Alibaba's Robot Workshop

This is a submission for the Alibaba Cloud Challenge: Build a Web Game.* What I Built I've created "Alibaba's Robot Workshop" - an engaging web-based robot-building simulation game where players collect parts, assemble customized battle robots, and compete in arena battles. The game combines resource management, strategic decision-making, and turn-based combat mechanics in a futuristic setting. Players start with initial credits to purchase robot parts from a dynamic auction system. They can collect various components like heads, bodies, arms, legs, and weapons - each with unique stats and capabilities. After assembling their robots, players can test their creations in the arena against AI opponents. Winning battles rewards players with credits and parts from defeated robots, while losing results in the destruction of their robot and its components - creating a high-stakes gameplay experience. Demo The game is deployed at: http://47.236.224.7. You need to complete registration to play. Alibaba Cloud Services Implementation Elastic Compute Service (ECS) Alibaba's Robot Workshop is deployed on Alibaba Cloud's Elastic Compute Service, which proved to be the backbone of my implementation strategy. I chose ECS for several compelling reasons: Implementation Details: Deployed the application on an ECS instance running Ubuntu 20.04 64 bit. Set up Nginx as a reverse proxy to handle HTTPS connections and serve static assets. Configured PM2 process manager to ensure the Node.js application runs continuously with auto-restart capabilities. Implemented automatic daily backups of game data using Alibaba Cloud's snapshot feature. Integration Benefits: Seamless scalability allowed me to start with a modest instance size and scale up as the player base grew. The high-performance storage provided exceptional database I/O performance, crucial for the real-time auction system. Regional deployment flexibility enabled me to position the game server geographically close to the primary player base, minimizing latency. ApsaraDB RDS with MySQL 8.0 For the game's database needs, I implemented ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL 8.0, which has been crucial for maintaining game state, user accounts, and the complex relationships between players and their robot inventories. Implementation Details: Set up a MySQL 8.0 RDS instance with high-availability architecture Implemented automated daily backups. Utilized built-in data encryption for protecting sensitive player information. Configured read/write splitting to optimize performance during peak playing periods. Implemented performance monitoring and automatic alerts for unusual database activity. Integration Benefits: The fully managed service eliminated the need for manual database administration, allowing me to focus on game development. Automatic software updates ensured the database constantly ran the latest security patches without downtime. The high throughput capabilities handled auction system transactions flawlessly, even during concurrent player activities. Horizontal scaling features provided peace of mind for future growth without architectural changes. Challenges & Solutions: Initially faced some configuration complexities when setting up the domain and SSL certificates, but Alibaba's documentation provided clear step-by-step guidance. During development, I needed to fine-tune network security groups to properly expose only necessary ports while maintaining robust security. Had to optimize the Node.js memory usage to stay within the allocated resources, which led to improved overall application efficiency. The ECS service proved remarkably reliable with 99.99% uptime during the three-month development and testing phase, and the performance metrics have consistently shown sub-300ms response times even during peak gaming hours. Game Development Highlights Multi-language Support: One of the features I'm particularly proud of is the implementation of a robust internationalization system that supports English, Russian, and Chinese languages, making the game accessible to a broader global audience. The system dynamically loads language resources and allows seamless switching between languages without page refreshes. Dynamic Auction System: The game features a real-time auction system where robot parts appear and expire at regular intervals. This creates an engaging shopping experience where players must make quick decisions about purchases. The auction algorithm dynamically prices parts based on their quality, rarity, and statistical properties. Tactical Combat System: The turn-based battle arena implements a sophisticated damage calculation system that considers numerous factors including armor ratings, weapon types, attack locations, and resistance values. This creates strategic depth where players must consider both offensive capabilities and defensive vulnerabilities when building their robots. Th

Apr 27, 2025 - 17:00

This is a submission for the Alibaba Cloud Challenge: Build a Web Game.*

What I Built

I've created "Alibaba's Robot Workshop" - an engaging web-based robot-building simulation game where players collect parts, assemble customized battle robots, and compete in arena battles. The game combines resource management, strategic decision-making, and turn-based combat mechanics in a futuristic setting.
Players start with initial credits to purchase robot parts from a dynamic auction system. They can collect various components like heads, bodies, arms, legs, and weapons - each with unique stats and capabilities. After assembling their robots, players can test their creations in the arena against AI opponents. Winning battles rewards players with credits and parts from defeated robots, while losing results in the destruction of their robot and its components - creating a high-stakes gameplay experience.

Demo

The game is deployed at: http://47.236.224.7. You need to complete registration to play.

Alibaba Cloud Services Implementation

Elastic Compute Service (ECS)

Alibaba's Robot Workshop is deployed on Alibaba Cloud's Elastic Compute Service, which proved to be the backbone of my implementation strategy. I chose ECS for several compelling reasons:

Implementation Details:

Deployed the application on an ECS instance running Ubuntu 20.04 64 bit.
Set up Nginx as a reverse proxy to handle HTTPS connections and serve static assets.
Configured PM2 process manager to ensure the Node.js application runs continuously with auto-restart capabilities.
Implemented automatic daily backups of game data using Alibaba Cloud's snapshot feature.

Integration Benefits:

Seamless scalability allowed me to start with a modest instance size and scale up as the player base grew.
The high-performance storage provided exceptional database I/O performance, crucial for the real-time auction system.
Regional deployment flexibility enabled me to position the game server geographically close to the primary player base, minimizing latency.

ApsaraDB RDS with MySQL 8.0

For the game's database needs, I implemented ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL 8.0, which has been crucial for maintaining game state, user accounts, and the complex relationships between players and their robot inventories.

Implementation Details:

Set up a MySQL 8.0 RDS instance with high-availability architecture
Implemented automated daily backups.
Utilized built-in data encryption for protecting sensitive player information.
Configured read/write splitting to optimize performance during peak playing periods.
Implemented performance monitoring and automatic alerts for unusual database activity.

Integration Benefits:

The fully managed service eliminated the need for manual database administration, allowing me to focus on game development.
Automatic software updates ensured the database constantly ran the latest security patches without downtime.
The high throughput capabilities handled auction system transactions flawlessly, even during concurrent player activities.
Horizontal scaling features provided peace of mind for future growth without architectural changes.

Challenges & Solutions:

Initially faced some configuration complexities when setting up the domain and SSL certificates, but Alibaba's documentation provided clear step-by-step guidance.
During development, I needed to fine-tune network security groups to properly expose only necessary ports while maintaining robust security.
Had to optimize the Node.js memory usage to stay within the allocated resources, which led to improved overall application efficiency.

The ECS service proved remarkably reliable with 99.99% uptime during the three-month development and testing phase, and the performance metrics have consistently shown sub-300ms response times even during peak gaming hours.

Game Development Highlights

Multi-language Support: One of the features I'm particularly proud of is the implementation of a robust internationalization system that supports English, Russian, and Chinese languages, making the game accessible to a broader global audience. The system dynamically loads language resources and allows seamless switching between languages without page refreshes.

Dynamic Auction System: The game features a real-time auction system where robot parts appear and expire at regular intervals. This creates an engaging shopping experience where players must make quick decisions about purchases. The auction algorithm dynamically prices parts based on their quality, rarity, and statistical properties.

Tactical Combat System: The turn-based battle arena implements a sophisticated damage calculation system that considers numerous factors including armor ratings, weapon types, attack locations, and resistance values. This creates strategic depth where players must consider both offensive capabilities and defensive vulnerabilities when building their robots.

The development of Alibaba's Robot Workshop was not only a technical challenge but also a creative journey in game balancing and user experience design. The combination of Nuxt.js + Vue 3 for the frontend, MySQL for persistent data storage, and Alibaba Cloud's robust ECS service resulted in a performant and engaging gaming experience.

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