Bolo 2.0

[jhood]

The stream of reddit meme pics and usual flamewars are really entertaining, but if I can disrupt that for a quick second..

I'm formally announcing that work is being done on a new version of Bolo that finally bridges the gap between platforms, enabling the game to be played on both Macs and Windows machines, along with the possibility of a FaceBook and iPad app. There's been a rush of clones popping up recently since Elvis open-sourced WinBolo, and I want to acknowledge those developers along with everyone in IRC who has provided support, encouragement and offered their help in beta-testing this new version.

So far the project is labled "WebBolo," since it's based on progressive HTML5 technologies, primarily JavaScript, Canvas and WebSockets. Initially I wanted to call it Bolo 2.0, or even WinBolo 2.0, but the final name is still up for discussion.

<nerdstuff>
* Canvas drawing in hardware accelerated browsers rivals SDL and DirectDraw.

* WebSockets is a new transport layer that starts off as a HTTP request, but then upgrades to a Nagle-free TCP connection after the "hand shake." Almost as fast as UDP, and has ordering built-in, and FireFox will enable it by default in the next major release.

* JavaScript isn't pure OOP, but it's close enough that writing brains/borgs will be a breeze.

* I'm engineering the server to be 100% authoritive and able to utilize multi-core machines.

* Speed hackers and memory cheaters (and the jerk that reverse engineered Min's RSA stuff) won't like this new version.

* Clients only send (at most) 8 bytes per packet, and I've developed a buffering scheme which appears to substantially minimize lag.

* Pixel perfect collisions are based on precalculated pixel arrays, but might become true graphic bitmasking once Canvas gets quicker in that area.

* Your game client will update automatically when new stuff is released.
</nerdstuff>

As I keep referencing WinBolo's source code, I'm constantly reminded of what a great job Elvis did to minimize lag for players around the globe, and I'm putting a lot of thought into implementing his ideas and thoughts into the next version. Both him and Stuard Cheshire deserve massive respect for their work, so if you see Stu driving his Telsa around Cali or John maintaining the entire Australian airline industry in his sleep, tell them thanks!

Another "nerdstuff" point: I can't bend time, but I've got a few clever tricks for helping players with high pingtimes. Through a combination of really small packets along with per-player simulation buffering streams on the server, one player with a 500ms ping can dogfight against a player with 80ms ping and both players see events at the same time. I'll write more about this and other aspects of the new game soon, along with answering any questions that come up.

[Nemokrad]

WebBolo, cool! Thanks hood, we await an alpha/beta release.

[stimpy]

Might I suggest iBolo for the name? Just beware of a lawsuit 5 years from now when Scumbag Steve decides to copy it.

[Cool_Fool]

[Fido]

[hellscream]

CF switched from fi to acro to jhood....

...you may be next fido.