Goal
To get this mini-game working in next.js powered environment 'the right way'.
Background
The linked game uses Three.js which in turn requires the window object to update certain variables according to the game logic. And next.js does not have a window object defined on the server side, as explained here. So, to tackle this problem, I moved the window object inside of useEffect hook provided by react as mentioned in this article.
Problem
Moving window inside of useEffect worked but other helper variables depends on its value, so to make it all work without errors, I had to move the entire javascript code with some minor adjustments inside of useEffect of a component page that I created.
Extra
I started this project by trying to recreate this game using react-three-fiber as it abstracts well with Next.js but I had to change my ways because the documentation was not clear and lacks example code. To even change the default camera setting from perspective to orthographic inside of Canvas tag was a little unruly. But as explained by Bruno Simon, Paul Henschel and others, three becomes quite hard to manage/scale/change/reuse when the code becomes complex. And I wish to maintain the component property of my code.
How shall I go about it? Thankyou for any leads, references to courses, articles.
This stackoverflow thread poses a similar question to mine but I have my what ifs.
Code
import styles from '../styles/Home.module.css'
import { React, useState, useLayoutEffect, useRef, useEffect } from 'react'
import * as THREE from 'three'
import * as CANNON from 'cannon'
export default function Home() {
useEffect(() => {
window.focus(); // Capture keys right away (by default focus is on editor)
let camera, scene, renderer; // ThreeJS globals
let world; // CannonJs world
let lastTime; // Last timestamp of animation
let stack; // Parts that stay solid on top of each other
let overhangs; // Overhanging parts that fall down
const boxHeight = 1; // Height of each layer
const originalBoxSize = 3; // Original width and height of a box
let autopilot;
let gameEnded;
let robotPrecision; // Determines how precise the game is on autopilot
const scoreElement = document.getElementById("score");
const instructionsElement = document.getElementById("instructions");
const resultsElement = document.getElementById("results");
init();
// Determines how precise the game is on autopilot
function setRobotPrecision() {
robotPrecision = Math.random() * 1 - 0.5;
}
function init() {
autopilot = true;
gameEnded = false;
lastTime = 0;
stack = [];
overhangs = [];
setRobotPrecision();
// Initialize CannonJS
world = new CANNON.World();
world.gravity.set(0, -10, 0); // Gravity pulls things down
world.broadphase = new CANNON.NaiveBroadphase();
world.solver.iterations = 40;
// Initialize ThreeJs
const aspect = window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight;
const width = 10;
const height = width / aspect;
camera = new THREE.OrthographicCamera(
width / -2, // left
width / 2, // right
height / 2, // top
height / -2, // bottom
0, // near plane
100 // far plane
);
/*
// If you want to use perspective camera instead, uncomment these lines
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(
45, // field of view
aspect, // aspect ratio
1, // near plane
100 // far plane
);
*/
camera.position.set(4, 4, 4);
camera.lookAt(0, 0, 0);
scene = new THREE.Scene();
// Foundation
addLayer(0, 0, originalBoxSize, originalBoxSize);
// First layer
addLayer(-10, 0, originalBoxSize, originalBoxSize, "x");
// Set up lights
const ambientLight = new THREE.AmbientLight(0xffffff, 0.6);
scene.add(ambientLight);
const dirLight = new THREE.DirectionalLight(0xffffff, 0.6);
dirLight.position.set(10, 20, 0);
scene.add(dirLight);
// Set up renderer
renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer({ antialias: true });
renderer.setSize(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight);
renderer.setAnimationLoop(animation);
document.body.appendChild(renderer.domElement);
}
function startGame() {
autopilot = false;
gameEnded = false;
lastTime = 0;
stack = [];
overhangs = [];
if (instructionsElement) instructionsElement.style.display = "none";
if (resultsElement) resultsElement.style.display = "none";
if (scoreElement) scoreElement.innerText = 0;
if (world) {
// Remove every object from world
while (world.bodies.length > 0) {
world.remove(world.bodies[0]);
}
}
if (scene) {
// Remove every Mesh from the scene
while (scene.children.find((c) => c.type == "Mesh")) {
const mesh = scene.children.find((c) => c.type == "Mesh");
scene.remove(mesh);
}
// Foundation
addLayer(0, 0, originalBoxSize, originalBoxSize);
// First layer
addLayer(-10, 0, originalBoxSize, originalBoxSize, "x");
}
if (camera) {
// Reset camera positions
camera.position.set(4, 4, 4);
camera.lookAt(0, 0, 0);
}
}
function addLayer(x, z, width, depth, direction) {
const y = boxHeight * stack.length; // Add the new box one layer higher
const layer = generateBox(x, y, z, width, depth, false);
layer.direction = direction;
stack.push(layer);
}
function addOverhang(x, z, width, depth) {
const y = boxHeight * (stack.length - 1); // Add the new box one the same layer
const overhang = generateBox(x, y, z, width, depth, true);
overhangs.push(overhang);
}
function generateBox(x, y, z, width, depth, falls) {
// ThreeJS
const geometry = new THREE.BoxGeometry(width, boxHeight, depth);
const color = new THREE.Color(`hsl(${30 + stack.length * 4}, 100%, 50%)`);
const material = new THREE.MeshLambertMaterial({ color });
const mesh = new THREE.Mesh(geometry, material);
mesh.position.set(x, y, z);
scene.add(mesh);
// CannonJS
const shape = new CANNON.Box(
new CANNON.Vec3(width / 2, boxHeight / 2, depth / 2)
);
let mass = falls ? 5 : 0; // If it shouldn't fall then setting the mass to zero will keep it stationary
mass *= width / originalBoxSize; // Reduce mass proportionately by size
mass *= depth / originalBoxSize; // Reduce mass proportionately by size
const body = new CANNON.Body({ mass, shape });
body.position.set(x, y, z);
world.addBody(body);
return {
threejs: mesh,
cannonjs: body,
width,
depth
};
}
function cutBox(topLayer, overlap, size, delta) {
const direction = topLayer.direction;
const newWidth = direction == "x" ? overlap : topLayer.width;
const newDepth = direction == "z" ? overlap : topLayer.depth;
// Update metadata
topLayer.width = newWidth;
topLayer.depth = newDepth;
// Update ThreeJS model
topLayer.threejs.scale[direction] = overlap / size;
topLayer.threejs.position[direction] -= delta / 2;
// Update CannonJS model
topLayer.cannonjs.position[direction] -= delta / 2;
// Replace shape to a smaller one (in CannonJS you can't simply just scale a shape)
const shape = new CANNON.Box(
new CANNON.Vec3(newWidth / 2, boxHeight / 2, newDepth / 2)
);
topLayer.cannonjs.shapes = [];
topLayer.cannonjs.addShape(shape);
}
window.addEventListener("mousedown", eventHandler);
window.addEventListener("touchstart", eventHandler);
window.addEventListener("keydown", function (event) {
if (event.key == " ") {
event.preventDefault();
eventHandler();
return;
}
if (event.key == "R" || event.key == "r") {
event.preventDefault();
startGame();
return;
}
});
function eventHandler() {
if (autopilot) startGame();
else splitBlockAndAddNextOneIfOverlaps();
}
function splitBlockAndAddNextOneIfOverlaps() {
if (gameEnded) return;
const topLayer = stack[stack.length - 1];
const previousLayer = stack[stack.length - 2];
const direction = topLayer.direction;
const size = direction == "x" ? topLayer.width : topLayer.depth;
const delta =
topLayer.threejs.position[direction] -
previousLayer.threejs.position[direction];
const overhangSize = Math.abs(delta);
const overlap = size - overhangSize;
if (overlap > 0) {
cutBox(topLayer, overlap, size, delta);
// Overhang
const overhangShift = (overlap / 2 + overhangSize / 2) * Math.sign(delta);
const overhangX =
direction == "x"
? topLayer.threejs.position.x + overhangShift
: topLayer.threejs.position.x;
const overhangZ =
direction == "z"
? topLayer.threejs.position.z + overhangShift
: topLayer.threejs.position.z;
const overhangWidth = direction == "x" ? overhangSize : topLayer.width;
const overhangDepth = direction == "z" ? overhangSize : topLayer.depth;
addOverhang(overhangX, overhangZ, overhangWidth, overhangDepth);
// Next layer
const nextX = direction == "x" ? topLayer.threejs.position.x : -10;
const nextZ = direction == "z" ? topLayer.threejs.position.z : -10;
const newWidth = topLayer.width; // New layer has the same size as the cut top layer
const newDepth = topLayer.depth; // New layer has the same size as the cut top layer
const nextDirection = direction == "x" ? "z" : "x";
if (scoreElement) scoreElement.innerText = stack.length - 1;
addLayer(nextX, nextZ, newWidth, newDepth, nextDirection);
} else {
missedTheSpot();
}
}
function missedTheSpot() {
const topLayer = stack[stack.length - 1];
// Turn to top layer into an overhang and let it fall down
addOverhang(
topLayer.threejs.position.x,
topLayer.threejs.position.z,
topLayer.width,
topLayer.depth
);
world.remove(topLayer.cannonjs);
scene.remove(topLayer.threejs);
gameEnded = true;
if (resultsElement && !autopilot) resultsElement.style.display = "flex";
}
function animation(time) {
if (lastTime) {
const timePassed = time - lastTime;
const speed = 0.008;
const topLayer = stack[stack.length - 1];
const previousLayer = stack[stack.length - 2];
// The top level box should move if the game has not ended AND
// it's either NOT in autopilot or it is in autopilot and the box did not yet reach the robot position
const boxShouldMove =
!gameEnded &&
(!autopilot ||
(autopilot &&
topLayer.threejs.position[topLayer.direction] <
previousLayer.threejs.position[topLayer.direction] +
robotPrecision));
if (boxShouldMove) {
// Keep the position visible on UI and the position in the model in sync
topLayer.threejs.position[topLayer.direction] += speed * timePassed;
topLayer.cannonjs.position[topLayer.direction] += speed * timePassed;
// If the box went beyond the stack then show up the fail screen
if (topLayer.threejs.position[topLayer.direction] > 10) {
missedTheSpot();
}
} else {
// If it shouldn't move then is it because the autopilot reached the correct position?
// Because if so then next level is coming
if (autopilot) {
splitBlockAndAddNextOneIfOverlaps();
setRobotPrecision();
}
}
// 4 is the initial camera height
if (camera.position.y < boxHeight * (stack.length - 2) + 4) {
camera.position.y += speed * timePassed;
}
updatePhysics(timePassed);
renderer.render(scene, camera);
}
lastTime = time;
}
function updatePhysics(timePassed) {
world.step(timePassed / 1000); // Step the physics world
// Copy coordinates from Cannon.js to Three.js
overhangs.forEach((element) => {
element.threejs.position.copy(element.cannonjs.position);
element.threejs.quaternion.copy(element.cannonjs.quaternion);
});
}
window.addEventListener("resize", () => {
// Adjust camera
console.log("resize", window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight);
const aspect = window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight;
const width = 10;
const height = width / aspect;
camera.top = height / 2;
camera.bottom = height / -2;
// Reset renderer
renderer.setSize(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight);
renderer.render(scene, camera);
});
})
return (
<div className={styles.container}>
<div className={styles.nav}>
<h2>Ritik Jangir</h2>
</div>
</div>
)
}