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I would like to ask the group if there is a document that captures in some detail the requirements and specifications that 3DGS has for multiplayer.



Although not specifically written for A6, Alain's multiplayer workshops 1, 2 and 3 are a great place to start with the Multiplayer aspects of 3DGS.

http://www.conitec.net/a4update.htm to find the workshops.

One of the things you need to grasp immediately is that you write the server and client as one application. And that functions run on clients and actions run on servers. (Functions called by actions also run on servers).

If you go through the workshops they will get you primed. They use the templates which is a good place to start until you are more familiar with the engine.

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If not, I would like to flesh out what those issues would be as my game gets closer to becoming a reality.

First, I am building a small 9 or so level game that will allow complete freedom of action in the player environment. I intend to allow as many players as possible to connect to this game simultaneously, because a large part of the experience will be interactions with other players.



What edition of A6 do you have? This would help us (others on the forum) determine what functionality is available to you in your endeavor as certain things are only available with certain editions. Extra, Commercial, Professional?

I would recommend that you setup 9 different server apps running a different level to achieve the 9 levels you want. This way the load is balanced by levels. I have not tested this but I would guess that if you have more than 64 players in a room (and probably after 32) you will need to have written your code very tight and with complete bandwidth and processing time optimizations.

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The game type is multiplayer RPG with a first person feel. Battle between players will be dealt with by the server, but I want the players to direct the battle action.

The game will have a inventory component, where users can trade items, buy and sell, train etc. The issue of where the computing takes place is still in design.




The issue of where the computing takes place may very well be determined by the multiplayer architecture of 3DGS. You will probably want to set your game design aside and dig into the workshops mentioned above. Once you have done the workshops then attempt to write something very basic without templates and build from there.

You will find many excellent threads on the topic of creating multiplayer environments on the forum. I, myself, am doing the same thing and have only 4 weeks into and already have a test app that allows an unlimted number of players to connect (using fish model without animations) and chat.

I have, in the last week, started adding camera views, inventory items etc and need to step back to the basics of character animation. So you can see it is a step by step process.


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My main question is, how many players could be walking around in a single server machine at any one time? Lets say I have a T1 with dual xeon board runnign 2.4G processors. Lets say no combat supported yet, just users walking around and seeing each other, and chatting. Any guesses on how many players per machine?




This is probably the most commonly asked question about Multiplayer Games and unfortunately it is also the most misunderstood question. No one person on earth could predict within a reasonable closeness as to satisfy anyone asking this question how many players could be walking around in a server without knowing what the environment is and the architecture of the game.

If you are talking about a single level with no buildings, just ground and sky object, one character type that all users will walk around in with, you could probably see between 24 to 96 players maybe even in the hundreds. Still there are many variables that could inrease or decrease these numbers. How often are the characters positions updated? How strict are you setting up your dead reckoning? Are you sending all available entity information or are you tuning it down to just the bare minimums... what are the bare minimums for your game?

And there would also be a slight issue of the dependability of the architecture you are connected to at your ISP. If they have outdated routers you may experience problems, albeit these types of issues are rare but would be considered by large production MMOG companies.

Good Luck!

dplay_internet_capable = no;