TLDR Tech / Dev
How 2004 RuneScape fit a multiplayer RPG into 56k dial-up
RuneScape successfully ran a massive multiplayer RPG on 56k dial-up by meticulously minimizing the bandwidth required for every player action. This efficiency was achieved using a custom protocol where the client and server shared an identical world model, allowing the system to transmit only minimal changes, sometimes as little as a single bit for stationary players, via techniques like bit-packing.
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