Bloc is a full stack, isometric, multiplayer building game inspired by lego and Minecraft.

It is a full stack javascript app built with Node.js and Socket-io.

The game is live and can be played at https://bloc-game.herokuapp.com

User stories

MVP
As a game
So that I can exist
I want to display a block on a canvas in the browser

Version 2
As a player
So that I can make a structure
I want to put down a block when I left click the mouse

As a game
So that players can connect
I want to serve the index page on a server

As a shape
So that I can set and report my position
I want to have an X, Y and Z coordinate

As a shape
So that I can be different colours
I want to have a red, green and blue value

Full list of user stories...

Screenshots

Homepage

A small game

A large game

Demo video

Technologies & tools

Backend

Node.js: an open-source, cross-platform JavaScript runtime environment
Webpack: a JavaScript module bundler
Socket.io: a JavaScript library that allows for realtime communication between web clients and servers

Frontend

Bootstrap: a front-end web framework for designing websites
Socket.io: a JavaScript library that allows for realtime communication between web clients and servers
isomer.js : an isometric graphics library for HTML5 canvas

Database & authentication

MongoDB: an open source database that uses a document-oriented data model
Passport.js: an authentication middleware for Node

Testing & coverage

Mocha: a feature-rich JavaScript test framework
Chai: a unit testing assertion library
Sinon: a testing library for mocking and stubbing
sinon-chai: a package to use Chai assertions with Sinon
Timekeeper: a module to mock the Date class for testing
Istanbul: a JavaScript code coverage tool

Deployment

Heroku

Tools

Trello: a collaborative project management tool

Installation

Clone the repo
cd to the project folder
Run npm install
Run brew install mongodb and ensure Mongo is available locally on port 27017
Create a local MongoDB called bloc
You will need a Facebook App ID and Secret to enable Facebook sign in. This can be set up via Facebook Developers. Create a new app and set the site URL to http://localhost:8080. Create a .env file in the root directory including the following:

FACEBOOK_CLIENT_ID=[Your facebook app ID]
FACEBOOK_CLIENT_SECRET=[Your facebook app secret]

To test:

Run npm test

To run the application locally:

Run node server.js
Visit http://localhost:8080/

Potential feature improvements

Refactor and test socket-io communication layer
Refactor client javascript to MVC pattern
Extract trigonometry to geometry library
Improve responsiveness of design

Credits

Bloc was built by Sophie Mclean, Christos Paraskeva, Ryan Chu and Joe Maidman as a final project for the February 2017 cohort at Makers Academy.

Sophie5 / Bloc