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Show HN: Angeldust – a fast and efficient video game

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Show HN: Angeldust – a fast and efficient video game

#161

Post by ItsFirefly »

lokedhs wrote: post #150
ItsFirefly wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope. On Google Play I'm limited to a 50 MiB APK size so I can only ship assets for the "Cartoon" visual style. As you don't get the full experience of having both the "Cartoon" and "3D" visual styles available I find that not charging for the product is good option. Also: my preconception was that Android users are more likely to pirate a product. So to prevent them from downloading a malware-laden pirate APK and ge…

That's an incredible attitude, and should be commended. I bought the game on Steam even though it's not really the type of game I usually play. I don't doubt I will get my money's worth.

I hope you enjoy the experience! To be honest I think Angeldust is a video game tailored for non-gamers. Most people playing Angeldust that I know in real life are not gamers by any stretch of the imagination, but they just like the laid-back pacing, welcoming nature and upbeat atmosphere of the game. It's amazing to see random friends and acquaintances with zero interest in gaming have fun in my game.

Re: Show HN: Angeldust – a fast and efficient video game

#162

Post by plasma »

ItsFirefly wrote: post #144
yazaddaruvala wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It of course depends on the demand Do you require downtime to scale or is it seamless?

Migrating requires downtime since the game server runs as a monolithic entity. I migrate between dedicated servers and VPSes based on expected demand. Right now we're running on big metal to be able accommodate many players coming while I'm more actively promoting it. When the hype settles down I'll probably move back to a small VPS. I always joke that Angeldust and the server would even run on your toaster. I bet it…

Not sure how your backend works, but I read a neat technique by I think Second Life, where each actor is in a zone, and a zone is managed by a server.

If a player leaves the zone, their entire code stack and current state is shipped to the next zone (script hand off) without the player noticing. They mentioned because each actor is running in a VM/scripting language, the servers can pause/resume the VM for that actor on any machine they move to - pretty neat.

Re: Show HN: Angeldust – a fast and efficient video game

#163

Post by ItsFirefly »

plasma wrote: post #162
ItsFirefly wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Migrating requires downtime since the game server runs as a monolithic entity. I migrate between dedicated servers and VPSes based on expected demand. Right now we're running on big metal to be able accommodate many players coming while I'm more actively promoting it. When the hype settles down I'll probably move back to a small VPS. I always joke that Angeldust and the server would even run on your toaster. I bet it…

Not sure how your backend works, but I read a neat technique by I think Second Life, where each actor is in a zone, and a zone is managed by a server. If a player leaves the zone, their entire code stack and current state is shipped to the next zone (script hand off) without the player noticing. They mentioned because each actor is running in a VM/scripting language, the servers can pause/resume the VM for that actor…

You can read a bit about the Angeldust backend architecture in this comment chain (I have no idea what to call this): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21858618

The Second Life approach sounds like a very good solution if you're having to, and willing to use multiple servers because of performance reasons. I think Angeldust's architecture is a bit cleaner and more straightforward due to different design goals. I specifically wanted to reduce complexity and keep a simple infrastructure so that I could code, debug and manage everything on my own.

I also have the luxury of using a single, big, many-core server if necessary. When Second Life started I don't think 32+-core servers were a thing, so their scaling model was probably also born out of sheer necessity.

Re: Show HN: Angeldust – a fast and efficient video game

#164

Post by friendlybus »

ItsFirefly wrote: post #160
friendlybus wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These guys help indies port to consoles, maybe they have a few tips? https://do-games.com/

Thanks, I took a look. They look geared specifically to getting Unity engine projects "ported". Porting my (non-Unity) code is the least of my worries; I'm already maintaining about ten different build toolchains. I anticipate most problems in the Nintendo Switch platform rules and guidelines that I'm completely unfamiliar with as of yet. And I lack the hardware to test. But now that I'm forced to think more about it…

I found that company via a gdc talk by the guy who did The First Tree (the talk was called No Time, No Budget or something alike). He used them mostly to get through the hurdles of rules and guidelines. Glad I could inspire good luck with your game!

Re: Show HN: Angeldust – a fast and efficient video game

#165

Post by latchkey »

ItsFirefly wrote: post #133
winrid wrote: post #126

Awesome job. I'm working on a game with some similar technical challenges (landscape is based on actual Earth though) and backend is in Java. I'll see if I can get my friends to play.

I read somewhere about doing your project in a "release early, release often" style of development. While developing Angeldust I got others involved and playing after just a few months of part-time development. Getting feedback, ideas and issues early definitely helped me build a rock-solid base on which I could build the overarching gameplay. So if you have friends (you're already doing great there!), get them playi…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Release_early,_release_often

Re: Show HN: Angeldust – a fast and efficient video game

#166

Post by nkrisc »

vectorEQ wrote: post #153
ItsFirefly wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since your message popped up right at the top I'm going to reply to it, hopefully summarizing my view on this and addressing the lively discussion about the game's name. There is a special meaning for the game. The short backstory is included on the game's website. Here's the gist: in the game's lore Violet and Crimson are angel siblings. Violet is the angel of creation, Crimson the angel of destruction. Due to unfor…

i like the name and don't associate games with drugs, so for me personally the name, even though used for some drug as a nickname (official name of the drug is obviously not angeldust) doesn't make that click. I think personally plenty of people will not relate it, and for most who do it might just be a bit of a giggle / afterthought if they do. If it's really related to the in-game content and lore i'm sure players…

Well, traditionally, Jack was a nickname for John. So they likely named their kids John. Though I guess more often these days people give their children a nickname as their fully-qualified given name.

Re: Show HN: Angeldust – a fast and efficient video game

#167

Post by nnq »

The graphic style - oh, my eyes!!! Please team up with a designer, or with a different designer!

...I don't mean the quality, it's understandable resources are constrained. I mean the actual artistic decisions... it burns your visual cortex with all those colors and textures fighting each other. What's the theme, "kindergardeners on acid meeting Elvis"?! or "South Park but in Fortnite drawn while drunk"?

Re: Show HN: Angeldust – a fast and efficient video game

#168

Post by dosy »

colatkinson wrote: post #113

This looks incredible. Gives me vibes of old school Runescape, mixed with Minecraft. Plus the performance as you've detailed it sounds like quite a feat! Also very cool to see a project that supports old hardware--I remember being a kid with hand-me-down computers struggling to play even some Flash games. Gonna give this a play tonight. Rock on, dude!

How do you plan to make money and support the server costs?

Re: Show HN: Angeldust – a fast and efficient video game

#169

Post by ItsFirefly »

nnq wrote: post #167

The graphic style - oh, my eyes!!! Please team up with a designer, or with a different designer! ...I don't mean the quality, it's understandable resources are constrained. I mean the actual artistic decisions ... it burns your visual cortex with all those colors and textures fighting each other. What's the theme, "kindergardeners on acid meeting Elvis"?! or "South Park but in Fortnite drawn while drunk"?

Oof! I'm the designer and art director myself. Please elaborate a bit as "colors and textures fighting each other" doesn't give me the slightest clue as to what you perceive as problematic. Can you post annotated screenshots so I can learn from this? Then I'll go and fire myself!

I've been playing the game in both the "Cartoon" and "3D" visual style for years and it's been a very pleasant and eye-pleasing experience for me. Please open your world a bit for me. Maybe share some of your design work for inspiration. Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Re: Show HN: Angeldust – a fast and efficient video game

#170

Post by nocman »

falcolas wrote: post #48
kossTKR wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First off his game looks very impressive! .. but i do not get the extremely heavy downvoting and very angry comments to the people concerned about the name. Maybe it's no problem but as i said - at least on my Google - PCP the drug comes up as the first result with a complete explanation in quick-view. And to this someone replied "grow up" to me, like what? Isn't the whole idea behind showing HN something to get crit…

> Isn't the whole idea behind showing HN something to get criticism? Let me categorically say: Hell no. Some may want critique, but unabated criticism? That's not good for anybody (even if it does feel good to write). They're showing off the work of years of their lives; having that work shit upon is not what it's been shared for. > If someone disagrees, fine, a discussion about it without mean comments like "get a l…

>> Isn't the whole idea behind showing HN something to get criticism?

>Let me categorically say: Hell no.

It seemed obvious to me that the GP was referring to constructive criticism (which can be very valuable). I would not say it is "the whole idea" behind "Show HN" posts, but it is definitely one of the primary motivators for most of the posts I've seen.

That being said, I'm sure most don't put up a "Show HN" post to effectively hear "this sucks" with nothing helpful in the response (and that does happen).

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