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MushroomLamp
d76691372c
**Add approved & assigned issue number here:** Resolves #4476 ## Description: Lets a private-lobby host reuse the same group for **back-to-back games without re-sharing the invite link**. **Flow:** in a private game, the host clicks a **"New lobby"** button in the top-right bar (next to pause). The game's **server** creates a fresh private lobby (same creator, default settings) and broadcasts its id to everyone still connected. Non-hosts get a one-click **"Join"** banner at the top of the screen; the host is taken straight back to the host view for the new lobby. The chain can repeat indefinitely. ### Key design decision: the server creates and broadcasts the successor lobby The successor lobby is minted by the **finished game's server**, not the host's browser. The old game's server is the only thing still connected to every player, so it has to be what announces the new lobby; because it also *creates* that lobby, the id everyone is redirected to is **authoritative**. A real lobby the server just made for the authenticated creator, not an id a client handed it to trust and fan out. The request is **creator-only** and **idempotent** per game, and every successor is wired the same way, so the group can keep playing game after game. ### How it works 1. Host clicks "New lobby" (host + private only) → confirm dialog → the client sends a `create_next_lobby` message. 2. The game server verifies the sender is the lobby creator, mints a successor private lobby on the same worker, stores it (idempotent), and broadcasts a `new_lobby` message with the new id to all connected clients. 3. Each client reacts: the host is navigated to the new lobby's host view (`/…/game/<id>?host`); everyone else sees a dismissible "Host started a new lobby — Join" banner that navigates to the join URL in one click. Two new Zod wire messages in `src/core/Schemas.ts` (`create_next_lobby`, `new_lobby`) carry the request and the broadcast. ### Screenshots <table> <tr> <td width="50%" align="center" valign="top"> <img width="220" alt="In-game New lobby button" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/9a4d4425-a7f6-4b3a-9c4f-9205300b1e5b" /><br /> <sub><b>1.</b> In-game <b>New lobby</b> button (top-right, next to pause) — shown only to the host of a private lobby</sub> </td> <td width="50%" align="center" valign="top"> <img width="320" alt="Confirmation dialog" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/fa023f5a-58e8-439b-8899-5150235a1e8c" /><br /> <sub><b>2.</b> Confirmation so a stray click doesn't pull everyone into a new lobby</sub> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" align="center"> <img width="100%" alt="Join banner for non-hosts" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7e5ef490-aa7e-4449-add9-e857fe273bde" /><br /> <sub><b>3.</b> Everyone else gets a one-click <b>Join</b> banner at the top of the screen</sub> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" align="center"> <img width="330" alt="Host view for the new lobby" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/9920b070-4ed3-41f8-9345-78778b4648a7" /><br /> <sub><b>4.</b> The host lands back in the host view for the brand-new lobby</sub> </td> </tr> </table> ### Design Decisions **A. The server creates & broadcasts the successor, not the client.** The finished game's server mints the successor and broadcasts its id. Why this and not "host's browser calls `POST /api/create_game`, then asks the server to relay the id"? - The broadcast id is **authoritative/verified**: it's a real lobby the server just created for the **authenticated** lobby creator (creator identity comes from the JWT the game already holds), not an arbitrary id a client hands the server to fan out to everyone. - The **old game server is the only thing still connected to all the players**, so it must be the one to broadcast. Having it also create the lobby keeps it to one authoritative round-trip instead of "client creates, then client asks server to trust an id it didn't make." - The server can **authorise** (only the creator) and stay **idempotent**. **B. The successor starts with default settings (not a copy of the old game).** A deliberate scope choice. The host lands in the normal host view and reconfigures. Copying the exact config would mean reverse-mapping every `GameConfig` field back into the host-modal controls, which I thought would be out of scope for this PR. Same **creator** is preserved; same **settings** intentionally is not. **C. It's a brand-new lobby, not the same game resurrected.** This directly follows @evanpelle's guidance on the issue: *"A 'lobby' is really just a game that hasn't started yet. So making a persistent lobby isn't really possible. I think instead having a simple way to transfer players to a new lobby is probably the way to go."* A `GameServer` runs exactly one game (start → end → archive), so rather than reworking that lifecycle to resurrect the old game, the server spins up a fresh successor lobby and transfers the group into it, which is also why the feature is framed as "reuse the group," not "reuse the game object." **D. The host returns via a `?host` URL flag + full reload ("attach mode").** Navigating to a normal join URL (`/game/<id>`) always lands you in the **join** view, which has no Start button. So the host can't just use the join URL. The `?host` flag routes the creator to the **host view** instead (`Main.handleUrl` → `HostLobbyModal` in "attach" mode, which binds to the existing lobby id and skips creating a new one). A full reload is used because it cleanly tears down the finished game and mirrors the existing win-screen "Requeue" button's `window.location.href` pattern. **E. Each successor can spawn its own successor (recursive factory).** The first version only chained **one** generation. A spawned lobby had no factory of its own, so the *second* "New lobby" click did nothing (button just greyed out). Fixed by `wireSuccessorLobby` (a small dependency-injected helper) that wires every successor the same way. This is the whole point of the issue ("back-to-back games"), so it has its own regression test. **F. Private-only.** The successor factory is installed **only** on the private `POST /api/create_game` path in `Worker.ts`. Public games (scheduled by the master) and singleplayer never get a factory, so `handleCreateNextLobby` is a no-op for them. The client button is also gated on `isLobbyCreator && isPrivateLobby`. **G. In-game button + confirm; the win-modal button was removed.** An earlier version put the "New lobby" button on the win screen. I moved it to the in-game bar so the host can reuse the lobby **at any time** (without dying or waiting for the game to end), and added a **confirm** (matching the adjacent Exit button) so a stray click next to pause/exit doesn't yank everyone into a new lobby. The win-screen button became redundant and was removed. ### Testing - **Unit tests:** wire-message schema round-trips (`tests/NewLobbyMessages.test.ts`); the server handler — authorisation, broadcast, idempotency — against a real `GameServer` (`tests/server/CreateNextLobby.test.ts`); and successor **chaining** across multiple generations (`tests/server/SuccessorLobby.test.ts`). - **Full suite:** `npm test` passes — **1782 tests across 154 files**. - **Manual:** created a private lobby with multiple clients and played consecutive games via the button; verified non-hosts get the Join banner, the host lands back in the host view, and the chain works for 3+ games in a row. ## Please complete the following: - [X] I have added screenshots for all UI updates - [X] I process any text displayed to the user through translateText() and I've added it to the en.json file - [X] I have added relevant tests to the test directory ## Please put your Discord username so you can be contacted if a bug or regression is found: MushroomLamp --------- Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
OpenFront.io is an online real-time strategy game focused on territorial control and alliance building. Players compete to expand their territory, build structures, and form strategic alliances in various maps based on real-world geography.
This is a fork/rewrite of WarFront.io. Credit to https://github.com/WarFrontIO.
License
OpenFront source code is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0
Current copyright notices appear in:
- Footer: "© OpenFront and Contributors"
- Loading screen: "© OpenFront and Contributors"
Modified versions must preserve these notices in reasonably visible locations.
See the LICENSE for complete requirements.
For asset licensing, see LICENSE-ASSETS.
For license history, see LICENSING.md.
🌟 Features
- Real-time Strategy Gameplay: Expand your territory and engage in strategic battles
- Alliance System: Form alliances with other players for mutual defense
- Multiple Maps: Play across various geographical regions including Europe, Asia, Africa, and more
- Resource Management: Balance your expansion with defensive capabilities
- Cross-platform: Play in any modern web browser
📋 Prerequisites
- npm (v10.9.2 or higher)
- A modern web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, etc.)
🚀 Installation
-
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/openfrontio/OpenFrontIO.git cd OpenFrontIO -
Install dependencies
npm run instDo NOT use
npm installnornpm ibut instead use ournpm run inst. It runs the safernpm ci --ignore-scriptsto install dependencies exactly according to the versions inpackage-lock.jsonand doesn't run scripts. This can prevent being hit by a supply chain attack.
🎮 Running the Game
Development Mode
Run both the client and server in development mode with live reloading:
npm run dev
This will:
- Start the webpack dev server for the client
- Launch the game server with development settings
- Open the game in your default browser (to disable this behavior, set
SKIP_BROWSER_OPEN=truein your environment)
Client Only
To run just the client with hot reloading:
npm run start:client
Server Only
To run just the server with development settings:
npm run start:server-dev
Connecting to staging or production backends
Sometimes it's useful to connect to production servers when replaying a game, testing user profiles, purchases, or login flow.
To replay a production game, make sure you're on the same commit that the game you want to replay was executed on, you can find the
gitCommitvalue viahttps://api.openfront.io/game/[gameId]. Unfinished games cannot be replayed on localhost.
To connect to staging api servers:
npm run dev:staging
To connect to production api servers:
npm run dev:prod
🛠️ Development Tools
-
Format code:
npm run format -
Lint code:
npm run lint -
Lint and fix code:
npm run lint:fix -
Testing
npm test
🏗️ Project Structure
/src/client- Frontend game client/src/core- Deterministic game simulation/src/server- Backend game server/resources- Static assets (images, maps, etc.)
🤝 Contributing
Contributions and translations are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for the workflow, the approved-issue process, project governance, and translation info.