Period: October 14, 2025 Total Commits: 4

Daily Dev Update: Guest Logins, XP Registration, and Faster Backends - October 14, 2025

Hey, here’s what we’ve been working on. Today’s changes focus on making it easier to get into a match, tightening up account systems, and speeding up the services behind the scenes. Nothing flashy, just solid progress that removes friction and reduces failures.

What’s New

We simplified the first-time experience. You can now hop in with just a username. No email required to start.

Instant guest access after entering a username
Clear “(Guest)” badge next to your name so opponents know what to expect
One-click “Register” button available any time to convert the guest account

Guests can play normally, but they don’t earn XP until they register. Once you verify an email, your guest account converts to a full account and XP starts tracking.

[screenshot: new username-only login screen at fae517d]
[screenshot: registration modal with email → code → success flow at fae517d]
[screenshot: lobby UI showing “(Guest)” badge and Register button at fae517d]

Registration that doesn’t get in your way

When you’re ready to keep progress:

Passwordless email verification with a 6-digit code
Username availability check before you lock it in
XP rewards apply to registered players after matches (10 / 50 / 200 XP based on game type)

Why this matters: less time in menus, more time in matches. Guests can test strategies and towers immediately; registering later keeps long-term progression fair and competitive.

What Got Fixed

More reliable matchmaking queue behavior

We saw a few edge cases where backend hiccups could stall queues or drop events silently. We added:

Redis error handlers to stop unhandled exceptions
Connection/ready logging so we can see when things flap
Retry strategy visibility and sane limits to avoid infinite loops

Effect in practice: fewer “stuck” queue moments, cleaner reconnects, and better diagnostics when something does go sideways. If you still see rare queue delays, a quick report with your timestamp helps a lot.

Under the Hood

Faster database across the board

We upgraded our database layer to the newest major version. The benefits landed where players feel it:

Faster lookups for usernames, sessions, and leaderboards (new async I/O can be up to 3x faster in some paths)
Quicker migrations thanks to parallel index builds
Better join performance for multi-table reads we use in auth and stats
Security stays tight with modern authentication

We checked schemas, queries, and extensions for compatibility. No app changes were needed—just a cleaner, faster path for the requests you generate every match.

Dedicated auth service

The account system now runs as its own service with guardrails:

JWT sessions (30-day expiry)
Rate limits to clamp down on spammy login attempts
Private network access for the database and API
Automated backups daily

This keeps your sessions stable and keeps the database locked down. Also means less contention with match services during peak hours.

That’s it for today. The login is simpler, progression is clearer, and the plumbing is sturdier. If you run into verification emails landing in spam or weird username edge cases, let us know—those reports help us tighten it up quickly. Thanks for the ongoing feedback and for stress-testing the queue.