Josh Creek
b5e9dff33c
An adversarial review found five real defects in the Phase 5 lifecycle
work. Two were critical and both were verified against controls.
CRITICAL - a reconnecting client silently became a spectator.
_try_reclaim_slot() swapped slot.peer_id, but MatchSim caches the last
match_config and replays THAT to whoever asks. A reconnecting client in
a fresh process requested config, received the pre-disconnect peer-id
array, could not find itself, left _my_slot null and fell through to the
spectator path - no ship, no input, for the rest of the match. The
evidence was already in my own disconnect-test logs ("no slot for this
peer - spectating", my_slot_ok=false) and I dismissed it: the host-side
check only asserted the SERVER reclaimed the slot, never that the
returning client owned it. Config is now rebroadcast on reclaim.
Verified: my_slot_ok=false -> true.
CRITICAL - spectators received no snapshots at all. §6.3 says a
spectator "receives identical snapshots (the snapshot is already a
broadcast - zero extra server work)". That was only ever true of the
body SEGMENT: _broadcast_snapshot unicasts one packet per SLOT, so a
peer without a slot got nothing - no poses, no reset_gen, no
match_state byte. Spectating was entirely non-functional. The segment is
still shared, so this is one extra send per spectator. Verified against
a control: 0 snapshots and state stuck at LOADING before, 361 snapshots
and PLAYING after.
HIGH - cycling the spectator camera to the ball was a type error.
ShipCameraRig.target is declared `var target: Ship` and the rig reaches
into ship-only API, so it would have fired the moment anyone cycled past
the last ship. Cycling is ships-only; the rig already has its own
ball-cam mode for watching the ball.
MEDIUM - clients never received match_ended or overtime_started. Both
emitted only inside server-side logic, so a client froze and returned to
the lobby without a result and its timer never switched to overtime.
Derived from replicated state instead of adding two more RPCs: the
client already has the authoritative score, and the transition is the
event.
MEDIUM - the goal cinematic ignored its authoritative window. goal_tick
and resume_tick arrived and were unused; the client started a fresh
fixed-length timer on RPC receipt, so a reliable retransmit could run
the celebration past the server's window and into the next kickoff.
_goal_pause_seconds() now returns the time actually remaining, clamped
so an elapsed window cannot produce a non-positive timer.
Also added: a match_bootstrap RPC carrying state, score, clock and
reset_gen to one peer. match_config alone carries arena and roster only,
so a late joiner or reconnecting player had no score or clock until the
next goal happened to fire. It is sent on join AND on every
request_match_config retry - the join-time send has exactly the same
race match_config already had (the server sends it before the peer has
loaded the match scene and connected its listeners), which the control
run exposed: state was reaching PLAYING via the snapshot byte, not the
bootstrap.
New test: --role=client-spectator asserts a slotless peer receives the
snapshot stream, follows the lifecycle, agrees with the wire byte, and
can cycle targets without ever handing the camera a non-Ship. Verified
non-vacuous. The ball-contact steering now closes all the way to 1.2m
instead of coasting from 3m, which was missing the ball outright in
roughly 1 run in 4.
Not fixed, and still open: the 30s slot reservation is keyed on the
player's display name, so any peer can claim a departed player's ship by
choosing their name. §6.2 step 1 reserves auth_ticket for Phase 7; this
needs a real identity token, not a name.
Regression: 87 unit tests; free-flight LAN; transition gate 0.00%; ball
contact 4/4; goal cycle; full match to RESULTS/LOBBY; disconnect and
reconnect; spectator; two-bot CI.
Cosmic Clash
In "Cosmic Clash," the heart-pounding action takes place in variable gravity environments where vehicles hover just above the ground. In this thrilling spiritual successor to Rocket League, players engage in high-speed, gravity-defying matches set in the far reaches of space. Each pitch is situated in a unique environment or planet, offering breathtaking vistas and challenging terrain. But instead of cars, competitors pilot rocket-powered ships, each equipped with its own set of customisable features and special abilities.
Ships hover just above the ground, defying the laws of physics and adding an extra layer of intensity to the gameplay. With no friction to hold them back, players must master the art of control as they glide effortlessly across the pitch, executing precise manoeuvres and lightning-fast aerial tricks. With precise control and lightning-fast reflexes, players boost, drift, slam and even turn upside down on their way to victory, scoring epic goals against their opponents.
Whether you're soaring through asteroid fields, navigating treacherous alien landscapes, or battling in the depths of cosmic storms, "Cosmic Clash" delivers non-stop action and adrenaline-pumping excitement that's out of this world! Get ready to take your skills to the stars and dominate the galaxy in the ultimate celestial showdown!
Reason for being
Since Epic Games bought Psyonix, Rocket League has never been the same, and rather than releasing an Unreal Engine 5 version of the game, or giving any meaningful updates, instead item trading was removed and 'Rocket Racing' was added to Fortnite. With no one else stepping up to the plate, it falls to the Open Source Community to come up with a spiritual successor, to keep the spirit of the game alive.
Legality
The concept of 'vehicle soccer' cannot be copyrighted, but the original expression of ideas such as the specific code, art, music and narrative of a game can be. So long as all code, assets game design and other elements are made from scratch, this project will remain legal. The use of an alternative game engine, Godot, serves to ensure that this is achieved, as does the move to using space ships instead of cars as the vehicles.
Technical Information
This project is composed of two parts:
- Godot game
- C# backend
Contributing
Eventually there will be contributor guidelines, but for now open a PR and make sure it has been formatted according to the auto-formatting rules.
Gameplay
The core gameplay is still football/soccer but with vehicles, however there are key changes to the format used in Rocket League. The vehicles are now space ships, which hover above the surface of the pitch. This will impact core game mechanics, enabling near-immediate changes in direction (thanks to those spacefaring engines!), the ability to play upside down (which will change the way you interact with the ball in as-yet unknown ways), slamming down at full boost speed, and many more that will be discovered along the way.
Bots
There will be default bots available, trained using reinforcement learning, and it will be possible to train your own using a gym for submission to be included in the game itself. It will NOT be possible to connect bots to the game, and with the community itself ensuring rigorous anti-cheat measures are in place we will aim to keep it that way. Cheaters have no place here.
MVP
The first version of this game will be JUST the game, no server-side functionality at all. It will be a local only game where you can play against bots. Split-screen multiplayer could be added in a version 0.2 if demand is high enough. If there is sufficient interest then the server-side functionality can be added to enable online play, with a system in place to ensure that servers can be paid for (perhaps a cheap monthly subscription model?).
Monetisation
The aim for this project is NOT to monetise it. Rocket League saw terrible changes once the Item Shop was added, and even the costs for crates and keys prevented some members of the community from collecting items and fully enjoying the game. Instead, this game will, if it becomes successful enough to warrant online servers, only use funding to keep itself running, and in the event anyone needs to be employed full time to maintain it with a growing playerbase, to pay them a fair wage for their time. Any additional profit in any given year should be held for maintaining servers in the future should demand fall, or for any future needs of the game such as a large effort to upgrade to a new engine, anti-cheating measures, etc.