About renting the host for the game

Questions & Answers
1

I have no experience about server-client.
It’s an iOS game which doesn’t require real-time network interaction. Instead it’s more like Draw Something which would send a package of data and then wait for the next move.

I will use the WWW class in Unity3D to contact the PHP on the server side. And the database which the PHP will connect/query is MySQL. I’ve made some tests using localhost and everything seems fine.

So now comes the real thing. I rent a host from HostMonster for my website. It includes the PHP, MySQL, sorts of stuffs. My question is, I don’t know if this kind of host would be suitable for my game. If it’s okay, how should I get started? Just simply using the PHP and MySQL service on Hostmonster to create my database?

Does an online game require some server/host with some specific settings? If my game is a massive multiplayer online game based on PC platform, what would my choice be then?

Thank you very much!

2

Regardless of your project type or envisioned final size: Get the most basic host. Heck, even a server running on localhost should be fine for now. If you want to share the game with friends for early tests, get a Dynamic DNS service to make your local server available to the world. Its zero cost and will be fine for a handful of testers.

Worry about scale when you have the problem of scaling out. If you find that the massive amount of real users you have slows down your server, then think about paying money for a larger server. In the unlikely event that then that server is not strong enough to hold the massive amount of users, you can get a second one, and so on.

The common approach to making successful games is as follows:

  1. Write a working game
  2. Set up the minimal infrastructure required for a few more customers
  3. Get those customers (this is the hard part)
  4. If you hit the performance wall, go back to (2).

Honestly, worrying about server scale before you have a game and customers is like worrying about how to spend all those millions after you bought a lottery ticket.

For a few thousand people playing, you would need no more than a single dedicated server. At the time you have that many customers, you will easily able to afford (a) the server and (b) an administrator to run it for you.