RubidungLua

The definitive Rubidung

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New Features Regarding Java And C++

RubidungLua will bring a lot of new features along its development. Even though it's at a very initial stage, here is our roadmap for making RubidungLua the definitive one:

• Multiplayer and singleplayer mode
• Visuals using Löve2D
• Good music and SFX
• More features:
  • You know where the player is even when not showing the map
  • Cards with power-ups
  • Shop and main menu
• More tiles
• More levels

This is the current progress in the game development:

• When you enter for the first time, the server is run locally at localhost:8080, changeable in main.lua and serverinit.lua:

local success, msg = nl:init("127.0.0.1", 8080)

• As many as want can connect clicking "Init Server"
• Map and tile drawing/detection system made to easily add new levels
• Spiky wall detection
• Player appears at the @
• Player position is correctly synchronized
• Multiplayer and Local are available

IMPORTANT: When hosting the game, a terminal will appear. That's the server. Don't close when the game is running, it breaks the fun :)

Requirements

• Lua
• Löve2D

The Server

For the multiplayer games, I'm using my own backend: NetworkLib, which I developed specially for self-hosted games, like this one. It's completely coded in Go. You can find more info in the link provided.

NetworkLib provides basic tools for creating self-hosted multiplayer games, so making and maintaining the multiplayer thing is actually easy thanks to NetworkLib's philosophy.

Rubidung's history

I was learning Java when I coded my first Rubidung. I named it after the original Minecraft name (Rubydung). The first Java version didn't go as expected: I wanted the player to move through the terminal, but I realized it would be easier to simply remove the map, using the excuse "it's a memory game".

Most of the Rubidung development has been done in those hours that I'm bored, and I don't know what to do, I open the IDE and keep thinking "what should I do"? Rubidung came to erase these moments from my life. Later on, this job would go to GoStack and NetworkLib, just as other Python or Godot projects.

So, after making the game in Java, I felt like I wanted to do something in C++, and I decided to rewrite the whole game to that language. I didn't add any new functionality, though.

With these two versions of Rubidung I learned a lot about documentation, optimization and coding overall, including Git and GitHub usage. Even though there was still something I still wanted to learn: graphics and network. Java has JavaFX, but it's more oriented to applications than games. I installed SFML, but I decided to use it for other things than Rubidung. But then, I found a video about Löve2D, and I instantly installed both Lua and Love, which provide a basic and intuitive way to draw to the screen. But the networking thing was missing, this is why I decided to make NetworkLib, and why the first officially supported language is Lua. As an answer to the difficulty of Networking on Java, C++, and most programming languages.

Then I started making the definitive Rubidung, the Lua version.

How To Play The Multiplayer Version

When you are on the project folder, open the terminal and run:

love .

Then, to start a multiplayer game, click "Init Server". Wait. Then, you will automatically enter the game. You will see a terminal has been opened. That's the server console. For more players to enter, click "Multiplayer".

You can add as many players as you want, as the server will be only opened once. I don't care if it crashes, it's yours, you can use it as a sandbox to DoS, or whatever, but any problem with the server, please communicate at the NetworkLib repository.

Once everyone is playing (or before, if you don't like waiting), you can start moving the player around. You will see that if it touches a # you restart. Every tile represents something, as told in the next section.

You can also play locally clicking "Local".

Understanding The Map

Every tile has its own meaning as found here:

Symbol	Meaning
#	A wall, covered of spikes!
.	Free space to walk
$	The treasure you want!
@	You!
O	A wall, without spikes!

Contributing

Contributions are what make the open source community such an amazing place to learn, inspire, and create. Any contributions you make are greatly appreciated.

If you want to contribute:

1. Fork the project
2. Create your Feature Branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

If you find any bugs or issues regarding the multiplayer system, remember to open them directly in the NetworkLib repository, as it handles all the backend logic!

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Changelog

2026-07-15:

• First version, set up multiplayer

2026-07-16:

• Add map drawing
• Add tile detection
• Add player start position
• Add README
• Add LICENSE

2026-07-18:

• Add win detection
• Organize better files so adding menus and so is easier

2026-07-19:

• Add basic menu
• Better visuals

2026-07-20:

• Fix server opening issues
• Server opens with another button
• Add local mode
• Formatted code
• Now clients see received data

2026-07-23:

• Now server opens ok also if you're not using Windows