[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] OnLive might make MMOs much easier

[R. Scott Kennan]

I agree that the paradigm is shifting in the direction you've described.
MMO-scale trusted computing is already here though- Check out the Unity Game
Engine. It has the ability to run server side in a browser window with
virtually the same experience as a dedicated client. It's built to allow
end-users to create anything from an FPS to a full MMO. You can stream
literally anything in real time. I have no idea of the logisitcs regarding
proximity to a server, etc, but I've played games streamed with it on my
pentium 4 that looked much better than my computer could render itself.

I'm not a shill, but I'm using it for a much more modest project as a
testbed for something more ambitious.

On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 1:40 PM, Matt Cruikshank
<mattcruikshank at gmail.com>wrote:

> Have you all seen the news about OnLive?
>
> http://www.onlive.com/
>
> The rough story is that they have servers that they run the games on,
> and they just stream the video to you at home.  It'll be interesting
> to see if they survive!
>
> Well, if they do - they bring "trusted computing" to the MMO client.
>
> As I understand MMO development, one of the real drags is that you
> can't trust anything the client sends to the MMO servers, because it
> might have been faked, spoofed, modified along the way.  You even have
> to be careful about what you send to the client, because it could be
> snooped.  In short - cheating is a major problem.
>
> Well, if the MMO client is running on a trusted computer, where it's
> impossible for the end-user to fake, spoof, modify, snoop, doesn't it
> make MMO development a *ton* easier?  Users can't explore unchartered
> land in your MMO simply by opening Map4307.png.
>
> The MMO client can talk directly to your database, if it comes to it.
>
> I'm just wondering how much of the *cost* of MMO development is in
> semi-trusting the data from the client, and limiting the information
> sent to the client.  It seems to me from the outside that it's a lot.
> If the client is a trusted friend, it seems like the communication
> between client and server can be much more honest, frank, open, pure,
> simpler, using the data objects you really want to use, doing the
> computation much more where it's most practical.
>
> The client can tell the server whether or not the character hit the
> orc.  Hell, the client can keep track of the orc's hit points, and
> tell the server to give the character the appropriate experience
> points if he kills it...  When a party goes on a raid, the client
> computers can be totally in charge of everything that happens.  It's
> like a LAN party, where you know no one will cheat.  Each computer is
> running not just the character, but a portion of the enemies - say for
> instance the ones he is in melee combat with.  His computer informs
> the other client computers what those specific enemies are doing.
>
> What, in this situation, does the MMO server really do?  Record the
> character's inventory changes and the experience points gained.  What
> else?  It's a database - it might not do hardly ANY game physics or
> simulation, any more...  Wouldn't that dramatically decrease the cost
> of running an MMO?
>
> Or am I over-inflating the costs of security, and the benefits of more
> TRUSTED computing horsepower right at the game client?
>
> -Matt Cruikshank
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