#TechGirlEra Okay. So that’s easy enough to understand, right? Now I’m going
to take you on a wonderful journey and show you how this applies to game dev! So, the backend in the world of gaming applies to everything that
goes on behind the scenes. The frontend is what we (the players) interact with, the backend is what allows the game to function without us having to see the tangle of spaghetti code behind it all. The backend handles many things, including (but not limited to): player authentication, account management, matchmaking, data storage and updates. In the context of games specifically, often the game server (which processes the game logic) will be hosted on the backend too. The frontend, or client, can refer to platforms such as Steam, PlayStation or Xbox.
executed the perfect headshot, but in reality your game was lagging and you really just shot your teammate in the back (press F to pay respects). Latency issues can be due to a few reasons; it could be your physical distance from the server, servers can get overloaded or maybe your internet just sucks (that last one is a YOU problem). Modern games have a lot of smart systems that compensate for lag such as rewinding time (this is called rollback netcode and it literally altered my brain chemistry) and interpolating movements. Using cloud platforms such as AWS GameLift or Microsoft PlayFab
MPS to host multiplayer servers, has made multiplayer games more accessible for devs and players alike. For players, it can help reduce latency issues as cloud platforms have data centres all over the world, minimising the distance that might’ve been there before. For devs, they no longer need to make an expensive upfront investment for physical servers, which is a big gamble if the game flops and you’re left holding the bare metal cradle (buy me a drink and I’ll tell you about the time I had to hawk some eBay). The freedom of flexibility to scale up/down servers dependent on demand is another attractive quality of using the cloud – you can easily add more resources when the game is hot and dial it back down when it’s not.
Let’s look at CS: GO as an example of a real-time multiplayer
game. Firstly, you’ll join a dedicated server, which is where you’ll be playing with all the other players and your in-game actions (moving, reloading, 360 no scope-ing etc) will be processed. So: player inputs an action through the client > action is sent to
the server > server then processes this information > updates the game accordingly > sends this updated game back to all clients (players) = everyone experiences the same game state. What blows my mind is how quickly this happens - you input
your action to shoot someone, this is relayed to the server, the server then makes the decision if you hit or missed that shot and then communicates this back to your client pretty much instantaneously. Like?!?! What?????? Of course, this is not always a seamless experience - we sometimes experience latency issues. You might think you just
“Once upon a time, when dinosaurs roamed the earth (or the 70’s as it’s come to be known), the Client-Server Model was invented.”
The world of online and multiplayer games is wonderfully complex
and interesting to learn about. I have a new-found respect for my wonderful Wizards and the magic they work to not only build and run games, but to make them thrive. I hope you enjoyed my extremely Gen-Z, high-level explanation of
what the backend is in gaming. If you’re an engineer or even slightly techy, please take this with the understanding that a few short weeks ago: I didn’t even know what people meant when they said client and server and I didn’t know that a server was also just a computer or the fact I was calling it backend server in the first place and that it truly took about 45 minutes of a TD drawing this out on a whiteboard and very intensely explaining how multiplayer servers work for it to click that backend only really applies to online and multiplayer games and I genuinely thought that every single game needed a backend. Looking at your backend and thinking AIN’T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT? Luckily enough, I know some Wizards who do. Hit us up!
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