If you have followed my blog, you know that on September 23rd (2022) I reached a huge milestone with Network Traders. We celebrated the early access release on Google Play with a happy release party. But unfortunately, there came a sharp productivity drop right afterwards and only now, three months later, was I able to deliver a new, albeit small, feature update. Version 0.4.6.0 finally concludes the introduction of tooltips for most of the screens, and hopefully ends this pause for good. So what’s next?
Continue reading DevBlog: The long Pause is overCategory: Online Games
DevBlog: Alpha Release Recap
A week ago, on September 23rd, was the official early access release date for Network Traders. Time to recap. Specifically, there are two things worth telling. The release party for one, was great. On the other hand, Google managed to blow the release. This is how that happened.
Continue reading DevBlog: Alpha Release Recap
DevBlog: Major Game Server Rework
Any new technology you have not used before is a potential risk to your game project. One such risk in Network Traders was the transition of merchants from player to player via Bluetooth. I meant this to be a central mechanic, but tried it much too late, only to find out that it is not stable enough. So I had to reconsider, redesign, and rework the trading mechanism, relying much more on the game server. In a way I have now left the prototype phase behind with this major rework being finally done.
Continue reading DevBlog: Major Game Server ReworkDevBlog: Avoiding Unity Netcode
When I started Network Traders a year ago, I was intrigued by Unity’s new networking layer, which was then still the MLAPI. After some testing, I realised that it was just not the right tool for my application. So when does it make sense to use Netcode and what might be an alternative for your project if it doesn’t?
Continue reading DevBlog: Avoiding Unity NetcodeWill Lumberyard be a Unity Killer?
Yesterday a colleague sent me a link which absolutely thrilled me: Amazon has published a new game engine, Lumberyard. Why am I excited? Not only is it based on Crytek’s CryEngine, but it integrates Amazon’s AWS cloud service and is completely free at the same time. But is it enough to be a real threat to Unity‘s market dominance? I had a quick look at the Lumberyard page and here is my opinion.
Continue reading Will Lumberyard be a Unity Killer?
ConquestRelay Server available on GitHub
As promised in my August post I cleaned up the code for my relay server and uploaded a first version to GitHub under the name ConquestRelay. It is meant for hobby game developers prototyping their own online games, but still lacks a lot of functionality found in professional network layers.