Hi everyone,
I wanted to let this community know about a new resource designed to help indie game devs with ideas and energy that far outstrip their limited resources.
Havoc is a new open source (GPLv2-licensed) multiplayer RPG game server written in node.js (JavaScript). It is especially suited for realtime social web-based multiplayer games with a lot of interactive rich text. It is geared towards small teams of enthusiasts who wish to create full-featured worlds under severe budget limitations and with minimal graphical assets.
The bundled components aim to handle all common user actions and interactions through character creation, with an emphasis on competitive player factions. Havoc does not include a physics or particle engine—it comes bundled with a hexagonal world map in which any number of entities can occupy the same hex (maps are linked via portals). There is no requirement for gameplay clients to have any kind of animation—they can be customized entirely in HTML5 + CSS3, which lowers the entry bar even more.
Although Havoc can be easily adapted to drive any client, it is specifically designed to work out of the box with the web app at http://www.cloudgamer.org/. The cloud app allows for deep customizations (and collaborations) via online tools after free site registration. Customizing the cloud app gives you the advantage of receiving automatic improvements without the need to host and maintain your own client. But if you want to branch out completely, the code for the app is also open source and available in a separate repository.
In parallel to developing the core engine, I am working on a web-based game using Havoc that I hope will soon make its way on to Kongregate and Facebook.
If you have any questions or productive feedback to share, you can do so here or (better) on the official Havoc forum: http://www.cloudgamer.org/forums
To view / grab the server and web app code: https://github.com/plamzi
Best regards,
Plamzi
http://www.cloudgamer.org
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