Bringing Super Mario 64 Online: A Journey of Passion and Technology
As a software engineer with a passion for side projects, I've always been drawn to innovative ways to bring classic games into the modern era. In 2017, I started working on SMMDB, an emulator that allows users to play Super Mario Maker online. But as time went on, other projects took priority and my focus shifted away from multiplayer online emulators.
That was until the release of Super Mario Maker 2, which reignited my passion for bringing Nintendo's iconic games to life in new ways. With Rust's relatively immature gaming ecosystem at the time, I decided to dedicate myself to learning this exciting new language. And boy, did it fill me with joy! For the first time, I felt a true sense of excitement and satisfaction while coding.
As I delved deeper into Rust, I became fascinated with its potential applications in game development. Specifically, I was drawn to WebAssembly and WebGL/WebGPU, technologies that enable near-native performance using modern HTML5 standards. It wasn't long before I envisioned a new challenge: making Super Mario Maker playable directly in the browser.
My initial idea for SMMDB was sparked by this vision, and it's been a driving force behind my work ever since. Fast forward to today, and Net64 is still going strong, allowing players to enjoy their favorite Mario games online. My journey as a developer has taught me that with passion and dedication, even the most ambitious projects can become a reality.
