Right now, thousands of people are shooting at each other. Two sides pushing for dominance, never quite making much progress. When the dust settles, countless bodies are laying around… and then it all starts over again.
Counter-Strike, and games like it, have swept the gaming industry. As was predicted a few years back, the internet is one of the biggest things to happen to the games industry. It's become so big that the PC's couch-potato cousins, consoles, have also jumped on the bandwagon, offering up such services as Nintendo Wi-Fi and XBox Live. Many gamers feel like a game can not be fully enjoyed without at least some type of online component, and developers seem to agree.So where does the home-brew games scene fit into all this? As far as Gamemaker is concerned, there are quite a few options for online play / connectivity. There's the built-in Mplay, and various DLL's, such as 39dll, GMSock, and SOC3. We've also seen the rise and fall of user-run services, like GMProxy, and many people are hard at work perfecting online scoreboard systems, server lists, and all other sorts of things. A deeper look into the relationship between Gamemaker and the internet reveals a thriving sub-community of people constantly working hard to bridge the gap, each time with a wider, more finely constructed road.But is this really a necessary thing for GM games? Most of the time, I would say no, it's not. But it does add to the experience, and it's still a very much un-pioneered aspect of GM game making… So it definitely has a place in GM development. It'll be exciting to see what's in the future for online play and Game Maker.Soon, I'll be working with Fox-NL to get a new GM online system up. Depending on how we develop it, and how well it works, it may become available to the general public… But we'll see what happens. If I get the online portion of Evolites working the way I want it to, you'll get to see it in action soon enough!In any case, good luck on your multiplayer games everyone! You are paving the way for yourself and others in online GM game making. Who knows, perhaps one day the GM world will follow suit with the industry, and multiplay will be a must-have for the most successful games… but for now, let's not forget how to make those damn good platformers!
FF, you are awesome.
Heh, in my opinion GM isn't good with multiplayer handling… The mplay it has built in is dreadfully slow and incompatible, while the .dll are counterparts are much, much faster, but the slowness of GM causes them to not work at full potential. Considering the time Mark has been taking to make the next version, I think that would have been plenty of time for compiled games.
GM still can be good for mutliplayer, as long as it's coded well.Anyways, I agree, online is a really great addition to gaming. Especially Nintendo WiFi - it's free and works great, although it lacks interface stuff like X360. I'm sure they'll do something neat for the Wii.I liked to read this blog.
Pretty interesting.Made me think I should make an online pong game right nowI tell you it's not just about having knowledge of the various multiplayer methods… it's logically thinking of methods to make it more reliable; Lag-Free, etc… And it's always possible so long as you have a huge logic for multiplayer workings.
-RhysI agree, you really have to plan out multiplayer, otherwise you're in for big trouble.
They need to make online capability for my old Nes..
FF, consider that when 3D came out, everyone thought the same thing. Suddenly 2D games didn't provide the experience that a game should. Consoles stretched to create 3D games after PCs led the way, and now every commercial game out is 3D (Well, almost every one).
You being a 3D programmer, and myself being an online programmer, I suppose I am higher in the chain of evolution but lower in the experience, thus being in the thresh-hold of the new age.The main problem with online is that no matter how much it evolves, information still has to reach the opposite side of the world to create synchronization. Unlike 3D or other big movements in game design, online play will always be partially flawed by the time it takes for information to cross the globe.Just try to see this as the next evolution, not a shaky stepping stone. There is no denying the similarities to other movements. This is just today's.That is true SJF, I hadn't compared it to the previous 3D revolution. One thing we might want to take note of is that 3D games, now the norm, just aren't quite as awe-inspiring or technologically stunning as they once were. Sure, every year Sony, Microsoft, Nvidia, ATI, etc will release a new "graphical experience" that makes their last itteration look like pacman, but it's starting to level out, and I think it may be a good indication of what will happen when online becomes "the norm."