Hordes of War

Hobby Game Development C# MySQL UDP/TCP RPC Unity 3D FishNet Steamworks Github (+Actions) Edgegap Docker Visual Studio MySQL Workbench Problem Solving Reasoning Technical Thinking Networking In Development

A multiplayer game actively in development, built with scalability in mind. Harnessing cutting-edge technology such as the Unity 3D game engine, Docker containers for agile hosting, and Github Actions for streamlined, automated deployments.

Basic Description

Hordes of War is primarily inspired by two games: Runescape, and Mount & Blade. I loved the simplicity of Runescape, so I'll be incorporating the same point and click movement with a WASD pivotal player camera. The learning curve should be minor, the gameplay mechanics should be intuitive, and the game should be easy to jump in and jump out of when desired, to maximise appeal.

Mount & Blade offered an amazing campaign-like experience which I want to replicate within Hordes of War. I want players to run around a campaign map, getting into battles with NPCs and rival player factions. I want a resource collection system which will enable players to steer the game's economy, impacting the prosperity of settlements.

Challenges

Below are some of the challenges I faced when developing my most ambitious project to date. It offered some great experience; the challenges required out-the-box thinking and sound reasoning, concessions are often needed in a large project, and I think I did a great job cutting-corners in areas that weren't business-critical, so that the game could be made.

Challenge	Solution	Reasoning
Scalability Multiplayer games are hard to scale, especially as an indie developer.	Local Simulation I'm going to cut down on network traffic by only sending essential information, thereby making clients simulate a lot locally.	Network Reduction Simulating player movement is one of the biggest requirements of any multiplayer game, but for Hordes of War, precision and accuracy is not critical. I took the executive decision to focus more on scalability and less on accuracy - by sending only the clicked position coordinates (end of the path), clients can simulate one another's movement locally. This cuts network requirements drastically, and results in a smoother experience for the player. The players shouldn't notice any latency other than for a minor delay when they click to move, and any slight inconsistencies in simulations shouldn't be noticable without a side-by-side comparison.
Client Distribution Distributing a game is important for any developer, and it's important to pick the correct platform.	Steam Steam is one of the largest gaming platforms, and it will be the main platform I will be distributing my game through.	Popularity Steam is a very popular game platform. This can mean my game gets drowned in a sea of other popular game releases, but it's a risk worth taking. It's possible to integrate Steam into our game, and it offers services useful for multiplayer also, and it will give our game good general availability for any PC gamer.
Server Distribution Hosting is a complex topic with many considerations, including deployment ease, world coverage, and network reliability.	Edgegap Edgegap is a game server hosting platform which supports custom Docker containers.	Docker Containers After considering many different hosting providers, Edgegap was the clear favourite. It has servers worldwide, meaning I'll be able to deploy servers to suit player demand as required in appropriate locations. Also, it has a brilliant API, and its support for custom docker containers gives me flexibility and an ability to spin up new instances in seconds. Docker container creation is part of the pipeline process, and with it I can quickly push out updates when needed.