Ebonyfortress - Thoughts on video game development

Kylotan's Gamedev Thoughts

Why is networked multiplayer so difficult to implement?

It's often said that "networked games are hard to make", but why is that? In an age of game engines with built-in networking capabilities, why is this still considered a problem? Why is networking different from other features that have been massively simplified by modern engines,

Picture of a beetle rummaging through some dead leaves

How to write good bug reports for game developers

Every game in development has bugs! The quality of the corresponding bug report makes a huge impact on whether the bugs get fixed, and when they do, how effectively. This is what you can do to ensure that your bug reports are as effective as possible.

Tweakable game settings

An overview of the various ways in which a game can be engineered to allow key values and attributes to be amended quickly and easily, including at run-time.

Agile For Gamedev - A Poor Fit

The release of Cyberpunk 2077 in a poor state last year led to a lot of debate on how game development projects should be managed. Staff were overworked, deadlines were missed, features were cut, and the game came out with serious bugs. Despite throwing more money and time at the

Introduction

I've been developing games in some form for thirty years, starting with BASIC on the Amstrad CPC 464 in my early teens, working on MUDs as a hobby during university, before getting a job as a software engineer and eventually landing in the video games industry about fifteen