Hochciv Multiplayer Server

Authoritative multiplayer backend for Hochciv, built with Node.js, Express, Socket.IO and PostgreSQL. It serves the game, runs lobbies and live games with the real game rules on the server, and handles accounts, rankings and turn-based "Rundenspiele".

📖 Full documentation: docs/

Features

• Live multiplayer for 2–8 empires: lobbies with join code and password, public list, KI seats, custom maps, turn timer, rematch, reconnects, spectators.
• Rundenspiele: asynchronous games over days, with e-mail and push notifications and a KI takeover for inactive players.
• Server-side rules: every move is checked and applied by the real Hochciv engine on the server.
• Ranking: ranked games, MMR, matchmaking, player profiles, match history.
• After the game: statistics over the rounds, replays, "since your last turn" summaries.
• Chat with emotes, map pings, reports, blocks and a word filter.
• Accounts: e-mail registration, Google and Discord login, authenticator apps, passkeys, e-mail codes.
• Discord Activity, an Android app, a mobile layer for phones, and German/English for everything.
• Admin panel for server status, users, lobbies, running games, reports and OAuth.

Details: Features · roadmap: TASKS.md

Quick start

Production (pre-built image behind a reverse proxy):

docker network create nginx
cp .env.template .env          # set at least SESSION_SECRET and BASE_URL
docker compose up -d
docker exec hochciv-multiplayer node elevate.js <your-username> superadmin

→ Deployment · Configuration

Local development:

docker compose -f docker-compose.local.yml up -d --build
# game at http://localhost:3000

→ Local setup · Testing

Documentation

Overview	Features · How it works
Bots	Writing your own bot · Bot accounts
Running a server	Deployment · Configuration · Staging · Google/Discord login · Discord Activity · Push notifications · Administration · Troubleshooting
Development	Local setup · · · · ·

Release flow in short

feature/… or fix/…  ──PR──▶  development  ──▶  staging  ──PR──▶  main  ──▶  production

Branch from origin/development, PR into development (auto-deployed to staging), test there, then PR development → main. Hotfixes: hotfix/… → main, then merge main back. → Branches and release flow

The game

HochCiv/ is timooom-hash/Hochciv with the multiplayer extension; older versions in HochCiv-v96/, HochCiv-v93/, HochCiv-v83/ keep running Rundenspiele on their rules. → How it works · Updating the game