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Roadmap

Development is staged toward practical compatibility with games made in current Bitsy versions.

Phases

  • [x] Phase 0 — Foundation

    • [x] .bitsy parser and in-memory Game model
    • [x] Host interface and MockHost
    • [x] Unit tests against sample game files

  • [x] Phase 1 — Playable core

    • [x] Avatar movement and wall collision
    • [x] Room rendering into map buffers
    • [x] Sprite and item drawing
    • [x] Exit transitions between rooms
    • [x] Basic dialog (linear text)

  • [x] Phase 2 — Scripting & state

    • [x] Variables (numbers and strings)
    • [x] Conditional dialog branches
    • [x] Item give/take and inventory
    • [x] Endings

  • [x] Phase 3 — Polish

    • [x] Animation timing
    • [x] Transition effects (video mode)
    • [x] Custom fonts
    • [x] Sound channel output
    • [x] RTL text direction

  • [ ] Phase 4 — Backends

    • [ ] raylib reference player
    • [ ] 32blit backend (community contribution welcome)

Compatibility fixtures are drawn from the Bitsy community and existing open-source parsers such as bitsy-parser.

File format compatibility

citsy targets import of standard .bitsy files exported from the editor.

Feature Target support
# BITSY VERSION header Yes
Comma-separated room format (! ROOM_FORMAT) Yes
Legacy contiguous room format (single-char tile IDs) Yes
SET vs ROOM (historical naming) Yes
Multi-frame animation Yes
Extended palettes (COL n) Yes
Variables and dialog scripting Yes
Custom fonts (FONT / .bitsyfont) Yes
TEXT_DIRECTION RTL Yes
Sound (engine generates channel params; host plays audio) Yes

Exact version targets are covered by fixtures in tests/data/. The data model page has a parser-vs-simulation breakdown.

Non-goals

  • Editor or authoring tools — use bitsy.org or compatible editors.
  • HTML export — citsy produces frames and state, not a self-contained web page.
  • JavaScript embedding — the reference engine runs on JS; citsy reimplements engine logic in native C++.
  • Full feature parity on day one — compatibility is incremental.

References

  • Bitsy — official editor and website
  • adamledoux/bitsy — reference engine and editor source (JavaScript)
  • Bitsy System API — host system layer specification
  • bitsybox — desktop runtime with SDL host implementation
  • bitsy-parser — Rust parser useful for cross-checking file format behavior
  • Bitsy Wiki / FAQ — community documentation on variables, colors, and data format