Virtual Pet

Introduction / Summary

Virtual Pet is a captivating mini-game developed using React and Node.js, allowing users to adopt, care for, and interact with their virtual pets. This game fosters a community environment where users can see others' pets, contributing to a dynamic social interaction.

Built With

Client

Server

Key Features

• Pet Selection: Choose from a variety of pets.
• Pet Care: Engage in daily activities like feeding, playing, and training.
• Growth System: Watch your pet evolve through different stages.
• Persistence: Continue your care with saved user progress.
• Social Interaction: See and interact with other users' pets.

Canvas Elements & Interactions

Users interact with pets through a series of actions such as eat, sleep, play, and train, each having specific cooldowns and experience gains.

Drawer Content

Admins have the capability to pick up all pets in the world, enhancing the game's management and interaction dynamics.

Admin Features

Admins can manage pets, including picking up all pets within the game environment for maintenance or moderation purposes.

Force Refresh Inventory Cache

The app caches inventory data for 6 hours. To manually bypass this cache and force a refresh:

1. Open the app by clicking on the key asset in the world.
2. Right-click inside the drawer and select Inspect to open DevTools.
3. Find the <iframe> element and locate its src attribute.
4. Append &forceRefreshInventory=true to the end of the URL.
5. Press Enter to reload the iframe with the updated URL.

Themes Description

N/A

Implementation Requirements

Required Assets with Unique Names

The app uses the following unique names to identify and manage dropped assets:

Unique Name	Description
virtualPetKeyAsset	Key asset used to locate the app's entry point in the world
petSystem-{username}	Pet assets spawned per user (used for cleanup via partial match)

Data Objects

• Pet States: Each pet has states that evolve through interaction, saved in the user's session.
• Action Cooldowns and Experience Gains: Defined by environmental variables and affecting pet growth.

Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the root directory. See .env-example for a template.

Variable	Description	Required
NODE_ENV	Node environment	No
SKIP_PREFLIGHT_CHECK	Skip CRA preflight check	No
IS_LOCALHOST	Flag to indicate local development environment	No
INSTANCE_DOMAIN	Topia API domain (api.topia.io for production, api-stage.topia.io for staging)	Yes
INTERACTIVE_KEY	Topia interactive app key	Yes
INTERACTIVE_SECRET	Topia interactive app secret	Yes

Developer Sections

Getting Started

Clone the repository and ensure Node version 18 or higher is installed.

Production Mode

1. Install dependencies

   npm install
   

2. Start the server

   npm start
   

Development Mode

1. Start Server

   npm start
   

2. Start Client

   cd client && npm start
   

3. Visit http://localhost:3001 and start your quiz experience!

.env Variables

Refer to the .env-example file for necessary environment variables.

Where to find INTERACTIVE_KEY and INTERACTIVE_SECRET

Topia Dev Account Dashboard

Topia Production Account Dashboard

Helpful Links

• Manual Testing Guide
• View it in action

How to Play

Refer to the Notion guide for detailed instructions on interacting with the game.

As an Admin

Admins can pick up all pets in the game world, aiding in game moderation and pet management.

As a User

Interact with the kennel to select a pet and perform actions such as eating, sleeping, playing, and training to care for your pet.

Assets:

Access game assets here for scene creation within the MC Ecosystem.

Implementation Notes

No specific requirements for scene saving or key verification.

App Mechanics

App mechanics include cooldowns and experience gains for pet actions, influencing pet growth and interaction.

Manual Testing Guide

Ensure pets evolve correctly, animations function, and admin controls work as expected.