mmorpg (Sorry!)

Hi there, I'm here to ask an mmorpg question. Don't shout at me just yet! I've been developing games for a few years now and just looking for a bit of info.

I've used the networking plugin with unity and its great. Used it since it was released and am pretty experienced with it. So question is, Can it be adapted to use in making an mmo? (Servers with up to 500 players).

If not, is there a current mmo example with the server used in Unity. I know there used to be the island demo set up as an MMO but I can't seem to locate it in the download section now.

Thanks!

Comments

  • download the server SDK: https://exitgames.com/Download/Photon
    In the Server/src folder there's an MMO folder. It has both Unity Island client and the server code.
  • Very nice, thnx.

    There is quite a bit going on behind the scenes. Im sure I can study it all 1 by 1, but any chance of documentation that gives a run down of what everything is actually doing? ^_^
  • Sadly, there is no extensive documentation for the MMO demo. Neither server- nor client-side.

    We do have an explanation of the concepts it uses. Read through this and the following pages:
    http://doc.exitgames.com/v3/mmo


    What type of game are you doing? MMO is not always "open world", which is what the MMO demo makes possible.
    If you actually have smaller groups of players, then a room-based approach might do.
  • Well, I haven't decided on the type of game yet. I'm mostly just messing around with stuff.

    I was aiming more in the direction of open world though. Where its one giant world and players can all be in the same area if needed and so on.

    Any idea how many players the island demo would be able to hold and run steady?
  • The server will handle more than you will be able to handle on the client due to the impact of skinned mesh renderers in view.
  • Awesome!

    One more thing: Sorry for all the question but.. Where does it pull an instance of the game from for collision and server side stuff and so on?

    I mean.. If players are client and connect to the server, the server would essentially need an instance of the game running to verify movement server side, and confirm actions and so on. Right? How is this done without a master client?
  • This is not done at all unless you implement it.

    The server has no world knowledge, all it does is region (InterestArea) based syncronization of data.

    Photon covers the network needs of an MMO, the rest beyond the network is up to you and your project, its no fullscale MMO technologies (those cost in the hundreds of thousands of USD per title range)
  • kk thnx. Yeah I know its just for networking, What I meant was like.. WIth the Unity plugin, I could use the Master Client to make the server authoratative, and use his instance for refferences in the world. So this wouldnt be able to do something like that =X.

    Thnx. Gonna keep reading posts learning more. ^_^
  • That could be done yes.

    But the MMO has no master client unless you implement such a concept, MasterClient is LoadBalancing only.
    In the MMO project all authorativity and decision making is up to the photon server solution so you would need to implement a physics simulation node to which photon connects (different users approached that already, search for it here on the boards for more indepth discussions on the matter)
  • First off: Sorry about posting multiple things in this same thread even though it doesnt relate to this category..

    Is there possibly an IRC channel where I can get basic help with using photon?

    Im looking for some basics and it seems all the examples over-complicate things way too much, one uses a radar, one uses a huge island demo and all that extra crap. At the moment I just wanna know basic likes how to:

    Connect to the server;
    Send data to the server and retrieve data.
    and so on.


    I just want to make a basic empty project where players can connect, assign them a capsule and move around on a plane networked, I dont understand why they dont have something simple like that for a sample! >.< heh.
  • The 'radar' is no radar, thats just the maximum you can get with basic MS .NET UI ;)
    The island demo on the other hand is a unity project (which uses the old Unity 2.x sample project that came with unity), which in terms of photon is basically what you want, it does not really do much more than that.

    If you check out the behaviours related to networking its like 3 or so if at all.


    As for IRC: I don't think so and no professional developer using photon would be there anyway as IRC is a major waste of time (not meant as insult but a simple fact of its nature, its a chat and chats aren't productive no matter how you turn it. Thats why IM were invented and are so popular unlike chats)
  • There is no IRC chat for Photon. We try to be active in the forum but going beyond this is simply not possible for us. You're welcome to create a Photon channel though.

    I think I said this before (maybe in another discussion): The MMO Demo is complex. Absolutely. It's doomed to be! It's about MMOs.

    Check out the simpler demos like the Realtime Demo, the Chat Demo, Loadbalancing and you could try to dissect Photon Unity Networking. This will give you a simple and proper introduction.
    http://doc.exitgames.com/v3/demos/demolist (incomplete)