neko-mouse-world 0.1.6

Panda3D voxel world editor built from reusable .box assets.

neko-mouse-world

Voxel-based cubic world editor built from reusable .box files created with box-editor-view.

Showcase

The repository includes a generated castle world at examples/castle_showcase. It demonstrates a large editable scene made from a small set of reusable .box assets: a stone castle, towers, a bridge, a stream, trees, paths, windows, and layered roofs.

Installation

python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pip install neko-mouse-world --upgrade

Open the showcase world in single-player mode:

venv\Scripts\python.exe -m neko_mouse_world.server examples\castle_showcase --with-client

The showcase can be regenerated and re-captured with:

venv\Scripts\python.exe tools\generate_castle_showcase.py
venv\Scripts\python.exe tools\capture_showcase_screenshots.py

Run

Use the project virtual environment:

venv\Scripts\python.exe -m neko_mouse_world.server path\to\world-folder --host 127.0.0.1 --port 5678
venv\Scripts\python.exe -m neko_mouse_world.client --host 127.0.0.1 --port 5678 --user-id neko

If the client is started without --host and --port, it opens a modal connection dialog first. Fill in the server host and TCP port, then press OK. The optional --user-id asks the server for a human-readable user ID. If that ID is already online, the server appends _1, _2, and so on; when there is no conflict, the requested ID is used as-is. Client-requested IDs may contain only ASCII letters, digits, underscores, and hyphens. If the client does not request an ID, the server assigns the first unused positive integer string.

The world path is a folder. When info.world or boxes/ is missing, the editor creates them automatically. If info.world exists but is malformed, startup prints FormatError and exits.

For single-player convenience, run the server with a main local client:

venv\Scripts\python.exe -m neko_mouse_world.server path\to\world-folder --with-client

In --with-client mode the server runs in the background, launches one client connected to itself, and shuts down when that main client exits. The main local client requests the default user ID root.

The server accepts --udp-host and --udp-port. The default UDP port is 0, which means the OS chooses a free port. The selected UDP endpoint is negotiated over TCP. World/map changes always use TCP. Player positions first try UDP; the client sends 5 probe packets and UDP is used only when at least 3 probes succeed. If the test fails, player positions automatically fall back to TCP.

The server accepts --pin <secret> for command-console admin access. If --pin is omitted, the server generates a random nine-digit decimal PIN and prints Random Pin: <pin> to the server process stdout only; that line is not captured into the in-game server log. Any connected client may run a top-level pin("secret") from the server console, even when command permission is currently disabled for that player; this is the only command allowed without allow_cmd. When it matches, the server grants that player allow_cmd(..., true). Running pin(...) while already allowed is harmless, and a wrong secret does not remove existing command permission. Submitted pin values are redacted from server stdout, stderr, and the in-game log.

New client permissions default to the server environment variables DEFAULT_SET, DEFAULT_FLY, DEFAULT_BREAK, and DEFAULT_CMD. Each defaults to true and accepts values such as true/false, 1/0, yes/no, or on/off. These variables are read only when a client joins; changing them later affects future clients, not players who are already connected. Set the server environment variable DISPLAY_USER_ID to true or false to control whether all clients show other players' user IDs above their heads. Changing it with setenv("DISPLAY_USER_ID", false) or true broadcasts the new display setting to connected clients over TCP. Set ALLOW_CONNECT to false to refuse new client handshakes. Refused clients show Server do not allow connect. (ALLOW_CONNECT = False), stop retrying, and exit after the user clicks OK or closes the window.

During startup, the main TCP connection receives the world snapshot and an asset manifest. Missing .box assets are then downloaded over temporary parallel TCP channels that share the same client UUID and startup token. The temporary channels close after startup, leaving only the main TCP connection. Configure the count with --startup-asset-channels; use 1 to effectively disable parallel startup asset transfer. If those temporary channels fail, the client reconnects and falls back to inline asset transfer on the main TCP connection. The server also sends its neko_mouse_world package version during the initial handshake. If the client package version is different, the client shows a version mismatch dialog with both versions and exits instead of reconnecting.

The server saves world changes immediately. When the last client disconnects, it also removes .box files from boxes/ that are no longer referenced by the world.

When a client first connects to a server, it shows a loading progress bar while preparing reusable .box meshes, collision hulls, and world chunks over multiple frames. Later reconnect snapshots are synchronized in the background without showing the first-load progress overlay again.

World Format

info.world is a SQLite database containing the world grid. Each occupied world cell stores the content hash of a .box file plus an orientation value from 0..23. The hash identifies the reusable shape; the orientation only rotates that instance. The corresponding file is loaded from:

boxes/<hash>.box

The hash is the same stable digest printed by:

venv\Scripts\python.exe -m box_editor_view --hash some.box

If info.world references a missing .box file, that world cell is removed on load and the repaired world file is saved.

The server also stores each user_id's last known player position in info.world. On the next login, that saved position is negotiated during the TCP welcome handshake; if the saved spot is blocked, only z is adjusted to the highest usable surface in the same world-grid column.

.box color alpha follows box-editor-view: alpha 0 is not empty. It is rendered as an opaque RGB cube and acts as an RGB-colored point light source. The client keeps realtime point lighting capped to nearby/in-view light cubes; far or off-screen light cubes still render as opaque RGB cubes. Alpha 1..254 is transparent, and alpha 255 is opaque.

Controls

• Mouse look after the mouse is captured.
• WASD: move.
• F: switch walk and fly modes.
• Walk mode Space: jump 1.1 world units.
• Fly mode Space / Shift: move up / down.
• Right click: place the selected .box.
• When placing is allowed, the player's right hand shows the selected .box. Other players can also see that held .box in multiplayer.
• Left click: delete the targeted world box.
• Z: restore the last world box you deleted.
• Middle click: select the targeted world box type and orientation.
• E: edit the targeted world box in box-editor-view.
• Numpad 4 / 6: rotate the targeted box around the player's view-up axis.
• Numpad 8 / 2: rotate the targeted box around the player's view direction axis.
• F2 or Ctrl+S: show save status; multiplayer worlds are saved by the server.
• F5: switch first-person / third-person view.
• C: look at the world-box centroid, or the origin when the world is empty.
• ~: open the server command console.
• H: show help.
• Esc: release the mouse and show exit choices.

The server command console is available in client/server mode when no other modal window is open. Type a command in the bottom input and press Enter or click Send to send it to the server. Close the console with its top-right X button or Esc. See Server Command Console for permissions, server logs, environment variables, and the command reference.

Placing, deleting, selecting, editing, and hover highlighting only work within 10 world units of the player. The server allow_set permission controls placing, editing, restoring, and rotating existing boxes.

World boxes collide using the convex hull of their .box voxel vertices, not a full cube. In walk mode the player can step up onto obstacles up to 0.5 world units high and follows convex slope surfaces.

The default placed object is the gray N=0 single-cube .box.