Online plugin-Updates

Why are you talking about hosting a free server for the plugin to use and how much kbps/connections it will need? That will be very difficult to work in my opinion. Just takes 1 bad app to flood and bring the whole thing down. Plugging all the possible leaks and building in restrictions would take the same amount of time as actually building the object.

Why not just make a flexible plugin that you specify the server etc and that's all? Let the developers find their own servers. Running a free server for the community is going to be a real headache and an expense for someone that is probably long term unaffordable.

If there is a demand for a community server, let someone set it up on their own backs, they could even charge a small monthly service fee to its users. This sort of thing will come naturally when it becomes cost effective and there is enough demand for it.

So for now, it's probably best to focus on the object and not the attached services?

Why are you talking about hosting a free server for the plugin to use and how much kbps/connections it will need? That will be very difficult to work in my opinion. Just takes 1 bad app to flood and bring the whole thing down. Plugging all the possible leaks and building in restrictions would take the same amount of time as actually building the object.

Why not just make a flexible plugin that you specify the server etc and that's all? Let the developers find their own servers. Running a free server for the community is going to be a real headache and an expense for someone that is probably long term unaffordable.

If there is a demand for a community server, let someone set it up on their own backs, they could even charge a small monthly service fee to its users. This sort of thing will come naturally when it becomes cost effective and there is enough demand for it.

So for now, it's probably best to focus on the object and not the attached services?

i agree with this. for the actual online gameplay, peer 2 peer would work fine for most projects (requiring no server) -- for an online plugin, i actually think peer 2 peer should be a priority over a dedicated server network model. all i'd need a server for is to generate server lists when people search for people to play with online, and there are a couple ways to do this that should be very easy and affordable.

it seems this can be done using IP. many old games support the ability to create an IP lan type thing, like TA for example. so it should be very possible for construct to use this also. then just have a get client IP command, and you only need to host the main game lobby which transfers player ips. im no network genius but this seems like the easiest way to make online work.

you only need an IP link, no fancy servers. the snes emulator SNES9x also uses an IP link for netplay across computers

Why are you talking about hosting a free server for the plugin to use and how much kbps/connections it will need? That will be very difficult to work in my opinion. Just takes 1 bad app to flood and bring the whole thing down. Plugging all the possible leaks and building in restrictions would take the same amount of time as actually building the object.

Couldn't agree more. People can find their own place to host the server, its the plugin that we need! And anyway, you can test your game locally until its released (or in beta) - and if any game actually gets that far, that will be quite an achievement worthy of paying for a small VPS.

Please just GIEF ONLIEN PLUGINZ.

PS. And "nah" to all this p2p stuff. You always need a master server somehow anyway, any p2p apps can still be made if the plugin is well made. (Its basically connecting to a master server, then one of the guys starts hosting the server for the game - im sure you all know this anyway). Theres no need to make the plugin exclusively p2p.

I agree, a P2P plugin just won't cut it for alot of games.

I see your point about not having to have a public server, but I guarantee that unless someone makes one public then most people who were thinking about making an online game will immediately give up due to lack of a server to have the game on. Pretty much noone can afford to or will host a server purely by themselves.

There is one more advantage to having a dedicated server.

If you were to make a plugin that the user could point anywhere, there is a possibility that it could be misused, even abused, and for an open source project, that is a big no no.

The question is, how to find a host, and how to make the plugin so it cant blow up the server.

Packet throttling mechanisms and fair use checking via an admin online interface would hopefully be enough to remove trouble.

There is one more advantage to having a dedicated server.

If you were to make a plugin that the user could point anywhere, there is a possibility that it could be misused, even abused, and for an open source project, that is a big no no.

The question is, how to find a host, and how to make the plugin so it cant blow up the server.

I can host but need to know if we need windows/linux server before doing anything.

That brings up another question.

How do you make a plug closed source?

I agree, a P2P plugin just won't cut it for alot of games.

i'm not saying p2p is always ideal, but it's certainly viable. most xbox 360 games use peer 2 peer for online play. i'd also be fine with a server/client model if players could easily host their own servers (like in many PC games). i just don't see a reason to require a dedicated server for services other than game server discovery/browsing.

> I agree, a P2P plugin just won't cut it for alot of games.

>

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i'm not saying p2p is always ideal, but it's certainly viable. most xbox 360 games use peer 2 peer for online play. i'd also be fine with a server/client model if players could easily host their own servers (like in many PC games). i just don't see a reason to require a dedicated server for services other than game server discovery/browsing.

http://www.create-games.com/download.asp?id=6309

Found that on the daily click, too lazy to check how it works.

Personally, I'd be happy with just the ability to connect to the machines on my LAN, and the ability to connect directly to someone's IP, like Duke Nukem and many others games did back in the day.

Full online connection would obviously require a lot more thought and discussion.

I'd hate to see LAN and IP play delayed because of the work that was required to get full online play up and running.

Sponge.

Nowdays you can lan over internet with hamachi

ip connectivity is good, if thats what you mean by p2p?

theres nothing bad about it, and having a huge server is something very few people would have/know how to do. also not everyone needs a server, creating a 1v1 match finder is all youd need the server for, and ip uses one of the two participants as the host so why not?

Why are you talking about hosting a free server for the plugin to use and how much kbps/connections it will need? That will be very difficult to work in my opinion. Just takes 1 bad app to flood and bring the whole thing down. Plugging all the possible leaks and building in restrictions would take the same amount of time as actually building the object.

Why not just make a flexible plugin that you specify the server etc and that's all? Let the developers find their own servers. Running a free server for the community is going to be a real headache and an expense for someone that is probably long term unaffordable.

If there is a demand for a community server, let someone set it up on their own backs, they could even charge a small monthly service fee to its users. This sort of thing will come naturally when it becomes cost effective and there is enough demand for it.

So for now, it's probably best to focus on the object and not the attached services?

so let people with 500 or more posts be the only ones who can use it