GAMENIGHT / DOCUMENTATION

C / C++

sdk/c/gamenight.h is a single-header TCP client for C99 and C++. It uses newline-delimited JSON on the same port as the WebSocket transport. POSIX and Winsock are supported.

Add the header

#define GAMENIGHT_IMPLEMENTATION /* In exactly one translation unit. */
#include "gamenight.h"

Copy the header into your project. Link Winsock (ws2_32) on Windows. Keep calling gn_poll from your loop, including when gameplay is paused. It returns 1 for an event, 0 when nothing is available and -1 on disconnection.

Connect from the launch environment

This is the startup path in the checked-in C example:

int main(void) {
    gn_client gn;
    gn_event ev;
    char playing[GN_ID_LEN] = "";
    double match_ends = 0.0;
    gn_result rc = gn_connect_from_env(&gn, "c-game");

    if (rc == GN_ERR_NOT_LAUNCHED) {
        /* Nobody launched us into a party: this is where a real game boots
         * its own title screen and plays standalone. */
        printf("[c-game] no GameNight in the environment; standalone\n");
        return 0;
    }
    if (rc != GN_OK) {
        fprintf(stderr, "[c-game] could not reach the daemon (%d)\n", rc);
        return 1;
    }

Source: examples/c-game.c

GN_ERR_NOT_LAUNCHED selects standalone mode. Other connection errors should stop the managed launch rather than open a disconnected game window.

Event data

The current adapter’s event types are:

typedef enum {
    GN_NOTHING = 0, /* gn_poll found no complete message this tick */
    GN_WELCOME,
    GN_PREPARE,
    GN_START,
    GN_PAUSE,
    GN_RESUME,
    GN_DISPOSE,
    GN_SETTING_CHANGED,
    GN_ERROR,
    GN_UNKNOWN /* a message type from a newer daemon: ignore it */
} gn_event_type;

Source: sdk/c/gamenight.h

On Prepare, load your level while hidden, then call gn_ready. Start shows play. Pause freezes simulation and audio; Resume restores them. Dispose frees session resources. Keep the socket alive for the next Prepare.

What the header does not supply

The current gn_seat carries index, occupant, player ID and name. It does not expose controller tokens, controller frames, clothing colours, skin colours or face artwork. Implement those fields and message handling, or use a JSON client that preserves the full protocol. Do not assign local joystick enumeration to seat indices as a workaround.

The built-in name parser also replaces JSON \\uXXXX escapes with ?. Extend it if your game needs complete escaped Unicode names. The fixed buffers limit message size; face payloads need appropriate storage and parsing.

Compile the transport example

cc -std=c99 -Wall -Wextra -Werror -I sdk/c -o /tmp/c-game examples/c-game.c

This builds a timer-based protocol example on POSIX. It is not a playable reference with controller or face support. The docs CI compiles it to detect API drift; release confidence comes from testing the actual packaged game.

The C client grows its receive buffer for player artwork, up to 8 MiB. Call gn_close() when the connection ends to release it. Receiving artwork does not imply that the adapter renders faces; that remains a separate capability.