How to Create Private Rooms with Photon Cloud?

[jonkuze]

Hello all,

I am using Photon Cloud with My Unity Game Projects.

Photon Plugin is Integrated and Working, I am able to Join and Create Rooms, but I am curious about the Private Rooms.

I read somewhere on the Photon ExitGames Website you can create Private Rooms, but I could Not find any documentation on how to enable Creating Private Rooms.

Is Private Rooms only Feature for Dedicated Photon Servers, or can this be done using Photon Cloud?

If so, what script do I need to add to Enable the Private Rooms in my Main Menu Lobby?

Any leads, highly appreciated . = )

[carmine]

@jonkuze

Hello all,

I am using Photon Cloud with My Unity Game Projects.

Photon Plugin is Integrated and Working, I am able to Join and Create Rooms, but I am curious about the Private Rooms.

I read somewhere on the Photon ExitGames Website you can create Private Rooms, but I could Not find any documentation on how to enable Creating Private Rooms.

Is Private Rooms only Feature for Dedicated Photon Servers, or can this be done using Photon Cloud?

If so, what script do I need to add to Enable the Private Rooms in my Main Menu Lobby?

Any leads, highly appreciated . = )

Are you having your players type in the room name to join? If so… just don’t list a room that is private… You could for instance do this…

• Whenever someone makes a room and wants it to be private… make the room called “PRIVATE_WhateverTheRoomNameIs”
• When you draw the list of rooms, don’t list any Room Name that StartsWith(“PRIVATE_”)
• When someone goes to join a room… see if “TheRoomNameTheyTyped” exists AND “PRIVATE_TheRoomNameTheyTyped” exists…

[jonkuze]

@carmine

Are you having your players type in the room name to join? If so… just don’t list a room that is private… You could for instance do this…

• Whenever someone makes a room and wants it to be private… make the room called “PRIVATE_WhateverTheRoomNameIs”
• When you draw the list of rooms, don’t list any Room Name that StartsWith(“PRIVATE_”)
• When someone goes to join a room… see if “TheRoomNameTheyTyped” exists AND “PRIVATE_TheRoomNameTheyTyped” exists…

Wow! Really it’s that simple huh? i’ll try it as soon as I can and let you know Results! = ) Really appreciate it.

[jonkuze]

Hi Carmine,

This is what my Photon Code Looks Like (Join Room and Room Listing)

// Join random room
GUILayout.BeginHorizontal();
GUILayout.Label(“JOIN RANDOM GAME:”, GUILayout.Width(150));
if (PhotonNetwork.GetRoomList().Length == 0)
{
GUILayout.Label(“NO GAME ACTIVE! PLEASE CREATE A NEW GAME!”);
}
else
{
if (GUILayout.Button(“GO”))
{
PhotonNetwork.JoinRandomRoom();
}
}

GUILayout.EndHorizontal();

GUILayout.Space(30);
GUILayout.Label(“GAME LISTING:”);
if (PhotonNetwork.GetRoomList().Length == 0)
{
GUILayout.Label(“---------------------------”);
}
else
{
// Room listing: simply call GetRoomList: no need to fetch/poll whatever!
this.scrollPos = GUILayout.BeginScrollView(this.scrollPos);
foreach (RoomInfo roomInfo in PhotonNetwork.GetRoomList())
{
GUILayout.BeginHorizontal();
GUILayout.Label(roomInfo.name + " " + roomInfo.playerCount + “/” + roomInfo.maxPlayers);
if (GUILayout.Button(“JOIN”))
{
PhotonNetwork.JoinRoom(roomInfo.name);
}

GUILayout.EndHorizontal();
}

GUILayout.EndScrollView();
}

GUILayout.EndArea();
}

Seems I am missing the Join Room Code in there, as my Photon was modified previously by a Developer I was working with, so I’ll need to add back the Option of Join Room, or Replace Random Join with Join Room (I think I prefer that)

Then I need the actual Line of Code Needed to don’t list any Room Name that StartsWith(“PRIVATE_”), as you stated.

Sorry, I am not programmer, but I can get things working by going in and playing with it lol… So if you can assist with fixing my code! Would be Awesome!

I’m sure maybe this Question may come up for others eventually. = )

Thanks Carmine!

[carmine]

@jonkuze

Hi Carmine,

This is what my Photon Code Looks Like (Join Room and Room Listing)

Seems I am missing the Join Room Code in there, as my Photon was modified previously by a Developer I was working with, so I’ll need to add back the Option of Join Room, or Replace Random Join with Join Room (I think I prefer that)

Then I need the actual Line of Code Needed to don’t list any Room Name that StartsWith(“PRIVATE_”), as you stated.

Sorry, I am not programmer, but I can get things working by going in and playing with it lol… So if you can assist with fixing my code! Would be Awesome!

I’m sure maybe this Question may come up for others eventually. = )

Thanks Carmine!

You would need to change quite a bit of that code to make it work. You can’t use join random room… because you might join a random PRIVATE room.

I wrote “StartsWith” for a reason… you can do this:

foreach (RoomInfo roomInfo in PhotonNetwork.GetRoomList())
{
if (roomInfo.name.StartsWith(“PRIVATE_”)) continue;

You can use StartsWith and EndsWith on strings to find out if they start and end with something.

You can’t really use RoomCount because it would count rooms labeled as private…

For creating a room… just add a checkbox/toggle for private/public… if they select private… then name the room “PRIVATE_”

-Carmine

[jonkuze]

@carmine

You would need to change quite a bit of that code to make it work. You can’t use join random room… because you might join a random PRIVATE room.

I wrote “StartsWith” for a reason… you can do this:

foreach (RoomInfo roomInfo in PhotonNetwork.GetRoomList())
{
if (roomInfo.name.StartsWith(“PRIVATE_”)) continue;

You can use StartsWith and EndsWith on strings to find out if they start and end with something.

You can’t really use RoomCount because it would count rooms labeled as private…

For creating a room… just add a checkbox/toggle for private/public… if they select private… then name the room “PRIVATE_”

-Carmine

Thank you so much! really appreciate it! = )

[tobiass]

You can hide private rooms from the lobby listing and they will not be used in random matchmaking either.
When you create a room, just set the “visible” option to false.
You have to make sure another user will know your room’s name or else your private players will stay alone forever. On the other hand, knowing the room’s name is then as good as knowing a password.

If the rooms are invisible, you can also keep on using random matchmaking, which is the preferred way to find games. It avoids issues that would arise when many clients try to join the same room cause it’s first in the list. Let’s say your room has space for just 2 players and 4 try to join the first room listed. Then 3 are rejected which is not too good.

Hope this helps. Let me know if anyone needs details.

[jonkuze]

@tobiass

You can hide private rooms from the lobby listing and they will not be used in random matchmaking either.
When you create a room, just set the “visible” option to false.
You have to make sure another user will know your room’s name or else your private players will stay alone forever. On the other hand, knowing the room’s name is then as good as knowing a password.

If the rooms are invisible, you can also keep on using random matchmaking, which is the preferred way to find games. It avoids issues that would arise when many clients try to join the same room cause it’s first in the list. Let’s say your room has space for just 2 players and 4 try to join the first room listed. Then 3 are rejected which is not too good.

Hope this helps. Let me know if anyone needs details.

since i’m not much of a programmer, can you explain alittle more in detail such as provide the exact line of code needed to set this up? the part where you said "When you create a room, just set the “visible” option to false. "

Would highly appreciate it!

[tobiass]

I can only help with C# code but JS should be very similar. Hope this helps:

Somewhere in your code are calls to CreateRoom. There are several variants of this same method with more or less parameters.
One is defined as: CreateRoom(string roomName, bool isVisible, bool isOpen, int maxPlayers)

So, to create an invisible (private) room for up to 4 players you could call:
PhotonNetwork.CreateRoom(roomNameAllPlayersKnowAbout, false, true, 4);

The variable roomNameAllPlayersKnowAbout must be a string your players know. Don’t set isOpen to false, or else no one can join. You can replace 4 with any number that fits your game or 0 for “no limit”.

[JITENDRA-RAJ]

See there i have written code.

how to add private chat in multuplayer game.

[squished]

It’s more traditional for the password protected room to be visible to the player. The player clicks it, is prompted for a password, and then allowed to join if the password is correct.

One way to accomplish this is for the server to hash its password with SHA256 or whatever, and include the hashed password in the room’s properties. The client computer can use this hash to verify the client’s password is correct before allowing him to connect to the server.

For a little more security, the server can re-verify the password on player join, and kick the player if it’s incorrect. It’s still not hack-proof, but it’s no worse than a hidden room that can be guessed.