XNA Multiplayer Games and Networking

Posted by JoshReuben on Geeks with Blogs See other posts from Geeks with Blogs or by JoshReuben
Published on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 03:16:28 GMT Indexed on 2011/06/28 8:23 UTC
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·        XNA communication must by default be lightweight – if you are syncing game state between players from the Game.Update method, you must minimize traffic. That game loop may be firing 60 times a second and player 5 needs to know if his tank has collided with any player 3 and the angle of that gun turret. There are no WCF ServiceContract / DataContract niceties here, but at the same time the XNA networking stack simplifies the details. The payload must be simplistic - just an ordered set of numbers that you would map to meaningful enum values upon deserialization.
 
Overview
·        XNA allows you to create and join multiplayer game sessions, to manage game state across clients, and to interact with the friends list
·        Dependency on Gamer Services - to receive notifications such as sign-in status changes and game invitations
·        two types of online multiplayer games: system link game sessions (LAN) and LIVE sessions (WAN).
·        Minimum dev requirements: 1 Xbox 360 console + Creators Club membership to test network code - run 1 instance of game on Xbox 360, and 1 on a Windows-based computer
 
Network Sessions
·        A network session is made up of players in a game + up to 8 arbitrary integer properties describing the session
·        create custom enums – (e.g. GameMode, SkillLevel) as keys in NetworkSessionProperties collection
·        Player state: lobby, in-play
 
Session Types
·        local session - for split-screen gaming - requires no network traffic.
·        system link session - connects multiple gaming machines over a local subnet.
·        Xbox LIVE multiplayer session - occurs on the Internet. Ranked or unranked
 
Session Updates
·        NetworkSession class Update method - must be called once per frame.
·        performs the following actions:
o   Sends the network packets.
o   Changes the session state.
o   Raises the managed events for any significant state changes.
o   Returns the incoming packet data.
·        synchronize the session à packet-received and state-change events à no threading issues
 
Session Config
·        Session host - gaming machine that creates the session. XNA handles host migration
·        NetworkSession properties: AllowJoinInProgress , AllowHostMigration
·        NetworkSession groups: AllGamers, LocalGamers, RemoteGamers
 
Subscribe to NetworkSession events
·        GamerJoined
·        GamerLeft
·        GameStarted
·        GameEnded – use to return to lobby
·        SessionEnded – use to return to title screen
 
Create a Session
session = NetworkSession.Create(
        NetworkSessionType.SystemLink,
        maximumLocalPlayers,
        maximumGamers,
        privateGamerSlots,
        sessionProperties );
 
Start a Session
if (session.IsHost)
{
    if (session.IsEveryoneReady)
    {
       session.StartGame();
       foreach (var gamer in SignedInGamer.SignedInGamers)
       {
            gamer.Presence.PresenceMode =
                GamerPresenceMode.InCombat;
 
Find a Network Session
AvailableNetworkSessionCollection availableSessions = NetworkSession.Find(
    NetworkSessionType.SystemLink,  
    maximumLocalPlayers,
    networkSessionProperties);
availableSessions.AllowJoinInProgress = true;
 
Join a Network Session
NetworkSession session
= NetworkSession.Join(
    availableSessions[selectedSessionIndex]);
 
Sending Network Data
var packetWriter = new PacketWriter();
foreach (LocalNetworkGamer gamer in session.LocalGamers)
{
    // Get the tank associated with this player.
    Tank myTank = gamer.Tag as Tank;
    // Write the data.
    packetWriter.Write(myTank.Position);
    packetWriter.Write(myTank.TankRotation);
    packetWriter.Write(myTank.TurretRotation);
    packetWriter.Write(myTank.IsFiring);
    packetWriter.Write(myTank.Health);
 
    // Send it to everyone.
    gamer.SendData(packetWriter, SendDataOptions.None);
   
}
 
Receiving Network Data
foreach (LocalNetworkGamer gamer in session.LocalGamers)
{
    // Keep reading while packets are available.
    while (gamer.IsDataAvailable)
    {
        NetworkGamer sender; 
        // Read a single packet.
        gamer.ReceiveData(packetReader, out sender); 
        if (!sender.IsLocal)
        {
            // Get the tank associated with this packet.
            Tank remoteTank = sender.Tag as Tank; 
            // Read the data and apply it to the tank.
            remoteTank.Position = packetReader.ReadVector2();
            …
 
End a Session
if (session.AllGamers.Count == 1)
        {
            session.EndGame();
            session.Update();
        }
 
Performance
        Aim to minimize payload, reliable in order messages
        Send Data Options:
o   Unreliable, out of order -(SendDataOptions.None)
o   Unreliable, in order (SendDataOptions.InOrder)
o   Reliable, out of order (SendDataOptions.Reliable)
o   Reliable, in order (SendDataOptions.ReliableInOrder)
o   Chat data (SendDataOptions.Chat)
        Voice support – NetworkGamer properties: HasVoice ,IsTalking , IsMutedByLocalUser
 
 
 

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