JavaScript for 2-player interactive game-playing?

ewmayer · 2006-02-02, 01:51

One of my mini-projects over the recent Christmas holidays was to teach myself the basics of JavaScript in some way that might prove fun as well as useful. To do this, I coded a simple chess GUI that allows one to point and click to move pieces, checks legality of moves, highlights when a player's king is in check or a player leaves a piece unprotected, allows move-takeback, and so forth. Nothing fancy, but a fun exercise nonetheless.

What I'd like to do next - and I don't know if JavaScript supports this, that's why I'm asking - is to allow 2 players to play each other online. To do that, I need some way to tie the window input to each of 2 IP addresses (one for each player), and into the code for piece selection and moving - e.g. when it's black's turn to move, only black can move the mouse and click to select a piece to move. Does JavaScript support this sort of thing?

Ken_g6 · 2006-02-04, 16:29

Well, I don't think Javascript supports being a server, especially from within a browser. So you would need a (small) backend server to allow the two players to communicate. But beyond that, I think AJAX would work for you. Basically, each client would probably have to send a move to the server, via an XMLHttpRequest (or the equivalent IE6 method), and then periodically check to see if the other player made a move.

Fair warning: I haven't actually tried any AJAX yet.

Mystwalker · 2006-02-04, 19:22

Actually, the "asynchornous" in Ajax means that one does not need to periodically check for new information.
You just have a function that gets called due to a message arrival for handling it...

I also have next to no knowledge when it comes to Ajax, neither. But I'd first make sure whether there are game/P2P-communication - related frameworks already available. Asking resp. questions in a programming-centered forum might help - this subforum typically is about math-related programming discussions in my experience.

2006-02-02, 01:51	#1
ewmayer ∂²ω=0 Sep 2002 República de California 5×2,351 Posts	JavaScript for 2-player interactive game-playing? One of my mini-projects over the recent Christmas holidays was to teach myself the basics of JavaScript in some way that might prove fun as well as useful. To do this, I coded a simple chess GUI that allows one to point and click to move pieces, checks legality of moves, highlights when a player's king is in check or a player leaves a piece unprotected, allows move-takeback, and so forth. Nothing fancy, but a fun exercise nonetheless. What I'd like to do next - and I don't know if JavaScript supports this, that's why I'm asking - is to allow 2 players to play each other online. To do that, I need some way to tie the window input to each of 2 IP addresses (one for each player), and into the code for piece selection and moving - e.g. when it's black's turn to move, only black can move the mouse and click to select a piece to move. Does JavaScript support this sort of thing?

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2006-02-04, 16:29	#2
Ken_g6 Jan 2005 Caught in a sieve 5×79 Posts	Well, I don't think Javascript supports being a server, especially from within a browser. So you would need a (small) backend server to allow the two players to communicate. But beyond that, I think AJAX would work for you. Basically, each client would probably have to send a move to the server, via an XMLHttpRequest (or the equivalent IE6 method), and then periodically check to see if the other player made a move. Fair warning: I haven't actually tried any AJAX yet.

2006-02-04, 19:22	#3
Mystwalker Jul 2004 Potsdam, Germany 3×277 Posts	Actually, the "asynchornous" in Ajax means that one does not need to periodically check for new information. You just have a function that gets called due to a message arrival for handling it... I also have next to no knowledge when it comes to Ajax, neither. But I'd first make sure whether there are game/P2P-communication - related frameworks already available. Asking resp. questions in a programming-centered forum might help - this subforum typically is about math-related programming discussions in my experience.