Scrabble-Server

Scrabble Server is a 2-Player Websockets Scrabble Judging Server. This project is made for the Spring 2019 Machine Intelligence Course (CMPN402) (Previously for CMPN402/CMP402A Fall 2018) in Computer Engineering Program at Cairo University Faculty of Engineering.

The server uses Websockets protocol version 13 as defined by RFC6455 (https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6455)

Communication Details can found in this document.

WARNING: When running the server, place it in a folder where it has permission to create folders and write files. This permission is needed to save logs and checkpoints.

How to run and build

Before running or packaging the server:

• To install the dependencies, run: npm install.
• To build the renderer, run: npm run production (See Laravel Mix for more options).

To run the server or an example:

• To run the server, run: npm run start.
• To test scrabble game only, run: node ./examples/console-scrabble.js [seed].
• To run the console client, run: node ./examples/client.js [name] [port=8080] [host=127.0.0.1].

Additional Options

• To run tests, run: npm run test.
• To package the server for distribution, run: npm run dist.
• To package the console client into an exe, run: npm run pack-client.

Configuration

Server configuration is found in config.json, which contains the following configurations:

• host: can be 127.0.0.1 if the server and the client are on the same machine (useful for debugging) and must be 0.0.0.0 if the clients will run on a seperate machine (NOTE: you can get your machine's ip on the local network using ipconfig).
• port: defines the port to which the server will listen.
• ping interval: defines the time interval for the ping/pong handshake in the heartbeat system (Format: MM:ss.s).
• rack size: defines the rack size for each player (currently must be 7).
• bingo: defines the bingo bonus points (should be 50 in a standard game).
• penalize remaining tiles: determines whether to penalize player remaining tiles in rack at the game end or not.
• design: defines the board design. It is a 2D Array which contains the type of each square (currently, the array size must be 15x15). The square types can be:
  • 0 - Normal Square.
  • 1 - Double Letter Square.
  • 2 - Triple Letter Square.
  • 3 - Double Word Square.
  • 4 - Triple Word Square.
• tile scores: is a dictionary that defines the score of each tile.
• tile frequencies: is a dictionary that defines how many tiles of each letter will appear in the bag.
• starting timespans: defines the starting time for each player (Format: MM:ss.s).
• challenge timespan: defines the timespan allowed for a player to challenge the opponent's move.
• penalty: defines how the penalty is calculated and contains:
  • points: defines the points deducted for every used unit for over-time (should be 10 in a standard game).
  • every: defines the time unit used to calculate penalty (should be 1 minute in a standard game) (Format: MM:ss.s).
• dictionary: defines the relative path to the word list file. The word list should contain only words separated by newline characters.

How to use the Server

After running the server, run 2 clients then press Play. If there is a saved checkpoint, you can press Pause to start from checkpoint or Restart to start from seed. If you press Stop, you can continue the game later.

How to use the Console Client

Run: node ./examples/client.js [name] [port=8080] [host=127.0.0.1]. If the client and server are on the same device, you can use the default host (127.0.0.1). Otherwise, you need to find the Server IP by running ipconfig on the host machine.

The client can play their turn using on of the following commands:

• PASS
• EXCHANGE [Tiles] where:
  • Tiles must contain at least one tile and each tile is written in Uppercase and blanks is written as an underscore.
• PLAY [Column] [Row] [Direction] [Tiles] [Score] where:
  • Column and Row is where to put the first tile. Column can be a letter from A to O and Row can be a number from 1 to 15.
  • Direction defines where the remaining tiles will be placed relative to the first tile and it can R for Right or D for Down.
  • Tiles are the placed tile and can be a letter from A-Z (or a-z if the tile is originally a blank).
  • Score is the number of points gathered by this move.

The client must also reply to the opponent's play with one of the following commands:

• OK to approve his move.
• CHALLENGE to challenge his move.
• If the challenge period ends before you send a reply, it will be considered an approval.

License

The project is available as open source under the terms of the MIT License.