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MMO Architecture: Source of truth, Dataflows, I/O bottlenecks and how to solve

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Re: MMO Architecture: Source of truth, Dataflows, I/O bottlenecks and how to solve

#71

Post by kaliqt »

Stevvo wrote: post #39
justinlloyd wrote: post #29

The "cache, lots of cache" statement is the most true of any MMO architecture we can build. I did some optimization work earlier this year on a project where the single back-end server is now handling 2 billion requests per minute and had around 3TB of RAM for cache (I think the final production system was aiming for 12TB of RAM). There's concerns around race conditions as you pointed out, message passing from client…

How did they get the architecture so wrong on that "open-world game that involves driving cars and running pedestrians over"?

Could be APB honestly.

Re: MMO Architecture: Source of truth, Dataflows, I/O bottlenecks and how to solve

#72

Post by bcrosby95 »

reactordev wrote: post #65
imtringued wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Going by your logic. Nothing is an MMO. Minecraft is a significantly more demanding game than some cooldoen based ability activator where you can only hit things you click on or hit with an area attack and yet it is possible to have thousands of players on one big server. Your "synchronization techniques" pale in the face of destructible terrain.

Except in Minecraft, the world is voxel so to sync destructible terrain I only need to send the x,y,z of the block removed. Going by my logic, there are MOG’s and there are MMOs. Guild Wars 2, World of Warcraft, EverQuest 2, games where thousands of people can be on screen at once, where that server instance is synchronized with the rest of the cluster, for one seamless virtual experience. I’d say half of the self-pr…

None of those MMOs can handle thousands of players on the screen at once.

Re: MMO Architecture: Source of truth, Dataflows, I/O bottlenecks and how to solve

#73

Post by TheHappyOddish »

lordnacho wrote: post #53
quadral wrote: post #8

You missed the opportunity to talk about WoW private servers like Trinitycore. Trinitycore emulator can handle 10k+ players on a single server.

I don't understand how they are able to replicate all the interaction rules. There's a bunch of things going on in WoW, and unless you did a heck of a lot of experiments how would you uncover the rules governing all the interactions between different things? For instance you can bubble hearth on classic but not in hardcore. How is an external server developer going to know that? Also how do they place all the NPCs an…

(Trial + error) * hardcore players.

Yes they scrape as much as they can, but the originals of these (almost as old as WoW itself) were absolutely not 1:1 behaviour. By hardcore players noticing the minute differences, taking the time to detailed bug report, then the admins/devs looking with care, they've come pretty close.

Never underestimate a group of nerds with a passion.

Re: MMO Architecture: Source of truth, Dataflows, I/O bottlenecks and how to solve

#74

Post by ary »

gabereiser wrote: post #55

Oh I feel for the author. I’ve made games. I’ve made distributed web platforms. I have profound respect for modern mmo architectures because of one, nasty, “I wish this wasn’t a thing” class of data. State. Who, where, what animation, what modeled entity, is in my party, on my screen, under my axe. Synchronized playback of my swing to my party members so we all yell in excitement at the same time when the boss falls.…

> Rewind 15-20 years ago and all the folks who wanted to make a game, their first game, and they want to build an mmo. None of them succeeded. Not 1. The only ones since were from people who knew the ask. Or had a crowdfunded ponzi scheme.

This is an odd statement given that Ultima Online can out in 1997 and WoW came out in 2004. Are you referring to hobbyists?

Re: MMO Architecture: Source of truth, Dataflows, I/O bottlenecks and how to solve

#75

Post by gabereiser »

ary wrote: post #74
gabereiser wrote: post #55

Oh I feel for the author. I’ve made games. I’ve made distributed web platforms. I have profound respect for modern mmo architectures because of one, nasty, “I wish this wasn’t a thing” class of data. State. Who, where, what animation, what modeled entity, is in my party, on my screen, under my axe. Synchronized playback of my swing to my party members so we all yell in excitement at the same time when the boss falls.…

> Rewind 15-20 years ago and all the folks who wanted to make a game, their first game, and they want to build an mmo. None of them succeeded. Not 1. The only ones since were from people who knew the ask. Or had a crowdfunded ponzi scheme. This is an odd statement given that Ultima Online can out in 1997 and WoW came out in 2004. Are you referring to hobbyists?

Both of which were developed more than 20 years ago. I also think they knew the ask since they made games prior. I can see how words are confusing and math is hard.

Re: MMO Architecture: Source of truth, Dataflows, I/O bottlenecks and how to solve

#76

Post by sudofox »

gabereiser wrote: post #75
ary wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Rewind 15-20 years ago and all the folks who wanted to make a game, their first game, and they want to build an mmo. None of them succeeded. Not 1. The only ones since were from people who knew the ask. Or had a crowdfunded ponzi scheme. This is an odd statement given that Ultima Online can out in 1997 and WoW came out in 2004. Are you referring to hobbyists?

Both of which were developed more than 20 years ago. I also think they knew the ask since they made games prior. I can see how words are confusing and math is hard.

RuneScape might be a better example. They had made hobby games, no professional experience, and launched a massively successful MMORPG.

If you are arguing they made it more than 20 years ago, so it was easier, I'd like to learn more about how things degraded in the early 2000s. I assure, I am not confused by words or math. :)

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