
Building a Tower Defense Game with PixiJS and AWS Services
Link to project - https://github.com/SrujanLokhande/EnergyFlowDefence.git
Published Jan 14, 2025
For the AWS GameBuilder Hackathon, I developed a web-based tower defense game that combines the power of PixiJS for rendering with AWS services for backend functionality. This post details the technical journey, challenges faced, and solutions implemented.
- PixiJS: Handles game rendering and interactions
- Vite: Build tool and development server
- Event-Driven Architecture: Custom event system for game state management
- Amazon DynamoDB: Stores player scores and leaderboard data
- AWS Lambda: Processes score submissions and retrievals
- API Gateway: Provides RESTful endpoints for client-server communication
- Multiple tower types with unique abilities:
- Basic Tower: Balanced damage and range
- Rapid Tower: Fast attack speed
- Sniper Tower: High damage, long range
- AOE Tower: Area damage effects
- Progressive difficulty scaling
- Special boss waves every 5th round
- Dynamic enemy spawning patterns
- Economy system for tower construction
- Resource rewards for defeating enemies
- Strategic placement decisions
// Event-driven system for game communications
eventManager.subscribe(GameEvents.WAVE_COMPLETED, (data) => {
``// Handle wave completion
this.gameHUD.showWaveComplete(data.wave);
});
// DynamoDB integration for leaderboard
async updateScore(playerId, score) {
try {
const response = await this.makeRequest({
action: 'updateScore',
playerId: playerId,
score:
score });
return {
success: true,
data:
response };
} catch (error) {
return {
success: false,
error: error.message
};
}
}
Initially faced challenges with DynamoDB authentication, particularly with session ID requirements. Resolved by implementing proper credential handling and connection management.
Created a robust state management system using custom events for handling different game phases:
- Menu state
- Preparation phase
- Active gameplay
- Wave completion
- Game over
- AWS Services Mastery:* Built and deployed Lambda functions for serverless backend
- Configured DynamoDB tables and access patterns
- Set up API Gateway with proper CORS and security
- Managed IAM roles and permissions
- Cloud Architecture Skills:* Implemented serverless architecture using AWS services
- Created RESTful APIs with Lambda integration
- Handled cloud-based data persistence
- Managed API authentication and security
- AWS SDK and Integration:* Worked with AWS SDK for JavaScript
- Connected web client to AWS backend services
- Implemented proper error handling for cloud services
- Managed asynchronous operations with AWS
- Game Development:* Used PixiJS for game rendering
- Created event-driven architecture
- Implemented state management
createTower(type, gridX, gridY) {
const tower = this.towerFactory.createTower(type, gridX, gridY);
if (tower) {
this.addTower(tower);
return tower;
}
return null;
}
spawnWaveEnemies(composition) {
const queue = this.createSpawnQueue(composition);
while (queue.length > 0) {
const batch = queue.splice(0, this.config.batchSize);
for (const type of batch) {
this.enemySystem.spawnEnemy(type);
}
}
}
- Add tower upgrade paths
- Implement more enemy types
- Add a special abilities system
- Enhance visual effects
- Implement multiplayer features
Building this tower defense game was an exciting journey that combined modern web technologies with AWS services. The event-driven architecture proved highly effective for game state management, while AWS provided robust backend services for leaderboard functionality.
#GameDev #AWS #JavaScript #PixiJS #WebGaming