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MudEngine Part 10: Desktop with Blitz

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Run it!

You need two terminals for this part. One runs the server, the other runs the native client.

Terminal 1: Start the server
dx serve
Terminal 2: Launch native client
cargo run
🧪 What to check
  1. Terminal 1 — dx serve compiles and starts the Axum server on port 8080
  2. Terminal 2 — cargo run compiles the native binary and opens a window
  3. The native window shows the name screen — enter a name and click "Enter the World"
  4. The grid renders — CSS Grid layout via Taffy
  5. Room names appear in each cell — text rendering via Parley + Vello
  6. Click D-pad buttons — the WebSocket fires, the grid updates, the description panel changes
  7. Open http://localhost:8080 in a browser — join with a different name
  8. Both clients see each other — the WebSocket broadcast works across native + browser

Test the rendering

Compare the look between the browser and the native window:

  • Grid — should look similar; CSS Grid is well-supported
  • Text — the browser uses system fonts; Blitz uses Parley for text layout
  • Colours — basic colours match; gradients may not
  • Buttons — clickable areas work; hover effects may not
  • Scroll — overflow content scrolls via winit events
🚦 Troubleshooting

cargo run fails — "use of undeclared crate or module dioxus_native" → Make sure dioxus-native = "0.7" is in your Cargo.toml. Run cargo update after adding it.

Window opens but is blank → Check the terminal for panics. The most common cause: the WebSocket can't connect because the server isn't running. Start dx serve in a separate terminal first.

"Cannot find function set_server_url" → Import it explicitly: use dioxus::fullstack::set_server_url;. It's not in the dioxus_native prelude.

"No such file or directory: assets/main.css" → Blitz respects the same asset resolution as the web build. Make sure assets/main.css exists in your project root.

"The rsx! macro is not export controlled by dioxus_native" → Ensure you are using use dioxus_native::prelude::*; — this re-exports the rsx! macro from dioxus-core-macro.

WGPU errors on startup (Vulkan not found) → Blitz requires a GPU with Vulkan (Linux/Windows), Metal (macOS), or DX12 (Windows) support. On some headless systems or VMs, you may need to install GPU drivers or use software rendering fallbacks.

Slow compilation → The first build after adding dioxus-native compiles all of Blitz's dependencies (stylo, taffy, vello, wgpu, etc.). This can take several minutes. Subsequent builds are incremental and faster.

Blitz panic: "not yet implemented" → You've hit a missing CSS feature. Try removing the CSS property that caused it, or simplify the stylesheet to basic colours and layout. Check the terminal for the panic location.

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