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Requirements for Online Multi-player games ?

Discussion in 'Multiplayer' started by naf456, Jul 1, 2011.

  1. naf456

    naf456

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2011
    Posts:
    44
    Hello , I'm still alittle confused on what the requirements are for setting up something similar to BeGone - a free online multiplayer game,
    whether it's affordable, and also whether it's worth it.

    I've been to alot of threads, and the answers are always different. So it'll be great if you could help "Lift the fog" on things.
    and this thread will also be great for Game Dever's as a future reference.

    The question I'm looking at are:

    1)Is it possible to use a website host server as the master server on an Unlimited Price plan?

    2)Isn't there already an in place system in Unity for Multiplayer games(Syncroization, RPC, Extrapolation . Interpolaization)

    3)Why would I need Photon/Smart Fox or any other third party Server socket Back-ends?

    4)Will the server (self hosted or rented) need to have a fast performance- Do I need a supercomputer host?

    5)Can Other player's be the Host on games? -is all you need to set up is a Master server, and a Client server interface?


    thanks for any replies, I virtually Hug you! :hug: :D
     
  2. appels

    appels

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2010
    Posts:
    2,687
    The 'MasterServer' is not the same as a server. It's a software thats provided by Unity that you run on a server.
    It basicly provides a way of connecting players to eachother. The game server instances that are started by users are advertised by the masterserver so other players can see a list of games and connect to them.

    The solutions like SmartFox and Photon and others are applications that you run on a server thats reachable by all players. The software holds the games or usualy called rooms where the players are joined in by the server. Or you can even have 1 game/room that hold all players.

    None of these applications can be run on a website, you physically need a server to run them on.

    Not in Unity itself but there are solutions available to lighten the job.
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2011
  3. naf456

    naf456

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2011
    Posts:
    44
    Thanks for your reply.
    I think I have another question though.
    Do I HAVE to have a server setup? or Can I rent one? (I was thinking about Amazon Cloud servers)

    EDIT: I've heard you can host a master server on Amazon Cloud EC2 (it's on the photon website)
    This business with, "Pay as you go" sounds great. What service will I need? I need access to the actual processes the server makes.

    EDIT2 : Ow I get it- any hosts that let you do Server side operations
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2011
  4. appels

    appels

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2010
    Posts:
    2,687
    SmartFox, Photon,... do all have server side logic. Not the masterserver.
    You can host the masterserver basicly on any server as long as your allowed.
     
  5. dragagon

    dragagon

    Joined:
    May 10, 2011
    Posts:
    27
    naf, just so you know, the system you would host in the cloud costs roughly 80$US/month to keep up 24/7. I went looking into it to see if it would be a better option than my current VPS.
     
  6. ProtonOne

    ProtonOne

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    Posts:
    406
    I use AirVM, found it cheaper than Amazon EC2 and better performance.
    http://www.airvm.com/

    For BeGone I have it configured with 2 cores running at 1GHz each and 2GB RAM. Have seen it hold up to 260 players without any problem (of course the players are segmented into rooms). But this all depends on how well you optimize your network traffic, this can be more of an art and very specific to how your game works.

    In InvinciCar I used Unity's built in networking, so it was peer-to-peer. The master server and NAT facilitator just facilitated the connection between peers (so they didn't have to open a port on their firewall). The NAT punchthrough was the biggest problem. You are not going to get many casual game players to mess with their firewall, and the NAT facilitator is not reliable due to the wide variety of router hardware. #1 complaint was that people could not connect to each other.

    With Photon there is very little if any complaints about connection problems. But I don't do peer-to-peer connections.

    From my experience creating a multi-player game is about 3 times as complex as a single player game.
     
  7. dragagon

    dragagon

    Joined:
    May 10, 2011
    Posts:
    27
    Glad to hear you had success with them Proton. I'll give them a look and see what it will take to get my MMO Tutorial projects up and running in their cloud.
     
  8. tigeba

    tigeba

    Joined:
    Sep 11, 2008
    Posts:
    70
    1)Is it possible to use a website host server as the master server on an Unlimited Price plan?

    Unity supplies a version of their MasterServer and Facilitator that you can run yourself on a virtual or dedicated server. I would highly recommend you run your own if you want to be able to guarantee the uptime of your game. Unity hosts one mostly as a convenience for developers who are trying out networking.


    2)Isn't there already an in place system in Unity for Multiplayer games(Syncroization, RPC, Extrapolation . Interpolaization)

    Yes you can accomplish this with the builtin networking.

    3)Why would I need Photon/Smart Fox or any other third party Server socket Back-ends?

    If you want to make a multiplayer game where you need to be able to control server authority, or the gamestate is persistent or otherwise important you probably need to consider middleware.


    4)Will the server (self hosted or rented) need to have a fast performance- Do I need a supercomputer host?

    If you just need to host a Unity MasterServer and Facilitator you can probably get by with a very low end machine as the amount of work it is doing should be minimal. If you are using middleware the answer is: It depends entirely on your game. I have clients who are running thousands of concurrent users on a single relatively modest machine, and others who have really large and complex multi-server deployments.

    5)Can Other player's be the Host on games? -is all you need to set up is a Master server, and a Client server interface?

    With the builtin networking, this is exactly what will happen. If you are going with most middleware solutions, it is always pure client/server and the dedicated server is doing all the work.


    Hope that helps!
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2011
    DenisFernandes likes this.
  9. naf456

    naf456

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2011
    Posts:
    44
    Wow thanks for the reply proton.I can't check the prices on EC2 as Amazon is updating them soon (it is said to be cheaper).
    If it's any surprise to you- I'm only 16 years old and thus My funds for the project is minimal.
    Literally £10 a month is my limit-
    At least now I'm educated with server set-up and the costs. I'm really surprised at how minimal hardware you have considering how many player you can run.
    This October I'm updating my current Dual core 2.7 GHz AMD build to Sandy bridge. Maybe then I can set up my PC as a linux server, and persuade my parent to switch to a better ISP.... Or I'll just start small with just online leader boards. Tah

    EDIT 1: thanks tigeba- VPS is looking like my best option at the moment- till I get some actual real player's - even then I can always upgrade the server.
    I think Cloud deployment seem's a little overkill for something like unity especially my projects.
    it's not like i'm building the next WOW- i do like the way the cloud adjust it's performance dynamically though ;P
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2011
  10. faris

    faris

    Joined:
    May 30, 2011
    Posts:
    4
    Hello! I have few questions regarding UMS:

    1) Is there a standalone version of Unity Master Server to be ran on a dedicated server?
    2) How do clients see the Unity Master Server (running on dedicated server) on WAN network?
    3) How to establish a direct connection between Unity Mast Server running on a dedicated server and other clients/servers (On WAN network)?


    Thanks in advance!