Love2D Starter Kit with Complete Menu System

This is a fully functional Love2D Starter Kit with a complete menu system and game framework including:

• Main Menu
• Settings Menu
• Controls Menu
• Playable Snake Game

Features

Menu System

• Main menu with "Play", "Settings", and "Quit" buttons
• Settings menu with:
  • Music volume control
  • Effects volume control
  • Screen size options
  • Language selection (13 supported languages)
• Controls menu with full input customization:
  • Keyboard and gamepad support
  • Customizable key bindings for all actions
  • Reset to defaults option
• Persistent settings using Love2D's save/load system
• State management system
• Reusable UI components (buttons, sliders, dropdowns)

Sample Snake Game

• Classic Snake gameplay with modern enhancements
• Dynamic grid-based movement system
• Collision detection (walls and self-collision)
• Progressive difficulty - game speeds up as you score
• Visual sprite-based graphics for snake segments and fruit
• Sound effects for fruit eating and menu interactions
• Score tracking with real-time display
• Game over detection and restart functionality

How to Run

1. Install Love2D from https://love2d.org/
2. Navigate to this project folder in your terminal/command prompt
3. Run the command: love .

Project Structure

• main.lua - Entry point for the Love2D application
• conf.lua - Configuration settings for the Love2D application
• src/ - Source code directory
  • states/ - Contains all game state implementations
    • gameState.lua - Manages game settings and localization
    • menuState.lua - Main menu implementation
    • settingsState.lua - Settings menu implementation
    • controlsState.lua - Controls/input settings menu
    • playState.lua - Complete Snake game implementation
  • ui/ - Contains reusable UI components
    • button.lua - Reusable button component
    • slider.lua - Reusable slider component for volume controls
    • dropdown.lua - Reusable dropdown component for selections
  • utils/ - Utility functions and helpers
    • fontManager.lua - Font loading and management
    • localization.lua - Multi-language localization system
    • soundManager.lua - Audio management and playback
    • inputManager.lua - Input handling (keyboard/gamepad)
    • json.lua - JSON parsing utilities
  • entities/ - Game entities and objects (available for expansion)
  • systems/ - Game systems like physics, audio, etc. (available for expansion)
  • constants/ - Game constants and configuration
    • gameConfig.lua - Centralized game configuration constants
• assets/ - Contains game assets
  • fonts/ - Font files (including multi-language support)
  • sounds/ - Audio files (menu sounds)
  • music/ - Background music files
  • images/ - Game sprites (snake segments, fruit)
  • shaders/ - GLSL shader files (empty - for future use)
  • maps/ - Level and map data (empty - for future use)

Localization System

The game includes a comprehensive multi-language localization system with support for 13 languages:

Supported Languages

• English (en) - Default language
• 中文 Chinese (zh) - Simplified Chinese
• हिन्दी Hindi (hi) - Hindi
• Español Spanish (es) - Spanish
• Français French (fr) - French
• العربية Arabic (ar) - Arabic (RTL support)
• বাংলা Bengali (bn) - Bengali
• Português Portuguese (pt) - Portuguese
• Русский Russian (ru) - Russian
• 日本語 Japanese (ja) - Japanese
• 한국어 Korean (ko) - Korean
• Deutsch German (de) - German
• Polski Polish (pl) - Polish

Localization Features

• Complete translations - All UI text is translated for every supported language
• RTL support - Right-to-left text rendering for Arabic
• Dynamic language switching - Change language in settings without restart
• Fallback system - Falls back to English if a translation is missing
• Validation system - Built-in validation to ensure translation completeness

Usage

-- Get localized text (uses current language setting)
local playText = gameState.getText("play")

-- Direct access to localization module
local localization = require("src.utils.localization")
local playText = localization.getText("play", "es") -- Spanish

Adding New Languages

1. Add the language code and translations to src/utils/localization.lua
2. Add the language to the getAvailableLanguages() function
3. Use localization.validateTranslations() to check completeness

Input System

The game includes a comprehensive input management system with full customization support:

Supported Input Methods

• Keyboard - Full QWERTY support with customizable bindings
• Gamepad - Xbox/PlayStation controller support with analog and button inputs
• Hybrid Support - Use keyboard and gamepad simultaneously

Input Features

• Action-based system - Map multiple keys/buttons to single actions
• Real-time remapping - Change controls without restarting
• Conflict prevention - Prevents duplicate key assignments
• Input validation - Ensures all controls remain functional
• Default restoration - Reset to default bindings option

Available Actions

• Movement: Up, Down, Left, Right (for game and menu navigation)
• Menu: Select, Back (for menu interactions)
• Game: All movement actions work in-game for Snake control

Usage

-- Check for action input (handles both keyboard and gamepad)
if inputManager.isActionJustPressed("select") then
    -- Handle select action
end

-- Access input manager for custom controls
local inputManager = require("src.utils.inputManager")

Audio System

The game includes a complete audio management system:

Features

• Music Management - Background music with volume control
• Sound Effects - Menu sounds and game audio feedback
• Volume Control - Separate music and effects volume sliders
• Dynamic Audio - Context-aware music and sound triggering

Audio Assets

• Menu background music
• Menu navigation sounds (move, select, back)
• Game sound effects (fruit eating)

Game Configuration

All game settings are centralized in src/constants/gameConfig.lua:

Configuration Categories

• Screen/Scaling - Virtual canvas and window settings
• Snake Game - Grid size, speed, difficulty progression
• Input - Timing and threshold settings
• Audio - File paths and audio configuration
• Fonts - Font definitions and sizing
• UI - Interface layout and behavior settings

Extending the Game

This is now a complete Snake game rather than just a template. To build upon it:

Game Enhancements

1. Add more game modes - Time attack, multiplayer, obstacles
2. Power-ups - Special fruits with different effects
3. Levels/Maps - Different arena layouts and challenges
4. Visual effects - Particles, animations, screen shake
5. Advanced scoring - Combo systems, high score tables

Framework Extensions

1. Add more states - Pause menu, high scores, credits
2. Create game entities - Use src/entities/ for game objects
3. Implement game systems - Use src/systems/ for physics, particles, etc.
4. Expand UI components - Add more reusable interface elements
5. Add more assets - Sprites, sounds, music, shaders
6. Enhance settings - More graphics options, accessibility features

Technical Improvements

1. Save system - Game progress, high scores, achievements
2. Networking - Multiplayer support, leaderboards
3. Performance - Optimize rendering, add object pooling
4. Platform support - Mobile controls, different screen sizes
5. Modding support - External content loading, scripting