Live: starcendence.dev
ft_transcendence is a full-stack, real-time multiplayer gaming platform developed as part of the 42 curriculum. The project focuses on low-latency gameplay, microservices architecture, and modern web technologies.
The platform includes:
- A 3D Pong game built with Babylon.js
- A Star Wars Pod Racing–inspired racing game
- Real-time multiplayer using WebSockets
- Live chat, tournaments, AI opponents, and user profiles
- Secure authentication with OAuth and 2FA
- A containerized microservices backend
The system is designed to be scalable, modular, and fault-tolerant, mirroring real-world production architectures.
- ⚡ Fastify Backend - High-performance server framework
- 🏗️ Backend as Microservices - Distributed architecture
- 👤 Standard User Management - Auth + profiles + friends
- 🔑 Google Sign-in - OAuth integration
- 🌐 Remote Players - WebSocket multiplayer
- 🏎️ Star Wars Racer + Matchmaking - Second game with pairing
- 💬 Live Chat - Real-time messaging
- 🤖 AI Opponent - Intelligent computer players
- 🔐 2FA + JWT - Advanced security
- 🎆 Advanced 3D Babylon.js - 3D graphics engine
- 🎨 Tailwind CSS - Styling framework
- 💾 SQLite Database - Data persistence
- ⚙️ Game Customization - Power-ups and variations
- 📊 Stats Dashboards - User analytics
- 📱 All Devices Support - Responsive design
- 🌍 Browser Compatibility - Firefox + Chrome
- 📈 Prometheus/Grafana - System monitoring
Frontend (TypeScript + Tailwind + Babylon.js)
↓
API Gateway (Nginx)
↓
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Microservices │
├─────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────┬────────┤
│ Auth │ Game │ Chat │ User │WebSocket│
│ :3001 │ :3002 │ :3003 │ :3004 │ :3005 │
└─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴────────┘
↓ ↓ ↓
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Infrastructure Services │
├─────────────────┬───────────────────────────────┤
│ Redis │ SQLite │
│ (Cache+PubSub) │ (Persistent) │
│ :6379 │ File │
└─────────────────┴───────────────────────────────┘
frontend/ UI and games
services/ Backend microservices
shared/ Shared types and utils
infrastructure/ Redis, database, monitoring
- TypeScript: Type-safe development
- Vite: Fast build tool and dev server
- Tailwind CSS: Utility-first styling framework
- Babylon.js: 3D graphics engine for games
- Fastify: High-performance Node.js web framework
- SQLite: Lightweight, reliable database
- Redis: In-memory cache and message broker
- JWT: Secure authentication tokens
- Docker: Containerized development and deployment
- Nginx: Reverse proxy and SSL termination
- Prometheus + Grafana: Monitoring and observability
nginx:80/443 → API Gateway + SSL termination
frontend:3000 → Vite dev server / Static files
auth-service:3001 → JWT, 2FA, Google OAuth, Sessions
game-service:3002 → Game engines, AI, Physics, Tournaments
chat-service:3003 → Real-time messaging, Chat rooms
user-service:3004 → Profiles, Friends, Stats, Avatars
websocket-service:3005 → Real-time events, Broadcasting
redis:6379 → Cache + PubSub messaging
sqlite:file → Persistent data storage
prometheus:9090 → Metrics collection
grafana:3010 → Monitoring dashboards
/auth/* → auth-service:3001
/games/* → game-service:3002
/chat/* → chat-service:3003
/users/* → user-service:3004
/ws → websocket-service:3005
/metrics → prometheus:9090
/grafana/* → grafana:3010
Redis Pub/Sub is used only between Game Service and WebSocket Service.
Lobby Events:
- lobby:create
- lobby:invite
- lobby:join
- lobby:leave
- lobby:kick
- lobby:ready
- lobby:start
- lobby:chat
- lobby:player:update
- lobby:quick-play
Game Events:
- game:move
- game:action
- game:pause
- game:resume
- game:end
- game:input
- game:ready
- game:start
- game:leave
- game:state
- game:event
HIGH LATENCY (Login/Setup - 80-200ms):
Frontend → game-service → auth-service (validate token)
→ user-service (get profile)
→ chat-service (join channel)
LOW LATENCY (Gameplay - 6-20ms):
Frontend → websocket → game-service (cached validation)
→ broadcast (local state)
- Server-authoritative physics (paddle movement, ball collision)
- Real-time multiplayer with lag compensation
- AI opponents with adaptive difficulty
- Tournament system with bracket management
- Ultra-low latency validation (< 1ms per input)
- Complex physics simulation (vehicle dynamics)
- Track boundary enforcement
- Advanced collision detection
- WebSocket connections for 60fps gameplay
- Redis PubSub for event broadcasting
- Cached player data for instant validation
- Cross-service communication optimized for gaming
- Auth: JWT + 2FA + Google OAuth + Session management
- Live Chat: Real-time messaging, Game invitations, User presence
- Monitoring: Prometheus metrics + Grafana dashboards + Performance tracking
✅ Independent Scaling:
- Game service: CPU-intensive (3D physics)
- Chat service: I/O-intensive (messaging)
- Auth service: Security-focused (encryption)
✅ Fault Isolation:
- If chat crashes → games continue
- If auth is slow → games use cached tokens
- Database separation prevents cascade failures
✅ Development Efficiency:
- Teams work independently on services
- Deploy services without downtime
- Technology flexibility per service
✅ Gaming-Specific Optimizations:
- Game service: Optimized for low-latency
- Chat service: Optimized for high-throughput
- User service: Optimized for complex queries
 hluiz-ma |
 jpedro-c |
 rafaelfe |
 jmeirele |