Servers and Such

• Sekwaf wrote on 2012-05-04 03:07
  So, I come here seeking some more knowledge on servers, specifically for multi-player games (not MMOs). I know there are dedicated servers that you can basically shell out large amounts of money and have it be hosted by a company (or yourself if you want to buy the equipment and run that).
  
  For my purposes (a game I'm making), I'm a lot more interested in peer-to-peer servers though. This is what Vindictus uses if I'm not mistaken, most console games.
  
  So basically I'm wondering how many people can they support, will it drastically slow down gameplay, is it relatively easy to implement, and if there's specific programs that set up these connections, or if it will need to be created in the game separately. Anything else would be helpful as well. Time isn't of the essence, but I'd like to get a reply eventually.
• Yoorah wrote on 2012-05-04 03:43
  Peer to peer networking involves clients that can act as both client and server, depending on their role within the given game session. How many players can be hosted in this fashion per session depends on the bandwidth capacities of the participants--mainly upload bandwidth. In Vindictus, for example, I can host 6 person raids on my 1Mbps uplink, but not 8 people. Joining a raid does not require as much upload bandwidth, since your client will not have the job of synchronizing all the other clients like the host does. Simpler games could host more people, a lot depends on the game's design requirements and complexity...
  
  Most of your popular game engines, such as Source (Vindictus uses this), Unreal Engine and Unity have built-in networking functions that implement all the complex stuff for you.
• Sekwaf wrote on 2012-05-04 03:48
  So a 16 or 24 person server would be out of the question with a fairly complex game? Also, glad to hear Unreal has it implemented, as that's what I'll most likely be using.
• Yoorah wrote on 2012-05-04 17:19
  By complex, I meant in terms of tracking requirements. If you want to make a first person shooter MMO, for example, then accurate, real-time tracking is of high importance, and would probably have high bandwidth requirements compared to if you were, say, making a turn-based strategy or a click-to-move type MMORPG instead.
• Odin wrote on 2012-05-04 21:06
  It depends on the game as well. I know Minecraft servers will require at least 1GB of RAM for every 15-20 users in a typical environment, and should have at least 100GB a month of bandwidth available. But Minecraft is also very hoggy traffic-wise compared to something like a MMO, which is a great deal lighter due to the simpler protocol. .
  
  I think a lot of it depends on the game style you intend to have. Something like a MMORPG for all practical purposes requires at minimum a central login and matchmaking server, although as Vindictus shows individual instances can be outsourced to client resources as long as security is taken into account- something Mabinogi makes a great example of what NOT to do.
  
  Whereas a FPS game or something like the classic Gunbound or Age of Empires games you could easily only have to make a relatively lightweight login server and everything else is handled by coordinated peer to peer network activity. Or, take the minecraft path. Make a central auth server for the game logins, but then let people run their own small servers for their friends to play on. Depends on how the game being created works.
• Sekwaf wrote on 2012-05-05 00:30
  Hmmm, good to know. The game's going to be a first person action game that focuses on melee combat (with a new innovative control system). Just as a quick reference see "War of the Roses" which has a similar but less refined combat system.
  
  Here's a video of the game I'm referencing, gameplay starts around 4:21
  [video=youtube;a_zXOQI7qFE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_zXOQI7qFE[/video]
  
  I'm expecting this requires pretty good tracking so large scale battles are probably out of the question with peer-to-peer.