Network Framework Development Help
by Chris "Had Chris First" · in Technical Issues · 09/29/2008 (9:07 pm) · 11 replies
Hello everyone,
Currently I am tasked with building a network framework for an FPS project, and I've no idea where to begin. Unfortunately this all has to be built by hand, and I cannot use any 3rd party solutions. So if anyone could point me in the right direction as far as books or tutorials go, that would be great. So far my searches have gone unrewarded, there doesn't seem to be nearly any network programming books for Windows as there are for the other components in a complete game engine.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Chris
Currently I am tasked with building a network framework for an FPS project, and I've no idea where to begin. Unfortunately this all has to be built by hand, and I cannot use any 3rd party solutions. So if anyone could point me in the right direction as far as books or tutorials go, that would be great. So far my searches have gone unrewarded, there doesn't seem to be nearly any network programming books for Windows as there are for the other components in a complete game engine.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Chris
About the author
#2
09/29/2008 (9:58 pm)
There are tutorials online on how to handle WinSock on Windows to do BSD socket networking and as to how to pull it off to make it work smoothly like all other FPS games the only suggestion I got for that part is to learn at how other engines implement the networking layer. The most difficult part of networking for game engines is to keep all clients in sync with the server while doing it in a smooth transition. 
#3
09/29/2008 (10:02 pm)
Why does this need to be all by built by hand? I was going to reccomend TNL Torque Network Library, since that's what I'm most familiar with. Even if you had to re-write it, you could still use it and the Torque Networking docs as a reference. 
#4
09/29/2008 (10:49 pm)
Doesn't TNL costs 300 golden coins?
#6
I can't understand...
09/30/2008 (12:06 am)
Care to explain why it's on the products page for 300, please?I can't understand...
#7
You can get the open source version of the code over at www.opentnl.org along with a copy of the GPL license agreement, the major part of the license is that you must also release your product under GPL agreement and make available the source code to anyone that you give or sell your software to.
Even if you don't use the code itself for what you're developing it can give you some great insight into what is a stunning network layer (I believe it won some awards too).
09/30/2008 (1:20 am)
TNL is available under 3 different license agreements - GPL (free), Indie ($295) and Commercial ($995).You can get the open source version of the code over at www.opentnl.org along with a copy of the GPL license agreement, the major part of the license is that you must also release your product under GPL agreement and make available the source code to anyone that you give or sell your software to.
Even if you don't use the code itself for what you're developing it can give you some great insight into what is a stunning network layer (I believe it won some awards too).
#8
09/30/2008 (1:44 am)
Well said Andy, that's what I meant but got distracted by unicorns and what-not.
#9
09/30/2008 (11:28 am)
I am not allowed to use a 3rd party framework due to project constraints, otherwise TNL would have been an excellent choice. That being said, I am unsure as to how I am supposed to move forward on this project with seemingly no tutorials beyond basic winsock functionality. I guess it just surprises me that there is a relative lack of information on game network management.
#10
tdn.garagegames.com/wiki/TorqueNetworking
09/30/2008 (12:00 pm)
Just because you aren't allowed to use the TNL doesn't mean you can't look at it for inspiration. There is even documentation beyond the source code on it's structure.tdn.garagegames.com/wiki/TorqueNetworking
#11
09/30/2008 (12:26 pm)
So, point is, one starts developing using the free TNL and then switch to Indie before releasing the game
Torque Owner Giampaolo Mannucci