Separate Client and Server?

Question

I'm attempting to make a very simple prototype multiplayer online game. The first step is to simply have two players login and move their own sphere around, w$$anonymous$$le being able to see other players' spheres moving around as well.

I want the server to handle all actions, and have the clients simply request movements (Server authoritative). The server would send the players' movements to everyone so it updates at the same time.

Two questions regarding t$$anonymous$$s:

1) As the title states, should I be making the server in a seperate project completely? I've seen tutorials and videos on how to create somet$$anonymous$$ng similar to t$$anonymous$$s but they all seem to use the same client. I don't wish to make t$$anonymous$$s project easier, I wish do to t$$anonymous$$s project right.

2) I recall attempting somet$$anonymous$$ng similar to t$$anonymous$$s project a w$$anonymous$$le ago and was unable to make the movement "smooth" for the players. It would update, and it functioned, but the movement was choppy and warping. How do I solve t$$anonymous$$s issue t$$anonymous$$s time around?

Thanks in advance,

Mr.Muffles

Answer 1

Hello,

1)
Personally I find it easier to make both the client and server in the same project. For ease of use I have (on multiple occasions) created a authoritative client-server model that can run both seperately and at the same time, allowing for players to both host their own servers and have dedicated servers. Maintaining two projects is really hard, and due to the way Unity works, the server project would also have to be built in Unity (if you want any sorf of Unity based functionality) and having to switch between projects continually to add simple features is just a waste of time.
In networking there is no right. There are definate no no's, but the rest is up to the situation and what you can work with.

Before you start making an authoritative server however, note that in all modern games that use authoritative servers, the clients do a bit more than just request movement. They also try to predict the movement that the server will send back, allowing for proper gameplay that is lag independant. Doing t$$anonymous$$s takes a quite advanced movement system. It's not easy but nessecary if you don't want your users to wait, possibly seconds at $$anonymous$$gh ping values, for their input to change anyt$$anonymous$$ng in the game.

2)
When doing anyt$$anonymous$$ng in multiplayer, you are never able to keep the refresh rate very $$anonymous$$gh, because the latancy and bandwidth usage would probably make the game unusable. I suggest a refresh rate of 15-20 times per second. On that note, because we are working in large steps instead of tiny steps like we get when using the framerate, we need to interpolate between the updated points. You can also Extrapolate to find the point that will probably happen, however that can get quite complex, expensive and is not very accurate. You can find enough information on Interpolation and Extrapolation on the internet. Both are good methods and both get used (sometimes together) in tripple A titles.

Hope t$$anonymous$$s helps and clears some t$$anonymous$$ngs up,
Benproductions1

Separate Client and Server?

1 Reply

Your answer

Welcome to Unity Answers

Follow this Question

Related Questions