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directplay opinions
It''s difficult to get going but saves you the trouble of developing a selectively reliable UDP based system. It''s working out ok for me.
Magmai Kai Holmlor
- Not For Rent
Magmai Kai Holmlor
- Not For Rent
Ive also been wondering what others think, but even more about experience with dplay8 and the most players a game has been able to include. The readme states dplay8 has been "re-written for massively multiplayer games."
Also, what does "selectively reliable" mean? Reliable only for some players but not others?? Not sure what u mean.
Also, what does "selectively reliable" mean? Reliable only for some players but not others?? Not sure what u mean.
I''ve been using DirectPlay for 3 years now, and I like it. It ain''t so hard to get working in my opinion (Maybe cause I use VB instead of C++)...the DirectX SDK documentation is your guide to a working DirectPlay object.
With DX8 I have to add all the data to an bytearray (VB...) and can do anything with it what I want before sending it, eg: encryption, compression, etc..
Magmai means with "selectively reliable" that you can simply set a flag if you want a message to be gaurenteed (=reliable) or not.
eg, I sent some packets with the "Gaurenteed" flag, and all the position updates, weapon updates not...
The max connections you can have with DP8 is limited to your hardware...
With DX8 I have to add all the data to an bytearray (VB...) and can do anything with it what I want before sending it, eg: encryption, compression, etc..
Magmai means with "selectively reliable" that you can simply set a flag if you want a message to be gaurenteed (=reliable) or not.
eg, I sent some packets with the "Gaurenteed" flag, and all the position updates, weapon updates not...
The max connections you can have with DP8 is limited to your hardware...
if you want complete control however....then use winsock like I do. It does take more of an understanding how things work, and might be more trouble to get started, but you have total control which I like.
"I pity the fool, thug, or soul who tries to take over the world, then goes home crying to his momma."
- Mr. T
"I pity the fool, thug, or soul who tries to take over the world, then goes home crying to his momma."
- Mr. T
Would you be so kind to give a few examples of winsock "control" that you cant have in dplay? 
Well, since you have to do your own reliable packet transfering in winsock (unless you use tcp) and dplay do that for you, you obviously have more control over that. Ofcourse, that goes for all feature that you have to do by yourself (player/client joining/leaving handling etc).
I''ve tried dplay before dplay8, and I''m thinking of switching to winsock. The mainly things I got against dplay is that I couldn''t get it to work over a firewall and that it is slow to initialize/connect/disconnect, hangs my computer for awhile..
Could be my programming though
This might be fixed in dplay8, dunno.
I''ve tried dplay before dplay8, and I''m thinking of switching to winsock. The mainly things I got against dplay is that I couldn''t get it to work over a firewall and that it is slow to initialize/connect/disconnect, hangs my computer for awhile..
Could be my programming though
This might be fixed in dplay8, dunno.
Keep in mind that DPlay8 is completely redone from previous versions. In my opinion, DPlay8 is a very viable communication API.
I recommend that you learn sockets first to understand the underlying technology, then try DPlay and see which one fits your needs.
LostLogic
www.lostlogic.com
Author, Multiplayer Game Programming
I recommend that you learn sockets first to understand the underlying technology, then try DPlay and see which one fits your needs.
LostLogic
www.lostlogic.com
Author, Multiplayer Game Programming
dplay8 takes a bloody eternity to initialize still, I think it''s due to the COM implementation. You not only have to load a dll (or thrity) you have to muck about in the registry for a while.
Your program hands because you''re initializing DP8 in the application thread, use a seperate thread for the game loop and initialize it there, and/or make a thread to do the initialization.
Your program hands because you''re initializing DP8 in the application thread, use a seperate thread for the game loop and initialize it there, and/or make a thread to do the initialization.
My number one reason to not use DirectPlay: Microsoft refuses to release the specs on its protocol. It is illegal to reverse engineer it (although, I''m tempted to try it anyway if I ever get enough time). So, once you start using DirectPlay for a product, you can''t ever NOT use DirectPlay. You can''t ever port your software to another OS, and you must insure that the correct version of DirectX is installed on the user''s machine (when you might not have to for most software).
[Resist Windows XP''s Invasive Production Activation Technology!]
[Resist Windows XP''s Invasive Production Activation Technology!]
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