Driftwood RP
Partner Engineer
- Node.js
- MongoDB
- WebSockets
- REST
- Canvas
An open-source web CMS for Dungeons & Dragons, built in 2012 — similar in spirit to modern tools like Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds. Provided a collaborative space to create, manage and play D&D, with accounts, permissions, a CMS, live game streaming over WebSockets and HTML5 canvas, live chat and image uploads. One of two partners, responsible for backend, database and real-time networking.
Client was HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript and Canvas over WebSockets. Server was Node.js with MongoDB, WebSockets and a REST API, running an Express web server alongside a WebSocket server. After login, the client connected to the WebSocket server using an auth token from the REST connection; the WebSocket server then handled all real-time communication (player movement, chat, a live drawing tool, map updates, character add/remove) and pushed state to the client's HTML5 canvas. Eventually retired due to hosting costs.