Quick update: core systems and iteration speed picked up this week and focus moved into design. Built an authoritative server so players can share a world, see each other, and move with pathfinding. Highroads - Realm of Trade is an economy first MMO where players shape the world via gathering, crafting, trade and logistics. Want to playtest or give feedback? Join Discord: https://discord.gg/BAuC7HYBrT
Tysk Games
Playing with the idea of doing the stupid thing...
Quick build and deploy update: set up a multistep pipeline to update Nakama and the Godot client with basic error correction. After a push I can test server code in the editor in about 30 seconds as Nakama restarts and reports status. Full deploy without a map upload is 1 to 2 minutes, so players do not notice restarts. I will add in game notifications once a second server stack is updated weekly.
@don I like to see that you make progress! Quick wins are often good to also keep social media engaged, I noticed that with the world map, that gave me a huge boost, even if no actual gameplay system is working atm.
Finally I can see where I am walking. Navigation and walking feel tighter, animations landed, and a server debug overlay shows version and simple stats. Early week boosted core tech and iteration speed, then design work and first in game UI. Next up: testing tools and some cheat codes like teleport to speed up playtests.
This week pushed Highroads forward on two fronts: the map and movement systems got the data and navigation they need to become a proper logistics playground, and the backend and deployment became more hands off and resilient so builds are easier to share. There were ups and downs, but this sets us up for faster iteration. Want to try a build? Send a DM.
#WeekInReview #IndieDev #GameDev #GodotEngine #MadeWithGodot
Weekend check in: core infra and world simulation moved forward. Deployment is more hands off and resilient, and the map now has data and nav to start layering a real economy. Got to know Nakama through contract work; this is my third server setup and my first real game project on it. Godot and Nakama feel like a match made in heaven. Thank you for offering a selfhosted version!
#SaturdayVibes #Nakama #HeroicLabs #GodotEngine #MadeWithGodot
@don I love to see your progress! Hope you fix the double file issue as these things can have a long tail! I also develop on 2 pcs with nextcloud inbetween and also git. So the auto sync from nextcloud also messes up with things regularly.
Big Friday win for the server: the build and deploy system now updates modules automatically, adds failure signals and warnings, and includes a recovery step if a new build fails or the server does not start. Just push a commit and the game deploys itself. That frees time to focus on map, navigation and the real economy players will explore. Thats a great way to start into the weekend, knowing that on Monday it will just work! #FeatureFriday #MadeWithGodot #Buildpipeline
Today was mini devlog day: big progress on tile metadata, pathfinding and indicators. Every tile now has a type, resources and quality. Map and nav data let tiles accept or block visits, shown by the on screen indicators in the clip. Pathfinding was hundreds of lines of code but it works like a charm. Deployment became more hands off and resilient. Excited to add economy systems next.
Midweek WIP: small world map with three villages. One village for fish and wood, one for metal, one for grain/food and higher crafting. Core infrastructure and world simulation moved forward: deployment is more hands off and resilient, map now has data and navigation to start an economy. Early loop is gathering and hauling wares between villages. The red tents in each village mark markets; will rework visuals later. Feedback welcome.
Working with Tiled to build a first world map. Also looked at ldtk but it seems Tiled works better for my usecase. Autotiling and Terrain Sets work great. Deciding how much data to attach to each tile is tricky: collision, base speed and category now and resources as metadata later. Main goal is to replace the old tilemap with a better one that has collision. Gathering, crafting and trading come later. Hope future players are excited.
Build pipeline is live. Fresh builds now auto upload to Itch.io so friends can jump in. Deployment is more hands off and resilient, and the map gained data for navigation (not visibile yet). Registration is not open, but follow my Discord for access updates in the near future: https://discord.gg/BAuC7HYBrT
@don Though about that a lot as well. I choose 4hz and also played with 1hz as an option. Still not 100% sure, but my MMO is supposed to be a slow game almost like the idle or browser games from before. My thinking is that with a low Hz I can offer a more complex simulation / more players at once. But i already noticed that i need to have solutions for input etc. wenn you click it takes a quater second right now to realize your input. Maybe I can make it smoother client side.
Tysk Games boosted:
Not much of a visual update, but since it's #screenshotsaturday, I have to, ahem, oblige...
This week felt like building trust in the project's foundation: I spun up a cloud backend with monitoring, then opened the doors to real clients. We moved from proving connections to getting multiple players moving smoothly across a shared map, and ended by wiring persistence so locations survive logouts. Ups and downs, but steady progress. What should I tackle next? I feel like investing in a solid foundation, anyone doubters?
Growing up on Tibia and Dark Age of Camelot taught me how much a persistent, player-driven economy can mean. I remember standing as a Druid in Kazordoon with friends after school - until store-bought runes collapsed our market. Those lessons guide Highroads' economy design. Farm scene image. Interested in joining an economy-focused playtest?
@don thanks for the tip! I will look at it. I already saw they have an entity manager that could be handy. In general my idea is very tiled -> like in tile based, you can find loot on every tile, based on many factors. The game is kinda an idle, or low effort game a little like patricia and other trading games but with more crafting, gathering in a oldschool mmo package ^^ lets see what it will become in a week / month / year xD
Players now remain in the world briefly after logout, playing exit animations instead of disappearing. Server saves the exact position and restores it on next login, so you won't respawn at the same spot every time. Feels like a proper world to explore. Feels stable so far. Any thoughts on idle cleanup timing?
Finally got reliable tile-to-tile movement working. Players now move with interpolation between tiles so positioning stays tight and looks smooth. Keeping server-authoritative state: client is untrusted and the server holds the data layer. Tiled was recommended for maps but its data layers add sync complexity. Anyone used Tiled at scale?
Somehow the GIF did not play in my last post, so here are 3 clients on an authorative server :D !
Client Info
Server: https://mastodon.social
Version: 2025.07
Repository: https://github.com/cyevgeniy/lmst