Client Server Protocol

Here’s a summary and validation of the packet types and flow based on the spec, organized into phases with suggestions where helpful:

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🔧 Common Packet Header

• 4 bytes: timestamp (uint32)

• 2 bytes: packet_counter (uint16)

• 1 byte: packet_type (char)

Total header: 7 bytes, precedes every packet.

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📡 Phase 1: Connection and Lobby Discovery

Step	Type	Name	Direction	Contents
1	'r'	Register	Client → Server	None (maybe platform info later?)
2	'R'	Acknowledge Registration	Server → Client	client_id (uint8)
3	'g'	Request Game List	Client → Server	None
4	'G'	Game List	Server → Client	num_games (uint8), array of 10 game structs:– game_id (uint8)– game_info (uint8: type + lock flag)– description (40 chars)– num_players (uint8)

🎮 Phase 2: Joining and Game Setup

Step	Type	Name	Direction	Contents
5	'j'	Join Game	Client → Server	game_id (uint8)
6	'J'	Join Acknowledgement	Server → Client	game_id (uint8), player_number (uint8)
7	'd'	Game Data Request	Client → Server	Could be more specific later
8	't'	Tile Data	Server → Client	data_id (uint8), tile_index (uint16), tile_value, count, total
9	'T'	Tile Acknowledgement	Client → Server	data_id (uint8)

🚀 Phase 3: Game Start and Runtime

Step	Type	Name	Direction	Contents
10	'b'	Begin Game	Server → Client	Initial player position, orientation
11	'p' (suggested)	Player State	Client → Server	Position, rotation, input flags
12	'q'	Quit	Client → Server	Optional: reason

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🧠 Suggestions and Notes

• Reliable Acks: Capital letters are used as ack packets ('T' for 't'), which is very readable and easy to debug.

• Unifying acks: May consider an optional common ack packet with a type like 'A' and a field for “acknowledging type” and data_id, if we want to avoid defining too many single-purpose types.

• Extensibility: Consider reserving a few type letters for future use. Avoid overloading the same type (e.g., 'a') unless context is always unambiguous.

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