer in lakes and oceans
Lava	Fast (150ms)	Red/orange fire and volcanic effects
Forest	Slow (300ms)	Subtle foliage color shifts
Ice	Fast (150ms)	Sparkle effects on snow/ice

Different palette cycles are used for Yoda Stories vs Indiana Jones.

Action Scripts (IACT)

Zone behavior is driven by IACT scripts. All 30+ opcodes are fully implemented.

Conditions (25 opcodes):

• ZoneEntered, ZoneNotInitialized - Zone entry triggers
• HasItem, RequiredItemIs, FindItemIs - Inventory checks
• NpcIs, HasNpc, MonsterIsDead - NPC state checks
• TileAtIs, Standing, HeroIsAt, Bump - Position checks
• CounterIs, RandomIs, SectorCounterIs - Variable checks
• HealthIsLessThan, GamesWonIs, ZoneIsSolved - Game state checks

Instructions (25 opcodes):

• PlaceTile, RemoveTile, MoveTile, DrawTile - Map manipulation
• AddItem, RemoveItem, DropItem - Inventory management
• SpeakHero, SpeakNpc, PlaySound - Dialogue and audio
• MoveHeroTo, MoveHeroBy, ChangeZone - Player movement
• EnableMonster, DisableMonster, EnableHotspot - Entity control
• MarkAsSolved, WinGame, LoseGame - Game flow
• SetCounter, RollDice, AddHealth - Game variables

CI/CD Pipeline

The project includes a GitLab CI pipeline (.gitlab-ci.yml) that:

• Builds self-contained executables for all platforms from a single Windows runner
• Packages each platform into distributable zip files
• Deploys to a network share for release distribution

Build Artifacts

Platform	Runtime	Output
Windows	win-x64	YodaStoriesNG-windows-x64-{version}.zip
Linux	linux-x64	YodaStoriesNG-linux-x64-{version}.zip
macOS	osx-x64	YodaStoriesNG-macos-x64-{version}.zip

Each zip contains self-contained single-file executables for both Yoda Stories and Indiana Jones engines.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues and pull requests.

Legal

This is a fan project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by LucasArts, Disney, or any related entities. Star Wars and Yoda Stories are trademarks of Lucasfilm Ltd.

You must own a legal copy of Star Wars: Yoda Stories to use this software.

Acknowledgments

• WebFun.io - Yoda Stories file format documentation and reference implementation
• The SDL2 team for the cross-platform multimedia library
• LucasArts for creating the original game

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May the Force be with you!