|
When creating a multiplayer game the following question must be answered: How do players match up with each other to play a game? It's likely that a system would be devised that shows a list of games, allows players to join one of those games, and provides a way for a player to create a new game with custom input parameters. A system that does this is a Game Manager (sometimes called Game Matching System). ElectroServer has a highly flexible Game Manager built-in. The primary features of the Game Manager are:
From the client perspective:
| • | Load game list based on search criteria |
| • | Quick join – Joins any open game or creates one if none exists. |
From the server perspective:
| • | Multiple game type support |
| • | Register a new game type |
| • | Tell the Game Manager to create a game with multiple players |
From the game’s perspective (Plugin):
| • | The game can lock itself |
| • | The game can hide itself |
| • | The game can update its game details |
Note: A multiplayer game (with or without the Game Manager) usually happens inside of a room. A room is a very convenient collection of users that allows the users to interact and so is ideal for nearly all multiplayer games. The Game Manager manages games, and so it manages rooms that happen to have extra properties associated with them. But at the heart of it a game is nothing more than a room.
|