Nuggets: Multiplayer Game

Nuggets is a real‑time multiplayer exploration game written in C with custom UDP networking, server‑authoritative state, and line‑of‑sight mechanics. We kept end‑to‑end sync under 100ms while preserving fairness and consistency.

Backstory

This started as a systems‑first game jam: could we make a lightweight, fast multiplayer game with no engine and strict latency targets? The project evolved into a playground for networking, visibility, and movement algorithms.

Networking Model

• Server authoritative: clients send inputs; server validates, simulates, and broadcasts state deltas.
• UDP transport for low‑latency updates; periodic keyframes help late joiners and recovery.
• Client interpolation and simple reconciliation hide jitter without breaking determinism.

Game Mechanics

• Line‑of‑Sight (LOS): tile‑aware visibility via ray/step checks; only visible entities are sent to clients, reducing bandwidth and improving stealth.
• Slope/terrain: movement cost influenced by gradient, encouraging path planning and positioning.

Engineering Details

• Fixed‑timestep simulation loop to keep physics and networking predictable.
• Binary message format with sequence numbers and checksums; out‑of‑order handling and loss tolerance.
• Profiling and flamegraphs to identify hotspots; targeted micro‑optimizations on critical paths.

Results

• Sub‑100ms typical sync on local networks; smoother feel from interpolation and delta compression.
• +20% DAU after we tuned LOS and movement to make exploration more rewarding.