mirror of
https://github.com/jcreek/CosmicClash.git
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Josh Creek
4ffa1543cc
Casual/ranked queues need servers allocated per match and shut down afterwards, so cost is incurred only while a match runs - while the existing Docker and CI gates keep passing unchanged. Measured against the repo's own cosmicclash-server image rather than estimated: the runtime image is ~148 MB of content, and boot to the server_started line is ~870 ms on the container's own clock. That was taken under x86_64 emulation on an arm64 host, so it is a pessimistic bound and is recorded as one - it needs re-measuring on native Linux before it sets any timeout. Two findings that would each break a naive implementation, both hit while taking that measurement: - Godot's stdout is block-buffered off a TTY. A detached container logs nothing at all - server_started does not appear even after 35s - so an orchestrator readiness probe that greps the log hangs forever. Probe the UDP socket or flush explicitly. - --port defaults to 7777 and the Dockerfile hardcodes EXPOSE 7777/udp, so several matches cannot share a host without a port range or an address per match. Being UDP, L7 ingress routing does not apply. Also records the honest tension in 'only pay during a match': a server must listen before players connect, and image pull plus scheduling can dwarf 870 ms, so the recommendation is match-level scale-to-zero over a small warm node pool rather than node-level scale-to-zero. The rule for keeping verify-phase6 and verify-enet-integration green: every allocation feature is opt-in via a ServerConfig flag defaulting to current behaviour, with a second Compose file rather than mutating compose.phase6-smoke.yml.
94 lines
4.7 KiB
Markdown
94 lines
4.7 KiB
Markdown
# Multiplayer — next work
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Short, current checklist for online multiplayer. Historical design decisions,
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implementation evidence, and completed work stay in
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[`multiplayer-todo.md`](multiplayer-todo.md).
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## Release blockers
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- [ ] **Phase 4 playtest:** a human playtest at roughly 100 ms RTT. Confirm
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that ship and ball interaction feel local and contact corrections feel like
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bumps rather than glitches.
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- [ ] **Phase 5 session:** complete a real 3v3 match with a mid-match
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disconnect and late joiner.
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- [ ] **Phase 6 external check:** run the exported Docker server and clients
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from separate machines over the internet, then play a full match. Keep this
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controlled-only until Steam identity is complete.
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## Phase 7 — Steam, identity, discovery
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- [ ] Obtain the pinned GodotSteam client/server builds and Steamworks SDK
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access described in [`STEAM.md`](STEAM.md).
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- [ ] Run `make verify-steam-templates` with the custom executables and fix
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any custom-template failures.
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- [ ] Validate a two-account Steam SDR host/join using the existing explicit
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`NetworkManager` Steam transport. ENet direct-IP must keep passing its smoke
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test.
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- [ ] Build the Steam server browser: internet, LAN, favourites, and history.
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- [ ] Add Steam auth tickets, verified Steam identity in the roster, and a
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persistent ban list. This fixes the slot-reclaim security issue below.
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## Phase 8 — casual and ranked matchmaking (1.0 launch blocker)
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Design and reasoning: [`docs/MATCHMAKING.md`](docs/MATCHMAKING.md). This is a
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different server model from the community-server one that exists today —
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players queue, a matchmaker groups them, and a server is allocated per match.
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Phase 7's Steam auth tickets are a hard prerequisite: a rating attached to a
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spoofable identity is worse than no rating.
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- [ ] Decide the rating algorithm (Glicko-2 recommended over Elo for a small
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launch population) and how a team result distributes across individuals.
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- [ ] Choose the backend language and hosting, and cost out allocated servers
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per match at expected population.
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- [ ] Stand up the backend: Steam auth ticket validation via the Steamworks
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Web API, queue, rating store, server allocator.
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- [ ] Add an assigned-roster server mode so only matched SteamIDs may claim a
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slot, replacing the first-come model.
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- [ ] Add server-authoritative match result reporting to the backend over a
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channel a client cannot forge.
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- [ ] Client queue UI: playlist select, estimated wait, accept/decline,
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connect-on-assignment, post-match rating delta.
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- [ ] Casual and ranked playlist rulesets (backfill, bots, abandon penalties,
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arena restriction — see the comparison table in the design doc).
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Server orchestration (same phase — the servers must autoscale and bill only
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for the duration of a match):
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- [ ] Choose the orchestrator (Agones on Kubernetes is the recommended
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default; it models allocation, readiness and per-match lifetime natively).
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- [ ] Fix readiness detection. Godot's stdout is block-buffered off a TTY, so
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`server_started` never appears in `docker logs` for a detached container —
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a log-grep readiness probe hangs forever. Probe the UDP socket, or flush.
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- [ ] Support more than one match per host: a per-container port from a range,
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or one address per match. `--port` defaults to 7777 and the Dockerfile
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hardcodes `EXPOSE 7777/udp`.
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- [ ] Add a no-show timeout so an allocated server that never fills abandons
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and exits instead of idling at cost.
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- [ ] Re-measure boot-to-listening on native x86_64 Linux. The repo's current
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figure is ~870 ms, measured under emulation on arm64 — a pessimistic bound.
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- [ ] Re-measure the SERVER.md sizing estimate (6–10 processes/core,
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150–250 MB RSS) under real concurrency before it sizes a bill.
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- [ ] Keep `make verify-phase6` and `make verify-enet-integration` green:
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every allocation feature is opt-in via a `ServerConfig` flag defaulting to
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today's behaviour, with a second Compose file for the allocated path rather
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than mutating `compose.phase6-smoke.yml`.
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## Known issues to resolve before public hosting
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- [ ] Slot reclaim is currently keyed by display name, so someone can take a
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disconnected player's reserved slot. Do not expose public servers before
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verified Steam identity lands.
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- [ ] Investigate occasional input loss during a long server stall; the
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existing sequence resync recovers it, but transport delivery is variable.
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- [ ] Fix the remaining `_broadcast_snapshot` packet-send stderr race.
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## Decide after the latency playtest
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- [ ] Decide whether client-only, contact-cohort shadow physics is worthwhile
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for the remaining prediction weakness.
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## Explicitly deferred
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120 Hz simulation, latency-gap measurement, audio hooks, and split-screen are
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not part of the current multiplayer release path.
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