2004 RuneScape fit a multiplayer RPG into 56k dial-up
This technical retrospective examines how the 2004 version of the game RuneScape managed to function on 56k dial-up internet connections. It details the engineering constraints and packet-optimization strategies used by developers to maintain a multiplayer experience with limited bandwidth.
Why it matters
It provides a historical look at software engineering ingenuity and the evolution of network optimization in early online gaming.
Added correction regarding Ctrl key. In early versions this was "force run", in a later update it was changed to "invert movement mode".
In 2004 I played too much RuneScape on a 56k modem that died the moment Mum picked up the phone. A 3D world, up to a couple of thousand players on a server, dozens on screen at once - in the browser, on 5 kilobytes per second. It worked. Let's follow a single step and see how.
As a child I was too preoccupied with picking flax and killing goblins to think about how this worked. The answer, however, is a sustained, almost obsessive exercise in not wasting bytes. So, let's click one tile north of where we're standing, and trace every byte that crosses the wire from that click, to the server, to the screen of another player.
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