Networking in Construct

I wasn't ready to announce that I was working on it, but I guess now is as good of a time as any...seeing as davo's code is plastered all over my wall in various notebook pages randomly tacked and covered in sticky notes.

davo was pretty far along with his Online plugin. I ran through the source and it already has basic functionality. Honestly I think the community would like it as is, but davo obviously didn't feel that it was ready yet, so out of respect for him and his work I'm going to patch up a few features he was working on before I release it. Right now it works great over a LAN but I plan on including lag compensation features as well.

It is based on Raknet - and I have spoken to Rakkar about what licensing issues that might entail. Basically, you can use the plugin as much as you want, but if you plan on releasing a major project to the public, you have to go to Raknet's site and accept the independent developer's license - which you do by downloading Raknet. You don't need Raknet to use the plugin, so after that you can delete it. You just have to make sure to accept their license. Raknet was davo's choice, not mine - but it was a good choice. Raknet is very feature rich.

Their license is free, up until you make $50,000, after which you pay royalties. If you're making $50,000 on a Construct game, I don't think you'll mind. The license also stipulates that you mention Raknet in any readme files, splash screens, or credit screens.

I have no idea how long it will take to reach a releasable state with this - I'm pretty sure I understand what needs to be added and how to add it, but it will take time. I have about four other plugins I'm working on as well as a day job. Luckily I don't have a life though, so development in my off time will be intense. I wouldn't expect it to take more than a month or two.

hat's a very good news.. can't wait

that's a very good news.. can't wait

Agreed!

Like I said in IRC a few times. It's been hard to focus on Online with so many projects on the table. So I made myself a timeline. What I'm going to do is finish up Muse, then do a small one or two night patch job on the dungeon plugin to enhance it a bit. Then I'll be completely free of future projects (sans a bit of patching), and I'll pick up Online full time.

...Then I'll be completely free of future projects (sans a bit of patching), and I'll pick up Online full time.

You're done with void runner?

I voted for the last one as i find online games to be big in gaming and its always funn to play with random ppl.

It would be neat to be able to make games like this one http://www.pixeljam.com/dinorun/

As for the license... where you get that from?

Sorry, but personaly im againts these extra dealings.

I rather pay a license right on begining Once.

I dont think it will ever reach the point of where the programer gets money of sold games over 50 000 when theres no official game made and such deal can turn off many potential game makers before they even begin to try using it.

Thats atleast one of the reason why i avoid to even look at that Unreal engine XD;

I mean, can you atleast explain how that specific % of the bill is suposed to be paid?

Sorry, but personaly im againts these extra dealings.

I rather pay a license right on begining Once.

RakNet is actually a really good deal. It is a "gentlemen's" agreement. In the unlikely event that you make more than $50K on your game then you pay RakNet folks money. 99.9% of the people that use the plugin will be using it completely free and simply have to download the program and agree to the license out of procedure.

when theres no official game made and such deal can turn off many potential game makers before they even begin to try using it.

You don't worry about deals before you use...only in the rare chance you make $50k+ on your game. In that case, I think you would be pretty happy to pay a slice of your profits.

> ...Then I'll be completely free of future projects (sans a bit of patching), and I'll pick up Online full time.

>

You're done with void runner?

My artist is having some trouble with his eye, so for the moment I have time to work on other things. I was referring to my plugin projects.

Sorry, but personaly im againts these extra dealings.

I rather pay a license right on begining Once.

I am not sure what the royalty percentage is. I don't even think that is in the license. They are pretty lax on the Raknet forums about that stuff, in fact I think you personally talk to Rakkar about it once you hit that point. I didn't choose Raknet - David did. I'm just continuing his work. However, after seeing the power of the library, I don't see why you would not want to use it. There are a lot of less powerful libraries out there with more restrictive licensing schemes.

Looking at the RakNet licenses, it seems (unless I read something wrong) you can make up to $100,000 in gross revenue before they make you spend $15,000 on a commercial license plus interest each month if you don't pay. The license comparison chart shows a "Budget" license ($7,500 unless you make over $1 million), but I can't find the actual license form for that.

http://www.jenkinssoftware.com/pricing.html

I know it is unlikely anyone would make that much money from their game, but I still don't like the license.

Just a little status update on Network plugin progress:

I've implemented some basic functionality currently. Game can exist in one cap with the player choosing to be server or client. Reliable and unreliable fast UDP is supported with auto bandwidth utilization support. Communication can occur over channels so each channel wont interfere with network traffic on the other channels.

I have basic message passing working (see my "game" release for One Buck Challenge). Once I get back from my trip in a couple weeks I'll start working on adding support for player IDs, position updates, and start testing for bugs. Should hopefully get an early Beta out in another two months or so.

So would this also lead to the possibility of being able to have online play between two computers that are in say, different cities, both connected to the internet?

Just a little status update on Network plugin progress:

I've implemented some basic functionality currently. Game can exist in one cap with the player choosing to be server or client. Reliable and unreliable fast UDP is supported with auto bandwidth utilization support. Communication can occur over channels so each channel wont interfere with network traffic on the other channels.

I have basic message passing working (see my "game" release for One Buck Challenge). Once I get back from my trip in a couple weeks I'll start working on adding support for player IDs, position updates, and start testing for bugs. Should hopefully get an early Beta out in another two months or so.

Awesome. Can't wait =D As for multiple channels, do you mean like ports? or are these channels all recieved by the plugin?

So would this also lead to the possibility of being able to have online play between two computers that are in say, different cities, both connected to the internet?

Yes and no.

Yes in that you could have online play right off the bat.

No, in that there would be lots of lag and hat would negatively affect game experience.

The actual answer is the plugin only gives you message passing. It would require the user to implement interpolation and some type of lag syncronization as the library doesn't do it for you. At least not now. The plugin Arsonide is working on might be easier with respect to online games.

. As for multiple channels, do you mean like ports? or are these channels all recieved by the plugin?

The channels are handled by the plugin so it is a "virtual channel" over UDP

> . As for multiple channels, do you mean like ports? or are these channels all recieved by the plugin?

>

The channels are handled by the plugin so it is a "virtual channel" over UDP

Ah cool, that's what I was hoping This sounds great for turn based games!

I like this idea alot of a plugin, And scidave, I tried to use your tutorial but i could hardly get off the ground. I did read through it and i never found out what i was doing wrong. I've done some networking before in the past projects just never with python and construct and it never comes together nicely by any means. But I'm sure ill try your tutorial again and see what i can do.