I was just curious about what makes this whole setup tick. Since you have a Unix client, I assume that you don't use DirectX under the covers. If you don't mind my asking, which language and which libraries does Byond use, and what does the communications paradigm look like at a high level?
Thanks,
Corporate Dog
ID:266542
 Apr 5 2002, 3:25 am
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Thanks Lummox. One more question: how robust is the host software itself? Specifically, how many clients could I realistically expect to connect to a single host, without the game becoming bogged down? Is it more a function of the capabilities of the server that it runs on?
I have to say, I'm really impressed by everything that you guys are offering here, and I'm really looking forward to developing some content. Regards, Corporate Dog | |
Corporate Dog wrote:
Thanks Lummox. One more question: how robust is the host software itself? Specifically, how many clients could I realistically expect to connect to a single host, without the game becoming bogged down? Is it more a function of the capabilities of the server that it runs on? I don't know the theoretical limits; I don't think even Dantom know it. I do know a lot of the limitations will be based on the host machine's computing power and its bandwidth, but developers here have proven time and again that clever programming can deal with most of that. It was recently posted in Babble that one of the DBZ games had 102 users simultaneously. That's pretty impressive when you think about it. My chat (not BYOND-based) has only ever seen 39 users at one time. A popular live game here can pack in 20+, as I've seen some runs of Bombard do. That said, you're unlikely to get a user base as big as, say, Ultima Online, but the hosts should be able to handle quite a lot. Better still, worlds can communicate with each other through world.Export(), which means that something like an MMORPG with multiple hosts is certainly possible if you design its structure well. I have to say, I'm really impressed by everything that you guys are offering here, and I'm really looking forward to developing some content. Always great to see new developers pump out games (especially if they're not DBZ games). I look forward to seeing your work as well. Lummox JR | |
The Unix client doesn't really have any graphics support to speak of, as I recall. In Windows, however, BYOND uses straight GDI, no DirectX.
At a high level, BYOND keeps a persistent connection from the client to the host server (unless you're playing a game offline). Other connections (like the pager) are made temporarily to transfer information.
Lummox JR