Sounds completely reasonable! I'll keep pushing forward and try to gauge during preparations how the relative code volume is going to pan out in the end. Pretty sure I'll be able to fill most of the time with Lisp hacking. Thanks for the feedback!
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Autumn Lisp Game Jam 2024 community · Created a new topic Rules Question: Is this hybrid language setup allowed?
Hi! Potential first-time jammer here with a rules question before I dive in.
Q: I'm planning to build a game with Steel/Rust/Godot. Is this stack allowed?
Details
I'm testing a weird hybrid language setup in the same vein as the common combination of Lua/C++/UE for scripting, plumbing, and game engine. In my case, for the same three roles I'm using Steel/Rust/Godot Engine.
Steel is a Racket-like Scheme dialect made for embedding in Rust programs, chosen over Fennel because Scheme semantics are both comfy and useful for my game idea. Godot is an engine I've been looking for a chance to use more heavily and makes a lot of game UI prototyping much easier. And the godot-rust project makes Rust a great fit for engine integration. See the arch diagram below for an idea of how the pieces fit together.
Architecture
Oh yeah, also it's an online game:
"That looks like a lot." - Yep. Multiplayer is a lot of work, but I make online game systems for a living and I've done the Rust and network bits before, so the novelty budget for me is all in the Steel and Godot. To manage the risk of anything not integrating properly, I'm planning to hook up dumb versions of all the boxes seen here before the jam starts, with zero game in place.
I've already got the client side talking Godot-to-Rust-to-Steel and back, and the details of getting that building are why I'm targeting native desktop rather than the browser, at least for now. My plan for the coming week is to get a server prototype up and running and all this advance prep stuff published in time for the jam.
Jam Workflow
In terms of how I'll be spending time during the jam, I'll be prioritizing scripting in Steel and UI/scene editing in Godot, then following up with the Rust glue needed to stick the two together.
Does the above look kosher given the jam rules saying a game "must be written in any dialect of Lisp?" I don't think I'm far removed from someone coding in e.g. Guile Hoot plus the Javascript needed to wire things up to unsupported browser APIs. But if it looks like I'm not working in the spirit of the rules, let me know! Happy to adjust or sit this one out as appropriate.