Ambient: The Multiplayer Game Engine • Hacker News Board

Re: Ambient: The Multiplayer Game Engine

#121

Post by modeless » Thu, Feb 23, 2023, 4:53 PM UTC

bootloop wrote: post #62

modeless wrote: post #46

> The compiled assets are always streamed to clients, so that they can immediately start playing without having to download all of the content first. I think there's a real opportunity here, if done well. It should be feasible to get initial load times down to single digit seconds, https://venge.io style, but then with progressive enhancement to AAA level graphics assets. I think that could be disruptive. Load times…

This is what I didn't understand about Google Stadia. I thought they will make gaming bigger in Youtube and automatically show a "play now" button next to the video. Maybe even the possibility to join the game of the streamer. It would work in an instant without download. And because you have control over the game you can give everyone a hour or so free demo time, only then they need an abo.

Yeah, Stadia's load times were still bad, it was silly. And they didn't streamline entry into most games so you'd still be watching publisher logos, pressing Start to continue, navigating menus, logging in, accepting additional clickthrough license agreements, etc. What a farce that was.

Re: Ambient: The Multiplayer Game Engine

#122

Post by johnnyApplePRNG » Thu, Feb 23, 2023, 5:14 PM UTC

tadasZ wrote: post #120

Is it only for me or the video in ambient.run page looks laggy?

When I view it in Firefox v78.15.0esr it is flashing annoyingly.

Re: Ambient: The Multiplayer Game Engine

#123

Post by squeaky-clean » Thu, Feb 23, 2023, 5:22 PM UTC

scktt wrote: post #11

brucethemoose2 wrote: post #2

I wonder how it can scale? Even with the battle royale craze, it seems like nothing has really replicated Planetside 2's black magic netcode (or at least amassed a playerbase big enough to show it off).

found a small thread on reddit which posed the same questions [0]. it looks like the above comment hit it on the head; mostly client side with server just handling messages. looks like it didnt scale well either. [0] https://www.reddit.com/r/Planetside/comments/8hx7t1/comment/...

It scaled very well as long as you didn't have any hackers in your region. I remember having battles with well over 500 players and very little lag.

Re: Ambient: The Multiplayer Game Engine

#124

Post by bob1029 » Thu, Feb 23, 2023, 5:24 PM UTC

meheleventyone wrote: post #119

codeflo wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's interesting in that respect what the developers of Frost Giant Studios, comprised of ex-Blizzard RTS devs, are planning for Stormgate. Complex RTS games need a deterministic ("lockstep") simulation to be viable over the network. On the other hand, they are using UE5, which as you indicate, has a completely different server/client model. What I've gleaned from interviews is that the simulation part of the game in…

Actually as long as you have access to the lower level APIs changing that stuff out whilst not trivial isn’t that crazy. The big win with UE in particular is then phenomenal art pipeline and tooling which would take an age to reproduce in a custom engine.

> The big win with UE in particular is then phenomenal art pipeline

This is the only fear I have with 100% DIY - If I want to go much beyond 90s graphics, I will need to do a lot of extra work (aka "draw the rest of the owl") to even begin talking to artists.

That said, there are ways to build games that do not require elaborate art tool chains. AAA visuals are the antithesis of my target. I am perfectly happy trying to do art in code until the wheels pop off the bus and I have to retool for an external art team.

Re: Ambient: The Multiplayer Game Engine

#125

Post by squeaky-clean » Thu, Feb 23, 2023, 5:33 PM UTC

tormeh wrote: post #14

krapp wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Steam and the app stores seem to be doing just fine. Maybe there's a popular indie title only released for browsers but I can't think of it.

There's this small one called Farmville. Though granted I don't know if it's still printing cash the way it used to. It's possible smartphones killed that sort of game.

Wasn't Farmville shut down in 2020? It was flash based. The versions I can find now are all mobile apps in the app store.

Re: Ambient: The Multiplayer Game Engine

#126

Post by hummus_bae » Thu, Feb 23, 2023, 5:35 PM UTC

charcircuit wrote: post #6

"the multiplayer game engine" Yet I can't find any mention of multilayer in the documentation. The github mentions it offers synchronization of data, but what about things like rollback, interpolation, exterpolation, VoIP, messaging, P2P, load balancing, autoscaling, measuring latency, persistence, etc that are needed for multilayer games?

[dead]

Re: Ambient: The Multiplayer Game Engine

#127

Post by habitue » Thu, Feb 23, 2023, 6:00 PM UTC

pjmlp wrote: post #109

anentropic wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

WebGPU doesn't necessarily mean "in the browser" though Rust game engines are using it as a library for native games

It does, anywhere else is better served with middleware that has full exposure to native 3D APIs without the constraints of an API designed to be called in a browser sandbox.

WebGPU makes cross-platform seamless because it's got multiple backends, and it's quite capable. It can be extended to add native platform features

Re: Ambient: The Multiplayer Game Engine

#128

Post by plopz » Thu, Feb 23, 2023, 6:04 PM UTC

neural_thing wrote: post #60

brucethemoose2 wrote: post #2

I wonder how it can scale? Even with the battle royale craze, it seems like nothing has really replicated Planetside 2's black magic netcode (or at least amassed a playerbase big enough to show it off).

EVE online also has mad scaling through time dilation

which is an incredibly unfun awful mechanic

Re: Ambient: The Multiplayer Game Engine

#129

Post by sosodev » Thu, Feb 23, 2023, 6:05 PM UTC

bob1029 wrote: post #112

I am at a point where I do not believe I could outsource the net code for the kinds of games that I'd like to develop anymore. By extension, this sort of ruins my ability to use any commercial product like UE5/Unity/et. al. Networking is very fundamental to some types of games and the expected player experience. Grabbing a generic "this is multiplayer :D" box off the shelf and cramming it into your concept will likel…

Yeah, it's a shame because multiplayer was an afterthought for the current major engines that you listed. Off the shelf multiplayer can work really well if the engine was designed for multiplayer. The Source engine always comes to mind as an engine that has proved itself with many high quality multiplayer titles. I wish Valve made licensing Source easier/cheaper.

Re: Ambient: The Multiplayer Game Engine

#130

Post by habitue » Thu, Feb 23, 2023, 6:09 PM UTC

shmerl wrote: post #39

echelon wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The terrible compile time is a big reason why I avoid rust for game dev. Compile times are the least of your worry. The big problem is lack of tools and libraries in Rust gamedev. You can't even achieve PS2-era graphics with Rust right now. Neither Bevy nor FyRox support blend shapes / morph targets, and that's a two decades old and absolutely essential animation tool. Rust for gamedev is going to take a decade to…

> You can't even achieve PS2-era graphics with Rust right now. Don't you have access to Vulkan from Rust? So you should be able to do whatever you want, same as doing it in any other language I assume that can plug into it.

I think the point being made is about the tooling being available to do it easily.