Preparing the Way for Heroes

As a member of the Intel Software Partner Program, Tandem relied on resources provided by Intel for guidance in many of its development and optimization activities, which enabled them to get maximum value out of the server hardware they use to host Domain of Heroes.

As Aaron puts it, "The program offers some excellent resources for its members. Since our business is based on a free-to-play model, we have a bigger user load than subscription-based games, so scalability is vital, and we depend on Intel to help us with that."

In order to meet that requirement, Tandem Games optimized Domain of Heroes in three primary areas:

• Processor utilization. In order to scale optimally across the eight cores on their two-way quad-core development server based on Intel Xeon processors e5310, Tandem developed a sophisticated threading model, scalable to a multi-tier or cloud architecture as the audience grows.
• Bandwidth use. An important cost consideration for an online, server-based game, optimizing bandwidth usage meant transferring the smallest amounts of data possible for battles, chats, and other interactions.
• Memory and hard-disk access. By carefully eliminating duplication of memory access on the server, they make best use of available system memory. They also optimized the game's operation to avoid hard-disk bottlenecks.

Best practices developed by the program through many years of interactions with other members helped Tandem Games not only to achieve excellent results, but to do so efficiently.

Saving company resources while fine-tuning a game is important for any company, but especially a small one like Tandem. The results seem to speak for themselves, as the company enjoys a rapid growth in the audience for Domain of Heroes and looks forward to continuing success.

"We got the biggest audience possible, and thanks to the Intel Partner Program, we were able to pull that off without making any real compromises in terms of image clarity or resolution. It runs faster now, too."

Aaron Murray
Co-Founder, Tandem Games

As part of the prize the company won from the Intel Game Demo Contest at GDC, they now have the benefit of a range of Intel Software Development Products, including Intel VTune Performance Analyzer, Intel Thread Checker, Intel Thread Profiler, and Intel Threading Building Blocks.

Aaron reports that they plan to use those tools to optimize the game's threading model even further, getting ready for mobs of new players that they hope to attract in the coming years.

Growing the Partnership

Tandem Games sees tremendous opportunity in the future, and its status as a member of the Intel Software Partner Program plays a large role in realizing that opportunity. As Aaron said, "We get a lot of industry exposure from our relationship with Intel, and that really helps us grow our user base. The first benefit we were interested in was the development assistance and rebates on development machines, but the marketing help and the GDC opportunity have been fantastic. I think there's a lot more value available to us in the future, especially as we publicize Domain of Heroes and start work on new titles."

Membership in the program has influenced the entire product life cycle at Tandem Games, from the first planning stages of new games through their public releases. Knowing in advance what to expect from future generations of Intel Graphics sets the stage.

Using the expertise, system rebates, and tools they have received from Intel helps streamline the development process and create better results faster. Marketing help that ranges from industry exposure to using demonstration systems at conferences helps them get the word out once their games are ready to be played.

As a result, the little guy in their logo keeps giving the big guy a high five, and everybody gets to have more fun.

The Intel Software Partner Program drives success at every stage of the lifecycle, from the earliest planning stages through product release. Get insights into future platform technologies, development practices and tools, and go-to-market resources that help you create better titles, faster and at lower cost.

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