5 replies to this topic

[jcb]

I'm looking at using UDP someday to facilitate online play for a simple 3d game. I'd like to be able to get a single-player version running first. Can anyone recommend strategies for making the implementaiton of networking easier? I.e. is there a certain way I should be writing my single-player code now so that I won't hit a wall when it's time to make the game multiplayer?

[geon]

Implement it like a client-server architecture, even for single player modes. This does not neccesarily mean you need to use sockets co communicate locally, but rather to separate the client (rendering, input) from the server (simulation, AI, ...).

This is a good thing anyway, so there's really no drawbacks.

[SigKILL]

First of all, don't read the devmaster wiki, since the network section contains some wrongful statements (someone that have some better writings skills than me should correct it). I guess you should probably think about what type of network topology you'd like (server-client, peer-to-peer etc.). If you choose a server-client approach, create 'virtual' network for the single-player by having a server class updating a client class (this is a common approach, see f.ex. the quake source codes). In a peer-to-peer approach my guess would be that you would be able to solve any problems as long as you're able to traverse the scene graph(?)

[SigKILL]

Oh, geon beat me. I'm a really slow typer...

[eddie]

SigKILL said:

First of all, don't read the devmaster wiki, since the network section contains some wrongful statements (someone that have some better writings skills than me should correct it).

What part are you referring to exactly?

I couldn't find a networking specific part on a quick peruse, and I'm in a Wikification type o' mood. I could spruce it up.

[SigKILL]

It isn't too bad, but http://www.devmaster...wiki/UDP_vs_TCP is both badly written, and contains some errors in the UDP section. The UDP uses CRC to verify the content of recived packets.