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It'd be incredibly interesting for MUD development, if anyone still did that. No need to kick everybody out for bug fixes, just post a new build. Actually, I
by saucetenuto 14y ago
It'd be incredibly interesting for MUD development, if anyone still did that. No need to kick everybody out for bug fixes, just post a new build. Actually, I could see it for any game with a lot of built-in state that's hard to set up between test runs: Dwarf Fortress, physics engine tuning, that sort of thing. Make it work on the PS3 and XBox 360 (and with C++!), and you've got the start of a legitimate middleware company.
Saved in my "in case I ever go back to hacking on Nethack" folder.
- kevingadd 14y agoConsole vendors will probably never allow this kind of live-patching. Updates have to go through certification. For most games I know of that do live updates, they just do it by booting up a new version of the server and 'switching' people over when they cross boundaries (most MMOs still have loading screens and server transitions, so it's not that hard). Client updates are certainly more difficult, but I'm not sure you'd ever do it - there's no way you're going to get NVIDIA or AMD to apply this technique to their video drivers, etc.
- saucetenuto 14y agoI was thinking of it as a tool for shortening dev cycle time, more than for patching: a more general, cross-platform version of Edit and Continue. My mistake; I shouldn't have started with the MUD example, I was just writing out my thoughts in real time.