The Hobbit: There and Back Again

⚠️ Work in Progress - everything may change at any time. The main goal is to create the most interesting and realistic textual game possible.

An interactive text-based RPG game based on J.R.R. Tolkien's works, where you control Bilbo Baggins in his journey through Middle-earth. The game uses AI (Claude) to generate dynamic narratives and character reactions.

🎭 Living Character System: Bilbo isn't just a player avatar - he has his own personality, emotions, plans, and thoughts that evolve based on your actions. Your decisions shape his character development, while his current state influences how he perceives and reacts to the world around him, just like in real life!

✨ Features

• 🎮 Interactive RPG with full immersion in Tolkien's world
• 🎭 Living Character System - Bilbo has personality, emotions, plans and thoughts that evolve
• 🔄 Bidirectional Influence - your actions shape Bilbo's character, his state affects his reactions
• 🌍 Multilingual support - complete support for Russian, English and Spanish
• 💾 Manual/automatic saves - play with it to get the desirable setting
• 🧠 Bilbo's Personal Memory - stores Bilbo's subjective memories of events
• 😃 Fun - incredibly fun!
• 🌿 Therapy - very meditative and relaxing

Requirements

• Node.js (version 18 or higher)
• Claude API key from Anthropic
• Claude Sonnet 3.5 or newer model (required for proper game functionality)

Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/hobbit_game.git
   cd hobbit_game

2. Install dependencies

   npm install

3. Configure the game

   cp game.json.example game.json

   Edit game.json and replace "your-claude-api-key-here" with your actual Claude API key.

4. Run the game

   Option A - Automatic (Windows):

   start-game.bat

   Option B - Manual:

   npm run dev          # Development mode
   # OR
   npm run build        # Build for production
   npm run start        # Run production server

5. Open your browser and go to: http://localhost:5000

🛠️ Development

Commands

npm run dev          # Start development server with hot reload
npm run build        # Build for production
npm run start        # Start production server

Project Structure

/
├── src/
│   ├── App.tsx                   # Main game component
│   ├── main.tsx                  # React initialization with i18n
│   ├── i18n/
│   │   └── index.ts              # react-i18next configuration
│   └── index.css                 # Tailwind CSS imports
├── server/
│   └── index.ts                  # Express server with API endpoints
├── public/
│   └── locales/                  # Translation files (ru/en/es)
│       ├── ru/                   # Russian (common.json, state.json, prompt.md)
│       ├── en/                   # English (common.json, state.json, prompt.md)
│       └── es/                   # Spanish (common.json, state.json, prompt.md)
├── memory_db/                    # LanceDB vector database
├── package.json                  # Dependencies and scripts
├── game.json.example             # Configuration template
└── start-game.bat               # Quick start script

Key Technologies

• Frontend: React + TypeScript + Vite + Tailwind CSS
• Backend: Node.js + Express + TypeScript
• AI Integration: Claude API (Anthropic)
• Internationalization: react-i18next
• Vector Database: LanceDB with semantic memory search
• Build Tools: Vite, PostCSS

⚙️ Configuration

The game.json file contains minimal essential settings:

{
  "api": {
    "anthropic": {
      "apiKey": "your-claude-api-key-here",
      "baseUrl": "https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages"
    }
  },
  "game": {
    "model": "claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022"
  }
}

All language settings are handled by react-i18next configuration.

🌍 Adding New Languages

1. Create folder public/locales/{language_code}/
2. Copy translation files from existing language (ru/en/es)
3. Translate all content: common.json, state.json, prompt.md
4. Add language to src/i18n/index.ts supportedLngs array
5. Add option to language switcher in src/App.tsx

🐛 Troubleshooting

"game.json not found"

• Make sure you copied game.json.example to game.json

"API key not configured"

• Check that your Claude API key is properly set in game.json
• Ensure you have sufficient credits in your Anthropic account

Translation errors

• Verify all files in public/locales/ have valid JSON syntax
• Make sure all language folders have all required files (common.json, state.json, prompt.md)

Save incompatibility issues

• Save files may be incompatible between different game versions
• If you experience errors when loading saves, clear browser cookies
• Start a new game if save loading continues to fail

📝 License

This project is open source. Feel free to fork, modify, and share!

🙏 Acknowledgments

• J.R.R. Tolkien - for creating the incredible world of Middle-earth
• Anthropic - for providing the Claude AI that brings the world to life

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"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit..."