This is a distributed client-server implementation where the client <-> server communication is handled through a (real-time) websocket, and both the client and server themselves run a pair of web+socket servers for local access. The "distributed" is fully committed to: not only do clients and servers not need to run on the same machine, the client doesn't even need to run on the same machine that an actual human user is on.

In a minimal setup, there are five TCP/UDP-based servers running:

The server runs one socket server for "the actual thing", which in this case is a game hub + engine.

The server also runs second socket server for real-time inspection of the game hub state, with an associated web server that allows users to fire up a browser, point it at the web server, load a minimal index.html/js payload, and use that to set up the bidirectional real-time connection to the server's socket server.

Run `npm run server and you should be presented with the following output:

> @ server [...]client-server
> node src/server/app.js

[1] Started game host on port 56581
[1] Start administrative socket server on http://localhost:56582

This shows the three servers that are running (one socket server, and one combined web+socket server), each on their own port:

• the game host is what the client connects to
• the administrative web server is what admins can load up in their browser
• the administrative socket server is the real-time component for the browser based admin view

The client runs a socket "client connection" to the server's main socket server, in order to exchange message around joining, taking actions, hub updates, etc.

The client also runs a second socket server for real-time interaction by a user of that client, with an associated web server that allows the user to fire up a browser, point it at the web server, load a minimal index.html/js payload, and use that to set up the bidirectional real-time connection to the client's socket server.

Run npm run client -- PORT_NUMBER with the PORT_NUMBER replaced by the port number used byt the game host. For example, if the server showed:

Started game host on port 56581

Then the run command would be

npm run client -- 56581

You should be presented with the following output:

> @ client [...]client-server
> node src/client/app.js "56581"

[1] Started client server on http://localhost:57647
[1] client connected

This shows the two servers that are running, on the same port:

• the web server is what a user can load up in their browser
• the socket server is the real-time component for the browser based interaction

It also shows that a connection was made to the game host, with the server showing a corresponding connection:

[1] Started game host on port 56581
[1] Started administrative server on http://localhost:56582
[72] client connected to server

       ┌ local web server (used to serve the page the browser needs to start a socket connection).
       ├ local socket server (actually handles the browser interaction).
Server ┤          ↕
       └ socket server for the game engine, handling external client connections.
                  ⇮
----------------  ║  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  ⇩
       ┌ socket client, for talking to the game engine.
Client ┤          ↕
       ├ local socket server (actually handles the browser interaction).
       └ local web server (used to serve the page the browser needs to start a socket connection).

• server is the game engine. It is the "game server".
• client is any game client. It registers with, and talks to, the game server.
• user is a human interacting with this system through a browser.

It might be confusing to read about "a server" that is also actually three servers, but I make no apologies for that. Terminology is always an issue. As a summary:

• The "game server" consists of two socket servers, a web server, and a game engine.
• The "game client" consists of a socket server, a web server, a connection to the game server, and passthrough logic.
• A "user" consists of a webpage running in a browser, with a socket connection to the client.