Online Game Hosting Solutions
by Zuero · in General Discussion · 02/11/2009 (1:39 pm) · 8 replies
I've been researching this issue for awhile now. Mainly looking for the best solution. I've been searching around many different sites and forums, and several of them have different points of view or they say different things about this issue.
The issue or question is: What is the best solution for an indie developer for hosting an Online Game, capable of becoming an MMO?
I have seen several people here who seem to be indie developers and are working on Online Games. And I wondered how they go about this issue. How they find a great way of hosting their games.
My main concern is the cost. And how it would be possible for an indie.
Like how good does a server have to be or how many servers you need to have in order to support hundreds or thousands of players? And I heard that you can use another computer that you own as a server. Is this true?
Please try to answer all of these questions, for it will help me out greatly. And thanks for your time,
Daniel
The issue or question is: What is the best solution for an indie developer for hosting an Online Game, capable of becoming an MMO?
I have seen several people here who seem to be indie developers and are working on Online Games. And I wondered how they go about this issue. How they find a great way of hosting their games.
My main concern is the cost. And how it would be possible for an indie.
Like how good does a server have to be or how many servers you need to have in order to support hundreds or thousands of players? And I heard that you can use another computer that you own as a server. Is this true?
Please try to answer all of these questions, for it will help me out greatly. And thanks for your time,
Daniel
#3
When you come to test you'll need kit that can handle more - which means stepping up to a dedicated server..
How much more you need depends on your game and design.
02/16/2009 (9:36 am)
It really depends on how you're going to fund the servers - to start with you only need a small box as you'll have just a few developers working on the game so either host it at home or look at a good VPS (Virtual Private) server for around $60 a month - be careful though as many VPS providers oversell their servers and you won't get great performance.When you come to test you'll need kit that can handle more - which means stepping up to a dedicated server..
How much more you need depends on your game and design.
#4
02/16/2009 (11:15 pm)
A good dedicated server can run as low as 200 dollars (SiteGround, which I have no bad experiences with). You also need to know the networking bits to get it running. Professionally managed is getting into very expensive territory in some cases. 
#5
- Dave
02/17/2009 (7:54 am)
Please note that Green-Ear is a voice chat solution and not a general dedicated server solution. If you want a voice chat service, Green-Ear has worked out great for me. But you'll need to find another service to host the actual game server(s).- Dave
#6
If you really want to create an MMO then you must realize that your server code will be more valuable to you than the actual code of the game.
05/26/2009 (11:18 pm)
I know it's an old thread, but this advice may still be helpful. If you are looking to build an MMO then your server code will have a lot to do with the number of servers and scalability. For testing you will need a dedicated test server that you can put on your development studio's network (aka home) but for a release game you will need a dedicated server (probably multiple machines working together in a mass called 'the server') No modern fantasy MMO uses a single machine for each server, some use a single machine for each zone, and some use multiple machines for multiple zones by sharing the workload.If you really want to create an MMO then you must realize that your server code will be more valuable to you than the actual code of the game.
#7
05/27/2009 (8:07 pm)
You can have a dedicated server with godaddy around $70 linux and $90 windows / monthly.
#8
Prices would be about the same.
(In case you want to know what's so bad about them, check out NoDaddy)
05/27/2009 (9:02 pm)
Oh man, don't suggest GoDaddy! They are such an atrocious, immoral company. I'd again rather recommend SiteGround, or any of a thousand other dedicated server hosts :)Prices would be about the same.
(In case you want to know what's so bad about them, check out NoDaddy)
Torque Owner Zuero
"The Voice Slot fee includes everything you would normally have to buy for an online game: cage rental, server rental, bandwidth costs and power fees are all provided free for the life of the title."
which is located at the FAQ in the Green Ear website.
According to that small statement. If I purchase the SDK and voice slots, will that allow me to host players well beyond that of what Torque can originally handle? Like I buy however many voice slots I need to support more players.
Please get back to me, and thanks in advance,
Daniel