From ea1a1939376711f31550bed84d6100fcd77a55e2480f4b0fc6075d6fc65ea5b5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: copecone <controld3785@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2026 12:28:45 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Add `README.md`

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+# ADOFAI Renderer
+
+> **Lossless, stutter-free, and high-quality video rendering for *A Dance of Fire and Ice* — even on low-end PCs.**
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> This project is currently in active development. Features, APIs, and documentation are subject to change at any time.
+
+---
+
+## 📖 About The Project
+
+**ADOFAIRenderer** was originally initiated by **square3ang** in 2024 and officially saw its first alpha release in 2025. Today, it is actively maintained under the **ADOFAI Editor Forum** as a support project dedicated to level creators.
+
+By decoupling the game's simulation timestep from wall-clock time, ADOFAI Renderer enables creators to produce smooth, ultra-high-definition game videos with perfect audio sync, regardless of hardware limitations or level complexity.
+
+---
+
+## ✨ Key Features
+
+- **🎮 Low-Spec Friendly Offline Rendering**
+  - Eliminates lag, frame drops, and stuttering caused by complex visual effects and heavy custom levels from the final video.
+  - Guarantees deterministic, frame-perfect video capture.
+
+- **🌐 Cross-Platform Support**
+  - Fully supports **Windows**, **macOS**, and **Linux** environments.
+
+- **🎥 Fully Customizable Video Output**
+  - **Independent Frame Rates**: Configure `Render FPS` and `Video FPS` independently.
+  - **Arbitrary Resolutions**: Render in standard HD/4K or any custom resolution.
+  - **Encoding Options**: Supports modern codecs (AV1, etc.) with configurable Bitrate Control (CBR, VBR, QP/Lossless) and hardware acceleration (with software fallback).
+
+- **🎵 Sample-Accurate Audio Rendering**
+  - Captures and synchronizes in-game music and sound effects directly with rendered video frames.
+  - Custom audio sample rate, channels (mono/stereo), and bitrate settings.
+
+- **⚙️ Creator-Focused Workflow & UI**
+  - **In-Game Configuration**: Easily tune video, audio, and advanced rendering parameters directly inside ADOFAI.
+  - **Preset System**: Save and load custom render configurations for different use cases.
+  - **Real-Time Monitor**: Live HUD tracking render queue, sent frames, memory usage, and throttling.
+  - **Advanced Controls**: Toggle judgement texts, adjust post-level delay, configure random seeds, or enable Non-Tile mode.
+
+- **📦 Built-in FFmpeg Integration**
+  - Integrated one-click in-game FFmpeg downloader and setup for seamless installation.
+
+- **🔌 Developer API**
+  - Offers a fluent API (`RenderSession`) allowing other mods to programmatically configure, trigger, and control rendering sessions.
+  - Full API reference and usage details are documented directly in the codebase via XML documentation comments.
+
+---
+
+## 🛠️ Requirements
+
+- **Operating System**: Windows, macOS, or Linux
+- **A Dance of Fire and Ice**
+- **[MelonLoader](https://melonwiki.xyz/)**
+- **FFmpeg** (Can be downloaded automatically via the in-game popup)
+
+---
+
+## 🏗️ Building from Source
+
+> [!WARNING]
+> The build configuration (`ADOFAIRenderer.csproj`) is currently tailored specifically for **Windows**. Building on other operating systems (macOS, Linux) may fail or require manual adjustments to MSBuild tasks and assembly reference paths.
+
+### Prerequisites
+
+- **.NET SDK** (supporting .NET Standard 2.1, e.g., .NET 8.0 SDK or newer)
+- **A Dance of Fire and Ice** with **[MelonLoader](https://melonwiki.xyz/)** (Mono runtime) installed.
+- **Environment Variable**: Set `ADOFAI_PATH` to your game directory (e.g., `C:/Program Files (x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/A Dance of Fire and Ice`).
+
+### Compile ADOFAIRenderer
+
+Once `ADOFAI_PATH` is configured in your environment:
+
+```bash
+dotnet build ADOFAIRenderer.csproj -c Release
+```
+
+The compiled mod will be output to `bin/Release/netstandard2.1/ADOFAIRenderer.dll`.
+
+---
+
+## 👥 Credits & History
+
+- **Original Author**: [square3ang](https://github.com/square3ang) (2024-2025)
+- **Current Maintainer**: [ADOFAI Editor Forum](https://git.yunizun.org/ADOFAIEditorForum) (2026)
+- A community-driven initiative supporting custom level designers and video creators.
+
+---
+
+## 📄 License
+
+This project is distributed under the terms of the MIT License. See `LICENSE` for details.