Tools and engines
Learning paths through this topic
Limit what players can build in one spot before the game starts to crawl
A sandbox player will happily place five thousand torches in one cave, and the game slows to a crawl for everyone who comes near. A flat cap per area is unfair to builders, though. This entry shows the AI a cost for each kind of object and a clear message when a place is full.
Check the key settings for two actions on one key and keys the browser steals
As survival games collect more actions, an AI will happily give two of them the same key, and the one that breaks only does so in some screens. Some keys also never reach a web game at all. This entry gives the AI a check that names every clash.
Decide which save wins when a player used two devices
A player who plays on a phone on the train and on a laptop at home can end up with two different worlds. Comparing times is a trap, because device clocks are wrong more often than you think. This entry shows what to compare instead and when to ask the player.
List the files that nothing uses anymore, without deleting ones built from a pattern
After weeks of changes the game folder is full of pictures and sounds nobody uses, but deleting by hand is risky, since some are loaded by a name the game builds on the fly. This entry shows how to list the true leftovers and spot patterns that match nothing.
Work out which files a returning player must download after an update
If every update makes players download the whole game again, they stop updating, and if files keep their names the browser may keep showing old ones. This entry shows the AI how to compare two builds and list exactly what changed, moved or can go.
Tell which game version is newer, so that 1.10 really beats 1.9
A game that offers an update, refuses an old save, or picks the latest patch notes needs to compare version numbers. Comparing them as plain words gets 1.10 wrong, and test versions like beta and rc have their own order. This entry shows the comparison that works.
See exactly which game numbers an AI changed, and flag the risky ones
Ask for a small fix and the AI may also nudge a damage value, halve an animal's health or add a new boss with huge numbers, all inside a long reply you do not read line by line. This entry gives the AI a before-and-after report that stands out the big swings.
Find the places where many different players die, not where one player keeps dying
A map of deaths lights up where one unlucky player fell into the same pit thirty times, and hides the corner where a hundred players each died once. This entry gives the AI a way to rank places by how many people died there, with the usual cause.
Build new land a little at a time so the game never freezes for a moment
Making a whole new stretch of land in one go makes the picture stop for a moment, and a player running through the world feels it as a stumble. This entry shows the AI how to split the work over many frames and what to do with a job too large for one.
Make a seeded world come out the same no matter where you walk first
Two players typing the same world code should find the same mountains, but if the land is made as you walk, the order of your steps can change it. This entry shows the AI how to give every patch of land its own repeatable number.