Here's a quick tutorial on how to use this online chat demo for the NES.
You need NodeJS installed on your computer to run the chat server.
Skip this part if you already have NodeJS installed and know how to use it.
- Download NodeJS at https://nodejs.org/ and install it (you'll need to restart)
- In the
serverfolder, run the command :npm install - Then run
npm start
Congratulations, the server should now be up!
NOTE:
You can modify http server port in the index.js file.
Look for HTTP_PORT (1234 by default) and change its value (don't forget to restart the server).
To use the NES client, you need a custom version of Mesen2 or FCEUX supporting the Rainbow mapper, including the online functionnalities.
Just load the ROM rainbow-chat.nes file into the emulator, enter the IP address of the server (127.0.0.1 should work if you didn't change anything), the port (1234 should work if you didn't change anything), a username, and that should do it :)
You can now send messages to the server which will then send it to the clients. You can even add another emulator to the game for more fun.
At the top of the chat.asm file, you can comment/uncomment 1 line to hardcode IP address and port.
Values can be changed in chat-connection.asm at lines ~27-56.
The compile.bat file expects some asm6.exe executable in the same folder.
At the top of the chat.s file, you can comment/uncomment 2 lines to hardcode IP address and port.
The compile.bat file expects some executable from the cc65 suite in the bin folder (see readme.txt file in the bin folder)
OR
just update the compile.bat file to point to your files directly.
For more information on the Rainbow project, you can check its documentation here: https://github.com/BrokeStudio/rainbow-net
While this is a demo using an emulator, the thing works perfectly fine on the original hardware with the Rainbow cartridge.
Feel free to give your feedback, and don't hesitate to create your own ROM and server too!
You can email me at contact@brokestudio.fr or via the contact form at https://www.brokestudio.fr/contact/
Also, you can join Broke Studio's Discord server https://discord.gg/ccDS9Au, and discuss about the Rainbow project or other things :)
Antoine GOHIN / Broke Studio
mail: contact@brokestudio.fr
web: https://www.brokestudio.fr
twitter: @Broke_Studio
facebook: Broke Studio
instagram: @broke_studio