Isometry

Isometry is a data-driven isometric RPG framework by Dark Mode Games. A single executable loads campaigns defined entirely in YAML or JSON, so you build a game by writing data, not code. Multiplayer is built in and driven from the command line.

Isometry is in a very young phase and needs help from talented indie contributors to grow. The best way you can help is to read the documentation, write a campaign, and share/sell it on itch.io. The second best way is donations. Thank you for your support! 

Player's guide: https://darkmodegames.github.io/guide/

Manual: https://darkmodegames.github.io/manual/

Reference SDK: https://darkmodegames.github.io/reference/

ISOMETRY IS IN BETA!

Isometry is now in open beta. This release covers roughly three months of work bringing the framework to a public, playable state — gameplay, multiplayer, authoring, and a brand-new documentation site.

Gameplay & controls

• Click to select an actor, click the ground to move, and click again to act — mouse-driven play throughout.
• Movement keys and the facing keys now update an actor's bearing and heading, so you face the way you move or aim.
• The cursor reacts to what's under it (move, target, interact).
• Actor-to-actor interactions now resolve edge-to-edge ("base to base") instead of from centers, so reach feels right.
• You can move while a dialog or menu is open; talking to someone and then walking away (or clicking empty ground) closes the conversation cleanly.
• Flying actors: actors can be set to fly over walls and obstacles, stopped only by a new impassable boundary terrain — with fly/land actions and a flying state you can check in your own logic.

Camera & map view

• A pop-out map view that opens from the bottom of the screen with its own zoom, pan (movement/look keys), and recenter-on-player.
• The world camera remembers your zoom level between sessions.
• Left-click on the map view centers the camera there.

Skills & actions

• Click to use skills from the hotbar.
• A skill's charge time can now affect action dice (e.g. scale damage by how long you held it), and the cast animation holds on its final frame while charging.
• Action parameters accept dice expressions, and resource minimums/maximums can be dice too — so values can roll at runtime.
• New particle-effect actions to attach and remove cosmetic effects on actors.
• Movement tracks accept ordered, numbered waypoints; teleport resumes travel to your original destination after the jump.

Multiplayer

• Teleports and facing now reach and replicate to the owning client correctly, so what you do shows up the same for everyone.
• A first-login hook and per-player login statistics.
• Stability fixes to actors updating correctly on everyone's screen, and joining a game while it's still loading.

Interface

• Menus (resources, skills, system, and more) now have outlined, keyboard-navigable slots, a dedicated description panel, and a theme-aware selection outline; keybind and gamepad screens are fully keyboard-navigable.
• Focus plates show an actor's group name in the group's color.
• The system info screen scrolls with the arrow keys.
• Reworked the validation-error screen and added syntax highlighting to the error log.
• Resource icons fit their slots, a placeholder shows for missing icons, and various spacing and theme-opacity polish.
• Timed-hold keybinds with a configurable hold time.

Campaign authoring

• Stronger validation: full dice-notation checking and per-action parameter checking, so mistakes surface before the game runs.
• Actions may omit their function to be animation-only or chain-only.
• Bad or missing campaign names now fail gracefully instead of crashing.
• Tiles can carry isolated navigation, and unused optional fields dissolve away on load.

Platform

• Engine upgraded for performance and stability.
• Adopted a major.commit-count version scheme.
• MacOS release binary!