VDM - The Virtual Dungeon Master

VDM is a multiplayer, AI-driven storytelling game designed for immersive, collaborative role-playing. It combines a powerful, locally-run backend with a clean web interface, allowing you and your friends to create and experience epic adventures narrated by a sophisticated AI Game Master.

The project is built with a "Keep It Simple, Stupid" (KISS) philosophy, leveraging modern, high-performance tools to create a robust foundation that is easy to understand, maintain, and extend.

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✨ Features

• AI-Powered Game Master: A sophisticated LLM (Large Language Model) acts as the storyteller, reacting to player actions, describing the world, and narrating events.
• Real-Time Multiplayer: Join a room with friends from anywhere. The game state is synchronized in real-time for a seamless collaborative experience.
• Thematic & Modern UI: A beautiful and immersive user interface with selectable "Material" and "Thematic" (fantasy manuscript) styles, complete with a persistent light/dark mode.
• Dynamic Voice Narration: The GM's responses are brought to life with high-quality, server-side Text-to-Speech.
• Long-Term Memory (RAG): The AI has a true long-term memory, powered by a local vector database (ChromaDB). It automatically remembers key events and can be manually prompted to remember specific facts with the /remember command.
• Session Persistence: Save your game at any time with the /save command. The server automatically reloads your session when you rejoin the room, so you can continue your adventure later.
• Turn-Based Gameplay: A structured turn system allows players to declare their actions, which are then submitted to the GM as a single turn for resolution.
• Player-Driven Setup: The adventure begins with the AI collaborating with the players to define the genre, tone, and setting of the story.
• Secure & Accessible: Runs locally on your machine and can be securely accessed over your network (LAN, ZeroTier, Hamachi) via HTTPS.
• Pluggable AI Backends: Easily switch between different LLM providers, including local options like LM Studio and Ollama, or cloud services like OpenRouter.

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🚀 Getting Started

Follow these steps to get your VDM server up and running.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11+
• uv: A fast Python package installer. If you don't have it, run:

  pip install uv
  

• mkcert: For generating a trusted local SSL certificate (required for microphone access). See mkcert installation instructions.
• (Optional) NVIDIA GPU: For the best performance with local LLMs and RVC.

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1. Project Setup

First, clone or download the project repository.

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2. Create the Virtual Environment

We use uv to create a consistent and fast virtual environment. Open your terminal or command prompt in the project's root directory and run:

# This creates a .venv folder using Python 3.11
uv venv --python 3.11 --seed

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3. Activate the Environment

You must activate the environment in your terminal session before installing packages or running the server.

On Windows (Command Prompt/PowerShell):

.venv\Scripts\activate

On macOS / Linux:

source .venv/bin/activate

Your terminal prompt should now be prefixed with (.venv).

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4. Install Dependencies

Install all required Python packages using the requirements.txt file.

# This will install FastAPI, PyTorch, ChromaDB, and all other dependencies
uv pip install -r requirements.txt

Note: The first time you run this, it may take a few minutes to download the PyTorch libraries and the Sentence Transformer model for the RAG system.

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5. Configure the VDM

The VDM is configured using simple YAML files.

• Main Configuration: Copy config.yml.example to config.yml. Open the new file and configure it, paying special attention to the llm section to select your AI backend (lmstudio, ollama, openrouter) and provide your API key if needed.
• Prompts (Optional): Edit prompts.yml to change the GM's personality and instructions.
• Voices (Optional): If you enable enable_dynamic_casting in your config, edit voices.yml to assign custom voices to characters.

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6. Generate SSL Certificate (for HTTPS)

The microphone feature requires a secure (HTTPS) connection.

1. (One-Time Setup) Install a local Certificate Authority:

   mkcert -install
   

2. Generate Certificate:
   From your project's root directory, create a ssl folder. Then run the mkcert command, replacing <YOUR_IP_HERE> with your actual local network or ZeroTier IP address.

   mkdir ssl
   mkcert -key-file ./ssl/key.pem -cert-file ./ssl/cert.pem localhost 127.0.0.1 ::1 <YOUR_IP_HERE>
   

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7. Launch the Server!

Simply run the launch script. It will handle activating the environment and starting the server with all the correct settings.

On Windows:

launch.bat

The server will be running at https://localhost:8000 (or your configured port). You and your friends can now connect and play!

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🎮 How to Play

1. Connect: Open your browser to the server's HTTPS address. Enter a Room ID and a Player Name.
2. Lobby: Wait for your friends to join. The first player in the room is the host and will see a "Start Game" button.
3. Start Game: The host clicks "Start Game" to begin the collaborative setup.
4. Define Your World: The GM will ask what kind of adventure you want to play. Anyone can reply. The first in-character reply sets the stage for the game.
5. Declare Actions: During gameplay, type what your character does or says. This adds your action to the current turn's queue.
6. Submit the Turn: When all players have declared their actions, anyone can click the "Continue Story" button (or type /next) to submit the turn to the GM.
7. Enjoy the Story: The GM will narrate the outcome of your combined actions.

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⌨️ Slash Commands

• /roll [dice]: Rolls dice (e.g., /roll 2d6+3). Defaults to 1d20.
• /ooc [message]: Sends an out-of-character message to other players.
• /remember [fact]: Saves a critical fact to the GM's long-term memory.
• /save: Saves the current game session.
• /next: Submits the current turn's actions to the GM.