4 ms·

I've heard this criticism from several game developers at this point. Contrary to some other voices here, I do think it's legitimate: if safety isn't important

I've heard this criticism from several game developers at this point. Contrary to some other voices here, I do think it's legitimate: if safety isn't important to you, then I can't argue with that. At the same time, I think that Rust made the right choice for most domains. For most software, memory safety problems that hostile attackers find have consequences. Games are an exception, not the rule. It would be irresponsible for us to target servers or network-facing client software without memory safety. It's also of course true that we have many game developers in the Rust community. A lot of people, including me, see safety as a productivity booster, especially combined with all the other features in Rust. I've advanced suggestions in the past for making unsafe Rust easier to program in, effectively turning off some of the safety checks, specifically for game developers who would prefer not to have the restrictions. These suggestions have been very unpopular in the Rust community, including from the game devs, and so they haven't gone further.

dikaiosune 10y ago
I'm a little confused game developers are so dismissive of attack surface -- after all, most games I've played in recent memory have some level of network access (multiplayer, achievements, etc.), and very few game developers seem to be OK with rampant exploitation in their online communities.
- khedoros1 10y ago
  "Never trust the client". The assumption should always be that the game client is lying to the server, whenever that's possible. In multiplayer games, a stream of keypresses is sent to the server, and a game state is sent back to the client. At least, that's part of the argument that I assume they'd make.
  - dikaiosune 10y ago
    Totally, although I assume at least some game shops are using shared C++ libraries on both client and server.
- psyc 10y ago
  Am I dismissive of the catastrophic effects of being shot, because I never wear a bulletproof vest? Again, not every individual app has the same problems. I'm not working on WoW. My best guess as to the number of people trying to attack my games is honestly zero.

dikaiosune 10y ago

I'm a little confused game developers are so dismissive of attack surface -- after all, most games I've played in recent memory have some level of network access (multiplayer, achievements, etc.), and very few game developers seem to be OK with rampant exploitation in their online communities.

khedoros1 10y ago
"Never trust the client". The assumption should always be that the game client is lying to the server, whenever that's possible. In multiplayer games, a stream of keypresses is sent to the server, and a game state is sent back to the client. At least, that's part of the argument that I assume they'd make.
- dikaiosune 10y ago
  Totally, although I assume at least some game shops are using shared C++ libraries on both client and server.
psyc 10y ago
Am I dismissive of the catastrophic effects of being shot, because I never wear a bulletproof vest? Again, not every individual app has the same problems. I'm not working on WoW. My best guess as to the number of people trying to attack my games is honestly zero.