Ecosyste.ms: Awesome

An open API service indexing awesome lists of open source software.

Awesome Lists | Featured Topics | Projects

https://github.com/jtpio/jammer

Minimalist game server for your game jam
https://github.com/jtpio/jammer

game-jam game-server multiplayer

Last synced: 2 months ago
JSON representation

Minimalist game server for your game jam

Awesome Lists containing this project

README 

        
# Jammer - A server for your game jam



Jammer is a ready-to-use game server to speed up game creation in the context of game jams.



It is written in Javascript so it focuses on **web based** games.



It is designed for games with multiple players playing simultaneously on the same screen.



## Usage



### Docker



To run the server in a docker container, and mount your front-end files:



	docker build -t $USER/jammer .

	docker run -t --name=jammer -v /path/to/your/public/files:/app/public:ro -p 4321:4321 $USER/jammer



Doing so, you only have to provide the files doing the client side work, and let node serve them. This is the easiest way to get started. Even though the server will run in a docker container, it is still possible to modify it and rebuild an image, in case you have specific requirements.



The files are served from the `/app/public` folder. So if you have two files named `game.html` and `player.html`, visit [localhost:4321/game.html](http://localhost:4321/game.html) to create a game instance and [localhost:4321/player.html](http://localhost:4321/player.html) to spawn up a player.



### Install and run manually



It is also possible to run jammer manually by first installing node.js, and then:



    npm install jammer -g



Followed by:



    jammer



This will generate all the files you need in the current working directory and run *npm install* automatically:

```

public/game.html

public/player.html

public/js/gameClient.js

public/js/gameServer.js

server.js

package.json

node_modules/

```



Then:



    node server.js



And you have a server listening on **port 4321**. To start the server listening on port 7890:



    node server.js -p 7890



To generate the files at a specific path:



    jammer /path/to/destination/



## Documentation

### Examples

The generated files include an example showing the basics.



```

public/player.html

public/game.html

```



They include or the Javascript files:

```

public/js/gameClient.js

public/js/gameServer.js

```



There is a global depedency on socket.io, so make sure to include it (see example).



#### Game examples using jammer



- [TwinFusion](https://github.com/jtpio/twin-fusion): made at a game jam, but using a previous version (different API).

- [Squame](https://github.com/jtpio/squame): proof of concept for jammer.



### GameServer



``` js

var gameServer = new GameServer();

var players = {};

gameServer.on('gameID', function (gameID) {

    // display the game ID on screen for the players

});



gameServer.on('newPlayer', function (player) {

    // player connected

    var playerID = player.id;

    players[playerID] = player; // save it for later use

    player.x = Math.random() * 500;

    player.y = Math.random() * 500;

    player.size = 50;



    // Player listeners

    // Example of a player event: changeSize

    player.on('changeSize', function (size) {

        player.size = size || 50;

    });



    // Send command to the player

    player.send('changeColor', '#FF0000');



    player.on('disconnect', function () {

        delete players[player.id];

    });

});

```



### GameClient



``` js

var gameClient = new GameClient();

gameClient.join(12); // join the game 12



gameClient.on('joined', function () {

    // player joined, do something with it, for example change the size

    gameClient.send('changeSize', Math.random() * 100 + 100);

});



gameClient.on('changeColor', function (color) {

  // change the color of the player

});

```



## List of defaults events and actions

### On the game side

``` js

gameServer.on('gameID', function (gameID) {

    // Do something here to display the game ID on the screen for the players

});

gameServer.on('newPlayer', function (player) {

    // A new player just joined, do something with the player object, store it for later use



    // Default events for the player

    player.on('disconnect', function () {

        // Player disconnected, do something with, remove it from the game for example

    });

});

gameServer.on('disconnect', function (player) {

    // The game disconnected, could be due to network problems, display something to the players or die silently

});

```



### On the player side

``` js

// join game number 2

gameClient.join(2);



gameClient.on('joined', function () {

   // the player joined the game, display controller or anything else

});

```



## Motivation

A game jam is all about making a great game fast, so you shouldn't spend to much time in repetitive and time consuming tasks.

If you want to go for a multi-player game, you are going to spend quite a lot of time on the network part, testing it, debugging it.



This idea popped up after using [HappyFunTimes](https://github.com/greggman/HappyFunTimes) in a game jam. HappyFunTimes is great, but is limited to a local network. The missing part for us was to be able to put the game online to make it accessible by everyone.

Jammer uses game sessions to make it work with multiple game running at the same time.



## License

MIT