12SystemsPython · curses · RakNet · MinGW · Wine
headless-samp
A protocol-only SA-MP client: the RakSAMP backend becomes a stationary 0.3.7 player driven entirely from a curses terminal. No GTA process, no renderer, no game files.
v0.2.0 experimental
No game, just the protocol
RakSAMP is old Win32 C++ tied to its SA-MP-compatible RakNet implementation. Instead of loading GTA SA, headless-samp patches that backend into a console-only client and wraps it in a Python curses interface: stationary synchronization keeps the player on the server while chat, commands and dialogs happen in the terminal.
Wine still shows up on Linux, but only to initialize a dedicated prefix and run one small console executable, which is a much narrower surface than booting the actual game.
Dialogs as terminal modals
SA-MP servers drive login and interaction through dialogs, so the terminal speaks that language: one-button message-boxes auto-accept, everything else renders as a modal where 1/2 pick buttons, Tab toggles, arrows move list selections, Enter submits and Escape takes the second button. Answers go back through RPC_DialogResponse.
The upstream backend ships commands nobody needs in a stationary client, so the patch removes flood, lag, fake-kill, forged-event and teleport paths outright.
Pinned, patched, honest
The installer clones exactly one RakSAMP commit and rewrites it with a Python transformer that requires every replacement to match exactly once: upstream drift breaks the build instead of the session.
The README states the limits plainly: this is a nonstandard protocol client, servers can detect or reject it, and it ships no anti-detection or bypass behavior. Use it where the server owner permits it.
What makes it technically interesting
- Connects as a normal player slot through the SA-MP RakNet protocol, optionally requests a class and spawns, then holds stationary synchronization
- Color-coded chat and server messages with a monochrome fallback; plain text sends chat, / sends server commands, and a small allowlist of ! commands runs locally (players, reconnect, spawn)
- Full dialog handling in the terminal: single-button message-boxes auto-accept, while input, password, list, tab-list and two-button dialogs render as modals and answer through RPC_DialogResponse
- install.sh pins RakSAMP to one exact commit, applies a Python source transformation, aliases the Windows-era RakNet include names for case-sensitive Linux, and cross-compiles the 32-bit console backend with MinGW
- The patcher deliberately disables upstream flood, lag, fake-kill, forged-event and teleport commands, and fails loudly if the pinned source drifts
- Runs the Win32 backend under a dedicated Wine prefix on Linux, or natively on Windows through run.bat with windows-curses