Book Image

Unity Multiplayer Games

By : Alan R. Stagner
Book Image

Unity Multiplayer Games

By: Alan R. Stagner

Overview of this book

Unity is a game development engine that is fully integrated with a complete set of intuitive tools and rapid workflows used to create interactive 3D content. Multiplayer games have long been a staple of video games, and online multiplayer games have seen an explosion in popularity in recent years. Unity provides a unique platform for independent developers to create the most in-demand multiplayer experiences, from relaxing social MMOs to adrenaline-pumping competitive shooters. A practical guide to writing a variety of online multiplayer games with the Unity game engine, using a multitude of networking middleware from player-hosted games to standalone dedicated servers to cloud multiplayer technology. You can create a wide variety of online games with the Unity 4 as well as Unity 3 Engine. You will learn all the skills needed to make any multiplayer game you can think of using this practical guide. We break down complex multiplayer games into basic components, for different kinds of games, whether they be large multi-user environments or small 8-player action games. You will get started by learning networking technologies for a variety of situations with a Pong game, and also host a game server and learn to connect to it.Then, we will show you how to structure your game logic to work in a multiplayer environment. We will cover how to implement client-side game logic for player-hosted games and server-side game logic for MMO-style games, as well as how to deal with network latency, unreliability, and security. You will then gain an understanding of the Photon Server while creating a star collector game; and later, the Player.IO by creating a multiplayer RTS prototype game. You will also learn using PubNub with Unity by creating a chatbox application. Unity Multiplayer Games will help you learn how to use the most popular networking middleware available for Unity, from peer-oriented setups to dedicated server technology.
Table of Contents (14 chapters)
Unity Multiplayer Games
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Chapter 1. Unity Networking – The Pong Game

Multiplayer is everywhere. It's a staple of AAA games and small-budget indie offerings alike. Multiplayer games tap into our most basic human desires. Whether it be teaming up with strangers to survive a zombie apocalypse, or showing off your skills in a round of "Capture the Flag" on your favorite map, no artificial intelligence in the world comes close to the feeling of playing with a living, breathing, and thinking human being.

Unity3D has a sizable number of third-party networking middleware aimed at developing multiplayer games, and is arguably one of the easiest platforms to prototype multiplayer games.

The first networking system most people encounter in Unity is the built-in Unity Networking API. This API simplifies a great many tasks in writing networked code by providing a framework for networked objects rather than just sending messages. This works by providing a NetworkView component, which can serialize object state and call functions across the network.

Additionally, Unity provides a Master server, which essentially lets players search among all public servers to find a game to join, and can also help players in connecting to each other from behind private networks.

In this chapter, we will cover:

  • Introducing multiplayer

  • Introducing UDP communication

  • Setting up your own Master server for testing

  • What a NetworkView is

  • Serializing object state

  • Calling RPCs

  • Starting servers and connecting to them

  • Using the Master server API to register servers and browse available hosts

  • Setting up a dedicated server model

  • Loading networked levels

  • Creating a Pong clone using Unity networking