Introduction to Havoc

Havoc is an open source multiplayer RPG game engine in node.js especially suited for realtime social web-based multiplayer games with a lot of interactive rich text. It 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).

To get started:

Follow the installation notes at github.com/plamzi/Havoc


Client Notes:

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 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.

That said, if you'd like to run your own web client, you can start by grabbing the web app source code. which is available here:

Features include:

• Modular design that can be extended with components and plugins.
• High persistence (via Sequelize ORM).
• Full localization and UTF-8 support.
• Dynamic code loading for rapid development.
• Support for social network silent authentication.
• Compatibility with third-party tools ( The Battle for Wesnoth map editor, express-admin, codebox) that can accelerate content creation.
• Implementation of a range of protocols to make sending parallel json data, user-readable text, and interactive content, easier.
• A complete set of built-in components and plugins for a generic fantasy game with player guilds, real-time combat, quest engine, item affects and crafting, and a lot more.
• Pairs with a highly responsive websocket client that can be used and customized in the cloud, or hosted locally.

License Notes:

Havoc is made available under the GPLv2 license. The gist of it is that you are free to use and modify the software, including in commercial projects, but you are not permitted to derive work from it (or make it part of a larger work) and license that work differently. Also, you are not allowed to patent derivative work.

Because Havoc is modular, it is possible to develop and publish commercial components and plugins for it, as well as closed-source extensions whose code is yours to license as you see fit. However, if you modify the extensions that come with Havoc, the rules above apply and you have to make those modifications available under GPLv2.