Online Multiplayer Games

Online Multiplayer Games

Author: William Sims Bainbridge

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-05-31

Total Pages: 105

ISBN-13: 3031022688

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This lecture introduces fundamental principles of online multiplayer games, primarily massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), suitable for students and faculty interested both in designing games and in doing research on them. The general focus is human-centered computing, which includes many human-computer interaction issues and emphasizes social computing, but also, looks at how the design of socio-economic interactions extends our traditional notions of computer programming to cover human beings as well as machines. In addition, it demonstrates a range of social science research methodologies, both quantitative and qualitative, that could be used by students for term papers, or by their professors for publications. In addition to drawing upon a rich literature about these games, this lecture is based on thousands of hours of first-hand research experience inside many classic examples, including World of Warcraft, The Matrix Online, Anarchy Online, Tabula Rasa, Entropia Universe, Dark Age of Camelot, Age of Conan, Lord of the Rings Online, Tale in the Desert, EVE Online, Star Wars Galaxies, Pirates of the Burning Sea, and the non-game virtual world Second Life. Among the topics covered are historical-cultural origins of leading games, technical constraints that shape the experience, rolecoding and social control, player personality and motivation, relationships with avatars and characters, virtual professions and economies, social relations inside games, and the implications for the external society. Table of Contents: Introduction / Historical-Cultural Origins / Technical Constraints / Rolecoding and Social Control / Personality and Motivation / Avatars and Characters / Virtual Professions and Economies / Social Relations Inside Games / Implications for External Society


ActionScript for Multiplayer Games and Virtual Worlds

ActionScript for Multiplayer Games and Virtual Worlds

Author: Jobe Makar

Publisher: New Riders

Published: 2009-09-22

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 0321679466

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The demand for multiplayer games and virtual worlds has exploded over the last few years. Not only do companies want them for site stickiness through social networking, but developers have tremendous interest in exploring this niche area. While developing multiplayer content is challenging, it isn’t as difficult as you might think, and it is fun and highly rewarding! ActionScript for Multiplayer Games and Virtual Worlds explains fundamental multiplayer concepts from connecting to a server to real-time latency hiding techniques. In this book you’ll learn: How to connect users to achieve real-time interaction When to make decisions on the server versus the game client Time synchronization techniques How to use dead reckoning smoothing to hide network latency About tile-based games the isometric view Techniques for customizing and rendering avatars in a virtual world In addition, you’ll learn everything that goes into building: A real-time multiplayer tank battle game A real-time multilayer cooperative game A virtual world


Multiplayer Game Programming

Multiplayer Game Programming

Author: Josh Glazer

Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional

Published: 2015-11-20

Total Pages: 721

ISBN-13: 0134034341

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The Practical Guide to Building Reliable Networked Multiplayer Games Networked multiplayer games are a multibillion dollar business: some games now attract tens of millions of players. In this practical, code-rich guide, Joshua Glazer and Sanjay Madhav guide you through every aspect of engineering them. Drawing on their immense experience as both game developers and instructors, the authors lead you through building a robust multiplayer architecture, and creating every engine-level system. You’ll learn through in-depth working code examples for two complete games: an action game and a real time strategy (RTS) game. First, Madhav and Glazer review the essentials of networking and network programming from the standpoint of game developers. Next, they walk through managing game data transmission, updating game objects across the network, and organizing the devices that join your game. You’ll learn how to ensure reliable performance despite the Internet’s inherent inconsistencies, and how to design game code for maximum security and scalability. The authors conclude by addressing two increasingly crucial issues: incorporating gamer services and hosting your games in the cloud. This guide’s content has been extensively tested through the authors’ multiplayer game programming courses at USC. It is equally valuable both to students and to working game programmers moving into networked games. Coverage includes How games have evolved to meet the challenges of networked environments Using Internet communication protocols and standards in game development Working with Berkeley Socket, the most widely used networking construct in multiplayer gaming Formatting game data for efficient Internet transmission Synchronizing states so all players share the same world Organizing networking topologies for large-scale games Overcoming latency and jitter problems that cause delays or lost data Scaling games without compromising performance Combating security vulnerabilities and software cheats Leveraging the networking functionality of the popular Unreal 4 and Unity game engines Integrating gamer services such as matchmaking, achievements, and leaderboards Running game servers in the cloud About the Website C++ source code for all examples is available at github.com/MultiplayerBook. Instructors will also find a full set of PowerPoint slides and a sample syllabus.


Multiplayer Online Games

Multiplayer Online Games

Author: Guo Freeman

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2018-02-12

Total Pages: 127

ISBN-13: 1351649965

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Multiplayer Online Games (MOGs) have become a new genre of "play culture," integrating communication and entertainment in a playful, computer-mediated environment that evolves through user interaction. This book comprehensively reviews the origins, players, and social dynamics of MOGs, as well as six major empirical research methods used in previous works to study MOGs (i.e., observation/ethnography, survey/interviews, content and discourse analysis, experiments, network analysis, and case studies). It concludes that MOGs represent a highly sophisticated, networked, multimedia and multimodal Internet technology, which can construct entertaining, simultaneous, persistent social virtual worlds for gamers. Overall, the book shows that what we can learn from MOGs is how games and gaming, as ubiquitous activities, fit into ordinary life in today’s information society, in the moments where the increased use of media as entertainment, the widespread application of networked information technologies, and participation in new social experiences intersect. Key Features: Contains pertinent knowledge about online gaming: its history, technical features, player characteristics, social dynamics, and research methods Sheds light on the potential future of online gaming, and how this would impact every aspect of our everyday lives – socially, culturally, technologically, and economically Asks promising questions based on cutting-edge research in the field of online game design and development


Multiplayer

Multiplayer

Author: Thorsten Quandt

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-10-30

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 1134092199

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In the past decade, digital games have become a widely accepted form of media entertainment, moving from the traditional 'core gamer' community into the mainstream media market. With millions of people now enjoying gaming as interactive entertainment there has been a huge increase in interest in social multiplayer gaming activities. However, despite the explosive growth in the field over the past decade, many aspects of social gaming still remain unexplored, especially from a media and communication studies perspective. Multiplayer: Social Aspects of Digital Gaming is the first edited volume of its kind that takes a closer look at the various forms of human interaction in and around digital games, providing an overview of debates, past and present. The book is divided into five sections that explore the following areas: Social Aspects of Digital Gaming Social Interactions in Virtual Worlds Online Gaming Co-located and Console Gaming Risks and Challenges of Social Gaming This engaging interdisciplinary book will appeal to upper level students, postgrads and researchers in games research, specifically those focusing on new media and digital games, as well as researchers in media studies and mass communication.


Programming Multiplayer Games

Programming Multiplayer Games

Author: Andrew Mulholland

Publisher: Wordware Publishing, Inc.

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 576

ISBN-13: 1556220766

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This book covers all the major aspects and theory behind creating a fully functional network game, from setting up a stable MySQL back-end database for storing player information to developing a reusable TCP/IP network library for online games as well as developing web-based server interfaces. This title focuses on sockets rather than DirectPlay, which allows for multiplatform development as opposed to developing game servers solely for Windows-based servers and focuses on MySQL and PHP4 as development tools as well as the multiplatform use of OpenGL. Includes CD.


The Multiplayer Classroom

The Multiplayer Classroom

Author: Lee Sheldon

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2021-03-04

Total Pages: 461

ISBN-13: 1000381102

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The Multiplayer Classroom: Game Plans is a companion to The Multiplayer Classroom: Designing Coursework as a Game, now in its second edition from CRC Press. This book covers four multiplayer classroom projects played in the real world in real time to teach and entertain. They were funded by grants or institutions, collaborations between Lee Sheldon, as writer/designer, and subject matter experts in various fields. They are written to be accessible to anyone--designer, educator, or layperson--interested in game-based learning. The subjects are increasingly relevant in this day and age: physical fitness, Mandarin, cybersecurity, and especially an online class exploring culture and identity on the internet that is unlike any online class you have ever seen. Read the annotated, often-suspenseful stories of how each game, with its unique challenges, thrills, and spills, was built. Lee Sheldon began his writing career in television as a writer-producer, eventually writing more than 200 shows ranging from Charlie’s Angels (writer) to Edge of Night (head writer) to Star Trek: The Next Generation (writer-producer). Having written and designed more than forty commercial and applied video games, Lee spearheaded the first full writing for games concentration in North America at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the second writing concentration at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is a regular lecturer and consultant on game design and writing in the United States and abroad. His most recent commercial game, the award-winning The Lion’s Song, is currently on Steam. For the past two years he consulted on an "escape room in a box," funded by NASA, that gives visitors to hundreds of science museums and planetariums the opportunity to play colonizers on the moon. He is currently writing his second mystery novel.


The Essential Guide to Creating Multiplayer Games with Godot 4.0

The Essential Guide to Creating Multiplayer Games with Godot 4.0

Author: Henrique Campos

Publisher: Packt Publishing Ltd

Published: 2023-12-22

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 1803238364

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Level up your Godot 4 networking skills with the only comprehensive multiplayer guide written by experienced game designer and developer, Henrique Campos, featuring dedicated servers and persistent worlds, illustrated with key images in color Key Features Ensure player synchronization and coexistence in a game world Mitigate latency in your multiplayer games to design a seamless shared experience Optimize and debug your games using profilers and monitors to visualize performance Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook Book DescriptionThe Essential Guide to Creating Multiplayer Games with Godot 4.0 guides you in exploring the built-in network API for online multiplayer games, offering practical knowledge through concrete use cases. Throughout the book, you'll assume the role of a network engineer in a fictional indie game studio, tackling real-world requests from your peers and gaining expertise in adding new network features to the studio's games. Following step-by-step instructions, you’ll go from making your first network handshake to optimizing online gameplay. You’ll learn how to sync players and pass data over the internet as you add online multiplayer features to a top-down shooter adventure game. This book puts you in a fictional game project team where you set up your first online server before advancing to creating an online chat system and transitioning local gameplay to go online. With a focus on implementing multiplayer features, you’ll create shared world adventures and learn optimization techniques to allow more players to join your virtual world. By the end of this book, you’ll have learned how to set up a client-server network, implement remote procedure calls (RPCs), sync node properties remotely, and optimize your games to create smooth online multiplayer experiences.What you will learn Understand the fundamentals of networking and remote data exchange between computers Use the Godot game engine's built-in API to set up a network for players Master remote procedure calls and learn how to make function calls on objects remotely Enhance your GDScript proficiency to get the most out of this powerful language Explore industry-standard solutions for common online multiplayer challenges Improve your networking skills and discover how to turn single-player games into multiplayer experiences Who this book is for If you’re involved in game development with Godot and want to add multiplayer capabilities to enrich the shared gaming experience, then this book is for you. You’ll also find this book useful if you’re a network engineer looking to gain hands-on experience with practical projects. To get the most out of this book, a prior understanding of the Godot Engine design philosophy, the GDScript programming language, the SceneTree structure, and how nodes work is essential.


Multiplayer Game Development with Unreal Engine 5

Multiplayer Game Development with Unreal Engine 5

Author: Marco Secchi

Publisher: Packt Publishing Ltd

Published: 2023-10-06

Total Pages: 395

ISBN-13: 1803243554

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Discover Unreal Engine 5's networking techniques, to create your own scalable and fully functional multiplayer game experiences with passionate game programming teacher, Marco Secchi Key Features Design a captivating multiplayer game using networking techniques from this illustrated guide Understand how to use the Unreal Engine networking system with C++ and Blueprints Carefully plan and develop an online experience from start to finish Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook Book DescriptionIf you’re fascinated by the immersive gaming experiences that enable multiple users to engage in collaborative or competitive gameplay, this Unreal Engine 5 game development book is for you. In this book, you’ll learn the foundational principles behind multiplayer games. Starting with a sample project, you’ll learn how to set up a networked system and make it work. Once the prototype of the project is functional, you’ll start adding game logic, including obstacles and AI opponents, to heighten the challenges and engagement, offering a captivating experience for players. Next, you’ll learn how to debug and optimize the project, before finally deploying the game build and integrating it with cloud services such as the Epic Online Services system. By the end of this book, you’ll have the confidence to develop and manage multiplayer experiences using the Unreal Engine environment, taking your newfound programming skills in your upcoming projects.What you will learn Get to grips with the basics of multiplayer game development Understand the main elements of a networked level Explore Unreal multiplayer features such as replication, RPCs, relevancy, and roles Debug and optimize code for improved game performance Deploy the game on LAN or online platforms Use Epic Online Services to elevate the player experience Who this book is for If you are a game programmer, particularly an Unreal Engine developer, with little or no knowledge of video game networking systems and a passion for multiplayer games, this book will help you explore the subject in depth. Developers skilled in other game engines will find this book useful for understanding the principles of the Unreal multiplayer system, however, basic knowledge of Unreal Engine and C++ is strongly recommended.


Massively Multiplayer Games For Dummies

Massively Multiplayer Games For Dummies

Author: Scott Jennings

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2005-11-23

Total Pages: 362

ISBN-13: 0471793116

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Intrigued by MMGs? Here's the place to start Compare games, create a character, choose a guild to join, and have some fun! So your friend keeps talking about playing this cool game with millions of people on the Internet, and you really want to join in? Great idea! This book will let you in on the lingo, provide a little background on MMGs, help you choose a character, and prepare you for a trip into the fantasy world. Discover how to * Choose a game you'll enjoy * Start developing a character * Survive player vs. player combat * Find useful gameplay guides * Slay more monsters * Team up with other players