Building Success with Ben Brode: Podcast Episode 48 on Our Site
In a recent podcast interview at the GDC Showcase, Ben Brode, the Chief Development Officer at Second Dinner, discussed the benefits of using the Godot engine for live service projects. The open-source nature of Godot, combined with its developer-focused design and real-time project changes, make it an ideal choice for evolving live service projects.
The key advantages of using Godot include:
- Real-time changes: Godot allows developers to make changes to projects on the fly, speeding up iteration and updates essential for live services.
- Developer focus: As an open-source engine, Godot incorporates features driven directly by the needs of its developer community, making it highly adaptable and practical for evolving live service projects.
- Clear documentation and ease of use: These reduce the learning curve and enable faster development cycles, which benefits ongoing content updates and live management.
- Strong community support: This enables continuous enhancements and plugin development, which are important for maintaining and expanding live service games.
For Second Dinner, the team is writing the entire game in GDScript, which enables them to launch on platforms that are difficult to update quickly without this feature. Godot's ability to issue over-the-air updates is particularly valuable for Second Dinner, as it allows for quick deployment of new content and features without having to go through a lengthy approvals pipeline for AAA platforms.
This feature is especially beneficial for live service projects, as updates can be made quickly and efficiently, often within a day. While designing Marvel Snap, Brode and his team experimented with various variables such as the number of cards per location, the number of locations, the number of turns, and the starting energy.
The goal was to make the game simple enough for a wide audience while still having enough design space to introduce new cards and mechanics over several years. The team tried various combinations, including seven turns, five turns, starting on turn two, nine cards per location, four cards per location, three cards per location, two cards per location, and even infinite cards per location.
Once the foundation of the product was settled, the team could move on to designing cards. Brode mentioned that Second Dinner is working on another project using the Godot engine, but specific details about this project were not revealed in the interview.
The interview suggests that attending GDC 2025 could provide valuable insights from leading developers. The podcast interview discussed is episode 48 of the website Podcast, produced by Jordan Mallory and with music by Mike Meehan.
In conclusion, the Godot engine has grown significantly in recent years, in part due to its open-source nature and the responsive community managing it. Its features, such as real-time project changes, developer focus, clear documentation, and strong community support, make it an attractive choice for live service projects, where flexibility, rapid iteration, and strong tooling support are critical.
Technology like Godot, with its ability to facilitate real-time changes, is a valuable asset for live service projects, enabling swift iterations and updates that are essential in this genre. Furthermore, the open-source nature and developer-focused design of Godot ensure its adaptability for evolving live service projects throughout their lifespan.
