Learning Screeps

I have much to learn, but I know I don't know a lot, so I will start there.

I thought it was about time to learn to play this game that I have had on my to do list for a while. Here I will leave notes to myself that helped me with my learning.

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Setting Up Screeps

I went the route of using VSCode and Github which involved several things:

Connecting Screeps to your Repo

Once you have created a Github account and created a repository for your screeps code and done a first commit (usually a quick markdown file) you will want to link it to your screeps account:

1. Go to the Screeps website and sign in as yourself. If you bought it via steam you will likely need to sign in that way.
2. Click your avatar in the top right corner and select Manage Account.
3. At the bottom you will find the Github section where you can link your screeps account to your repository. Click Github user to sign in, then click Sync from repository to select your newly made repository to connect to. Note you can choose to use a specific folder in that repository, but if you wish to use the root then leave the folder blank.

Setting up VSCode

To use VSCode you will want to set up your files to work with your git repository, and have JavaScript auto-complete for the screeps game.

The following steps assume that you have already installed VSCode.

Linking VSCode to Git

There are several ways of doing this based on your current situation.

To work with Git you will need to have it installed on your computer already. If you don't you can find it here.

As mentioned above, these instructions assume you already have a Github account.

If You Have Made and Initialised a Repository And Have No Code Yet

I recommend doing it this way as it will involve less steps.

Because you should have already created your repository in Github, you will be wanting to pull requesting or cloning it to your local machine into the directory of your choice:

You can also watch this video of the process.

1. Decide and create on your PC the directory that will contain your screeps code.
2. Check your settings have Git enabled checked by going to File > Preferences > Settings (Ctrl+,) then type Git: enabled and make sure that the option is checked.
3. On your Github page you will want to open the repository you created for screeps and click the Clone or download button and copy the URL, or simply copy the URL from your browser's address bar.
4. Go to the Source Control tab click on clone repository or go to your Command Palette with View > Command Palette... and type/select Git: Clone.
5. Within the Command Palette add your repository's URL.
6. You will be asked to select a folder, choose the directory you have made for your screeps code, or make create it at this point if you haven't already.

You will now have your repository (with only a readme file) pulled to that directory and opened in your VSCode.

If You Have Made and Initialised a Repository With Files And Have Code

This one takes a couple more steps, and is the way I went, so hopefully this helps others new to it like myself not have problems:

You can also watch this video of the process for the most part, it simply lacks the step of merging the repository content and your current code as they won't match.

1. Open the screeps code directory in VSCode by going to File > Open Folder and then selecting the root folder for your code. This will open your files in the Explorer tab of VSCode. You can also do this by being in the Explorer tab and simply dragging and dropping the folder into the Explorer column.
2. Go to the Source Control tab and click Initialise Repository or go to your Command Palette with View > Command Palette... and type/select Git: Initialize Repository.
3. Select the folder from the Command Palette the correct folder name that matches your code's directory (that you added previously).
4. In the Source Control tab you will see that all your code files have a U next to them, this means they are untracked at this time. You will need to write a comment in the Message field and then click the check mark to commit it.
5. Add your Github repository by going back to your Command Palette and typing/selecting Git: Add Remote.
6. Within the Command Palette give it a name, its recommended to have the same name as your Github repo.
7. You will be asked to provide the URL of the repository within the Command Palette, you can obtain this by going to your Github page, opening your screeps repository click either clicking the Clone or download button to copy the URL, or simply copying the URL from your browser's address bar. paste this into the Command Palette and press enter.
8. Before you can push this commit however, you will need to pull your already initialised repository and this will require allowing the unrelated histories (of the Github repository and your directory) to come together. Open your Terminal by going to View > Terminal (Ctrl+,).
9. First we will need to specify tracking information for your current commit, in the Terminal use the command: git branch --set-upstream-to=<name of your Github repository>/master master, just replace <name of your Github repository> with the actual name you gave your repo.
10. Next we will pull the unrelated histories together using the command git pull --allow-unrelated-histories.
11. Now we can push the commit by clicking the ... button in Source Control and selecting Push.

Now your directory and Github repository will match and have all the files.

If You Have Code But Have Not Made a Repository

If you have already got code in you directory and have already initiated your Git repository then you can create a repository and connect it to your directory by simply doing:

You can also watch this video of the process.

1. Open the screeps code directory in VSCode by going to File > Open Folder and then selecting the root folder for your code. This will open your files in the Explorer tab of VSCode. You can also do this by being in the Explorer tab and simply dragging and dropping the folder into the Explorer column.
2. Go to the Source Control tab and click Initialize Repository or go to your Command Palette with View > Command Palette... and type/select Git: Initialize Repository.
3. Select the folder from the Command Palette the correct folder name that matches your code's directory (that you added previously).
4. In the Source Control tab you will see that all your code files have a U next to them, this means they are untracked at this time. You will need to write a comment in the Message field and then click the check mark in the top right to commit it.
5. Go to your Github page to create your new screeps repository by clicking New on your repositories page.
6. Give it a Name, and choose whether it is public or private. Optionally add a description. Do NOT initialize the repository at this stage, if you do, follow from step 4 in the If You Have Made and Initialised a Repository With Files And Have Code section.
7. Click Create Repository and from the web page copy the URL showing in the Quick setup box, or just copy the URL from your browser's address bar.
8. Now add your Github repository to VSCode by going back to your Command Palette and typing/selecting Git: Add Remote.
9. Within the Command Palette give it a name, its recommended to have the same name as your Github repo.
10. Now paste the URL of your repository within the Command Palette.
11. You can now push your commit from the Source Control tab by pressing the ... button and selecting Push.

You are now ready to send your code to Github, and this will then be added to your screeps.

Enabling Autocomplete for Screeps

The method I used was described in this video.

However, there is also this set of instructions to install it using the Garethp/ScreepsAutocomplete repo.

I will detail the first method:

1. Install Node.js by downloading it from this link.
2. Make sure that the Add to PATH environment variable is enabled during the install as this is required for the next steps to work.
3. Open the Terminal in VSCode by going to View > Terminal (Ctrl+'). NOTE: you may have to run VSCode in Administrator mode for this to work if you get error messages.
4. Type the command npm in the terminal to make sure Node.js has been added to PATH (you should see a list of helpful messages appear if it is installed). if it isn't you will have to go and add it to your PATH.
5. Type the following 2 commands
   • npm install @types/screeps
   • npm install @types/lodash

Once done you should be able to see these API commands suggest autocomplete options while typing your JavaScript code.