It will vary based on the game but generally servers would simply store data and verify inputs to make sure the clients are in sync and haven't been hacked for example. The clients get sent data like all of the players positions and update their internal state based on it.
No Man's sky probably does a lot more server side, as the world is persistent for everyone.
Have you considered to crowd-fund the development?
It looks really promising, and it feels like one of those ideas that could become popular.
(I like how you placed Notch's Minecraft character in the doorframe of the image as part of the 'If you're names not on the list you're not coming in'-update :))
I think it's an option, but i'd like to get it playable (and fun!) first.
Roleplaying and creativity is pretty high on my list. For example I'm working on a Quest Design system where you can hook together anything in the world to create a quest.
A simple example:
You create a Wizard NPC with an input of (4) (Boars tusks) (which you link to the Boar's monster area). Once completed it unlocks the (Gate) next to him, allowing the player to access the tower full of loot. The inputs and outputs would be completely flexible and could lead to some pretty funny situations. Careful balancing would be needed so players aren't walking halfway across the map just for a shoddy Wooden sword reward.
If you want a couple old-school examples of this for inspiration, take a look at Adventure Construction Set and the scripting language from ZZT. As a kid I made all kind of stories with both of those.
I would be very happy to mark this project as my first foray into the crowd funding world. I have some experience running campaigns, but have yet to contribute to one. This game looks like what I dreamt of creating back in the heydays of Game Maker 4.
I showed this game to my partners, all Tycoon fans. They were salivating over this. Even in early stages, this is something we all want to play really bad.
It isn't every day you get on HN. Hurry up and release something. Provide the usual warnings (this is beta, this sucks right now, things break, etc), but release something. One of the reasons Minecraft was successful was the "release early, release often" philosophy they took. You'll get users, and user input, quickly, should you follow the same path.
When I was in high school, I wanted to be a graphic artist. I completely understand thinking it's not good enough yet. Part of you is in this product, and it's always coming from a vulnerable place, no matter how good you are at taking criticism.
You've been working on this since at least september of 2015. it's good enough right now. Even if you up and change huge chunks of code later, it's good enough right now. I feel like a douche saying this, but How many more times do you think you'll be on HN?
No questions. Just wanted to say I'm glad you made this. A few years ago, I was playing Roller Coaster Tycoon and World of Warcraft a little too often. Had the idea to merge the two, since WoW is basically an amusement park. I mapped the project out but never put anything together.
It's part amusement park and part resort casino. A lot of what they do is put up pretty visuals while they massage your brain with variable schedule of reward.
If you've played WoW, or an MMO like it, just think of it this way. All the experiences are mostly the same no matter how many times you do it. With slight variances based on your class, of course. You go and kill the monsters and finish the quests, and it's all completely predictable. You change nothing. You build nothing. It's all a pre-planned ride. With stuff like dungeons and raids, it's a pre-planned ride you can go on multiple times. With NPCs basically playing the same role as those people in parks wearing character suits.
And it's not just the rides. There's all sorts of prizes, souvenirs, and events designed to make you come back over and over again. There's a casino aspect to it too. Take the ride and you might get a fabulous prize at the end. Or more likely not, but you can always try again tomorrow.
So you can see how the MMO -> Theme Park Tycoon would work. Instead of rides, you designate zones, quests, & dungeons. Instead of hiring costumed people to dance around, you create NPCs. Instead of drink & toy vendors, you sell buff food, pets and mounts and gear. Instead of hiring janitors and security guards, you'd hire game masters (GMs) who would do the same clean-up & refereeing work.
Done properly, this would be an incredible experience. There's the tycoon part of it which would let you see how well you built your Skinner box and how much the Sims are getting addicted. And then there's the part which resembles many of the various gamemaking kits out there. RPGMaker comes to mind. The player can build an entire fantasy world. With multiplayer and the ability to import creations, the world can be built by a team. And then the player could open up the world using the built-in server and actually play in their creation with their friends.
Out of curiosity, what is the current state of Unity games running on OSX/Linux environments? I recall that you could compile with Mono for cross-platform support, but I'm curious if the recent cross-platform support of much of the .NET CLR has made it easier (or more stable, etc.).
Dwarf Fortress, as an example, has Armok Vision [0] that uses DFHack [1] which reads the data structures directly from the Dwarf Fortress process to provide an API layer to other tools and scripts. Armok Vision provides a 3D visualization to the 2D of Dwarf Fortress (in a separate process, by reading memory through Dfhack). It's pretty rad.
There's also the 2.5D "Text will be Text" plugin that actually alters how Dwarf Fortress renders tiles, stacking 2D planes so you can see more than 1 Z layer at a time [2].
I was a huge fan of Ultima Online as a kid and the emulation communities are what got me into programming. This has a lot of ideas I always wanted to implement, awesome stuff!
I'm actually working on a multiplayer map builder in a ww2 fps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XdLbRzsCDg (I hope this is ok to share I don't think they are in competing markets)
Nice, gonna try it now. I hate that damn thing, and was dismayed when I couldn't disable it in Facebook's settings. Now if only I could do the same for the app.
This is how analytics applications work. Almost every website you visit has Google Analytics installed, which sends your data to their servers so that the developer gets a better understanding of their users.
Apps aren't an exception, you'll find it in almost all of them. When you install the app it should notify you what is does or doesn't have access to, so things like your phone book and call history are not accessible for the app.
There’s Ghostery for Google Analytics and similar shenanigans (not to mention that I expect data to be send to a website when I am online) and I don’t know of a single application on my computer that phones home – apart from Skype checking for updates, because they somehow fucked up their repositories after version 4.2.
Similarly, I am rather positive that none of the applications on my phone phone home, since that would trigger a ‘Do you want to allow this while roaming?’ question each and every time.
Edit: Correction: Steam probably does that. I use it once in a blue moon or so. :)
no. Applications are an exception. Servers can do what they want, they have that freedom as far as I'm concerned, but the client is me. It's my computer. It does what I want. Applications should never be antagonistic to me.
Developers use the information to make the product better. They use crash reports to fix bugs without you having to report them and they can determine what operating system and screen resolution you're using so the next time you open up the app, it's been optimised so those ugly black borders have been taken care of.
Granted, they could ask your permission to do this, as some applications do. However, are you really going to spend time integrating an extra layer of complexity between your game, when you're on a limited development budget and the priority should be on making the game more fun?
I believe having this stated in the privacy policy, together with the privacy rules agreed to at installation is more than adequate enough for this level of application, anything more would be overkill on the developers part.
Most people don't really know or understand what facebook is doing. That is why it's unethical to hide under privacy policies that state how non-private everything is under the guise of "your privacy is our highest concern".
Personally I agree with you. Modern OS's actually police and inform users of just how overzealous these programs are, and give you an opportunity to reject the terms the program sets.
Programs in response, refuse to work if they can't get access to your data, even though that data has nothing to do with the service they provide.
You're talking about something wildly unrelated to the OP's basic anonymized analytics. Yes, Facebook is very invasive. Is the OP's app anything like Facebook? No, it isn't.
Most web analytics come from the client as well, not the server. But they do have the browser sandbox around them limiting what they can access.
Given the popularity of mobile and browser sandboxes, it seems increasingly likely that we're going to end up with a sandbox model and opt-in permissions for all apps, at least on consumer OSes. Not sure if this is a good or bad thing. I suppose there are pros and cons.
Veering off topic, but I wonder what people would say if analytics for websites required telling the user what data is being gathered about them before requiring an active opt-in.
No, that's entirely on topic for this particular point.
I know and you know this kind of tracking is industry standard because we are in this industry.
Most people outside this industry don't know that, and are pretty shocked when they see. Seriously, if you have access to a Google Analytics account with a reasonable amount of data start showing people how much stuff you are tracking and see what their reaction is.
Telling OP their "phone home" concerns aren't valid because that's "standard practice" is a terrible argument.
No Man's sky probably does a lot more server side, as the world is persistent for everyone.