Afterburn

Afterburn is a browser-based multiplayer arcade fighter jet dogfighting game. It runs as a Vite/React/Three.js client with a Node/Express/Socket.IO authoritative game server.

The live deployment target is:

https://afterburn.akatsuki.gg

Features

• Private browser rooms with shareable room codes.
• 3D arcade jet flight with mouse aim and keyboard controls.
• Server-authoritative PvP simulation with local flight prediction and remote snapshot interpolation.
• Guns, missiles, flares, lock-on behavior, damage, respawns, scoring, and terrain collisions.
• Automatic reconnect/rejoin support for in-progress rooms.
• Static frontend deployment through nginx plus a separate realtime Socket.IO server.
• Debug performance/network/prediction overlay and network capture tools via F3.

Controls

• Mouse movement: aim instructor / steer toward the aim point
• Left click or Space: guns
• Right click: free look
• W / S: pitch
• A / D: roll
• Arrow keys or IJKL: alternate pitch/yaw controls
• Shift: afterburner
• E: missile
• F: flare
• Tab: scoreboard
• F3: debug overlay
• R / O / C while F3 is open: record, export, or clear a network capture

Local Development

Install dependencies:

npm ci

Run the dev server:

npm run dev

Open:

http://localhost:3000

The server uses Vite middleware in development, so the client hot reloads while the Node server handles Socket.IO.

Networking Model

The server owns room state and simulates the authoritative game loop. Clients send input frames, predict only their local aircraft for responsiveness, and reconcile against server acknowledgements. Remote aircraft and projectiles are rendered through a snapshot interpolation buffer using server send timestamps, clock sync, and adaptive jitter delay.

Gun hits are validated server-side against a short room history using the shooter's measured latency and interpolation delay, so high-latency players can fire at what they actually saw while combat remains authoritative. The server also queues and consumes ordered input frames instead of relying on a single latest input value.

Combat, scoring, respawns, terrain collisions, and room lifecycle decisions remain server-authoritative.

Validation

npm run typecheck
npm test
npm run build
npm run network:qa
npm run network:browser-qa

network:browser-qa launches automated Chrome clients, creates a multiplayer room, applies Socket.IO WebSocket latency profiles, and writes a report to artifacts/network-browser-qa/latest.json. Set AFTERBURN_BROWSER_EXECUTABLE=/path/to/chrome if Chrome is not installed in a standard location.

Production Packaging

Afterburn builds two container images:

• ghcr.io/osuakatsuki/afterburn-web:latest
• ghcr.io/osuakatsuki/afterburn-server:latest

The web container serves the static Vite build with nginx. The server container runs the authoritative game loop and Socket.IO endpoint.

In production, host nginx routes:

• / to afterburn-web
• /socket.io/ to afterburn-server

No Vault secrets are required for the current deployment.

Project Notes

This is an active prototype. See GAPS.md for the current gap analysis and future improvement areas.