[MUD-Dev] Butterfly.net

[Luca Girardo]

At 20:50 15.08.2002, Matt Mihaly wrote:

> Is anyone familiar with these guys? They're a grid computing
> company aimed at graphical MUD developers and operators.
 
> Looking over their site, I'm not sure how well they understand the
> challenges in making MUDs. One of their big claims is that they
> eliminate the need for the shard model by allowing developers to
> stuff as many players as need be into a single world.
 
> Am I offbase by thinking that misses the point of the shard model,
> which is to leverage your content?

I would say it depends from many factors. The idea at the base is
pretty interesting as if you create smaller regions as basic units
in the grid system, you increase flexibility when allocating
computing and network resources. Now that could mean that with a
good design you could increase online population while complexity
would increase how to control the players population.

Now for sure the model of 30k players on a single shard or 30k
players on 10 different shards with an online population of 3k
represent two different models. I see for both models advantages and
disadvantages.

Shard model:

  1. less static ingame content then grid model

  2. smaller population for single shard, lower complexity for
  designing models how the player population will behave

  3. problems with balancing load across different shards

  4. increased complexity when deploying dynamic ingame content
  (depending from the content)

  5. wide adopted

Grid model:

  1.can share resources so that you will have always the best load
  balancing between servers and decrease down time and failures

  2. more static ingame content required then shard model

  3. lower complexity when deploying dynamic ingame content
  (depending from the content)

  4. using butterfly grid architecture, you reduce the length of the
  designing and development cycle and decrease complexity of the
  deploying phase

So both models have advantages and disadvantages. And probably the
best solution is often in the middle.

In May Butterfly.net ( http://www.butterfly.net ) was distributing
an interesting kit to developers to test the tech with a good
tutorial intro doc. I suppose they will make it available again in
the next future.

Luca


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