I can fully understand the complications and difficulties that occur when making multiplayer games, the first multiplayer game I ever worked on around 2006 had similar latency and desync issues. The only difference is, back then indie game development ecosystem was still a new phenomenon, and most indie developers worked for free. In this day and age, no longer in highschool, I had established a very strict limited budget in order to pay for the work of a primary developer; a set price for the prototype, and additional payment for an early access multiplayer version, which was increased closer to release. Additionally I wanted to create an equitable and incitive based business model, thus considering credit should be given where it is due, I had also offered him 10% of all the application’s revenue once it was set to be released. Mind you all the costs were allocated and paid for by my company, from my pockets, that included the fees for advertisements, purchases for game development assets, google fees, future licenses, website fees and paying other developers on the payroll.
This offer was agreed upon, but however the early access version that was completed was a single player application -_- , payment was sent before the APK (Application installation file) was tested. I tested the early access version, and on a first impression it seemed unplayable. But luckily I had a plan of action in place, the multiplayer version was nearly completed on a separate build. I disclosed the good news to my primary developer and sent him the multiplayer project files. Considering everything was being developed in Unity, the plan was to merge the progress of the single player version with that of the multiplayer version in order to create one finalized early access product. The single player build at the time had better projectiles and good features. I was hoping these features could be implemented in the new build. The primary developer, despite being offered equity, was unable to work from the multiplayer build which had been updated.
Additionally he insisted that it was extra work and that the code for the animation was inefficient and outdated on the new build. I’ve actually worked as a professional digital artist, and not once in my career have I not been able to work from someone else’s files whether it was properly compiled or not. While programming is different, The Unity engine is built in a similar fashion, the software functionalities work the same, thus even if built differently, a good programmer should be able to create code from someone else’s code. The single player version had a lower FPS as opposed to the new multiplayer build. Despite increasing the amount I had originally offered, additional payment was requested before I even tested the single player and now additional payment was requested despite the additional resources used to fix a multiplayer version which he had failed to create.
In October 2021, he insisted that I should have applied the multiplayer solutions once the single player version was finished. But none of these tactics made sense, game developers are supposed to work in a collaborative manner. I had insisted on hiring someone to help with the multiplayer but yet he ought to create; a less profitable and less accessible product, despite the incentive of equity. To put the cherry on the cake, this was right around the time that I became no longer employed.
”the reality is the multiplayer build is much more stable and better overall. If you can’t work from that, at least consult more experienced programmers. But instead you decided to be greedy and ask for more money right away, despite being payed for something I didn’t necessarily need. The overall animation and performance is much better than your single player build, and it’s multiplayer…I tested the single player version, it’s buggy, lower frame rate, the AI is dumb and not challenging. I paid you two days ago, and you’re asking for more money with no results being provided. I paid you for a build that I can’t even release.”
Time is Money
Simple Arena Robots PVP 