Coupaings V1

The Challenge

Coupaings V1 began as a passion project for a small group of close friends. The server needed to be accessible on both Java Edition and Bedrock Edition, presenting a significant challenge. To achieve this within a zero-cost budget, Edi Studios had to think outside the box.

Balancing Needs & Constraints

To adhere to the zero-cost constraint, Aternos, a free server hosting platform, was chosen. However, this selection came with limitations. Mods required pre-approval by the Aternos team, the same applied to plugins, performance was below ideal, and the server had to be manually restarted every time someone wanted to play, as it wouldn't stay online for more than 5 minutes without anyone connected. To enable cross-platform play, Spigot was selected as the server foundation, allowing for the use of plugins. GeyserMC, a plugin specifically designed for this purpose, was then implemented to facilitate connections from Bedrock Edition clients to the Java server. An additional solution was devised to allow PS4 players to join the Java server by making it appear as a LAN world on their consoles, enabling them to connect with (what was hoped to be) minimal lag.

The Outcome & The Learnings

Coupaings V1 thrived for a period before studies took priority for the players. This initial phase provided valuable learnings:

The cross-platform connection methods, utilizing GeyserMC and the PS4 LAN emulation solution, proved to be unstable and significantly increased latency for all players, not just those using the workarounds. After some time, the decision was made to disable these features to ensure a better overall experience for the remaining players.
The free tier of Aternos, while initially sufficient, couldn't handle the server's performance needs as the player base grew. This highlighted the necessity for a more robust server solution in the future.

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