Have you ever come up with an amazing gameplay idea, only to have it shot down by engineers? In my past development experience, simple cross-server operations like forming parties, trading, or chatting were easy to implement. However, when it came to more complex data-heavy interactions or frequent back-and-forth data exchanges, the challenges were overwhelming.
Hidden within the technical constraints is not just a performance bottleneck, but a cage for creativity. As a backend developer, I’ve faced this frustration countless times. While current technology can meet some demands, every time we aim for a breakthrough, we hit a seemingly insurmountable barrier.
Here’s an Example
In traditional systems, high-frequency real-time interactions are usually confined to a single server. These are often handled within a single machine using multi-threading, secured by atomic operations, Mutex, and other mechanisms. This approach ensures performance within manageable loads. But what happens when the hardware load is exceeded?
When users are distributed across multiple servers, interactions become complex and fraught with risks. Imagine a scenario where user data needs to be exchanged frequently across servers, requiring synchronization and security guarantees. Developers often spend an enormous amount of effort managing issues like deadlocks and data corruption during transmission. To prevent catastrophic backend crashes, engineers are left with no choice but to impose restrictions, effectively stifling creative ideas. Many concepts remain relegated to “ideal scenarios,” while game designers’ visions are tethered by the constraints of technology.
Are Backend Developers Destined to Settle? I Refuse.
These technical limitations subtly undermine a product’s competitiveness. Imagine a boundary-less world where players can seamlessly interact across servers, realizing truly large-scale multiplayer experiences. Why can’t this freedom be our standard? Current server clusters partially address data transmission issues, but they lack a mechanism to secure and optimize cross-server operations without compromising performance or safety.
My Solution: Breaking Through
I decided to take matters into my own hands. I developed a mechanism called AccessLock, which enables server clusters to lock data across servers while ensuring security and priority. This mechanism integrates Coroutine capabilities to avoid wasting resources during locking. However, when faced with traditional locking mechanisms’ unavoidable DataLock issues, I realized the root cause lay in the interdependence of multi-lock operations.
I took it a step further, drawing inspiration from transactional processing concepts to create AccessSpace, the core functionality of the Xenon system. AccessSpace is a technique that establishes independent processing spaces for each cross-server operation, limiting all actions to a single lock. This allows parallel processing at the AccessSpace level and fundamentally eliminates DataLock risks.
Unleashing Creativity
This breakthrough not only makes real-time cross-server interactions possible but also empowers game designers to unleash their creativity, building worlds of limitless potential. The constraints of the past are now history. We no longer need to compromise; we now have the power to create truly boundary-less digital experiences.