7 days ago
Build an Online Game In a Simple Database
This is a Game Dev Podcast with my guest Tyler F. Cloutier, co-founder and head of Clockwork Labs, who are building their MMO, Bitcraft Online, entirely in a database. They are making this database available for other developers under the name SpacetimeDB. It's a real time relational database that promises to massively simplify infrastructure required for both applications and games alike, almost like an operating system for the cloud. I'm very on board with their vision. Can it actually hold up? Let's have a look.
Links to my Guest
➤ SpacetimeDB: https://spacetimedb.com/
➤ Bitcraft Online: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3454650/BitCraft_Online/
Listen to the podcast on the go (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.):
➤ https://tyrollerjonas.podbean.com/
0:00 - Intro
1:27 - What is SpacetimeDB?
7:24 - How SpacetimeDB is different
11:06 - Best use cases and limitations
15:55 - How it works: modules, reducers, transactions
19:34 - Publishing and hot-swapping server code
20:21 - Client model: reducers for writes; live queries and permissions
25:52 - Scaling and memory
28:40 - Per-match databases and the actor model
31:21 - Performance: reducer duration, locks vs MVCC, and offloading work
37:48 - Starter projects and analytics; community dashboards
41:12 - Authentication: OpenID Connect, Spacetime Auth, and Steam
46:07 - Platform philosophy: generalized vs specialized
51:25 - UGC and user-generated logic
55:05 - Origins, team structure, and optimization milestones
57:27 - Full history/time travel and postmortems
59:14 - Scaling by game type; video calling experiment and event tables
01:02:42 - Make it easy & LLM-friendly
01:07:48 - Comparing Firebase/Supabase/Vercel; why we built it
01:12:09 - Scheduled reducers, tickless servers, and timers as tables
01:13:57 - Matchmaking with SpacetimeDB (Underdogs VR, Postgres wire) and libraries
01:17:58 - Asynchronous multiplayer and efficiency
01:21:53 - Business model: self-hosting, Main Cloud free tier, licensing
01:26:48 - Avoiding vendor lock-in (SpatialOS lesson)
01:27:28 - BitCraft origins and vision
01:32:11 - Learning from veteran reviews; OSRS vs WoW philosophy
01:36:12 - Building costs, biggest design challenges, and live updates
01:39:43 - Core identity: simulating civilization, community, and expectations
01:42:35 - Outro
My game "Thronefall":
➤ Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2239150/Thronefall/
➤ Discord: https://discord.gg/gVYctptyg8
➤ Nintendo Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Thronefall-2669627.html#Overview
My game "Will You Snail":
➤ Play Will You Snail on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1115050/Will_You_Snail/
➤ Join the Will You Snail Discord: https://discord.gg/G3mRDrK
For the game developers among you:
➤ Join our creative game dev community on Discord: https://discord.gg/Ye6zzfQ
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