[MUD-Dev] Middleware (was re: Sun's Sim Server and Gordon's 10 Reasons (thefirstone :))

[Michael Sellers]

Raph wrote:

> To broaden the discussion a little to the general topic of server
> middleware/server codebases: what's the general feeling of the
> list on this issue? My personal take is that middleware generally
> makes too many assumptions that end up constraining the eventual
> game design--plus, you have to rewrite most of it anyway or end up
> with generic stuff. This has seemed to me to be true with muds and
> true with MMOGs.

I think middleware becomes viable when the design space has been
traversed often enough that it's pretty well-known, or when there's
a solution that's simply so good you both want to include it and
couldn't possibly make it yourself for the same price.  For example,
just a few years ago 3D engine creation was still in the realm of
being a black art, and licensing one was perilous at best.  Now such
licensing is increasingly common.  Many might not consider a 3D
engine to be middleware, but I think it qualifies: it's an important
chunk of code and functionality that you decide to buy vs. build.

That said, you're right that any middleware you buy is going to make
assumptions that turn into constraints on your design and
development -- but this is true starting right with the language you
choose to write your system in.  I don't think there's a global
answer here; whether using middleware given its constraints is still
a net win is something every project has to weigh carefully.

One other thing about middleware: more and more people are trying to
sell 'solutions' including hardware, databases, server packages,
world generation, networking, graphics, AI, etc.  And yet few of
these have a strong existence proof to show that they really do
work.  This is the chicken-and-egg problem for middleware providers:
once you can show your product adding significant and obvious value
to a game, selling it becomes much easier -- but no one wants to be
the one to take that first bite and risk their project on your
middleware.  It's a tough sell until you can show, as they used to
say on TV, that "it really really works."  :)

Mike Sellers
Online Alchemy
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