🎮 Multiplayer Game Engine

A reusable TypeScript game engine extracted from the Territory Conquest game, designed for building sophisticated multiplayer games with real-time synchronization, resource management, and grid-based mechanics.

✨ Features

🏗️ Core Engine

• Universal Game Engine: Abstract base classes for any game type
• Resource Management: Sophisticated move regeneration and spending system
• State Management: Centralized game state with validation and transitions
• Type-Safe APIs: Full TypeScript support with comprehensive type definitions

🔲 Grid Games Specialization

• Spatial Algorithms: Advanced flood-fill and pathfinding
• Territory Mechanics: Enclosed area detection and capture
• Chunk Management: Efficient rendering for large worlds
• Mobile Optimization: Touch controls and performance scaling

🚀 Production Ready

• Modular Architecture: 6 specialized packages for different concerns
• Proven Infrastructure: Extracted from production Territory Conquest game
• Performance Optimized: Sub-100ms real-time multiplayer synchronization
• Developer Experience: Comprehensive examples and documentation

🚀 Quick Start

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd multiplayer-engine

# Install dependencies
pnpm install

# Build all packages
pnpm build

Your First Game in 5 Minutes

Create a simple Tic-Tac-Toe game:

import { GridGameEngine, GridMoveResult } from '@multiplayer-engine/grid';
import { InMemoryResourceManager } from '@multiplayer-engine/core';

class TicTacToeEngine extends GridGameEngine {
  constructor(gameId: string) {
    super(gameId, {
      gridOptions: { width: 3, height: 3, finite: true },
      resources: { max: 1, regenSeconds: 0, starting: 1 }
    });
  }

  protected createResourceManager() {
    return new InMemoryResourceManager(this.rules.resources);
  }

  async canPlaceAt(x: number, y: number): Promise<boolean> {
    const cells = await this.getCellsInRegion(0, 2, 0, 2);
    return !cells.has(`${x},${y}`); // Cell must be empty
  }

  async applyGridMove(x: number, y: number, playerId: string): Promise<GridMoveResult> {
    const changedCells = [{ x, y, owner: playerId }];
    await this.saveCells(changedCells);
    
    return {
      success: true,
      changedCells,
      affectedChunks: this.getAffectedChunks(changedCells)
    };
  }

  // ... implement remaining abstract methods
}

📦 Package Architecture

@multiplayer-engine/
├── core/           # Universal game engine interfaces & resource management ✅
├── grid/           # Grid-based game specialization with spatial algorithms ✅
├── realtime/       # WebSocket real-time multiplayer with Redis pub/sub ✅
├── rendering/      # Canvas renderer with animations & touch controls ✅
├── auth/           # JWT authentication with dual-token security ✅
└── storage/        # Universal database abstractions with Prisma ✅

Complete Package Ecosystem

@multiplayer-engine/core ✅

• GameEngine: Abstract base class for all games
• ResourceManager: Move regeneration and spending system
• GameStateManager: Centralized state with transitions
• Type Definitions: Comprehensive TypeScript interfaces

@multiplayer-engine/grid ✅

• GridGameEngine: Specialized engine for grid-based games
• Spatial Algorithms: Flood-fill, pathfinding, neighbor detection
• Territory Mechanics: Enclosed area detection and capture
• ChunkManager: Efficient operations on large grids

@multiplayer-engine/realtime ✅

• SocketManager: WebSocket connection management with rooms
• PubSubManager: Redis integration for scalable real-time updates
• StateSync: Optimistic updates with server-side conflict resolution
• ChunkUpdater: Efficient regional updates for large game worlds

@multiplayer-engine/rendering ✅

• CanvasRenderer: Hardware-accelerated 2D rendering with device pixel ratio support
• ViewportManager: Touch/mouse controls with pinch-to-zoom and panning
• AnimationEngine: Smooth animations with accessibility support (prefers-reduced-motion)
• ThemeEngine: Universal theming with dark/light/high-contrast modes
• InputManager: Unified input handling for touch/mouse/keyboard

@multiplayer-engine/auth ✅

• AuthManager: JWT-based authentication with password validation
• AuthMiddleware: Express.js middleware with built-in rate limiting
• Dual-token Security: Short-lived access tokens + HTTP-only refresh cookies
• User Management: Signup, login, password changes, session management

@multiplayer-engine/storage ✅

• GameStorage: Universal game data management interfaces
• AuthStorage: User and authentication data abstractions
• PrismaImplementations: Production-ready Prisma database integration
• Optimistic Locking: State versioning for concurrent updates

🎯 Examples

Chess Game (~100 lines)

See complete implementation in examples/chess/:

import { ChessEngine } from './examples/chess/src/ChessEngine';

const game = new ChessEngine('game-1');

// Make moves
await game.applyChessMove(4, 1, 4, 3, 'player1'); // e2-e4
await game.applyChessMove(4, 6, 4, 4, 'player2'); // e7-e5

// Check game state
const state = await game.getGameState();
console.log(`Current player: ${state.currentPlayer}`);

Run the chess demo:

cd examples/chess
pnpm dev

Territory Conquest Engine

Reference implementation showing sophisticated mechanics:

import { TerritoryEngine } from '@multiplayer-engine/grid';

const game = new TerritoryEngine('territory-1');

// Place territory cell
const result = await game.applyGridMove(10, 10, 'red');
console.log(`Changed ${result.changedCells?.length} cells`);

🏗️ Architecture Principles

Game Engine Abstraction

Every game extends the base GameEngine class:

abstract class GameEngine<TGameState, TMoveData, TGameRules> {
  // Universal move pipeline
  async makeMove(playerId: string, moveData: TMoveData): Promise<MoveResult> {
    const hasResources = await this.resourceManager.canSpend(playerId);
    const isValid = await this.validateMove(playerId, moveData);
    const result = await this.applyMove(playerId, moveData);
    await this.resourceManager.spendResource(playerId);
    return result;
  }

  // Game-specific implementations
  abstract validateMove(playerId: string, moveData: TMoveData): Promise<boolean>;
  abstract applyMove(playerId: string, moveData: TMoveData): Promise<MoveResult>;
}

Resource Management

Sophisticated resource system supporting:

• Move Regeneration: Configurable regeneration rates
• Resource Limits: Maximum capacity per player
• Spending Validation: Ensure players have sufficient resources
• Persistence: Abstract storage layer for different backends

const resourceManager = new InMemoryResourceManager({
  max: 25,           // Maximum resources
  regenSeconds: 60,  // Regeneration interval
  starting: 5        // Initial resources
});

const canMove = await resourceManager.canSpend('player1');
if (canMove) {
  await resourceManager.spendResource('player1');
}

Grid Specialization

Grid-based games get additional spatial capabilities:

class GridGameEngine extends GameEngine {
  // Spatial utilities
  get4Neighbors(x: number, y: number): GridCoordinate[]
  get8Neighbors(x: number, y: number): GridCoordinate[]
  
  // Advanced algorithms
  floodFill(startX: number, startY: number, predicate: Function): FloodFillRegion
  findEnclosedAreas(cellMap: Map<string, string>, playerColour: string): GridCell[]
  
  // Performance optimization
  getAffectedChunks(changedCells: GridCell[]): string[]
}

🎮 Game Examples

Implemented Games

1. Chess (examples/chess/)

   • Turn-based strategy using 8x8 finite grid
   • Complete piece movement validation
   • Demonstrates resource management for turn control
   • Lines of game-specific code: ~200

2. Territory Conquest (packages/grid/src/TerritoryEngine.ts)

   • Real-time multiplayer territory expansion
   • Advanced flood-fill algorithms for area capture
   • Diagonal tunneling mechanics
   • Lines of game-specific code: ~150

Potential Games

The engine can power many game types:

• Conway's Game of Life: Infinite grid cellular automaton
• Go: Territory control with capture mechanics
• Checkers: Diagonal movement and jumping
• Risk: Territory control with armies
• Settlers of Catan: Resource management and building

🔧 Development

Building

# Build all packages
pnpm build

# Build specific package
pnpm --filter @multiplayer-engine/core build

# Watch mode for development
pnpm --filter @multiplayer-engine/grid dev

Testing

# Run all tests
pnpm test

# Test specific package
pnpm --filter @multiplayer-engine/core test

Code Quality

# Lint all code
pnpm lint

# Type check
pnpm typecheck

🗺️ Roadmap

Phase 1 (Current) ✅

• Core engine abstractions
• Resource management system
• Grid game specialization
• Chess example implementation
• TypeScript compilation and packaging

Phase 2 ✅ Real-time Infrastructure

• Real-time Package: WebSocket multiplayer with chunk subscriptions
• PubSub Manager: Redis integration for scalable real-time updates
• State Synchronization: Optimistic updates with conflict resolution
• Conway's Game of Life: Real-time multiplayer cellular automaton example

Phase 3 ✅ Client-side Rendering

• Rendering Package: Canvas renderer with hardware acceleration
• Viewport Manager: Touch/mouse controls with pinch-to-zoom
• Animation Engine: Sophisticated animations with accessibility support
• Theme System: Universal theming with dark/light/high-contrast modes
• Input Manager: Universal input handling for touch/mouse/keyboard

Phase 4 ✅ Authentication & Storage Infrastructure

• Authentication Package: JWT + dual-token security system
• Storage Package: Universal database abstractions
• Prisma Implementations: Production-ready database integration
• Rate Limiting: Built-in protection against abuse

📚 API Reference

Core Types

interface MoveResult {
  success: boolean;
  error?: string;
  changedCells?: CellChange[];
  affectedChunks?: string[];
}

interface ResourceConfig {
  max: number;        // Maximum resources
  regenSeconds: number; // Regeneration interval  
  starting: number;    // Initial amount
}

interface GridCoordinate {
  x: number;
  y: number;
}

Key Methods

// GameEngine
abstract validateMove(playerId: string, moveData: TMoveData): Promise<boolean>
abstract applyMove(playerId: string, moveData: TMoveData): Promise<MoveResult>
async makeMove(playerId: string, moveData: TMoveData): Promise<MoveResult>

// GridGameEngine  
async canPlaceAt(x: number, y: number, playerId: string): Promise<boolean>
get4Neighbors(x: number, y: number): GridCoordinate[]
floodFill(startX: number, startY: number, predicate: Function): FloodFillRegion

// ResourceManager
async canSpend(playerId: string): Promise<boolean>
async spendResource(playerId: string): Promise<ResourceSpendResult>

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Here's how to get started:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
3. Make your changes and add tests
4. Run quality checks: pnpm lint && pnpm typecheck && pnpm test
5. Commit: git commit -m 'Add amazing feature'
6. Push: git push origin feature/amazing-feature
7. Open a Pull Request

Areas for Contribution

• New Game Examples: Implement games using the engine
• Performance Optimizations: Improve spatial algorithms
• Real-time Multiplayer: WebSocket synchronization patterns
• Mobile Optimization: Touch controls and responsive design
• Documentation: Tutorials and API improvements

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

🏆 Credits

Extracted from the production Territory Conquest game, which demonstrates:

• Real-time multiplayer: 100+ concurrent players
• Mobile optimization: Touch controls and responsive design
• Advanced algorithms: Flood-fill territory capture
• Production infrastructure: Docker, SSL, monitoring, backups

The engine distills these battle-tested patterns into reusable abstractions for building sophisticated multiplayer games.

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**🎯 Build your next multiplayer game in hours, not months.**SSH authentication configured successfully