How does this compare to Skiller?

punkouter

I am trying to understand the basic differences... I have the following reply from their side below.. can someone tell me why phuton cloud is better for windows phone multiplayer dev?


Hi punkouter

Yes, it's possible to implement a near-real-time gameplay with the Skiller SDK tools.

As far as a comparison goes:

First, the Skiller SDK is completely free. In fact, with the Skiller monetization tools, you can be making money in your game! The Photon cloud is not free (check the pricing on their site).

Another point to consider is how simple the integration is. With the Skiller SDK, you do not need to worry about the backend servers, infrastructure, or protocols, we do that for you. With the Photon cloud, you need to develop and maintain a server component, which adds to development complexity.

Finally, Skiller is more than a multiplayer SDK. It's a community! With many social components helping with users retention (like leaderboards, achievements, buddy-list, and more), there is a lot of added value.

Tobias

I can't really offer a comparison to Skiller. For that, I would have to assess their features first. I don't even know if they use servers or peer-to-peer.
Do they use http, tcp or udp?

It has a reason why we use dedicated servers: Connectivity and stability. It's a common misconception that you might get away with hosting games on clients in the mobile space. Connections are weak, not working across network provider borders in many cases and if the hosting player leaves the game, everybody is out.
Hosting a server does cost money and instead of using advertising or something to monetize, the Photon Cloud is a dead cheap hosting solution for multiplayer gaming.

> With the Photon cloud, you need to develop and maintain a server component, which adds to development complexity.
Wrong. Obviously has no plan of our product.
Register, get your "appID" right away and you're fine to start any of our demos with your own part of the server (we call that virtual application).
The client Windows Phone SDKs are in DotNet, relatively small, have a plain API and give you most control of what you do. Demos and reference should get you up and running.

> Skiller is more than a multiplayer SDK. It's a community!
If you like that: Good! Use it.
Photon does not include a community. Instead, it's easy to use it in conjunction with any community. Or communities even. Game Center? OpenFeint? Skiller? The next big thing? Use their APIs to get accounts, usernames, highscores, etc and use Photon to get players into rooms to play.

The SDKs are free and you get a trial of the cloud to start with. The server SDK is compatible with the Photon Cloud and has a 100 concurrent user license for free. Perfect for development.

Rein

If you want an honest comparison then never ask a company to compare themselves to a competitor or else you'll end up with the load of marketing-speak you showed us. To get an objective view of how each measure up I would write out a list of specific questions relevant to your goals and then ask both sides the same set of questions without ever mentioning a competitor. The more specific you can make your questions, the more genuine their answers will be (and if they still answer with marketing-speak, that's a good indicator of how good their support will be in the future).

EDIT: Tobias' response is a good one that, while still trying to sell you on Photon over Skiller, does so in a factual and informative way that isn't just "ours is better plus you can make money by using it! (somehow)" Also, I must agree that the Photon Cloud service is very reasonably priced. My only complaint is that I wish they would spend a little less time plugging Photon Cloud (I get it, its how they keep the business running) and a little more time supporting their true-MMO solution, but that's just my biased opinion.

Tobias

Rein: I tried to avoid marketing-speak. I hope you didn't mean me?
But seriously: No offense taken. It's just really difficult to compare with anyone in detail on a technical basis. Also, this doesn't really solve the question of you (as developer) could grasp what the API is working like.

Rein

No no, I was referring to the response from Skiller that punkouter included in the OP. I've lurked these forums for quite a while and all the Photon people that are active on here are all very helpful and informative, which is rare and unexpected given that most of us are non-paying customers. I've always had a mind for marketing so when I see responses like the one from Skiller it just irks me.

punkouter

I agree. I have not been able to find out the more technical details of skiller from glancing at the site.. The description seem so broad. So I guess I just need to dig into the samples of both when I got time and that should give me some clues. Ofcourse id love to just hear from someone who has used both and get a un biased opinion

danglingneuron

I have had some communication with the Skiller folks. I was interested in the leaderboards + analytics part. It looks ok if you want social leaderboards, analytics and "turn" based multiplayer all in one library. Its been used on Android in about 3-5 small games. I am definitely alot more conifdent in Photon due to its realtime multiplayer feature and its userbase. Its been used in AAA tites so you cant go wrong with it. $10/month is nothing if you have a nice enough realtime multiplayer game on top of it. And no I dont get paid by ExitGames folsk for saying this but never the less I get awesome support from them

punkouter

I wish the cost only came into play if I actually release something.. since it could take me months to figure it out... with the little time I spend a week doing my own stuff.
Right now ive been hosting my own little DB for high scores.. is there a better way? Does skiller give me a place to store them for me ?? Photon Cloud is not about that.. its just about letting people communicate..

When they going to enable Bluetooth for programmers anyways on the windows phone???

danglingneuron

You should read my blog, you will find links to all free stuff you can use in games

http://danglingneuron.wordpress.com/201 ... y-roundup/

punkouter

oh I see scoreloop.. I guess I could use that instead of host scores myself? So ill look into that .