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Show HN: Interactive ECS Systems/Component Explorer for Cities: Skylines 2

captain-of-coit.github.io

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Re: Show HN: Interactive ECS Systems/Component Explorer for Cities: Skylines 2

#11

Post by Laremere »

lolinder wrote: post #9
AndrewDavis wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Entity component system. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity_component_system

Slightly off topic, but does anyone know what the status is of Unity's patent on ECS? I remember this thread [0] from a few years ago, and it looks like the patent is still valid [1], but I still see ECS all over the place outside of Unity contexts. Is Unity just not interested in enforcing the patent? Do they know they'd lose if they tried? Or am I missing a recent development? [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?…

The patent abstract indicates it's not a patent on ECS, but a patent on methods to improve performance with ECS systems. The patent was filed in 2018, which is far after ECS was already in commercial use.

Re: Show HN: Interactive ECS Systems/Component Explorer for Cities: Skylines 2

#15

Post by smolder »

lolinder wrote: post #9
AndrewDavis wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Entity component system. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity_component_system

Slightly off topic, but does anyone know what the status is of Unity's patent on ECS? I remember this thread [0] from a few years ago, and it looks like the patent is still valid [1], but I still see ECS all over the place outside of Unity contexts. Is Unity just not interested in enforcing the patent? Do they know they'd lose if they tried? Or am I missing a recent development? [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?…

As sibling points out, it's about a specific way of optimizing an ECS style program. That's typical corporate software patent stuff - building a moat with patents that aren't inventive. It's like firing a shotgun into the solution space to create off-limits areas and impede newcomers.

Re: Show HN: Interactive ECS Systems/Component Explorer for Cities: Skylines 2

#16

Post by SeanAnderson »

lolinder wrote: post #9
AndrewDavis wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Entity component system. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity_component_system

Slightly off topic, but does anyone know what the status is of Unity's patent on ECS? I remember this thread [0] from a few years ago, and it looks like the patent is still valid [1], but I still see ECS all over the place outside of Unity contexts. Is Unity just not interested in enforcing the patent? Do they know they'd lose if they tried? Or am I missing a recent development? [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?…

Here's cart's analysis: https://i.imgur.com/Kmokcmq.png

Cart is the creator of Bevy (ECS engine in Rust) and Sander is the creator of Flecs (ECS engine in C)

Assume they lose if they try to enforce it, but don't know of any attempts yet.

Re: Show HN: Interactive ECS Systems/Component Explorer for Cities: Skylines 2

#18

Post by [deleted] »

lolinder wrote: post #9
AndrewDavis wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Entity component system. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity_component_system

Slightly off topic, but does anyone know what the status is of Unity's patent on ECS? I remember this thread [0] from a few years ago, and it looks like the patent is still valid [1], but I still see ECS all over the place outside of Unity contexts. Is Unity just not interested in enforcing the patent? Do they know they'd lose if they tried? Or am I missing a recent development? [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?…

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: Interactive ECS Systems/Component Explorer for Cities: Skylines 2

#20

Post by speps »

As a game dev, I'm starting to feel like ECS isn't the right paradigm. Seeing this 700 nodes graph with all the dependencies screams technical debt and domino effect (changing one small system would impact a lot of other ones).

Not sure if there's anything better right now, but seeing everyone copy what Unity did feels like there isn't a ton of innovation in how to build gameplay systems. Lots of engines are being made but not many games come out of it...

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