r/textmode

Hello, I have been working on a desktop app version for lvllvl! It is a website where users can create their own text mode art.

Unfortunately I heard online that the creator who made lvllvl, James, passed away.

I really like using lvllvl to create text mode art, but I don’t know how long the website will be up and wanted a desktop app version to be available. So I’ve made an app version, though it is still a work in progress. This version just works for Windows. 

Lvllvl was made to work in a browser. This app version runs, but some features don’t work (I mostly just put all the lvllvl files from github into php desktop).

For this desktop app version, save file doesn’t work. Open local file also doesn’t work. Share project also doesn’t work. There are other features that also may not work.

Download project works, so you can download an unfinished project and continue working on it at the lvllvl website.

Export project also works, so you can export a finished project as a png (although gif doesn’t work).

How this desktop app version was made:

I used PHP Desktop, I followed a tutorial, and I also watched a bunch of youtube videos trying to figure this out. 

You can install the lvllvl desktop app by just using the installer, lvllvl_setup.

You can also plug in all the files I uploaded on github (except the installer) into PHP Desktop and follow the tutorial listed above. I would recommend also downloading Xampp and having Apache and MySQL turned on. Xampp has php installed, which is needed to run the files through PHP Desktop.

But this isn’t necessary if you use the installer. With the installer, once the desktop app version is installed it is ready to use. The installer can be found on my Github page in Releases as lvllvl Desktop 1.0 for Windows.

I have very limited coding knowledge, and there are still other issues present (the app size is kinda large and I don’t know how to change the app icon from the default given by PHP Desktop). This is also my first desktop app that I’ve tried working on. I just wanted to help preserve what James worked on, however much I can. It is still a work in progress, but it would also be cool if anyone else wants to work on the desktop app version and improve the functionality. 

My Github page: lvllvl-desktop-app-work-in-progress-

My Github username: flowerdev88