This is a simple test showing the multi-player map example from now.js Being brand new to node.js, I found it tough to get it working (what is the HTML expected?, how do a serve a static javascript file? etc)
Hopefully this should help people who are new to node.js and now.js up and running quickly.
[now.js mutiplayer map] (http://nowjs.com/examples/map)
In order to serve out the HTML, CSS and Javascript I am using the express web framework (http) combined with jade and stylus for html and css templating.
This project uses the package.json for depencies:
"dependencies": {
"express": "2.5.2"
, "stylus": ">= 0.0.1"
, "jade": ">= 0.0.1"
, "now": ">=0.7.4"
}Read about each dependency here:
[express] (http://expressjs.com) - web framework for node.js
[jade] (http://jade-lang.com) - html templates
[stylus] (http://learnboost.github.com/stylus) - css templates
[now] (http://nowjs.com) - allows RMI and real time data push between clients
Check out the project from github:
git clone https://github.com/rockhowse/nowjs-multiplayer-map.git
Install dependencies using npm:
cd mowjs-multiplayer-map
npm i
- note for windows installation
If you do the command:
C:\<path-to-project>\nowjs-multiplayer-map\npm i
You will most likely get an error with node-proxy as shown below:
npm WARN node-proxy@0.5.2 package.json: bugs['web'] should probably be bugs['url']
> node-proxy@0.5.2 install C:\<path-to-project>\nowjs-multiplayer-map\node_modules\now\node_modules\node-proxy
> make
'make' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
npm ERR! error installing node-proxy@0.5.2
npm ERR! error installing now@0.7.6
npm ERR! error rolling back now@0.7.6 Error: UNKNOWN, unknown error 'C:\<path-to-project>\nowjs-multiplayer-map\node_modules\now\node_modules\___socket.io.npm\package\lib\transports\websocket'
npm ERR! node-proxy@0.5.2 install: `make`
npm ERR! `cmd "/c" "make"` failed with 1
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Failed at the node-proxy@0.5.2 install script.
npm ERR! This is most likely a problem with the node-proxy package,
npm ERR! not with npm itself.
npm ERR! Tell the author that this fails on your system:
npm ERR! make
npm ERR! You can get their info via:
npm ERR! npm owner ls node-proxy
npm ERR! There is likely additional logging output above.
This has something to do with running node-proxy in native mode on windows instead of through cygwin.
now.js has a post detailing how to remedy this [here] (http://blog.nowjs.com/running-nowjs-natively-on-windows)
Basically you do the following:
1. Install node.exe and NPM for Windows and make sure all your paths are correct
2. Install Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime (4.8 MB)
3. Download the NowJS Windows branch zip
4. Rename `Flotype-now-XXXXXX` to `now` and put that in your node_modules folder
* note * at this point you should already have an existing "now" folder inside node_modules.
Overwrite it completely with the files from the .zip
* note * the original instructions include the following
or `git clone git://github.com/Flotype/now.git` and `git checkout windows`
This works fine but if you are new to git and using different branches, the .zip method is probably the easiest.
Server:
>cd nowjs-mutiplayer-map
>node app.js
Express server listening on port 3000 in development mode
After people have been moving around a bit you should see something similar in the logs:
user connected: 1821796301114701902
user: 1821796301114701902 moved to (0, 0)
user: 1821796301114701902 moved to (0, -5)
user: 1821796301114701902 moved to (0, -10)
Client:
Open browser of choice (Chrome!):
http://localhost:3000
Move the dot around the map
Open another browser of choice (Firefox!):
http://localhost:3000
Move the dot around the map, and you should see it update in both browsers
I hope this helps someone else get the mutliplayer-map demo working off of nowjs faster than it took me =) There are a lot of steps and things to learn when starting out with node.js. I am going to be posting a step-by-step walkthrough on how I built the project on my [blog] (http://www.rockhowse.com).
-rOcK