AstroWebEngine is a data-driven engine for browser-based, multiplayer space-strategy games. Every rule — units, economy, combat, resources, the map itself — lives in a game definition you compose in a GUI. One engine, endlessly different games.
The engine ships with zero baked-in ruleset. Units, buildings, research, defenses, the combat model, the resource economy, and the map layout are all a game definition (JSON or Python) — loaded at startup and hot-swappable at runtime. Compose one in the admin GUI, or author your own.
Pick a base game, snap on rule fragments, edit ship / building / research stats, and activate — all from the admin panel, no code.
Resource model, combat, defenses, map depth, entire rosters — it's all one definition. Change the game without touching the engine.
Flip single ↔ multi-resource, simultaneous ↔ round combat, level ↔ count defenses, hierarchical ↔ flat maps. Same code, different worlds.
Package a ruleset as a mod, layer content and behaviour overlays on top, and ship your game for others to run.
Procedural spiral galaxies, fleets, real combat, trade, and configurable NPC factions in a living, shared universe.
FastAPI + SQLite, no frontend build step. docker compose up or python run.py and you're live on :8000.
These aren't forks. They're the same engine running two different definitions — every axis below is a config choice, not a code change.
Switch between them — or your own game — with one click in the admin panel.
# clone it git clone https://github.com/StevenG916/AstroWebEngine cd AstroWebEngine # option A — Docker docker compose up # option B — Python pip install -r requirements.txt python run.py # then open http://localhost:8000
The first account you register is the admin. From there, open Build Game to pick a prebuilt ruleset, tweak the content, and launch a universe — or point the engine at a definition of your own.