Iron Cohort 22 is Raven Iron Games’ experimental massive-warfare multiplayer game and simulation engine built natively in Godot 4 and C#.
Designed to simulate massive medieval battlefield clashes with hundreds of synchronized soldiers on a single dedicated server instance, Iron Cohort 22 blends third-person commander action with real-time squad tactical formations and boid flocking mechanics.
Key Features
⚔️ Massive Cohort Tactical Formations
Command entire cohorts on the battlefield:
- Commander & Lieutenants: Player controls the Commander (WASD) and issues formation orders to two sub-command Lieutenants in real time.
- Dynamic Boid Grunt Flocking: Hundreds of formation soldiers dynamically flock, maintain formation spacing, avoid obstacles, and charge enemy ranks using custom boid algorithms.
- Squad Command System: Number keys
1–4command Lieutenant 1’s squad formations, while5–8command Lieutenant 2’s flank maneuvers.
🌐 High-Performance Batched Snapshot Netcode
Standard game engine object replicators struggle when simulating 500+ dynamic actors simultaneously. Iron Cohort 22 uses a custom binary codec (CohortSnapshotCodec.cs):
- Flattens an entire cohort’s transforms (Commander, 2 LTs, all active grunts, formation states) into flat byte arrays once per tick.
- Broadcasts a single batched unreliable UDP packet per cohort via
NetworkBootstrap.ReceiveCohortSnapshot. - Eliminates per-node replication overhead and scales to massive battlefields.
🏛️ Dedicated Server Architecture
Single unified C# codebase supporting dual execution modes:
- Headless Server: Runs lightweight headless physics and AI simulation (
--headless -- --server). - Client Proxies: Clients send raw player inputs to the server and execute pure visual interpolation (lerping) against received snapshots via the
INetworkedActorinterface.
🏰 Procedural Castle Siege & CSG Collision
ProceduralEnvironment.cs cleanly separates deterministic ground and CSG castle wall colliders (executed synchronously on both server and client) from cosmetic visual decoration (skybox, fog, MultiMesh grass scattering, client minimap).
Technical Specifications
| Parameter | Detail |
|---|---|
| Engine / Runtime | Godot 4.x / .NET 8 (C#) |
| Transport Layer | Godot ENetMultiplayerPeer (Port 7777, 64 max players) |
| Netcode Architecture | Server-Authoritative Batched UDP Snapshots |
| Actor Contract | INetworkedActor (ServerPhysicsProcess / ClientPhysicsProcess) |
| Target Scale | 500+ Sim-Actors per battlefield with procedural CSG fortifications |
| Development Status | Dedicated server multiplayer foundation complete & smoke-tested |
Controls & Quick Start
[Controls]
Movement: WASD
Lieutenant 1 Formations: 1 - 4
Lieutenant 2 Formations: 5 - 8
Camera / Minimap: Contextual Cohort RadarPart of the Raven Iron Suite
Where The Crow Flies is designed to report combat events to dedicated servers running The Raven's Call.