Context
Today was focused on validating the game in a true multiplayer environment. After a lot of pre-emptive refactoring, it was time to see how everything actually behaved with more than one player.
Multiplayer Testing
I ran several multiplayer tests and had to push a private build multiple times to iterate quickly on fixes. This surfaced a number of bugs that only appear in multiplayer contexts.
Most systems behaved as expected:
- Core gameplay loops functioned correctly
- Persistence held up across sessions
- Player interactions did not interfere with one another
Visual Issues for Non-Primary Players
The main blocker I found was a visual sync issue:
- Everything looked correct for the first player
- Any additional players had missing or incorrect visuals
After digging into it, I was able to track down the root cause. I didn’t apply the fix yet, but at least the problem is now well understood.
Current State
While the issue isn’t resolved yet, today was still productive. Identifying multiplayer-only bugs early is exactly why this testing phase exists.
Summary
What I accomplished:
- Tested Island Crossing in multiplayer.
- Iterated through multiple private builds.
- Fixed several multiplayer-related bugs.
- Identified the cause of visual issues affecting non-primary players.
What I learned:
- Multiplayer bugs often hide behind single-player assumptions.
- Visual sync issues are easier to reason about once isolated.
- Early multiplayer testing prevents much larger problems later.
