> You probably don't need what you're thinking of a "VM instance" to run a VM, and for games you may well be better off building your own VM [...]. Indeed. I w

> You probably don't need what you're thinking of a "VM instance" to run a VM, and for games you may well be better off building your own VM [...]. Indeed. I want something less awkward than redstone; I'm also considering something like fCPU[1] or eBPF (no jumping back = no loops = super easy to keep an upper bound on execution budget). [1]: https://mods.factorio.com/mod/fcpu https://mods.factorio.com/mod/fcpu But one of my side goals is to attract players who might be interested in contributing to the core game, so I also like whytevuhuni's suggestion[2] to embed a Lua interpreter. That's a faraway stretch goal (I still have very little in terms of prototyping), but I'd like to keep my options in mind. [2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42493118 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42493118 > What's the actual gameplay loop you'd like to achieve? Defining that will help define and shape the constraints you put on players. The general direction is something like Minecraft (with some Factorio / Oxygen Not Included thrown in), with focus on exploration, self-expression, collaboration, and a kind of lore/storytelling (that's deeply personal, like GRIS but still in a generative sandbox). For example, people have made pixel art in Minecraft by meticulously placing blocks, one by one, on a huge area, and then creating an in-game map of it all[3]. I'd like my game to feature a pixel art editor instead. Same goes for in-game coding/automation: I want to reduce the friction from an idea to seeing it in-game. [3]: https://minecraft.wiki/w/Map https://minecraft.wiki/w/Map Thank you for all the suggestions!