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SpaceTraders: A multiplayer game built on a free web API

spacetraders.io

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Re: SpaceTraders: A multiplayer game built on a free web API

#41

Post by SleekoNiko »

opyate wrote: post #23

As a web dev / game dev, I do like the idea, but just playing devil's advocate: Wouldn't players just mine ore via a cron job and forget about the game? It seems like a "make numbers go up" type of game without any immersion.

A good, existing example I'd like to show you is Screeps: https://screeps.com/

Personally, when I'm in the mindset of playing that game, I can't help but come back to my bot every 30 minutes to see if it's performing well. When I see that it's doing something strange, I take notes and can't stop thinking about possible solutions.

When I'm not in the mood to play (i.e. analyze the bot or program more functionality), it does indeed sit there, but to me, that's no different than any other multiplayer game. :)

I do think that it takes a certain kind of leaderboard-chasing person to stay glued to it, though.

Re: SpaceTraders: A multiplayer game built on a free web API

#42

Post by alexpotato »

Sakos wrote: post #9

I was imagining a game where you gather and trade resources (abstracted from data) from public APIs across the internet. This is cool too.

Feels like a combination of Snow Crash and Accelerando:

scripts/bots/people get information and then upload it to a global database. If someone ends up using that information, you get credits for being the source.

Re: SpaceTraders: A multiplayer game built on a free web API

#44

Post by itslennysfault »

I'd played so many games in this way in my younger days, and learned a ton in the process. Off the top of my head, I got my sisters banned from Neopets for doing this, and dominated my friends in that Google Maps Monopoly game. Also, ruined Star Wars Galaxies for myself to the point where I got bored and quit.

Anyways, interesting to have a game where EVERYONE is playing it via API / code. Not sure if it's as fun when it's allowed, but still a cool idea.

Re: SpaceTraders: A multiplayer game built on a free web API

#46

Post by aSockPuppeteer »

corobo wrote: post #24
sdenton4 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also not to be confused with TradeWars 2002, the classic BBS game: http://www.tradewars.com/default.html

I both lost so many hours to this game and lost my love of gaming playing this haha At a point it clicked that I was just sinking hours into a game loop that didn't benefit me in any real way... and that thought managed to carry over to all games from then on :( Great game though if you don't have an existential crisis during it

comparison of men focused tv shows vs. soap operas.

Not everything needs to benefit you

Re: SpaceTraders: A multiplayer game built on a free web API

#47

Post by mayormcmatt »

mnky9800n wrote: post #18
bullen wrote: post #16

While this seems focused on trading, kinda like EVE (spreadsheet MMO), I think physical action is the real attraction of 3D graphics/audio: So I made a very scalable MMO protocol: https://github.com/tinspin/fuse It's event based so analog movement should be compressed, which means headshot FPS are not the target audience. But it works fine with action games that take scalability into concern. I'm curious how hard peo…

Your logo is on point

It's super cool. I would buy merch with that logo (stickers, a shirt, etc.)

Re: SpaceTraders: A multiplayer game built on a free web API

#48

Post by howellnick »

moffkalast wrote: post #27
Arn_Thor wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just testing it out in the past hour and noticing a lot of "API offline" errors

Yeah I've tried all the web clients and this is the only one that seems to be somewhat working at all https://exo.nickhowell.com I wonder if it's the API being completely overloaded or the clients being terrible.

Happy to see something I made showing up in the comments! I do still maintain Exo, but it doesn’t have all of the features I would have liked to build (like automation) built-in. Maybe someday, or for SpaceTraders v2. Cheers!

Re: SpaceTraders: A multiplayer game built on a free web API

#50

Post by howellnick »

Arn_Thor wrote: post #39
moffkalast wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I've tried all the web clients and this is the only one that seems to be somewhat working at all https://exo.nickhowell.com I wonder if it's the API being completely overloaded or the clients being terrible.

Yeah, that one is rock solid. But this shows one of the benefits of the API-based approach: I'm trying to set up auto-trading in this client ( https://tradecommander.dotefekts.net ) while the other one would be more useful for manual flights

> Yeah, that one is rock solid.

The best compliment to receive, thanks! (I’m the author)

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