Most of what they use built-in in game engines, not their standalone code. It’s a matter of switching the servers used with some minor tweaks.
While simply allowing the game to use a variable for the server URL is easy, the VAST majority of gamers would assume it’d come with a clean server installer and the ability to set the URL in some kind of UI.
Both of those details are very much NOT simple in many cases. Sure, quite a few well written games, it could be done quickly, but as someone who’s worked on software for decades … it’s NEVER well written. Especially when video game studio style crunch is involved.
Does it need to be simple? I think it’s pretty reasonable to just release what you have as is, then let the users figure out how to run it for themselves.
I wouldn’t mind anything above “possible”. I was just commenting on what most end users would expect if it’s released for public consumption. Just like everyone keeps bringing it up as a good example, old steam games with a perfectly functional server component you can start up about as easily as the game is all the “hosting” experience most gamers have. If it’s more than setting a port for the server and typing in the url/ip and port in the client, many will be immediately lost.
… not that they should have to make it that easy. The main point of my earlier post was that for many games, creating an easy server component and updating the game to connect to arbitrary servers is very likely to be more than a few hours’ work.
Especially MMO’s and bigger games that may have multiple server components running on multiple servers and likely with an entire build/deploy pipeline behind them…
Hah.
scaramobo@lemmynsfw.com 4 months ago
Ask any professional senior software developer if they ever maintained an existing or new codebase and made the mistake of thinking "oh easy! it’s just a matter of doing this or that and changing a couple of small things. Won’t take longer than <small amount of time>. " Then ask them how long it really took.
Post results here for our amusement :)
BrikoX@lemmy.zip 4 months ago
My few hours comment was never exact for a reason, but it reasonably conveys that the work requires is trivial in the full game development cycle and not an insurmountable task that will bankrupt game developers like you try to do.
SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Bloviating and exaggerating with obvious lies won’t get people on your side dude… at least it shouldn’t, but weirder shits been upvoted.