Earlier this year, we published a blog post that detailed why we were shutting down SHAR MP. That blog post detailed an ongoing maintenance burden, security risks and compatibility problems we saw that led us to taking it offline on May 25. At the time, SHAR MP wasn't where it needed to be, technically, structurally or philosophically. Keeping it alive in that state was not worth it, and did not really show what we are capable of as a team.

So we stopped, we pulled the server offline and we rebuilt the foundation. We're still in the process of cleaning up the code, but we believe SHAR MP is now at a place where it is almost ready to bring back. As such, we'd like to detail what you'll be getting when SHAR MP relaunches in beta very soon.

What's new?

Self-Hostable Server

One of the biggest changes is self-hosted servers. Meaning that if Donut Team suddenly disappears, you can continue ramming your car into your friends for the foreseeable future. You run your own server. Keep it private, make it public, experiment freely.

This also means that there is no Donut Team account requirement anymore.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this blog post said there was a GUI version of the server. Since then, we've elected to remove it in favour of supporting Linux.

Communication - Built In

SHAR MP now includes in-game text chat. Multiplayer without communication was always a weak point, and we're done directing people to just chat over Discord. In addition to that, we've redone the player listing to show off your selected colour as well as your ping to the server.

Integrated Directly into the Mod Launcher

With the release of Mod Launcher 1.27, the Multiplayer hack is directly available in the new "Multiplayer" tab of the Mod Launcher. Not only that, you can now specify Multiplayer=1 if you'd like your mod to be displayed in this tab.

This also means mods targeting some of the newest Mod Launcher releases will once again be compatible with SHAR MP [1]. This means you can explore the maps of Fully Connected Map and Futurama Hit & Run with your friends!

What else has changed?

There are many more enhancements we've added. Some will be immediately apparent, whilst others will take a few updates before they fully come to fruition. The highlight reel includes:

• In game text chat;
• A new in game player listing;
• You can now damage each other's vehicles;
• Self-hosted server;
• Server-side Lua scripting (Lua scripting will likely be limited in the first version);
• Reduced the amount of errors/asserts that would appear during regular gameplay.

Is SHAR MP now a stable experience?

Well... yes and no. There's some stability improvements that you will notice as you play, such as assert messages becoming a rare experience. We've also refined several systems and condensed code to avoid desync when something happens.

That said, we're launching this as a beta version for various reasons. Adding in multiplayer into a 2003 game is still a beast, and we'd rather be honest about that than pretend it's flawless. From our first play test, the experience was mostly smooth. There will be bugs, there will be issues and we hope you'll understand and report them to us so we can work through them.

When does SHAR MP launch?

SHAR MP will launch in open beta with Mod Launcher 1.27. It will become a staple of our modding repertoire, growing and evolving as we do. We plan on continuing the code clean up for SHAR MP after 1.27 launches to make it easier for us to introduce new features and mechanics.

We look forward to hearing your feedback, fixing your bugs and building upon this experience with you.

- Jake

[1] Mod compatibility is not guaranteed. Mod developers may need to adjust their mods to fully support SHAR MP.

Art by Tyler Oram