MachinaCubicaCatalyst

MachinaCubicaCatalyst is a modular Minecraft-like clone with a strong focus on multiplayer networking, client prediction, and efficient world handling.
The architecture is split into three layers:

• Common — core engine code (world, entities, networking, utilities).
• Client — local simulation, rendering, input, and prediction.
• Server — authoritative world state and multiplayer sync.

The project is built with xmake, using clang-format/clang-tidy for consistency.

---

Current Features

World & Terrain

• Chunked block world — chunks stored as palette + bitarray in runtime memory.
• Procedural terrain — generated with Perlin noise (basic heightmap).
• Async chunk meshing — meshing tasks offloaded to a thread pool.
• Face culling in meshing — only visible block faces are meshed.

Networking

• Client–server architecture with clear separation of responsibilities.
• Strongly typed packets with serialization via PacketStream.
• Compression:
  • All packets → compressed with zlib.
  • Chunk packets → stored as palette + bitarray, compressed with RLE, then passed through zlib.
• Event-driven flow via Event and EventManager.

Client Prediction

• Basic interpolation with a 50ms delay for smoother client experience.
• Keeps client state responsive while syncing with the server.

Utilities

• Logging & Assertions — integrated for debugging.
• Benchmarking — macros for lightweight profiling of hot paths.

---

Planned Features / Roadmap

• World generation:
  • More advanced terrain features.
  • Infinite world generation.
• Blocks:
  • More block types.
  • Block interaction system.
• Lighting:
  • Improved and more realistic lighting model.
• Meshing:
  • Greedy meshing for fewer vertices and improved performance.
• World display:
  • Adaptive chunk display based on player position (LOD / view distance).
• Networking:
  • More advanced client prediction and reconciliation.
  • Area-of-interest filtering — only send chunk/entity updates to nearby players.

---

Architecture Highlights

• Event-driven — decoupled internal and network communication.
• Performance-oriented — inline .inl hot paths, async chunk meshing, layered compression.
• Maintainable — modular structure (Common, Client, Server), consistent tooling.
• Scalable — designed for extending world generation, ECS gameplay, and networking.

---

Build Instructions

1. Clone the repo:

   git clone https://github.com/devalexxx/MachinaCubicaCatalyst.git
   cd MachinaCubicaCatalyst

2. Configure and build:

   xmake f -m <debug|release>
   xmake

3. Run targets:

   xmake run MCCServer
   xmake run MCCClient -p <port> -h <host>