Build and Run a Simple Game Server that Connects to an Inference Server

Setting up the GenAI Inference Server

You will need a separate GenAI inference server. This example uses the Google for Games GenAI as its inference server. This particular inference server has the request structure for the /chat endpoint:

type GenAIRequest struct {
	Context         string  `json:"context,omitempty"`
	Prompt          string  `json:"prompt"`
}

(Optional) Modify the GenAIRequest Structure

If you need a different request structure for your GenAI endpoint, you will need to clone or fork the Agones repository and modify the above GenAIRequest struct in main.go. Update REPOSITORY in the agones/examples/simple-genai-server/Makefile to your own container registry and run make build && make push from within the agones/examples/simple-genai-server path. Then modify the gameserver_*.yaml to pull the image from your container registry. If you are making a series of changes you may also want to add imagePullPolicy: Always to the container image in gameserver_*.yaml.

Setting up Agones

To set up the Game Servers on a different cluster than the GenAI inference server follow the instructions for creating a cluster.

If you set up a separate cluster for your game servers install Agones. on that cluster, otherwise install Agones into your GenAI inference server cluster.

Setting up the Game Server

To manually interact with GenAiEndpoint via netcat, change the GEN_AI_ENDPOINT value in the gameserver_manualchat.yaml file to your inference server’s endpoint. Optionally, include the GEN_AI_CONTEXT in the same file that will include the context with each chat (post request) that you make to the GenAI endpoint.

To make two clients “chat” to each other, change the GEN_AI_ENDPOINT and SIM_ENDPOINT values in the gameserver_autochat.yaml file to your inference server’s address. You could also create a basic http server that receives requests in the structure noted in the above section, and returns a predetermined set of responses for the chat. When sending requests, GEN_AI_CONTEXT is sent to the GEN_AI_ENDPOINT and SIM_CONTEXT is sent to the SIM_ENDPOINT as part of the GenAIRequest structure. The default values for GEN_AI_CONTEXT and SIM_CONTEXT are empty strings. The conversation starts with a PROMPT that is sent to the GenAI endpoint, which is also an empty string by default. NUM_CHATS determines how many times messages are sent back and forth, with a default value of 1. It’s important to note that the chat between two clients is a rolling conversation, meaning that after completing a conversation of length set by NUM_CHATS, a new conversation starts. This cycle continues until the game server is deleted using the kubectl delete command.

If you want to set up the chat with the npc-chat-api from the Google for Games GenAI, update the gameserver_npcchat.yaml file. Choose between GEN_AI_ENDPOINT or SIM_ENDPOINT and set it to http://genai-api.genai.svc/genai/npc_chat for the NPC service. Mark either GEN_AI_NPC or SIM_NPC as “true” to indicate it’s connected to the NPC service. The NPCRequest to the NPC endpoint only sends the message (prompt), so any additional context outside of the prompt is ignored. FROM_ID is the entity sending messages to NPC, and TO_ID is the entity receiving the message (the NPC ID). A new conversation begins either when it reaches the length NUM_CHATS or when it reaches the STOP_PHRASE, whichever happens first.

type NPCRequest struct {
	Msg    string `json:"message,omitempty"`
	FromId int `json:"from_id,omitempty"`
	ToId   int `json:"to_id,omitempty"`
}

Running the Game Server

Once you have modified the gameserver_*.yaml to use your endpoint(s), apply to your Agones cluster with kubectl apply -f gameserver_autochat.yaml, kubectl apply -f gameserver_manualchat.yaml, or kubectl apply -f gameserver_npcchat.

Note that if your inference server is in a different cluster you’ll want to make sure you’re using the kubectl context that points to your Agones cluster and not the inference cluster.

If you set up the gameserver_autochat.yaml or gameserver_npcchat the chat will be in the game server logs:

kubectl logs -f gen-ai-server-auto -c simple-genai-game-server

In autochat mode, the game server will stay running forever until the game server is deleted. While running, we keep --ConcurrentPlayers slots of players running - each simulated player will initiate a chat and then go until they send --StopPhrase or until --NumChats, whichever comes first, after which a new player will fill the slot.

If you set up the gameserver_manualchat.yaml you can manually send requests to the GenAI endpoint. Retreive the IP address and port:

kubectl get gs gen-ai-server-manual -o jsonpath='{.status.address}:{.status.ports[0].port}'

You can now send requests to the GenAI endpoint:

nc {IP} {PORT}
Enter your prompt for the GenAI server in the same terminal, and the response will appear here too.

After you’re done you will need to manually delete the game server kubectl delete gs gen-ai-server-manual.