GameSalad Networking / Online Access Poll.

adent42

Are you currently building a GameSalad game/app with an online component?
I'm talking about something integral to game play (e.g. multiplayer) or where the game/app is gathering data that's important to app functionality (feeds, real world data feeds).
So simple FB posting and Twitter posting doesn't count.
GameCircle and Game Center doesn't count in this case either (though if you want your own leaderboard or achievements that affect game play, that counts).
If not, put in the response thread what is missing that's keeping you from building an online game / app.

Summation

Speaking only for myself, extensive documentation on the functionality and implementation required of a networked game is keeping me from attempting to build an online game/app.

scottharrrules43

Easy local UDP multiplayer would be nice.

Armelline

I have to be very careful how I answer this as I'm under an NDA. I'm working on a game that the creator hopes will feature extensive multiplayer. The question at this point is how that multiplayer will form part of the game, as it was originally designed for sync multiplayer and we're obviously going to have to work with async. What is not in doubt though is that the game will need to be communicating with a custom built server to get information that will then be given to both players. The multiplayer component of the game, if we figure out a suitable way to implement it gameplay wise, is going to be huge. As yet I don't really know what option in the poll to pick, though, as I don't really know exactly what the demands of the game will be or exactly what each option offers

BigDave

im not yet deep enough in it.

I use the network behaviours for analytics only.
Open URL for Social pages and custom more games section.

The most powerful feature I can imagine is a predesigned generic simple chat window.
The Apple ID pre-set as nickname.

Would be an insane feature and for community building.
Imagine players communicating to each other about "how to solve X" or "how far they come" or/and "where they are stuck".

The_Gamesalad_Guru

I have a multiplayer prototype in progress. Was waiting for the table refresh bug to be fixed. Been to busy to do any recent tests to see if it's fixed. Building a battleship type multiplayer game so I can show others how to build a multiplayer game.

Braydon_SFX

@The_Gamesalad_Guru said:
Was waiting for the table refresh bug to be fixed.

Same here.

jonmulcahy

I've used the networking functionality to add some metrics gathering in two of my games so far. I'm working on a new game that will use it extensively to upload game progress so I can have a public facing dashboard to see how many attempts it has taken people to do certain things.

viking

I need to implement a server based time check so that I can have a reliable cool-down period in my game. Without the server side timer it is too easy to cheat by changing the local time on the device.

gingagaming

@The_Gamesalad_Guru said:
waiting for the table refresh bug to be fixed.

And another...

BigDave

@viking thats actually a big point there

Chunkypixels

I voted on "waiting on another feature" which was the best choice for me out of the options given, but I think @Summation summed it up more accurately.

I'm waiting to see someone build a working multiplayer game with GameSalad before dipping my toes, as it's not a project to be taken lightly, and to be honest, the online/networking/multiplayer components give the impression of being unfinished and all over the place. It's been a good year or two now since GameSalad took over PlaysTogether, and it still doesnt appear to be implemented in a stable build.

The only person I can see who's implemented anything that works is @jonmulcahy with his use of network features to gather metrics.

Building a properly designed multiplayer game is a heavy task, and not something I'd want to get halfway through, only to find that the GameSalad implementation of the multiplayer features don't work properly, and yet another game gets shelved indefinitely whilst the long wait for the features to be fixed ensues....

So yup... Waiting to see a fully working GameSalad multiplayer game, and some good documentation before committing to using it myself.

Summation

@viking said:
I need to implement a server based time check so that I can have a reliable cool-down period in my game. Without the server side timer it is too easy to cheat by changing the local time on the device.

I wonder if you could make your own server store the current time inside of a table, so you can just use the network behaviors to get the time from the server through a table and use it that way...?

Got inspired by this:
http://forums.gamesalad.com/discussion/63636/sending-and-receiving-data-using-your-own-sql-server-php-file-and-testproject-included

Also (for the brilliant people who know how to use this):
http://www.ntp.org/
(It's something about network time protocol and being able to query time from a server.)