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Salar Izadi
Salar Izadi

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How to Contribute to Pixalo — A Lightweight 2D Game Engine Built for Speed

#pixalo #contributing #gamedev #javascript

Thank you for contributing to Pixalo!

This guide helps developers understand how to collaborate, structure changes, and submit pull requests properly.

🧭 General Principles

  • Pixalo is a lightweight and high-performance 2D game engine. Every line of code must be purposeful, clean, and efficient.
  • Collaboration should always be respectful and professional. Please use Issues and Discussions on GitHub for communication.
  • If you plan to introduce major architectural changes, open a discussion before making any pull request.

🔀 Branching & Contribution Flow

  • The main branch represents the stable release version.
  • Each developer must fork the repository and create a new branch named development in their fork.
  • All edits and new features should be implemented on the development branch.
  • Once ready, submit a Pull Request (PR) from your development branch to pixalo/main.
  • Direct commits or PRs to main are not accepted. Only reviewed and approved merges from development are allowed. 
# 1. Fork the repository from GitHub (via web interface)

# 2. Clone your fork
git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/pixalo.git
cd pixalo

# 3. Add the original Pixalo repo as upstream
git remote add upstream https://github.com/pixalo/pixalo.git

# 4. Create and switch to your development branch
git checkout -b development

# 5. Make your changes, commit them
git add .
git commit -m "feat: improve camera performance"

# 6. Push your branch to your fork
git push origin development

# 7. Open a Pull Request from your fork's 'development' branch
#    → target: pixalo/main
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🧩 Testing Changes

There are no npm-based test commands at this time.

Developers must verify their changes by running and testing the examples inside the examples/ folder.

Ensure that all example projects run correctly, frame rates remain stable, and no regressions are introduced.

📘 Documentation Structure

Documentation is versioned and organized as follows:

wiki/
  v1/
    *.md
    CHANGELOG.md
  v2/
    *.md
    CHANGELOG.md
  ...
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  • While the project is in a specific major version (e.g., v1), only that version’s documentation may be modified.
  • All updates must be recorded in the corresponding CHANGELOG.md file (e.g., v1.1.0).
  • When a new major version is released (e.g., v2), a new folder structure will be created for it.

🧱 Code Style & Rules

The Pixalo development team is highly strict about code quality, readability, and optimization.

All code must:

  • Follow the same structural and documentation style as existing Pixalo source code.
  • Be grouped and labeled with clear comment blocks, for example: 
/** ======== LOGS ======== */
log (...args) { }
info (...args) { }
warn (...args) { }
error (...args) { }
/** ======== END ======== */
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These conventions are mandatory.

Any pull request that fails to follow them will be rejected.

🧠 Project Philosophy

Pixalo was built to be a fast, lightweight, and scalable 2D game engine.

Every contribution must serve that purpose — improving performance, structure, or developer experience.

🧾 Reporting Bugs & Requesting Features

  • Use Issues to report bugs — include your browser, OS, engine version, reproduction steps, and relevant console logs.
  • For new feature ideas, open an issue with the enhancement label and explain the motivation and potential API.
  • For general questions or coordination, use Discussions.

⚖️ Rights & Licensing

All contributors are part of the Pixalo Development Team.

Every code or documentation change you submit will be credited under your name in the project history.

The overall project ownership, branding, and core direction belong to the Pixalo team.

🎉 Final Words

Welcome to the hardworking and talented Pixalo Team!

Every commit, idea, and contribution moves this engine forward.

Code clean, test thoroughly, and keep Pixalo blazing fast 🚀

👉 Website: https://pixalo.xyz
👉 GitHub: https://github.com/pixalo/pixalo

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