README.md
# Wowser
[](https://www.npmjs.org/package/wowser)
[](https://discord.gg/DeVVKVg)
[](https://travis-ci.org/wowserhq/wowser)
[](https://snyk.io/test/github/wowserhq/wowser)
[](https://codeclimate.com/github/wowserhq/wowser/maintainability)
[](https://codeclimate.com/github/wowserhq/wowser/test_coverage)
World of Warcraft in the browser using JavaScript and WebGL.
Licensed under the [**MIT** license](LICENSE).
[](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrnbANSwC4I)
## Status
Wowser is in the process of being split up into (at minimum) the following parts:
- [Client](https://github.com/wowserhq/client/) (user interface loaded from XML/LUA)
- [Pipeline](https://github.com/wowserhq/pipeline) server (serves up resources from the official client)
This repository will in the future become an umbrella package.
## Background
Wowser is a proof-of-concept of getting a triple-A game to run in a webbrowser,
attempting to tackle a wide variety of challenges: data retrieval, socket
connections, cryptography, 3d graphics, binary data handling, background workers
and audio, to name a few.
## Features
Wowser is aiming to be both a low-level API as well as a graphical client,
interacting with a World of Warcraft server like an official client would.
**Note:** Only Wrath of the Lich King (3.3.5a) is currently supported. A copy of
the official client is required.
**Warning:** Do not attempt to use this client on official/retail servers as
your account may get banned.
At present, Wowser is capable of:
- Authenticating by username / password.
- Listing available realms.
- Connecting to a realm.
- Listing characters available on a realm.
- Joining the game world with a character.
- Logging game world packets, such as when a creature moves in the vicinity.
In addition, there's good progress on getting terrain and models rendered.
## Browser Support
Wowser is presumed to be working on any browser supporting [JavaScript's typed
arrays] and at the very least a binary version of the WebSocket protocol.
## Development
Wowser is written in [ES2015], developed with [webpack] and [Gulp], compiled by
[Babel] and [soon™] to be tested through [Mocha].
1. Clone the repository:
```shell
git clone git://github.com/wowserhq/wowser.git
```
2. Download and install [Node.js] – including `npm` – for your platform.
3. Install dependencies:
```shell
npm install
```
4. Install [StormLib] and [BLPConverter], which are used to handle Blizzard's
game files.
### Client
[Webpack]'s development server monitors source files and builds:
```shell
npm run web-dev
```
Wowser will be served on `http://localhost:8080`.
### Pipeline server
To deliver game resources to its client, Wowser ships with a pipeline.
Build the pipeline:
```shell
npm run gulp
```
Keep this process running to monitor source files and automatically rebuild.
After building, serve the pipeline as follows in a separate process:
```shell
npm run serve
```
On first run you will be prompted to specify the following:
- Path to client data folder (e.g. `C:/Program Files (x86)/World of Warcraft/Data`)
- Server port (default is `3000`)
- Number of cluster workers (default depends on amount of CPUs)
Clear these settings by running `npm run reset`
**Disclaimer:** Wowser serves up resources to the browser over HTTP. Depending
on your network configuration these may be available to others. Respect laws and
do not distribute game data you do not own.
### Socket proxies
To utilize raw TCP connections a WebSocket proxy is required for JavaScript
clients.
[Websockify] can - among other things - act as a proxy for raw TCP sockets.
For now, you will want to proxy both port 3724 (auth) and 8129 (world). Use a
different set of ports if the game server is on the same machine as your client.
```shell
npm run proxy 3724 host:3724
npm run proxy 8129 host:8129
```
## Contribution
When contributing, please:
- Fork the repository
- Open a pull request (preferably on a separate branch)
[Babel]: https://babeljs.io/
[BLPConverter]: https://github.com/wowserhq/blizzardry#blp
[ES2015]: https://babeljs.io/docs/learn-es2015/
[Gulp]: http://gulpjs.com/
[JavaScript's typed arrays]: http://caniuse.com/#search=typed%20arrays
[Mocha]: http://mochajs.org/
[Node.js]: http://nodejs.org/#download
[StormLib]: https://github.com/wowserhq/blizzardry#mpq
[Websockify]: https://github.com/kanaka/websockify/
[soon™]: http://www.wowwiki.com/Soon
[webpack]: http://webpack.github.io/