The Multiplayer Leap

#unity3d #gamedev #multiplayer #csharp

Hellu, and welcome back to another weekly update for A Wargame Without Compromise (WWC)! 👾

This sprint began a bit later than usual due to heavy deadlines in my Rapid Games Prototyping (RGP) module. However, once I transitioned back to the WWC project, I immediately jumped into clearing our backlog by reviewing pending Pull Requests and issue tickets to ensure the rest of the team remained unblocked.

Architectural Planning: Spawning & Networking Our primary architectural discussions this week revolved around spawn management and the daunting task of integrating multiplayer networking. Taking a game from a single-player state to a networked state requires a massive paradigm shift, so I dedicated significant time to research.

After extensively reviewing documentation, community forums, and performance benchmarks, I concluded that FishNet was the most robust and performant networking solution for our specific needs.

The Multiplayer Proof of Concept (PoC) My main goal for the week was to build a Proof of Concept (PoC) for our online system.

The Setup: I installed the FishNet package to handle our server/client architecture. Alongside it, I integrated ParrelSync, an incredibly useful Unity tool that allows developers to run multiple instances of the same project simultaneously without needing to build the game every time.
The Workflow Bottleneck: While the initial integration wasn't too difficult, the learning curve for FishNet's specific logic was steep. Furthermore, the physical testing process became a major workflow bottleneck. Running and debugging two simultaneous game instances on a single monitor was incredibly frustrating and drastically increased my iteration time.

From Local to Remote: Bridging the Gap Testing the local connection (localhost) was successful relatively quickly. However, a true PoC requires remote connections over the internet. To simulate this without renting dedicated servers, I utilised Radmin VPN to create a Virtual LAN (Local Area Network). This allowed my machine to act as a host IP that other players could remotely connect to. I am thrilled to report that the remote tests were successful!

Reflective Practice: The Complexity of Netcode My biggest takeaway this week is a newfound respect for multiplayer game development. Finding reliable, up-to-date resources and tutorials for modern networking is surprisingly difficult. More importantly, this sprint taught me that while making a simple connection work is achievable, developing a truly robust, synchronised online game introduces staggering complexity. Every mechanic we design from this point forward must be evaluated through the lens of server authority and client prediction.

Action Plan for Next Sprint With the networking PoC successfully connecting clients, my goals for next week are:

Spawn Management over Network: I will integrate our initial spawn management ideas with FishNet to ensure players instantiate correctly across all connected clients.
Workflow Optimisation: I need to reorganise my workspace and window layouts to make single-monitor network testing less cumbersome and more efficient.

Thank you so much for getting here!

See you next week for another update! 🛼🤟🏽

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