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I wasn't expecting this to be modd.io when I saw the title. It's a popular framework/platform for building IO games.
I play a lot of games and sold some in the past, but I’ve never heard the term. What is an IO game?
I find that node js based multiplayer backends will eventually slow to a crawl as the number of connections goes up. How have you solved this problem? Wouldn’t something like Go be a better alternative here?
Seems like you've built in some really specific things (from the README);
- Weapon system (melee & projectile)
- Shops
- Client-side predicted projectile + unit movement
- ETC
Why did you decide to bake those into the engine instead of "copyable" plug-ins? Of course lots of games dont need these things - is this a game engine? or is this a FPS/RPG/Else game engine?
I dont hate on tech, but im still left asking "why"? What's it for? Why would I use this over "Three.js" and my own server? :) (I ask only to get your take)
Unless it’s as advanced as Unity, is it possible to even sell an engine these days? Something like this is expected to be free
This is an unfair comparison imo. Just because Dewalt (or similar) sell a comprehensive toolbox does not mean people won't pay for a standalone screwdriver. It all depends on what people feel they need.
One trick pony engines worked in the 90's because something like an FPS required rare personnel to develop given the limited hardware. That's why you'd get weird kids stuff like Nerf Arena Blast (Unreal 1) and Super 3D Noah's Ark (Wolfenstein 3D engine). Eventually you had Renderware, but that was like the Unity of the 2000s.
There's a world of JS game engines, more advanced, for free today https://github.com/collections/javascript-game-engines
Moddio has built in multiplayer server support that seems pretty intuitive, that's definitely something special. But a screwdriver that makes Stick RPG clones isn't very profitiable.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I play a lot of games and sold some in the past, but I’ve never heard the term. What is an IO game?
IO game is a catch all term for these types of mechanically simple, multiplayer, web-based games . The name comes from the fact that many of these games are hosted on .io domains. Well known examples are agar.io and slither.io.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is an unfair comparison imo. Just because Dewalt (or similar) sell a comprehensive toolbox does not mean people won't pay for a standalone screwdriver. It all depends on what people feel they need.
I looked at, at least 8 different moddio games. They're all top down Newgrounds games with painfully obvious similarities. The only exception was one where you control a fish. In that one the water splash animation occurred on the grass leaving me to believe the game was pushing the envelope of what the engine could do. One trick pony engines worked in the 90's because something like an FPS required rare personnel to…
I'm not sure if just doing LZ-string compression is enough. 50 players use about 20KB/sec data. Comparing that to Warzone at 150 players uses only 48KB/sec data. Unless you have unlimited data, that could be costly in cloud bandwidth.
It was also curious that the compressed buffer of bytes look like this: 埒愑䣔橤㤰゙㟍稦獦ঙ惝䓇強栛䳌۬䌃̩佼
I wasn't sure if that is how LZ-string compression just ends up, but its a bit jarring.
In any case, there is lots of room for improvement on the networking side to reduce potential costs.
The whole project is very impressive, so great job!
A sure way to never finish a game is to start by writing an engine. You can absolutely make your own tech but at every step that tech should be tailored for your project, as opposed just a general game platform.
I find that node js based multiplayer backends will eventually slow to a crawl as the number of connections goes up. How have you solved this problem? Wouldn’t something like Go be a better alternative here?