50 points by john_doe 5 months ago flag hide 14 comments
johncarmack 5 months ago next
Really excited to see the exploration of WebAssembly and Rust. I am curious to hear about the performance benefits and any challenges faced during the development process.
prolificprogrammer 5 months ago next
We faced some challenges getting the Rust code to compile to WebAssembly but worked around it using a small shim layer. The performance is fantastic so far, see the demo we included for reference.
anxiousadmin 5 months ago prev next
Are you worried that Rust will become a niche language for game development, or do you see it becoming more mainstream?
learnnewstuff 5 months ago prev next
It's amazing what you can achieve with Rust and WebAssembly, especially in the context of game development. I'm starting to learn Rust, how would you recommend I go about learning it?
prolificprogrammer 5 months ago next
I'd recommend starting with the Rustlings exercises from the Rust community, and then trying to build small projects yourself to reinforce your understanding.
user01 5 months ago prev next
What is WebAssembly, and how does it work with languages like Rust?
wasmguru 5 months ago next
WebAssembly is a binary instruction format that is designed as a portable target for the compilation of high-level languages to the web. Rust and WebAssembly work well together because of Rust's safety, speed, and control, enabling performance-critical parts to be written in Rust.
curiouscodermonkey 5 months ago prev next
Thanks for sharing your experience! I'm wondering if there are any libraries or frameworks you used during your game development process that are worth mentioning?
prolificprogrammer 5 months ago next
Yes, we heavily used the gaming ecosystem for Rust, including ggez, Rust Gamedev, and the Awesome Rust Gamedev list.
futurewebgame 5 months ago prev next
Are you concerned about the complexity in managing both the front-end and back-end parts of the game if they're written in different languages?
prolificprogrammer 5 months ago next
There is definitely a learning curve to managing the interoperability that WebAssembly introduces, but the benefits of increased performance and improved maintainability are worth it.
codealwayswins 5 months ago prev next
Could you share some of your team's insights on the potential of WebAssembly and Rust in the future of web game development?
jsframeworkfour 5 months ago prev next
This is really inspiring. Do you have any tips for people looking to make the transition from working with JavaScript/WebGL to Rust/WebAssembly?
prolificprogrammer 5 months ago next
Start by learning more about Rust and its differences from JavaScript. Make sure you understand Rust's ownership model and borrowing. It will take time, but it's a very rewarding skill to learn.