Deploying and Running SuperTuxKart Server Using Agones

This SuperTuxKart example shows how to set up, deploy, and manage a SuperTuxKart game server on a Kubernetes cluster using Agones. It highlights an approach to integrate with existing dedicated game servers.

Prerequisite

To get started, ensure the following prerequisites are met:

  • You have a running Kubernetes cluster.

  • Agones is installed on your cluster. Refer to the Agones guide for the instructions.

  • The SuperTuxKart client downloaded for gameplay. Download it from SuperTuxKart

  • (Optional) Review SuperTuxKart code to see the details of this example.

Create a Fleet

Let’s create a Fleet using the following command:

kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/googleforgames/agones/release-1.44.0/examples/supertuxkart/fleet.yaml

You should see a successful output similar to this :

fleet.agones.dev/supertuxkart created

This has created a Fleet record inside Kubernetes, which in turn creates two ready GameServers that are available to be allocated for a game session.

kubectl get fleet

It should look something like this:

NAME           SCHEDULING   DESIRED   CURRENT   ALLOCATED   READY   AGE
supertuxkart   Packed       2         2         0           2       55s

You can also see the GameServers that have been created by the Fleet by running kubectl get gameservers, the GameServer will be prefixed by supertuxkart.

NAME                             STATE       ADDRESS        PORT   NODE                                  AGE
supertuxkart-xfw2g-bwwkb         Ready       34.82.158.69   7421   gke-agon-default-pool-f18c8e90-1f9k   103s
supertuxkart-xfw2g-skdnf         Ready       34.82.158.69   7585   gke-agon-default-pool-f18c8e90-1f9k   103s

For the full details of the YAML file head to the Fleet Specification Guide

Connect to the Game Server

After allocating a GameServer from the fleet and obtaining its status and IP, you’re ready to connect and play. Here’s how to use the server IP and port to join the game with the SuperTuxKart client:

Launch SuperTuxKart: Start the SuperTuxKart client you downloaded earlier by running the executable for your operating system (documentation)

Navigate to Online Play: From the main menu, select the “Online” option and then select “Enter server address” from the available options.

Enter Server Details: In the subsequent screen, you will be prompted to input the IP address and port number in order to join the game. Please enter the IP address and port number obtained from the kubectl get gameservers command.

enter ip and port

Join the Game: After entering the server details, proceed to join the server. You should now be connected to your Agones-managed SuperTuxKart game server and ready to play.

start race

Launch the Game with AI Bots: To start the server with AI players, use the <executable-script> --connect-now=<IP:port> --network-ai=<number of AIs> command, substituting <IP:port> with your server’s IP address and port number and <number of AIs> with the desired number of bots. For more information, refer to the SuperTuxKart documentation.

race with AI bots

Cleaning Up

After playing SuperTuxKart, it’s a good practice to clean up the resources to prevent unnecessary resource consumption. To delete the Agones fleet you deployed, execute the following command. This will remove the fleet along with all the game server instances it manages:

kubectl delete -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/googleforgames/agones/release-1.44.0/examples/supertuxkart/fleet.yaml

Last modified November 5, 2024: Update Supported Kubernetes to 1.29, 1.30, 1.31 (#4024) (a0d1614)