Overview

This page collects the practical build, run, configuration, and tuning surface of the project in one place.

It covers:

client and server executables
build variants and presets
runtime options
important tuning knobs and defaults
logging and diagnostics paths

Build System

Executables And Targets

Executable	CMake target	Purpose	Presets
`Bomberman`	`Bomberman`	SDL2 client runtime, menus, multiplayer scene flow, and local presentation	`linux-client-debug`, `linux-client-release`, `windows-client-debug`, `windows-client-release`
`Bomberman_Server`	`Bomberman_Server`	Dedicated authoritative server runtime and fixed-tick simulation	`linux-server-debug`, `linux-server-release`

The client and server are built as separate executables. That split keeps the authoritative server runtime independent from the SDL2 game client.

Build Variants

Preset	Platform	Build type	Notes
`linux-debug`	Linux	Debug	Main development preset; enables richer diagnostics and client debug netcode toggles
`linux-release`	Linux	Release	Leaner runtime build for Linux packaging and sanity checks
`windows-debug`	Windows (MinGW cross)	Debug	Cross-compiled Windows client build
`windows-release`	Windows (MinGW cross)	Release	Cross-compiled Windows client packaging build

Debug and release builds differ in a few practical ways:

Debug builds define SPDLOG_ACTIVE_LEVEL=TRACE and default to more developer-friendly logging.
Release builds reduce the active log level and do not carry the same debug-oriented observability surface.
--net-diag is available in client debug builds and server builds, but not in the client release build.
--no-prediction and --no-remote-smoothing are client debug options only.

Build Prerequisites

Platform	Requirements
all builds	CMake `3.24+`, Ninja
Linux client	GCC `12+` or Clang `15+`, SDL2, SDL2_image, SDL2_ttf, SDL2_mixer development packages
Linux server-only	C++20 compiler; SDL packages are not required if `BOMBERMAN_BUILD_CLIENT=OFF`
Windows client cross-build	MinGW-w64 toolchain plus SDL2 MinGW packages in the configured sysroot

All other third-party dependencies are vendored in third_party/, including ENet, spdlog, and nlohmann/json.

CMake Options

Option	Default	Meaning
`BOMBERMAN_BUILD_CLIENT`	`ON`	Build the SDL2 client target
`BOMBERMAN_BUILD_SERVER`	`ON`	Build the dedicated server target
`BOMBERMAN_BUNDLE_DLLS`	`ON`	Bundle MinGW / SDL2 DLLs into Windows client packages
`BOMBERMAN_MINGW_SYSROOT`	`/usr/x86_64-w64-mingw32`	MinGW sysroot path used for Windows DLL bundling

CMake Presets

Configure Presets

Preset	Purpose
`linux-debug`	Linux debug configure tree for client and server
`linux-release`	Linux release configure tree for client and server
`windows-debug`	Windows debug cross-compile configure tree for the client
`windows-release`	Windows release cross-compile configure tree for the client

Build Presets

Preset	Target
`linux-client-debug`	`Bomberman`
`linux-client-release`	`Bomberman`
`linux-server-debug`	`Bomberman_Server`
`linux-server-release`	`Bomberman_Server`
`windows-client-debug`	`Bomberman`
`windows-client-release`	`Bomberman`

Build And Run

Each configure preset maps to one build directory. Run cmake --preset <configure-preset> once, then build the client or server target from that configured tree as needed.

Linux Client

cmake --preset linux-debug
cmake --build --preset linux-client-debug
./build/linux-debug/Bomberman

Linux Server

cmake --preset linux-debug
cmake --build --preset linux-server-debug
./build/linux-debug/Bomberman_Server

Windows Client Cross-Build

cmake --preset windows-release

cmake --build --preset windows-client-release

Useful Configure Overrides

# Server-only Linux build
cmake --preset linux-debug -DBOMBERMAN_BUILD_CLIENT=OFF
 
# Client-only build
cmake --preset linux-debug -DBOMBERMAN_BUILD_SERVER=OFF
 
# Disable Windows DLL bundling
cmake --preset windows-release -DBOMBERMAN_BUNDLE_DLLS=OFF

Binaries are written to build/<configure-preset>/.

Packaging

Run packaging from the relevant build directory after building:

cd build/linux-release

cpack --config CPackConfig.cmake

Generated package formats:

Build dir	Package format	Contents
`build/linux-release`	`TGZ`	client and server component archives
`build/windows-release`	`ZIP`	Windows client package

On Windows packages, SDL2 and MinGW runtime DLLs are bundled from ${BOMBERMAN_MINGW_SYSROOT}/bin when BOMBERMAN_BUNDLE_DLLS=ON.

CLI Options

Option	Applies to	Purpose	Notes
`--help`	client, server	Print usage and exit	Local to each executable
`--port <port>`	client, server	Override the default server port	Valid range: `1-65535`
`--log-level <level>`	client, server	Override the base log level	Accepted values: `trace`, `debug`, `info`, `warn`, `error`
`--log-file <path>`	client, server	Write logs to an explicit file path	Shared logging option
`--net-diag`	client, server	Enable structured diagnostics JSON capture	Build-gated on the client
`--mute`	client	Disable audio playback	Useful for local multi-instance testing
`--no-prediction`	client	Disable local player prediction	Debug build only
`--no-remote-smoothing`	client	Disable remote-player smoothing	Debug build only
`--seed <value>`	server	Override the match seed	Useful for controlled comparisons
`--input-lead-ticks <value>`	server	Override the authoritative input lead buffer	Range: `0-kMaxBufferedInputLead`
`--snapshot-interval-ticks <value>`	server	Override snapshot send interval in ticks	Range: `1-60`
`--no-powers`	server	Disable powerup spawning for the session	Server-side gameplay toggle

Runtime Tuning Knobs

Network And Session Tuning

Knob	Surface	Default	Purpose
`inputLeadTicks` / `--input-lead-ticks`	server	`1`	Buffers authoritative input slightly ahead of consume time
`snapshotIntervalTicks` / `--snapshot-interval-ticks`	server	`1`	Controls snapshot send cadence (`1` = every tick / 60 Hz)
prediction enabled	client	on	Enables local player prediction
remote smoothing enabled	client	on	Smooths remote-player presentation

These are the most important tunables used during testing and A/B comparison work. Deeper protocol and simulation detail lives in the subsystem pages.

Gameplay And Round Tuning

Knob	Surface	Default	Purpose
map seed	server / shared map generation	generated per session unless overridden	Drives deterministic tile map generation on client and server
brick spawn randomize	shared gameplay config	`10`	Controls how often grass tiles are promoted to bricks during generation
powerups per round	server / shared gameplay config	`4`	Number of hidden powerups seeded under bricks when enabled
powerup duration	shared gameplay config	`10 s`	Default lifetime for temporary multiplayer powerup effects
speed boost movement target	shared gameplay config	`5.5 tiles/s`	Movement speed while the speed boost is active
bomb range boost amount	shared gameplay config	`+1`	Additional blast radius during the range boost
boosted max bombs	shared gameplay config	`2`	Bomb-cap target while the max-bombs boost is active

Logging And Diagnostics Paths

Path	Purpose
`Configs/DefaultLogging.ini`	Default named-channel logging configuration
`logs/`	Runtime output directory for diagnostics JSON reports
`Tools/diag_viewer.html`	Browser-based diagnostics viewer shell
`Tools/diag_viewer.js`	Viewer logic for report parsing and comparison
`Tools/diag_viewer_launcher.sh`	Convenience launcher for opening the diagnostics viewer
`Tools/NetworkTesting/netem_launcher.sh`	Linux helper for `tc netem`-based impairment testing
`docs/assets/testing/TestMatrix/`	Retained test-matrix logs and diagnostics evidence

Diagnostics reports are written as:

logs/diag_server_<timestamp>.json
logs/diag_client_p<N>_<timestamp>.json
logs/diag_client_u_<timestamp>.json before player assignment is known

If --log-file is not provided, logging follows the default config resolution path and console output setup.

Important Defaults

Network Defaults

Default	Value	Source	Meaning
Protocol version	`9`	`Net/NetCommon.h`	Handshake compatibility gate
Default server port	`12345`	`Net/NetCommon.h`	Shared client/server port default
Max players	`4`	`Net/NetCommon.h`	Maximum supported gameplay player count
Simulation tick rate	`60 Hz`	`Sim/SimConfig.h`	Fixed-tick client/server simulation basis
Default server input lead	`1 tick`	`Sim/SimConfig.h`	Authoritative input scheduling buffer
Default snapshot interval	`1 tick`	`Sim/SimConfig.h`	Snapshot every server tick by default
Max frame clamp	`250 ms`	`Sim/SimConfig.h`	Fixed-step accumulator clamp
Max steps per frame	`8`	`Sim/SimConfig.h`	Fixed-step catch-up ceiling
Server peer session capacity	`8`	`Server/ServerState.h`	`4` gameplay peers plus `4` overflow transport peers

Powerups are enabled by default on the server unless --no-powers is supplied.

Gameplay Defaults

Default	Value	Source	Meaning
Brick spawn randomize	`10`	`Const.h`	Shared brick-density knob used by deterministic map generation
Tile map size	`31 x 13`	`Const.h`	Generated gameplay tile dimensions
Default player max bombs	`1`	`Sim/SimConfig.h`	Starting bomb capacity
Default player bomb range	`1`	`Sim/SimConfig.h`	Starting explosion radius
Default bomb fuse	`1.5 s`	`Sim/SimConfig.h`	Authoritative bomb lifetime
Powerup types	`4`	`Sim/PowerupConfig.h`	Speed boost, invincibility, bomb range boost, max bombs boost
Powerups per round	`4`	`Sim/PowerupConfig.h`	One hidden placement of each configured powerup type
Default powerup duration	`10 s`	`Sim/PowerupConfig.h`	Shared temporary-effect lifetime
Speed boost target	`5.5 tiles/s`	`Sim/PowerupConfig.h`	Boosted player movement speed
Bomb range boost amount	`+1`	`Sim/PowerupConfig.h`	Additional bomb blast radius
Boosted max bombs	`2`	`Sim/PowerupConfig.h`	Boosted bomb ownership cap

Related Pages

Previous	Next
Diagnostics	Decisions And Development

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