Multiplayer networking for modded open source game?

Multiplayer networking for modded open source game?

Postby mysteriousmonkey29 » 19 Feb 2019, 02:04

Hello, I want to make an RTS game that allows users to write their own AI for units. However, I have limited resources, and am thinking of modding an existing open-source RTS to add this functionality, rather than build my own game from scratch. Or at least at first. This would be a good way to gauge interest and get feedback.



It looks like there are a lot of open-source RTS games that fit what I'm looking for, such as 0 AD, Warzone 2100, Glest/Megaglest, etc. And their licensing is very permitting (GNU GPL and CC BY SA), so it looks like I'm welcome to mod their games, and then release my mod wherever I want, as long as I include attribution, and release it also under GPL with the source code included. I was thinking of releasing the mod on either Steam, itcho.io, to gain visibility and to take advantage of their premade features for packaging, delivery, and matchmaking of the game.



However, I was looking the matchmaking aspect, and am a little confused. Steam talks about servers here: Partner.steamgames.com which says basically that you can use the Steamworks API, but need to provide your own servers, or have the player's computers act as the servers. I'm guessing the latter would probably be impractical given the genre (RTS), but don't have a lot of experience by which to judge.



What I'm looking for is something that's not a lot of work to connect people in multiplayer games. I'm happy to pay for servers, even if I don't end up charging anything for the game. I'm not sure what goes into linking servers to steam to allow matchmaking, and how much of it is done for you.



I also tried to look into how 0 AD does matchmaking. It looks like it works directly through the game (like the old "multiplayer" option in Age of Empires), but beyond that, I'm not sure.



Anyone know more about this sort of thing?



Thanks!
mysteriousmonkey29
 
Posts: 4
Joined: 17 Feb 2019, 02:44

Re: Multiplayer networking for modded open source game?

Postby onpon4 » 19 Feb 2019, 06:44

Oh, hi. I think I responded to another post of yours about this on GDnet. :)

Anyway, I wouldn't recommend trying to use the Steamworks API. I don't know if it's GPL-compatible, but in any case, it would just split the player base between Steam players and non-Steam players.

As far as who should host servers, with most libre RTS games I've seen (including the ones you listed), one of the players hosts the server. It's really not a problem in match-based games; when it's designed correctly players don't even have to think about it. All that needs to be centralized is a lobby (so you can find other players). I know you're interested in making making money from the server you run, though, so you might want to go with some kind of design that makes a third-party server particularly useful to players (e.g. by making it world-based instead of match-based).
onpon4
 
Posts: 596
Joined: 13 Mar 2014, 18:38

Re: Multiplayer networking for modded open source game?

Postby GunChleoc » 19 Feb 2019, 18:08

With 0AD, you could upload your mod to mod.io. Players can then download your mod in-game and also use their multiplayer lobby.
User avatar
GunChleoc
 
Posts: 502
Joined: 20 Sep 2012, 22:45

Re: Multiplayer networking for modded open source game?

Postby mysteriousmonkey29 » 20 Feb 2019, 06:04

Yeah, I posted this and another similar question about this game idea on a few forums, cause I wasn't sure which one was best. Have gotten a good diversity of responses from some, and no responses for others, so it seems to be working.

Didn't realize that about steam and GPL. Just read about it here: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/sdk/ ... opensource and I think you might be right. Good catch.

I didn't realize that that was how it was done with RTS servers. I wonder why that got shut down for the original Age of Empires then, cause it seems like it wouldn't take very much work on microsoft's part to maintain if they didn't even have to host servers.

World based is an interesting idea; it is true that if it's open source and runs using P2P networking, then people don't need for anything haha. Thanks for the info.

And to GunChleoc, that's really cool! Never heard of mod.io, but I'm looking at it now, and it looks like it could greatly simplify what I have to do. Thanks.
mysteriousmonkey29
 
Posts: 4
Joined: 17 Feb 2019, 02:44

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest