SHSelfHostIndex

Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead vs SoulFire

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted game servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

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CA Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead Open-source turn-based survival roguelike VS SO SoulFire Advanced Minecraft server stress-testing and bot framework
FeatureCataclysm: Dark Days AheadSoulFire
CategoryGame ServersGame Servers
LicenseCC-BY-SA-3.0GPL-3.0
LanguageC++Java
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, binary, sourcebare-metal, binary
GitHub stars★ 12,896★ 595
First released20132021
ReplacesNetHackcommercial load-testing tools

Why pick each one

Choose Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead if…

  • Enormous depth
  • Active development
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead details

Choose SoulFire if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • Written in Java
SoulFire details

Frequently asked questions

Is Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead or SoulFire better?

Neither is universally better. Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead and SoulFire free and open-source?

Yes. Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is licensed under CC-BY-SA-3.0 and SoulFire under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead and SoulFire with Docker?

Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead: check the project docs for container support. SoulFire: check the project docs for container support.

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