3DCaster 3DS

3DCaster
General
Author	Cracko298
Type	Game Engine
Version	0.9.0 Pre-Release
License	MIT License
Last Updated	2026/06/23
Links
Download
Website
Source

A "simple" Ray-Caster for Nintendo 3DS that turned into it's own Dungeon Crawler Player/Editor and Engine.

Make your own Dungeon Crawlers with weapons, treasure, enemies, and missions/story. Or a maze- (which is far less cool, but you do you).

Controls

Level select:

D-Pad Up/Down - Selection

D-Pad Up/Down - Action

A - Select

B - Cancel

Start - Exit app

In game:

R/L or D-Pad or C-Stick or Touchscreen - Camera

Circle Pad - Move

B - Sprint

A - Jump

X - Attack

Y - Change weapon

Select - Quest interaction, Open/Close door

Start - Back to level select

Screenshots

Changelog

v0.9.0

• Wall / Floor / Door Texture System
  • Added per-wall texture IDs.
  • Added per-floor texture IDs.
  • Added per-door texture IDs.
  • Added support for assigning a unique texture/style to different door types.
  • Added wall/floor/door texture data to showcase maps.
  • Floor texture data can exist in the map without forcing the floor to visually change every time the player enters a new room.
• Door System
  • Added expanded door metadata through DTX1.
  • Added grouped doors.
    • Up to 3 door tiles can act as one door.
    • Useful for wider gates while keeping doors as true 1x1 tiles.
  • Added door movement directions:
    • up
    • down
    • left
    • right
  • Added door speeds:
    • slow
    • medium
    • fast
  • Added automatic proximity doors.
    • Open when the player gets close.
  • Added key doors.
    • Require a key before opening.
  • Added toggle doors.
    • Open or close when the player presses SELECT near the door.
  • Added switch/pressure doors.
    • Open only while the switch/pressure condition is active.
  • Added showcase support for:
    • automatic 3-door gate
    • key 3-door gate
    • toggle 3-door gate
    • switch/pressure 3-door gate
• NPC Animation System
  • Added per-NPC animation support.
  • Added NPC animation states:
    • idle
    • talking
    • quest complete
  • Each NPC animation state can contain up to 3 frames.
  • NPC animations can be enabled or disabled per NPC.
  • NPC animation speeds:
    • off
    • slow
    • medium
    • fast
  • NPC animations are off by default unless enabled.
  • Added animation preview/editing support for NPC animation frames.
  • Added support for showing the selected NPC animation state/frame in the bottom-screen editor.
• Enemy Animation System
  • Added per-enemy animation support.
  • Added enemy animation states:
    • idle
    • moving
    • attacking
    • shooting
  • Each enemy animation state can contain up to 3 frames.
  • Enemy animations can be enabled or disabled per enemy.
  • Enemy animation speeds:
    • off
    • slow
    • medium
    • fast
  • Enemy animations are off by default unless enabled.
  • Added animation preview/editing support for enemy animation frames.
  • Added support for showing the selected enemy animation state/frame in the bottom-screen editor.
• NPC Interaction Changes
  • NPC dialogue now appears automatically when the player is close.
  • NPC dialogue continues typing until complete.
  • NPC dialogue stays visible while the player remains near.
  • NPC dialogue disappears only when the player walks away.
  • Pressing SELECT near an NPC is now reserved for quest interaction.
  • Pressing SELECT no longer restarts normal nearby dialogue.
  • Added quest interaction feedback:
    • QUEST COMPLETE - REWARD DROPPED
    • QUEST ALREADY COMPLETE
    • requirement/status text when the quest is not ready
  • NPC talking animations are based on being near/talking instead of repeated SELECT presses.
• Boss / Minion Changes
  • Boss-spawned minions are smaller than normal enemies.
  • Boss minions can randomly borrow art/color from enemies already placed in the level.
  • Boss minions do not inherit the original enemy's stats.
  • Boss minions keep their own simpler behavior while visually matching the level's enemy set.
• Projectile Visuals
  • Added projectile shadows.
  • Boss projectiles now visually match the grounded sprite/shadow style better.
• Editor Refactor
  • Added new source file: source/editor.c
  • Moved bottom-screen editor rendering into editor.c.
  • Moved sprite/art/animation editor rendering into editor.c.
  • Kept main raycast/3D rendering in renderer.c.
  • Reduced bottom-screen editor clutter inside renderer.c.
  • Added editor rendering support for animation frames:
    • NPC animation frame preview
    • enemy animation frame preview
    • animation state display
    • animation frame display
• Frozen Editor Preview
  • Added frozen 3D editor preview objects.
  • NPCs can be seen in the 3D view while editing.
  • Enemies can be seen in the 3D view while editing.
  • Coins/keys/pickups can be seen in the 3D view while editing.
  • Doors can be seen in the 3D view while editing.
  • Success markers can be seen in the 3D view while editing.
  • Preview objects are not interactable in editor mode.
  • Enemy AI does not run in editor mode.
  • Enemies do not chase or attack in editor mode.
  • Pickups are not collected in editor mode.
  • Doors do not auto-open from proximity in editor mode.
  • NPC/enemy dialogue does not pop up in editor mode.
  • Animation preview frames stay frozen while editing.
• BWL Format Additions
  • Added WTX1 wall texture chunk.
    • Stores wall texture IDs per tile.
    • Allows wall texture styling on a per-wall/per-tile basis.
  • Added FTX1 floor texture chunk.
    • Stores floor texture IDs per tile.
    • Allows floor texture metadata to exist in the BWL file.
  • Added DTX1 door metadata chunk.
    • Stores extra door behavior separate from the base tile map.
    • Supports per-door texture IDs.
    • Supports door grouping.
    • Supports door type.
    • Supports door speed.
    • Supports door movement direction.
  • Added NANM version 1 NPC animation chunk.
    • Stored as the 4-byte tag NANM plus version byte 1.
    • Stores per-NPC animation data.
  • Added EANM version 1 enemy animation chunk.
    • Stored as the 4-byte tag EANM plus version byte 1.
    • Stores per-enemy animation data.

v0.8.0

• Editor Workflow:
  • Added a dedicated editor tool mode system:
    • PAINT for normal tile painting.
    • SELECT for tapping/selecting entities.
    • ROOM for painting room-class overlays.
  • Added a Select Tool so NPCs/enemies can be selected directly in the editor.
    • Tap an NPC tile to open its NPC attributes.
    • Tap an enemy tile to open its enemy attributes.
    • This replaces the awkward “A + click with stats” flow.
  • Added room overlay selection to the editor UI.
  • Added room-class painting on top of regular tile data.
  • Added visual room hue/overlay support so rooms can be seen and edited separately from wall/floor tiles.
  • Added direct editing for NPC/enemy attributes after selection.
  • Added weapon editing from the menu and from NPC reward references.
• Scrollable menus / attributes (fixes)
  • Settings menu now scrolls instead of going off-screen.
  • NPC attribute editor now scrolls.
  • Enemy attribute editor now scrolls.
  • Weapon editor uses the same entity-edit framework.
  • Entity editor remembers an internal scroll row and keeps the selected row visible.
  • Long attribute lists no longer become unreachable on the bottom screen.
• Room classes / room overlays
  • Added a BWL4 room-class overlay stored separately from tile IDs.
  • Added room classes:
    • NONE
    • TREASURE
    • BOSS
    • TRAP
    • ENEMY
    • CORRIDOR
    • SAFE
    • PUZZLE
    • SECRET
  • Room classes are painted per tile and saved in the BWL4 ROM4 chunk.
  • Room classes are used by AI to decide whether it should continue chasing.
  • Corridors/hallways can now be used as AI boundaries.
  • Safe rooms can prevent AI from continuing to attack/chase through safe areas.
  • Room classes are intentionally independent from tile type:
    • A floor tile can be part of a boss room.
    • A wall tile can still carry a room class.
    • A corridor is no longer just a visual hallway; it can now affect AI containment.
• AI searching / movement
  • AI now uses room boundaries to avoid chasing forever through hallways.
  • Enemies can be limited to their own room class.
  • Corridor/hallway behavior was added so hallway enemies can behave differently from room enemies.
  • Added per-enemy Sight Range through the ENM7 format.
  • Enemies no longer rely only on the old hardcoded detection range.
  • Default sight ranges:
    • Grunt: 13
    • Captain: 16
    • Boss: 20
  • Sight range is clamped to a maximum of 40.
  • AI still respects line-of-sight checks.
  • AI still respects room boundaries.
  • Captain/boss-style AI has stronger detection behavior than basic grunts.
  • Enemy runtime speed now respects the saved Speed % attribute.
  • Added improved stopping distance/personal-space behavior.
  • Enemies should stop within their attack range instead of walking directly into the player.
  • Ranged enemies try to maintain more distance than melee enemies.
  • Enemy spacing is now affected by size/hitbox radius.
  • Cramming/clipping around the player should be reduced.
• Enemy and boss customization
  • Enemy metadata was upgraded to ENM7.
  • Added per-enemy:
    • HP
    • Attack
    • Speed %
    • Size %
    • Text speed
    • Color
    • AI rank
    • Ranged attack toggle
    • Melee/attack range
    • Attack cooldown
    • Spawn limit
    • Spawn type
    • Spawn cooldown
    • Sight range
    • Command range
    • Projectile color
    • Projectile style
    • Projectile animation toggle
    • 16x16 enemy sprite
    • 32x32 boss sprite
    • Player max HP from the enemy editor
  • Bosses can now:
    • Use custom 32x32 art.
    • Use custom projectile visuals.
    • Use animated projectiles.
    • Summon enemies or disable summoning entirely.
    • Set summon cooldown.
    • Set summon limit.
    • Use custom speed and size.
    • Use custom sight range.
  • Summoned minions were fixed:
    • They now receive a visible 16x16 sprite mask.
    • They now inherit usable AI defaults.
    • They should no longer spawn invisible.
  • Secret/no-summon bosses are now possible using spawn_kind = AI_SPAWN_NONE.
• Combat / weapons / slash system
  • Weapons are now stored per save through the WEP3 chunk.
  • Each save can customize up to 8 weapons.
  • Per-weapon fields:
    • Name
    • Damage
    • Range
    • Cooldown
    • Color
    • 8x8 icon/sprite
  • Slash behavior now follows weapon data more closely.
  • Weapon slash color/timing can differ per weapon.
  • NPC rewards can give custom weapons by using REWARD_WEAPON_BASE + weapon_index.
  • Weapon customization is saved with the level instead of being purely hardcoded.
• Damage feedback / screen shake
  • Added a Screen Shake setting.
  • When enabled, taking damage triggers a short screen shake.
  • Screen shake is saved in the app settings config as SHAKE.
  • Screen shake can be disabled from the settings menu.
  • If disabled, the shake timer is reset to zero.
• Save format / compatibility
  • New saves write magic BW4.
  • BWL4 keeps the compact tile RLE stream from BW2/BW3.
  • BWL4 adds optional chunks after the tile stream.
  • Current BWL4 chunks:
    • ROM4
    • WLD5
    • NPC5
    • ENM7
    • WEP3
    • END!
  • The BWL4 loader still supports:
    • BWL1
    • BW2
    • BW3
    • BW4
  • Older chunk versions are still parsed where supported:
    • NPCS, NPC3, NPC4, NPC5
    • ENMS, ENM2, ENM3, ENM4, ENM5, ENM6, ENM7
    • WEAP, WEP2, WEP3
  • When older saves lack newer data, defaults are generated.
  • Important: the encoder function is still named encode_bwl2_memory() in the source, but it now writes BW4. That function name is legacy.

v0.7.0

• Added editable weapon expansion:
  • Weapons can now be named individually.
  • Weapon slots were expanded.
  • Weapon icons are shown on the bottom-screen HUD.
  • Current weapon icon bounces inside its HUD box when attacking.
• Added player health support:
  • Player max health can be set by the editor.
  • Player health is shown on the bottom screen.
  • Players are no longer instantly killed by enemies.
  • High enemy damage is capped so it does not instantly erase full health.
• Added death screen behavior:
  • When player health reaches 0, the game shows a death screen.
  • Death screen displays who killed the player.
  • Player no longer instantly respawns after dying.
  • Pressing A retries from the level start.
• Added boss projectile behavior:
  • Normal enemies no longer use ranged attacks.
  • Bosses can fire visible arrow projectiles.
  • Boss arrows can damage or kill the player.
  • Boss arrow deaths show BOSS ARROW on the death screen.
• Expanded enemy and NPC art:
  • Normal enemies now use 16×16 artwork.
  • NPCs now use 16×16 artwork.
  • Bosses now use 32×32 artwork.
  • Older NPC art can be upgraded from 8×8 to 16×16.
  • NPC and enemy EDIT ART buttons now open the correct individual sprite editor.
  • New NPCs and enemies get default editable 16×16 art.
• Added enemy stat customization:
  • Enemies can have editable speed.
  • Enemies can have editable size.
  • Enemies can have editable text speed.
  • Enemy size affects rendering and shadows.
  • Bosses remain larger than normal enemies, but no longer comically huge.
• Added text typing options:
  • NPC/enemy text can use instant, slow, medium, or fast typing.
  • Text now wraps instead of cutting off early.
  • Longer NPC/enemy text is supported.
  • NPC text no longer disappears on a timer.
  • NPC text stays visible until the player walks away.
• Added bottom-screen RPG HUD:
  • Shows health.
  • Shows coins.
  • Shows keys/items.
  • Shows score.
  • Shows current weapon name.
  • Shows current weapon damage.
  • Shows current weapon icon.
  • Shows owned weapon icons.
  • Shows acquired quest list.
  • Shows enemy kill count and mission progress.
• Improved shadows:
  • Shadows were added under coins, keys, weapons, health pickups, NPCs, enemies, and bosses.
  • Shadows now scale with sprite/entity size.
  • Shadows now use visible sprite bounds instead of invisible transparent pixels.
  • Shadows are drawn more like ground decals.
  • Shadows are dithered/transparent-looking instead of solid black.
  • Shadows are slightly larger than the visible sprite width.
  • Shadows no longer follow text labels.
• Improved sprite rendering:
  • Transparent sprite pixels are ignored for shadow bounds.
  • Invisible side pixels no longer make shadows too wide.
  • Sprite perspective scaling was restored so far entities look smaller and close entities look larger again.
  • The bad “all entities are the same huge size” behavior was reverted.
• Added enemy range feedback:
  • Enemies get a slight hue/tint when they are inside the player’s current weapon range.
  • This makes it easier to tell when an attack can connect.
• Added save restriction fix:
  • L + Y save is disabled globally.
  • Players cannot save level/game state during Play or Editor using L + Y.
• Added new save/load data:
  • Newer chunks support expanded NPC art, enemy art, player health, weapon names, enemy stats, and text-speed settings.
  • Older save chunks still load where possible.

v0.6.0

• Input / Editor Fixes
  • Y button reload/reset bug fixed
    • Plain Y no longer reloads the level and resets the player position.
    • L + Y can still be used for saving.
  • Editor safety fix
    • START only saves/exits when the player is on the main editor screen.
    • If the player is inside NPC, enemy, weapon, or sprite editor screens, it now tells them to press B to back out first.
• NPC Improvements
  • NPC text improvements
    • NPC text was moved lower so it does not float too high above the character.
    • NEAR NPC text range was increased significantly, around 3x farther.
    • NPC interaction/select distance was relaxed so talking to NPCs is easier.
• Sprite / Rendering Fixes
  • Sprite visibility/depth fixes
    • Items, NPCs, enemies, and pickups now use better depth handling.
    • Transparent parts of coins/items no longer block enemies behind them.
    • Sprites no longer render as thin vertical lines.
    • Closer sprites are prioritized so far sprites do not draw over near ones.
    • Items, NPCs, and enemies are more visible when they are actually in front of the player.
  • Jump anchoring fix
    • Enemies, NPCs, coins, and keys no longer follow the camera when the player jumps.
    • They now stay anchored in world space.
  • Floating pickups
    • Coins and keys now float around eye-level like classic pickups.
    • They still stay world-anchored and do not move with the player’s jump.
  • Platform visibility fixes
    • Platforms no longer block sprites behind their invisible/full-column area.
    • Platforms were adjusted so walls behind platforms can render better instead of the platform behaving like a full wall.
  • Crosshair added
    • A center crosshair was added to the top screen.
• Combat Feedback
  • Enemy hit/death feedback
    • Enemies wiggle when hit.
    • Enemies squish when dying.
    • Dead enemies disappear after the death/squish animation.
    • Enemy health is always visible when enemies are rendered.
  • Slash effect added/improved
    • Attacking now shows a slash effect.
    • The slash effect was changed from a moving streak into a centered slash motion.
    • Added 3 slash variants.
    • Slash types cycle so the same slash should not be used twice in a row.
    • Crosshair stays centered and draws cleanly over/after the slash effect.
• Success / Results System
  • Success tile changed
    • Success tile is now a floor trigger instead of a vertical billboard.
    • Walking onto it opens a results screen.
    • Results show:
      • Score
      • Enemies killed
      • Coins banked
      • Missions completed
      • Overall percentage out of 100%
• Performance Improvements
  • Render culling / visibility budget
    • Far-away items, NPCs, and enemies can be skipped instead of everything rendering every frame.
    • Things behind the player can be skipped.
    • A render budget/culling approach was added for busy maps.
  • AI throttling
    • Far-away AI can update less often to reduce stutter.
    • This helps larger maps with lots of enemies, NPCs, and pickups.
  • Pickup stutter reduction direction
    • Pickups are intended to mark themselves inactive and update state without forcing heavy immediate save/recount behavior.
    • Saves should generally happen on manual save, leaving the level, returning to menu, or timed autosave rather than every pickup.
• Boss Entities / AI Hierarchy
  • Boss entities added
    • New boss entity support.
    • Bosses can use larger 14x14 sprites.
    • Bosses can have ranged attacks.
    • Bosses can command and/or spawn simpler AI/minions.
  • AI hierarchy added
    • AI can now be categorized/customized as:
      • GRUNT
      • CAPTAIN
      • BOSS
    • Enemy editor exposes hierarchy/boss fields.
    • New ENM4 save/load chunk added for expanded enemy data.
    • Older enemy formats still load.
• Demo Maps
  • Locked Tower story demo
    • Larger integrated story/tutorial level.
    • Includes hub, quests, rewards, enemies, boss path, ending hall, and success/results tile.
  • King Tower hierarchy demo
    • Uses the AI hierarchy and boss systems.
    • Includes grunts, captains, and a detailed Wall King boss.
    • Boss has more detailed dialogue, a larger sprite, minion spawning/command behavior, and ranged attack support.
    • Includes unique NPC/enemy sprites, quests, keys, doors, rewards, story flow, and an ending/results sequence.

v0.5.0

• Add Missions, NPCs, Sprites (Custom per-world), Weapons, Story/Text System.
• Customizable Weapons
• Customizable NPCs
• Customizable AI/Enemies.
• Download the DEMO.zip and extract it to the root of the ./3ds/ folder like you would try and install 3DCaster.3dsx

v0.4.0

• New Tiles: Door, Key, Dots (Coins).
• Use keys for doors, dots are points.
• Improved AI Intelligence Slightly.

v0.3.0

• New "Game-Mode" called 'Random' which generates a random maze-like map with enemies and AI.
• Debug Mode in Settings for Developers.
• New Tiles/AI Functions:

1–6 = solid full walls
7 = platform / raised ledge
C = enemy spawn marker
D = exit / success marker
8, 9, A, B, E, F = currently placeholders

v0.2.0

• Added a "Settings" Tab, you can toggle between the following:
  • Simple Anti-Aliasing
  • "Fast Renderer" should increase performance on O3DS Consoles.
  • Simple 3D-Stereo Support.
  • Viewbobbing.
  • Level Depth Adjusting.
  • FOV Adjusting.
  • Depth of Field (Fade, Distance, Start)
• C-Stick now Controls the Camera if played on a N3DS Console.
• Touch-Screen now also controls the Camera (Not available in Editor for obv. reasons).
• Map-Zooming/Panning while editing levels, for easier creation of "levels".
• Map zooms in depending on sizing of the created "level".

v0.1.0

• Selector Screen for Level/Map.
• Backup(s).
• Simple Controls (R+L to pan camera, Circle PAD to Move, B to Sprint, A to Jump).
• Simple World Editing, Resizing, Duplicating, etc).

External links

• GitHub - https://github.com/Cracko298/3DCaster