Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login
Making an online multiplayer game with Godot and Nakama (heroiclabs.com)
166 points by erlend_sh on March 10, 2021 | hide | past | favorite | 22 comments



Heroic Labs service looks interesting. So I decided to look at their Terms of Service:

> "You represent, warrant, and agree that You will not use the Services in a manner that is illegal..."

Fair enough.

> "... or otherwise inconsistent with these Terms. In addition, you will not use the Services in a manner that Heroic deems, in its sole discretion, objectionable."

So they can decide that I violated their TOS for any reason they see fit.

This is not the way to build a business relationship. Based on this I would never consider becoming their customer.

EDIT: Links to the TOS:

https://heroiclabs.com/tos.txt https://archive.is/aUd50


idk, seems like a pretty standard condition. Other platforms have something similar, allowing e.g. Amazon to cancel Parler's account on their services. Nobody is required to give you a platform, and if you already think that you intend to use their platform for something they will find objectionable, you should reconsider your moral compass.


Yep, very standard. Here’s the WordPress TOS as another example, under their e-commerce section:

> We may terminate your access to our Services or force refunds (where possible) to your subscribers and customers without notice to you if we determine (in our sole discretion) that your use violates the Agreement, or if a payment processor or regulatory authority requires it.

And, like with WordPress, users of Nakama can still use the open source version without having to ask for any sort of permission. This is much greater user freedom than the average closed-source SaaS.


WP's TOS doesn't say anything about if they find your content "objectionable".


The fact that its common doesn't change the fact that it's an awful deal to enter into.

>Nobody is required to give you a platform

Conversely, I am not required to give them my money.


> you should reconsider your moral compass

My moral compass is very well calibrated. I do not go around making character attacks, nor do I interject my politics in unrelated discussion.


What an individual may find objectional and what an organization with a founded interest in maintaining a positive public image in the todays political turbulence may find objectional are very different things. It's far too easy to stray on the wrong side of the masses for even the slightest perceived misstep.


See also the video introduction made by the author of the tutorial, David Snopek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uccWWwiXw4

It's almost midnight here but I'll happily answer questions tomorrow!

p.s. We're planning to do the same tutorial for Unity and Macroquad (Rust) as well: https://forum.heroiclabs.com/t/fish-game-an-open-reference-g...


Why Macroquad btw? I'd be heavily interested in this tutorial, but the library of choice is interesting. Figured if this tutorial was for press, some of the larger players (Bevy, Amethyst, etc) would garner more attention


Never heard of Nakama before, it has some really great documentation: https://heroiclabs.com/docs/index.html



Thanks! Doing a game in Defold right now, really liking it. Glad to have this reference.


I like the game, reminds me of “Joust”

On the tutorial, I’d advise cutting into sections. Easier to read, you can go more in depth for each section, you get more posts out of it.

Nakama looks really good. Is 600 really the cheapest pricing? What about for just messing around?


I thought the same. But it appears that's just the hand-holding support included price for when your big and need that, I'm guessing. https://heroiclabs.com/nakama-enterprise/

It seems like you can build and run everything yourself with whatever cloud or onprem setup you want.


Building and running locally, I think? However, I can say this for sure.

https://github.com/heroiclabs/nakama


Sweet, I missed that somehow.

I still think a free tier would be nice though. It’s not a huge pain in the ass to setup looks like, but still...I bet they’d be more popular if they did.


I've been experimenting (aka not getting much done) in Godot for a couple of years now, (took a break from fighting 4.0 bugs, really excited about Vulkan when it's more stable), and this is very well done. The classes are very cleanly labeled, the assets organized, etc. While I don't plan on using Nakama, it has at least opened me up to the possibility for quick prototyping.

Great job Heroic Labs team!

PS. Thank you for open sourcing it. This is one of the things I love about the Godot community!


I notice they're using cockroachdb, what makes it a good choice for something like this?

What are some alternatives, and why might they be inferior choices?



I don't think Cockroachdb is a better choice but it's fine, most games tend to use MySQL / PG from my experience. Reasons:

- MySQL / PG are proven solution

- Your game will not outscale a single instance

- Developpers know SQL

- Mature C++/C# drivers


Docs are good. Not the best but definitely better than average.

If there’s an arguments for the use of frameworks, it’s gotta be this. Looks like you either write a game or you write a game engine, but you can’t do both.

Well I’m pumped. I’m gonna try it out.


If you want something similar but Java instead (for that extra multi-core performance) you can try my system: http://fuse.rupy.se




Join us for AI Startup School this June 16-17 in San Francisco!

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: