Multiplayer Question

#1 Excellent question--I've wondered this myself.

I've heard it's possible to run a multi-player over IRC--but not sure how...

#2 As long as you can connect to another computer then multiplayer is not a problem. The server "posts" its ip to a big list someplace and then the client just scans the list for the IP's and pings them for game information. Gamespy is one solution to this. WON is used mostly for client identification.. It checks your CD Key to make sure you bought the game. Mind you, WON does allow such things as chat but thats not required for multiplayer.

#3 Phil Carlisle was talking about writing a "master server/game matching" engine when we were discussing the distributed, peer based model.

There are other folks to license from, Gamespy does it, FSGS does it (and has the SDK to integrate their services into the game, including serial number validation), or you could talk to WON or one of the others. If v12 were directplay capable, you'd have some more options along those routes as well.

I would guess that many of these things involve licensing.

#4 Master server code comes with the engine. We will host an example master server for development purposes. Once games go live, we may need to look into charging something for the service, but it should be very minimal.

Jeff Tunnell GG

#5 FYI, Last I knew (I used to work for GameSpy) their policy was not to charge developers for the GameSpy SDK.

They want to get it into as many games as possible.

#6 Thanks Matt I am going to go contact Gamespy right now to hear it officaly from them

BTW, what did you do for gamespy??

#7 Ummm check this out, it's free, and easy to implement:

http://developer.gamespy.com/

There ya go, you can now have a central browser.

#8 ya except under pricing it says contact us for pricing details ...

#9 I was a designer for GameSpy for about 2.5 years... When I started, there were only 5 employees. Now there's about 100.

Don't believe the bashers, GameSpy is a good company.

#10 ya I believe Gamespy is an awesome company.

#11 wow they have a lot of toolkits that i could really use, like the auto-patcher, usage shower, and some other things. That sounds like a good idea

#12 did you find out how much it is??

#13 It looks promising, but you have to apply as a developer just to gain access to them. I am waiting to see if they accept us. they might not like indie devs, we shall see.

#14 WEll they emailed me back saying how it's for commercial use and has license costs and to please reply if still interested. Well since i'm making my game for fun i see no point in apying cause I really odn't have much money nor a job...

#15 Do you pay before you get the tools, or are they available for free then you pay royalties etc. ?

#16 Pay for the tools Shawn ... I e-mailed them, they e-mailed back, I e-mailed them again and am now awaiting a price.

#17 maybe if we all hassle them enoug they will release a simple version for garagegames? :))

#18 Well, if I waited two more weeks, this thread would be clearly 3 years old. But it's close enough. I am working on a game all by myself (very very indie), and would like to eventually add multiplayer support. In reference to what Jeff said above:

Quote:Master server code comes with the engine. We will host an example master server for development purposes. Once games go live, we may need to look into charging something for the service, but it should be very minimal.

Jeff Tunnell GG

Is this still available? How will I go about testing the multiplayer, as I have only one PC? Does this mean that once my game goes live, a server will be running my game all the time? Or does it simply a location service (players can find running servers)?

#19 This thread is so outdated as to be full of lies... :)

I suggest you forget everything you saw here and find a thread from the last year.

#20 Well, I searched. Sadly, there is nothing else that I could find. So... is there no hope for me to get my game going multiplayer until I get rich enough to afford a dedicated server?