Tired of jumping around, looking for a simple networking solution for a noob and solid tutorials

Multiplayer & Networking
1

Hello everyone and happy new year,

I have posted on /r/Unity3D already but thought I’d post here as well to get your opinions on the matter:

Basically, what I want is to find a simple, easy to understand (for your average Joe not a network engineer or a Unity 10+ years programming experienced coder) network solution that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to use.

I have been jumping around between UNet, Forge Networking, DarkRift, Photon and TNet3. I keep watching tutorials and following with the free packages (if they are available) as much as I can. I want to choose 1 package (be it one of the above or any other that I am not aware of) that I can learn once and use for all my multiplayer projects (the current project is an online multiplayer P2P based connection game, the next one I want to start working with authoritative servers). To note, I understand the basic concepts of multiplayer and networking (theories and concepts), my problem is the coding part mainly and what to do when and why.

So far I have tried working with UNet, it is simple enough (HLAPI is at least) but I found out later the prices so I just didn’t bother. No way I can afford those kind of prices unless my game is the next big thing and I doubt about that. Yes, it will be a long time before I hit the 20 CCU limit, but like I mentioned, I just want to learn 1 package and use it for my projects rather than rinse and repeat with a new package with different projects. Not to mention that I heard loads of negative things about UNet (and of course the extreme lack of tutorials, every video or tutorial I have seen so far just rehashes the FPS tutorial that exists on their page). I thought of going through LLAPI but like I said, I am not an engineer or a master coder, most of the things

I tried Photon and their tutorials sometimes leave things without good explanation. I think the best tutorial I found was Quill18Creates series with the FPS and all but it is outdated and I end up being lost as some things aren’t the same anymore.

Forge Networking, I haven’t followed the tutorial (since it is paid) but from the looks of it, the developer is rewriting the whole thing and has been for a year or so (could be wrong on this). On top of that the tutorial aren’t quite useful to someone new. They do an excellent job of explaining what a feature does, but I don’t have the slightest idea how do I bring all of this into a game from beginning to end.

DarkRift has only Yasil’s playlist and I couldn’t find a single other tutorial for it. As far as I know he is still releasing tutorials (last being 26th of December last year). I don’t know if it fits my current project (P2P based connection) or not and if so then there are no tutorials to support that setup.

TNet3 I am not at all confident of what it does, they mention some features on their page that seems related to online multiplayer but so far from what I have seen it has been local multiplayer (at least that is what their beginner video was talking about). I could be wrong though as I only looked quickly at it and felt it might already be dead.

The best way I learn is follow detailed tutorials that show how to make something from beginning to end with explanation. Quill18Creates’ series of different tutorials are a great example of this and the Unity official tutorial that take you through making a full game (like the Breakout tutorial or that hat game tutorial).

So I am asking you guys, which package would you recommend for someone like me to stick with? Do you know of any solid tutorials for real beginners (not engineers switching from package X to Y)?

Thank you very much in advance!

2

That’s a good start. I want to know other indie developers of what they preferred to use.

Right now, i depend on asset owners to provide a good tutorial to integrate/fork their assets to a full game. But that’s a lot of time and effort for each games.

I like UNet beside the price. Unity should reconsider the price, not all of us here are successful developers. We are trying to float as we move along.

Looking forward to hear from other indie game developers recommendations.

3

Hey,

This is a pretty good Photon tutorial, almost as old as Quill18’s tutorial but still valid. The only downside to this is that it doesn’t use the new Photon Transform View component. Or it could be taken as a positive, because you’ll learn to write your own serialization function. Plus it’s not exactly step-by-step. But still gives you a good idea about how to apply Photon to your project.

4

Moin,
yes iam still doing the Dark Rift Tutorials. Next to handle UMA and store stuff in MySql we work in the moment on the chat system. P2P should work with the embedded Server version. at least in the local network, since NAT is not supported.

5

Honestly, since I am not a programmer I am trying to steer away from implementing things manually unless I have to. However, if the tutorial is THAT good, then I’d love to check it out. I think you forgot to link it though. Thank you very much for the suggestion nonetheless.

Glad to hear that you are still doing the tutorials – yours are the ONLY ones about DarkRift so keep them coming please :). I am daunted by the idea of implementing things on my own (such as the login plugin you had in your videos). Honestly, at first I thought DarkRift was similar to PUN. But when I followed the first 4 tutorials, I found out it is far more advanced than I anticipated. In all honesty most of the Login Plugin videos go over my head on many areas.
You aren’t the reason, I like your way of explaining things and going into details rather than just assume the person watching understands what is going on. It is more or less that I am not THAT technically advanced.

If I am able to keep it together through your tutorials, the way I am understanding DarkRift, I don’t need a P2P connection (since I thought DarkRift was like PUN, I mentioned P2P). The game would function like any other MOBA in terms of connection but doesn’t require the real time updates MOBAs do. So an authoritative server could work no problem with the setup I have in mind. In fact could be good practice for my 2nd multiplayer project.
But that all falls down to whether I am able to keep up with the technical advancement of the solution.

Honestly, I think if someone was able to make something as simple as the multiplayer in Construct 2 in Unity, it would become pretty popular over night. The amount of people that seems to be as lost as I am are quite a lot. I have read quite a few threads on the matter already – I am surprised no one has attempted something similar so far.