Get client dependencies by running bower install in the client folder.
Get server dependencies by running npm install at the root.
Then, cd to the server folder and run node server.js.
The goal of this project is to provide a template for browser-based realtime multiplayer games, relying on websockets with nodejs backend.
After finishing my pokemon-map demo for browser-based realtime multiplayer game, I realized a few things :
- Feedback I received was really good. Pokemon was a reason of course, but the realtime MMO style in the browser also quite an impressive factor.
- It was really easy to "cheat" as a player and needed more brainstorming about security.
- The "Pokemon" part is really a small part of the code/time spent, nearly 5%
- The concept could be easily expanded to other games. We could imagine multiplayer platform games like Mario, a fighting game like Super smash bros., etc.
Because of the potential of this concept, I decided to create a template, in order to have a solid base for my next projects and (why not) other people's.
- No subscription/database. It's a template and can easily be extended to get this feature. However, I like to develop small games and to give people a try instantly. Moreover, it's already hard to find a nodejs host, let's get rid of databases.
- Room system. Some games are designed to be massively multiplayer (like in an open world), however this requires more work than just taking a template (but prove me I'm wrong).
- By default, when creating a new room, the user will be asked to choose the maximum number of players in the room. But you can remove the feature and put a constant.
- You can also extend the template to provide room options, like choosing a different map.
- Each room has its own chat.
- By default, a room can also host viewers. They can see the game like players and chat, but can't interact with the game.
- As a template game, I created a 2d sandbox where players can go left/right and jump.
- All game mechanics are on the server-side. (see GameMechanicsNotes.md, requires more thoughts)
That's it. Any comment/feedback is welcome, it's still a very early version and needs contributions to get interesting. Thanks !