# Building a browser client for a 317 Java game (work in progress)

*I run SnowRSPS, a free custom 317 server online since 2012. This is a devlog, not a launch post: the browser client is still being built.*

## The starting point
Our desktop client is a classic 317-style Java client: software rasterizer drawing into an AWT canvas, Swing chrome around it, a large cache, and a raw TCP socket to the game server. Players want "play in browser, no download."

## The plan: ports, not a wrapper
Instead of trying to run the whole AWT jar in a tab, we're porting the core pieces one at a time and testing each one:
1. **Buffers & crypto:** the packet stream reader/writer and ISAAC cipher, ported to TypeScript and checked against the Java output.
2. **Login:** the RSA/ISAAC login handshake, matched to our server's keys.
3. **Cache & decompression:** reading the existing cache in the browser.
4. **Rendering:** the client already draws into a CPU pixel buffer, so we blit that buffer into an HTML Canvas2D each frame.
5. **Networking:** browsers can't open raw TCP, so a small WebSocket (WSS) bridge sits in front of the game port.

## Why this order
Each piece can be checked against the desktop client byte-for-byte before moving on. A login that works proves the crypto and packet sizes are right. Our server uses custom packet sizes, so a stock 317 web client would not log in.

## What's next
Getting map and model rendering fast enough. If soft-rendering in JS is too slow, we'll look at compiling the Java parts with TeaVM.

Follow along or play the desktop version now: [snowrsps.com](https://snowrsps.com/?utm_source=hashnode&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=snowrsps-promo).