Server system for processing a virtual space

A computer-executable method for processing, by a server system, a virtual space, the virtual space comprising a plurality of tiles corresponding to regions in the virtual space, each tile comprising a set of entities corresponding to software components in the virtual space, a each entity of the set of entities being located within one or more of the tiles, the server system comprising a plurality of back-end servers and a plurality of front-end servers, a each back-end server of the plurality of back-end servers storing a set of contiguous tiles of the plurality of tiles and state information associated with a subset of the set of entities in each of the contiguous tiles, the method comprising:

• responsive to a connection being established between a first front-end server of the plurality of front-end servers and a client device, acquiring, by the first front-end server, a location in the virtual space for the client device;
• identifying, by the first front-end server, one or more tiles of the plurality of tiles visible to the client device based on the acquired location for the client device, wherein the first front-end server stores references for one or more entities of the set of entities in the identified one or more tiles without storing state information associated with the one or more entities;
• transmitting, by the first front-end server, to the plurality of back-end servers, a first message, the first message indicating the identified one or more tiles, wherein first and second back-end servers of the plurality of back-end servers store a same tile of the plurality of tiles, and wherein state information associated with different entities within the same tile is separately stored on the first and second back-end servers;
• responsive to receiving the first message, transmitting, by a third back-end server storing the one or more identified tiles, to the first front-end server, state information associated with a first entity which is located in the one or more identified tiles;
• and
• relaying, by the first front-end server, to the client device, the state information associated with the first entity.

A computer-executable method for processing, by a server system, a virtual space, the virtual space comprising a plurality of tiles, each tile representing a region in the virtual space, and each tile comprising a set of entities corresponding to software components in the virtual space, the server system comprising a plurality of back-end servers and a plurality of front-end servers, a each back-end server of the plurality of back-end servers storing a set of contiguous tiles of the plurality of tiles and state information associated with a subset of the set of entities in each of the contiguous tiles, first and second back-end servers of the plurality of back-end servers store a same tile of the plurality of tiles, and state information associated with different entities within the same tile is separately stored on the first and second back-end servers, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a first front-end server of the plurality of front servers, from a client device, a first message, the first message indicating a first entity of the set of entities and an action performed on or by the first entity, wherein the first front-end server stores a set of tiles of the plurality of tiles visible to a plurality of client devices coupled to the firstfront-end server and entity references for the set of entities in each tile of the set of tiles without storing state information associated with the set of entities;
• using the first message, identifying, by the first front-end server based on the stored references, a third back-end server of the plurality of servers on which state information associated with the first entity is stored;
• sending, by the first front-end server, the first message to the identified third back-end server;
• and
• using the first message, changing, by the identified third back-end server that receives the first message, a state of the first entity stored thereon.