The Viking purgatory survival game Valheim has attracted plenty of modding projects during its time on the market, but one group is planning one of the game's most ambitious mods. Known as VaLNGOS (Valheim Large Network Game Object Server Suite,) this project seeks to create open-source interpretations of the game's servers to provide greatly improved multiplayer performance.
Being an Early Access game, Valheim does have its share of bugs and unoptimized features, especially around multiplayer. This has inspired modders to take it upon themselves to create mods that help enhance the game's performance (as well as mods to introduce their own features.) However, one group of modders, which includes FAANG engineers, a senior game designer, and programmers from the World of Warcraft emulation project MaNGOS, are looking for an even bigger fix to lag and other multiplayer woes. The team behind the VaLNGOS project already host the world's largest Valheim server, and are planning on using that server along with some specialized programming language to basically make the game an MMO.
In an email sent to us by Jasmine M., the head of staff on the VaLNGOS project, we were told that Valheim makes use of "an uncommon form of peer to peer networking, that makes performance only as strong as your weakest link." This means that a host with a poor connection can cause every other player to experience lag. What the VaLNGOS team hopes to do is use their own server instead of player's computers to manage server processing. By using programming languages generally used for writing operating systems, the team is optimistic that their server could manage thousands of players. "The ultimate goal is enabling Hypixel-style minigames and new types of massive RPG experiences," the lead developer added.
Valheim is available for purchase on Steam. You can learn more about the VaLNGOS project on their official website or their Discord. An initial version is expected to release in the coming months.
