Reduces perceived lag over internet by broadcasting player inputs immediately
and predicting next positions on all clients before server update arrives.
Protocol changes:
- Added PLAYER_INPUT message type for broadcasting inputs
- Server broadcasts player inputs to all clients on every MOVE message
- Includes player_id, current direction, and full input_buffer (max 3)
Desktop client (Python):
- Tracks input buffers and predicted head positions for all players
- On PLAYER_INPUT: predicts next head position using buffered input
- On STATE_UPDATE: clears predictions, uses authoritative state
- Renderer draws predicted positions with darker color (60% brightness)
Web client (JavaScript):
- Same prediction logic as desktop client
- Added darkenColor() helper for visual differentiation
- Predicted heads shown at 60% brightness
Benefits:
- Instant visual feedback for own movements (no round-trip wait)
- See other players' inputs before server tick (better collision avoidance)
- Smooth experience bridging input-to-update gap
- Low bandwidth (only direction tuples, not full state)
- Backward compatible (server authoritative, old clients work)
All 39 tests passing.
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
Implemented a complete network multiplayer Snake game with the following features:
Core Game:
- Client-server architecture using asyncio for networking
- Pygame-based rendering at 60 FPS
- Server-authoritative game state with 10 TPS
- Collision detection (walls, self, other players)
- Food spawning and score tracking
- Support for multiple players with color-coded snakes
Server Discovery:
- UDP multicast-based automatic server discovery (239.255.0.1:9999)
- Server beacon broadcasts presence every 2 seconds
- Client discovery with 3-second timeout
- Server selection UI for multiple servers
- Auto-connect for single server
- Graceful fallback to manual connection
Project Structure:
- src/shared/ - Protocol, models, constants, discovery utilities
- src/server/ - Game server, game logic, server beacon
- src/client/ - Game client, renderer, discovery, server selector
- tests/ - Unit tests for game logic, models, and discovery
Command-line interface with argparse for both server and client.
Comprehensive documentation in README.md and CLAUDE.md.
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
