MaGNet - GNet extension.

BlitzMax Forums/BlitzMax Programming/MaGNet - GNet extension.

Mahan (Posted 2008) [#1]

I wanted to share what I've been playing with this weekend: An extension to GNet to be able to have network-replicated instances of BlitzMax objects with native fields (instead of the TGNetObject slots). Lots of people on this forums seem interessted in network-programming so I desided to post it here for everyone to share. If you find bugs or make updates I'd be very glad if you could post it back here. have fun! :) MaGNet.bmx: ' ********************************************************************************************** ' Type TNetGameObject ' ' What: MaGNet ([Ma]han extended [GNet]) is an overlay or extension to GNet aimed to making ' network game development easier and more intuitive for BlitzMax developers. ' ' purpose: It provides means to make networked classes (local/remote) with native fields that are ' replicated automatically through the network. (As opposed to using the "slots" in the ' GNetObject.) ' ' Usage: ' ' (note: It is strongly recommended that you briefly grasp the brl.gnet api first.) ' ' 1) Extend the TNetGameObject class and add your fields: ' ' Type TNetworkPlayer Extends TNetGameObject ' Field name:String ' Field x:Float ' Field y:Float ' Field add_this_meta_tag_to_make_an_non_replicated_field:Int {MAGNET = "0"} ' End Type ' ' (note: only String, Int and Float-fields are replicated) ' ' 2) Instanciate your class and initialize it: ' ' Local client:TGNetHost = CreateGNetHost() ' If Not GNetConnect(client, "127.0.0.1", 12345) Then End ' ' Local player:TNetworkPlayer = New TNetworkPlayer ' player.Init(client) ' ' 3) Create a callback handler with prototype OnRemoteObjectCreated(obj:TNetGameObject) to ' get objects from other peers (players) when they connect: ' ' Global otherPlayers:TList = CreateList() ' ' Function registerOtherPlayer(obj:TNetGameObject) ' otherPlayers.AddFirst(obj) ' End Function ' ' 4) Update the mainloop of your program so it handles updates from the network: ' ' Repeat ' ' '(your game code .... update your own player here) ' ' TNetGameObject.syncLocalObjects() ' GNetSync(client) ' TNetGameObject.syncRemoteObjects(client, registerOtherPlayer) ' ' 'handle remote players ' For Local rPlayer:TNetMessage = EachIn otherPlayers ' If rPlayer.deleted Then ' Print "(" + rPlayer.Ip() + ") Player disconnected" ' End If ' 'example how you can use the remote player: ' GLDrawText rPlayer.name, rPlayer.x, rPlayer.y ' Next ' ' 'flip(); bla..bla..bla (more of your game code) ' Forever ' ' Thats pretty much it. ' ' Additional info: ' To speed things up TNetGameObject objects can also be made to use non-automatic mode. ' This means that the implementator of the TNetGameObject extended class tells whenever ' there have been changes made to the object. This can be done with setters: ' ' ' Type TNetworkPlayer Extends TNetGameObject ' Field name:String ' Field x:Float ' Field y:Float ' Field add_this_meta_tag_to_make_an_non_replicated_field:Int {MAGNET = "0"} ' Method setName(name:String) ' self.name=name ' self.modified = True ' End Method ' Method setX(x:Float) ' self.x=x ' self.modified = True ' End Method ' Method setY(y:Float) ' self.y=y ' self.modified = True ' End Method ' End Type ' ' ' player.Init(client, false) 'we set auto to false ' ' This will prevent MaGNet from manually scanning all local object fields each frame using ' reflection to search for changes. ' ' ********************************************************************************************** 'uncomment (2 lines) when not in BLIde: SuperStrict Import "crc32.bmx" Type TNetGameObject Global _ngoMap:TMap = CreateMap() Global _ngoLocalObjs:TList = CreateList() Const NGO_RESERVED_FIELDS:Int = 1 'Today only slot#0 is used to hold the class-name of the replicated TNetGameObject descendant. Field _gnetObject:TGNetObject Field deleted:Int = False {MAGNET = "0"} Field automatic:Int {MAGNET = "0"} Field modified:Int = False {MAGNET = "0"} Field _typeID:TTypeId Field _host:TGNetHost Field _crcFields:Int[] = New Int[32 - NGO_RESERVED_FIELDS] 'crc for each field Method _internalInit(gnetObject:TGNetObject) _gnetObject = gnetObject _ngoMap.Insert(Self._gnetObject, Self) If GNetObjectLocal(gnetObject) Then SetGNetString(gnetObject, 0, _typeId.Name()) _ngoLocalObjs.AddFirst(Self) EndIf End Method 'Call this, in case you want to delete a local object, to release internal references Method deleteLocal() Assert GNetObjectLocal(_gnetObject), "TNetGameObject.deleteLocal() called on nonlocal object" deleted = True _ngoMap.Remove(_gnetObject) _ngoLocalObjs.Remove(Self) CloseGNetObject(Self._gnetObject) End Method 'Call this after you instanciate a TNetGameObject descendant. 'If auto is true, changes to fields will be scanned automatically, each time syncObjects() is called. ' (this is convinient but slow) 'If auto is false then its up to the implementator or user of a TNetGameObject descendant to flag changes to the object by 'setting modified to true each time a change occurs. ' (this is faster, and can be encapsulated by the implementator of a TNetGameObject descendant by the use of setters. example below.) ' example: ' method setHealth(health:int) ' _health = health ' modified = True ' end method Method Init(host:TGNetHost, auto:Int = True) _host = host automatic = auto _typeId = TTypeId.ForObject(Self) Self._internalInit(CreateGNetObject(host)) End Method Method _updateRemoteObjectFields() Local id:TTypeId = TTypeId.ForObject(Self) 'Write type name first. 'result:+_serializeString(id.Name()) Local gnetFieldIndex:Int = NGO_RESERVED_FIELDS 'index 0 hold the classname (TNetGameObject descendant) For Local fld:TField = EachIn id.EnumFields() Local currTypeId:TTypeId = fld.TypeId() 'If fld.MetaData("MAGNET") = "0" Then If (fld.MetaData("MAGNET") = "0") Or ((currTypeId <> IntTypeId) And (currTypeId <> FloatTypeId) And (currTypeId <> StringTypeId)) Then Continue EndIf 'debug info - uncomment line below 'Print "Ser type:" + fld.TypeId().Name() + ":" + fld.Name() + ":" + fld.TypeId().Name() + ":" + fld.GetString(currNetObj) If currTypeId = IntTypeId Then fld.SetInt(Self, GetGNetInt(Self._gnetObject, gnetFieldIndex)) ElseIf currTypeId = FloatTypeId Then fld.SetFloat(Self, GetGNetFloat(Self._gnetObject, gnetFieldIndex)) ElseIf currTypeId = StringTypeId Then fld.SetString(Self, GetGNetString(Self._gnetObject, gnetFieldIndex)) End If gnetFieldIndex:+1 Assert gnetFieldIndex < 32, "TNetGameObject descendant defines to many fields" If Not (gnetFieldIndex < 32) Then Exit Next End Method 'Call this right after GNetSync() to have automatic updates done. Function syncRemoteObjects(host:TGNetHost, OnRemoteObjectCreated(obj:TNetGameObject) = Null) Local currNetObj:TNetGameObject 'mark deleted Local deletedList:TList = GNetObjects(host, GNET_CLOSED) For Local deletedObject:TGNetObject = EachIn deletedList currNetObj = TNetGameObject(_ngoMap.ValueForKey(deletedObject)) If currNetObj Then currNetObj.deleted = True _ngoMap.Remove(deletedObject) EndIf Next 'add created Local createdList:TList = GNetObjects(host, GNET_CREATED) For Local createdObject:TGNetObject = EachIn createdList Local newTypeId:TTypeId = TTypeId.ForName(createdObject.GetString(0)) 'If untrusted peer talks about illegal types we throw it out: If (Not newTypeId) Or (Not newTypeId.ExtendsType(TTypeId.ForName("TNetGameObject"))) Then ?debug Print "Class does not exist or does not extend TNetGameObject (peer disconnect):'" + createdObject.GetString(0) + "'" ? createdObject._peer.Close() 'this is a hack. there should be a controlled disconnect with removal of all game objects End If Local t:TNetGameObject = TNetGameObject(newTypeId.NewObject()) 'New TNetGameObject subclass t._internalInit(createdObject) t._updateRemoteObjectFields() If OnRemoteObjectCreated Then OnRemoteObjectCreated(t) Next 'update modified Local modifiedList:TList = GNetObjects(host, GNET_MODIFIED) For Local modifiedObject:TGNetObject = EachIn modifiedList currNetObj = TNetGameObject(_ngoMap.ValueForKey(modifiedObject)) If Not currNetObj Then Continue currNetObj._updateRemoteObjectFields() Next End Function 'Call this right before GNetSync() to have automatic updates done. Function syncLocalObjects() For Local lo:TNetGameObject = EachIn _ngoLocalObjs lo._updateLocalObjectFields() Next End Function Global _ngaCrc32:TCrc32 Method _updateLocalObjectFields() If (Not Self.automatic) And (Not modified) Then Return If Self.deleted Then Return If Not _ngaCrc32 Then _ngaCrc32 = New TCrc32 Local id:TTypeId = TTypeId.ForObject(Self) Local gnetFieldIndex:Int = NGO_RESERVED_FIELDS 'index 0 hold the classname (TNetGameObject descendant) Local crcIndex:Int = 0 For Local fld:TField = EachIn id.EnumFields() Local currTypeId:TTypeId = fld.TypeId() If (fld.MetaData("MAGNET") = "0") Or ((currTypeId <> IntTypeId) And (currTypeId <> FloatTypeId) And (currTypeId <> StringTypeId)) Then Continue EndIf 'debug info - uncomment line below 'Print "Ser type:" + fld.TypeId().Name() + ":" + fld.Name() + ":" + fld.TypeId().Name() + ":" + fld.GetString(Self) Local newCrc:Int If currTypeId = IntTypeId Then Local value:Int = fld.GetInt(Self) newCrc = _ngaCrc32.crc_int(value) If Not (_crcFields[crcIndex] = newCrc) Then SetGNetInt(Self._gnetObject, gnetFieldIndex, value) _crcFields[crcIndex] = newCrc EndIf ElseIf currTypeId = FloatTypeId Then Local value:Float = fld.GetFloat(Self) newCrc = _ngaCrc32.crc_float(value) If Not (_crcFields[crcIndex] = newCrc) Then SetGNetFloat(Self._gnetObject, gnetFieldIndex, value) _crcFields[crcIndex] = newCrc EndIf ElseIf currTypeId = StringTypeId Then Local value:String = fld.GetString(Self) newCrc = _ngaCrc32.crc_string("q" + value) 'adding a char so that empty strings get a valid CRC too. If Not (_crcFields[crcIndex] = newCrc) Then SetGNetString(Self._gnetObject, gnetFieldIndex, value) _crcFields[crcIndex] = newCrc EndIf End If crcIndex:+1 gnetFieldIndex:+1 Assert gnetFieldIndex < 32, "TNetGameObject descendant defines to many fields" If Not (gnetFieldIndex < 32) Then Exit Next modified = False End Method 'Unlike the function in enet.bmx this one is usable directly with a enet_peer pointer. '(takes care of the offset into the enet_peer struct correctly) Function _enet_peer_address(peer:Byte Ptr, host_ip:Int Var, host_port:Int Var) Local ip:Int = (Int Ptr peer)[3] Local port:Int = (Short Ptr peer)[8] ?LittleEndian ip = (ip Shr 24) | (ip Shr 8 & $ff00) | (ip Shl 8 & $ff0000) | (ip Shl 24) ? host_ip = ip host_port = port End Function Method Ip:String() Local ip:Int Local port:Int _enet_peer_address(Self._gnetObject._peer._enetPeer, ip, port) Local s:String For Local i:Int = 3 To 0 Step - 1 s = s + String.FromInt((Byte Ptr Varptr ip)[i]) If i > 0 Then s = s + "." Next Return s End Method Method Port:Int() Local ip:Int Local port:Int _enet_peer_address(Self._gnetObject._peer._enetPeer, ip, port) Return port End Method End Type crc32.bmx: SuperStrict ' ' MattiasH: converted crc32 code from blitzmax forums to a class. ' Type TCrc32 Global crc_table:Int[] Method New() If Not crc_table Then crc_table = New Int[256] crc_init() End If End Method Method crc_init() Local i:Int Local j:Int Local value:Int For i=0 To 255 value=i For j=0 To 7 If (value & $1) Then value = (value Shr 1) ~ $EDB88320 Else value = (value Shr 1) EndIf Next crc_table[i]=value Next End Method Method crc_bank:Int(bank:TBank) Local bbyte:Int Local crc:Int Local i:Int Local size:Int crc=$FFFFFFFF size=BankSize(bank)-1 For i=0 To size bbyte = PeekByte(bank, i) crc = (crc Shr 8) ~ crc_table[bbyte ~ (crc & $FF)] Next Return ~crc End Method Method crc_stream:Int(stream:TStream) Local bbyte:Int Local crc:Int Local i:Int Local size:Int crc = $FFFFFFFF SeekStream(stream, 0) size = StreamSize(stream) - 1 For i=0 To size bbyte = stream.ReadByte() crc = (crc Shr 8) ~ crc_table[bbyte ~ (crc & $FF)] Next Return ~crc End Method Method crc_int:Int(_int:Int) Local bbyte:Int Local crc:Int Local i:Int crc = $FFFFFFFF For i = 0 To 3 bbyte = (Byte Ptr Varptr _int)[i] crc = (crc Shr 8) ~ crc_table[bbyte ~ (crc & $FF)] Next Return ~crc End Method Method crc_float:Int(_float:Float) Local bbyte:Int Local crc:Int Local i:Int crc = $FFFFFFFF For i = 0 To 3 bbyte = (Byte Ptr Varptr _float)[i] crc = (crc Shr 8) ~ crc_table[bbyte ~ (crc & $FF)] Next Return ~crc End Method Function crc_string:Int(txt:String) Local bbyte:Int Local crc:Int Local i:Int Local size:Int crc=$FFFFFFFF size = Len(txt) For i = 0 To size - 1 bbyte = txt[i] 'Asc(Mid$(txt$,i,1)) crc = (crc Shr 8) ~ crc_table[bbyte ~ (crc & $FF)] Next Return ~crc End Function End Type magnetdemo.bmx (rewritten from siblys old gnetdemo): SuperStrict 'uncomment when not in BLIde: Import "MaGNet.bmx" Const GAMEPORT:Int = 12345 Const SLOT_TYPE:Int = 0 'remove this Global GWIDTH:Int = 640 Global GHEIGHT:Int = 480 Global GDEPTH:Int = 0 Global GHERTZ:Int = 30 Graphics GWIDTH,GHEIGHT,GDEPTH,GHERTZ AutoMidHandle True Global playerImage:TImage = LoadImage("ship.png") Global bulletImage:TImage = LoadImage("bullet1.png") Global warpImage:TImage = LoadImage("sparkle.png") Local host:TGNetHost=CreateGNetHost() SeedRnd MilliSecs() Type TDemoNetObjectBase Extends TNetGameObject Field X:Float = 0 Field Y:Float = 0 Field Vx:Float = 0 Field Vy:Float = 0 End Type Type TPlayer Extends TDemoNetObjectBase Field Name:String = "Player" Field Chat:String = "Ready" Field Rot:Float Field Hit:Float Field Score:Int Field BulletCD:Int {MAGNET = "0"} 'bullet cooldown (frames before shoting is allowed again) Field Bullets:TList = CreateList() Method New() X = Rnd(GWIDTH - 64) + 32 Y = Rnd(GHEIGHT - 64) + 32 End Method End Type Type TBullet Extends TDemoNetObjectBase Field lifeTime:Int = 60 End Type 'create local player Global player:TPlayer = New TPlayer 'this is the local player player.Init(host) Global remotePlayers:TList = CreateList() Global remoteBullets:TList = CreateList() Global text_y:Int Function registerIncommingRemoteGameObject(obj:TNetGameObject) If TBullet(obj)'ti.Name() = "TBullet" Then remoteBullets.addFirst(obj) ElseIf TPlayer(obj) 'ti.Name() = "TPlayer" Then remotePlayers.addFirst(obj) Else Local ti:TTypeId = TTypeId.ForObject(obj) Assert False, "Remote peer sent an invalid Object type to us: [" + ti.Name() + "]" EndIf End Function Local chatText:String While Not KeyHit(KEY_ESCAPE) 'FlushMem Local c:Int = GetChar() Select c Case 8 If chatText chatText = chatText[..chatText.length - 1] Case 13 If chatText If chatText[..1] = "/" Local cmd:String = chatText[1..] Local i:Int = cmd.Find(" "), arg:String If i<>-1 arg=cmd[i+1..] cmd=cmd[..i] EndIf Select cmd.ToLower() Case "nick" If arg player.Name = arg 'SetGNetString player,SLOT_NAME,playerName EndIf Case "listen" If Not GNetListen( host,GAMEPORT ) Notify "Listen failed" Case "connect" If Not arg arg="localhost" If Not GNetConnect( host,arg,GAMEPORT ) Notify "Connect failed" End Select Else player.Chat = chatText 'SetGNetString player,SLOT_CHAT,playerChat EndIf chatText = "" EndIf Default If c > 31 And c < 127 chatText:+Chr(c) End Select If KeyDown( KEY_LEFT ) player.Rot:-5 If player.Rot < - 180 player.Rot:+360 'SetGNetFloat player,SLOT_ROT,playerRot Else If KeyDown( KEY_RIGHT ) player.Rot:+5 If player.Rot >= 180 player.Rot:-360 'SetGNetFloat player,SLOT_ROT,playerRot EndIf If KeyDown( KEY_UP ) player.Vx:+Cos(player.Rot) *.15 player.Vy:+Sin(player.Rot) *.15 Else player.Vx:*.99 If Abs(player.Vx) <.1 player.Vx = 0 player.Vy:*.99 If Abs(player.Vy) <.1 player.Vy = 0 EndIf If player.Vx player.X:+player.Vx If player.X < - 8 player.X:+GWIDTH + 16 Else If player.X >= GWIDTH + 8 player.X:-GWIDTH + 16 'SetGNetFloat player,SLOT_X,playerX EndIf If player.Vy player.Y:+player.Vy If player.Y < - 8 player.Y:+GHEIGHT + 16 Else If player.Y >= GHEIGHT + 8 player.Y:-GHEIGHT + 16 'SetGNetFloat player,SLOT_Y,playerY EndIf If player.BulletCD player.BulletCD:-1 If KeyHit(KEY_LALT) And Not player.BulletCD Local newBullet:TBullet = New TBullet newBullet.Init(host) newBullet.X = player.X newBullet.Y = player.Y newBullet.Vx = player.Vx + Cos(player.Rot) * 10 newBullet.Vy = player.Vy + Sin(player.Rot) * 10 'newBullet.lifeTime = 60 'this is the default lifetime player.Bullets.AddFirst(newBullet) player.BulletCD = 5 EndIf 'update local players bullets: For Local bullet:TBullet = EachIn player.Bullets If bullet.lifeTime = 0 bullet.deleteLocal() player.Bullets.Remove(bullet) Continue End If Local dx:Float = bullet.X - GWIDTH / 2 Local dy:Float = bullet.Y - GHEIGHT / 2 Local rot:Float = ATan2(dy, dx) Local accel:Float = 1 / (dx * dx + dy * dy) * 2000 bullet.Vx:-Cos(rot) * accel bullet.Vy:-Sin(rot) * accel bullet.X:+bullet.Vx bullet.Y:+bullet.Vy bullet.lifeTime:-1 Next 'handle remote bullets: For Local rBullet:TBullet = EachIn RemoteBullets If rBullet.deleted Continue Local dx:Float = rBullet.X - player.X Local dy:Float = rBullet.Y - player.Y If dx * dx + dy * dy < 256'144 Local msg:TGNetObject=CreateGNetMessage( host ) If player.Hit SetGNetString MSG, SLOT_TYPE, "gotme" Else SetGNetString MSG, SLOT_TYPE, "hurtme" player.Hit = 1 EndIf SendGNetMessage(MSG, rBullet._gnetObject) EndIf Next If player.Hit player.Hit:-.05 If player.Hit < 0 player.Hit = 0 'SetGNetFloat player, SLOT_HIT, playerHit EndIf TNetGameObject.syncLocalObjects() GNetSync(host) TNetGameObject.syncRemoteObjects(host, registerIncommingRemoteGameObject) 'GNetAccept host For Local MSG:TGNetObject = EachIn GNetMessages(host) Local typ:String = GetGNetString (MSG, SLOT_TYPE) Select typ Case "gotme","hurtme" Local obj:TGNetObject = GNetMessageObject(MSG) Local bullet:TBullet = TBullet(TNetGameObject._ngoMap.ValueForKey(obj)) If bullet And (Not bullet.deleted) 'obj.State()<>GNET_CLOSED If typ = "hurtme" player.Score:+1 'SetGNetInt player,SLOT_SCORE,playerScore EndIf bullet.deleteLocal() player.Bullets.Remove(bullet) 'CloseGNetObject obj EndIf End Select Next Cls text_y = 0 DrawPlayer(player) For Local localBullet:TBullet = EachIn player.Bullets DrawBullet(localBullet) Next For Local remotePlayer:TPlayer = EachIn remotePlayers If remotePlayer.deleted Then remotePlayers.Remove(remotePlayer) Else DrawPlayer(remotePlayer) End If Next For Local remoteBullet:TBullet = EachIn remoteBullets If remoteBullet.deleted Then remoteBullets.Remove(remoteBullet) Else DrawBullet(remoteBullet) End If Next If chatText SetColor 255,255,0 DrawText ">" + chatText, 0, GHEIGHT - 16 SetColor 0,255,0 DrawRect TextWidth(">" + chatText), GHEIGHT - 16, 8, 16 EndIf SetColor 255,255,255 Local txt:String = "MemAllocd:" + GCMemAlloced()' + " BytesIn:" + GNettotalBytesIn() + " BytesOut:" + GNettotalBytesOut() DrawText txt, GWIDTH - TextWidth(txt), 0 SetBlend LIGHTBLEND SetRotation Rnd(360) SetScale Rnd(2,2.125),Rnd(2,2.125) DrawImage warpImage,GWIDTH/2,GHEIGHT/2 SetScale 1,1 SetRotation 0 SetBlend MASKBLEND Flip Wend Function DrawBullet(bullet:TBullet) SetBlend LIGHTBLEND SetColor 255,255,255 DrawImage bulletImage, bullet.x, bullet.y SetBlend MASKBLEND End Function Function DrawPlayer(p:TPlayer) SetRotation p.Rot SetColor 255,255,255 DrawImage playerImage, p.x, p.y If p.hit SetAlpha player.hit SetBlend LIGHTBLEND DrawImage playerImage, p.x, p.y SetBlend MASKBLEND SetAlpha 1 SetColor 255,255,255 EndIf SetRotation 0 DrawText p.name + ":" + p.score, p.x, p.y + 16 If p = player SetColor 255, 255, 255 Else SetColor 0, 128, 255 DrawText p.name + ":" + p.chat, 0, text_y text_y:+16 End Function To make the demo work: 1.) download www.blitzbasic.com/tmp/gnetdemo.zip (marks gnet demo) 2.) unzip it to a folder 3.) put all files from this post into the same folder as #2 4.) Build magnetdemo.bmx edit: updates to sources and added example. edit2: updated 20081205 - small error when creating remote object (internal). Added initial remote update that was missing.

Foolish (Posted 2008) [#2]

I'm getting a duplicate identifier error when I try to compile for the dx variable. Perhaps this has something to do with your "uncomment when not in BLide" which I don't understand. I did uncomment the include statements to ensure they were available. Any thoughts? It looks like variables like dx, dy, MSG, and value are used/reused repeatedly in the While loop.

Mahan (Posted 2008) [#3]

My misstake. I tried this out in my normal MaxIDE on my other computer and had to change two things: 1) Uncommented the Include "crc32.bmx" - line. (as you mentioned) 2) Added "SuperStrict" on top of magnetdemo.bmx Code above is updated and now tested from within MaxIDE. Just update you code and press F5 when your in magnetdemo.bmx in MaxIDE and everything should work. Btw some instructions: When started you steer the ship with arrow-keys and shoot with left-ALT commands (just write them right in): Open a server for incomming connections (do this on one of your test processes): /listen To act as a client and connect to the server: /connect [servername] The servername is optional (default is localhost and will work if you run this game twice on the same computer) Change your name in the game: /nick <new name> And just write text (not preceded by a /-char) to chat with the other clients. EDIT: Posted FP once again this time with import instead of include. (I get so Lazy when using BLIde.) Now all files are correctly compilable from within MaxIDE.

Foolish (Posted 2008) [#4]

Just did a quick test compiling through MaxIDE and it worked fine. I set up a server with two clients on the same machine. I'll start playing around more seriously tonight and see what I find. Looks promising though. A quick question though, what is the SLOT_TYPE = 0 used for? Thanks much.

Mahan (Posted 2008) [#5]

SLOT_TYPE is an old remenant from the old code. When someone shoots you the client detects this and sends a "raw gnet message" (i.e. not through MaGNet) informing the remote client that shot you that it scored a point. But still the demo shows how both the bullets and the players (TBullet and TPlayer respectively) are actually running through MaGNet and that they are "pure blitzmax objects" that are automagically replicated through the network. That was that point of the demo. Its very possible to rewrite the hit-information into a MaGNet object to (just make another class that extends TNetGameObject) but since it wasn't neccessary for the demo i just didn't bother. (laziness) :)

Foolish (Posted 2008) [#6]

It definitely seems to meet the objective of simplifying things. Plus, I did run it on two computers side by side on the ol' home network LAN and it seemed to work really well. Since I am more worried about LAN play, than internet play, this is well worth some more testing on my part. I'll look to create my own test project over the next several days. Actually, I'll probably need the weekend to make real progress. When I get something together that adds to your example from a demo perspective, I'll be sure to post it. Thanks again for your inspired re-examination of GNET. I think many of us may have been too quick to overlook it. I'm happy to dig back in.

Mahan (Posted 2008) [#7]

Thank you too for trying it out. I wrote this for my own hobby-project "Maze Team" which is ment to be a very basic "instant dungeon" rpg for a few networked players. (idea: arm you char -> jump into dungeon action with friends.) It's worth to mention that this code is "alpha state" just so you know that it probably contains several bugs, and I'll be checking this thread each day for a week or two in case someone reports bugs. And I'll be posting back updates to the first post in case I fix something. (I think from now on I'll add a date on the "edit" so everybody else can see if they got the latest version) Now that BlitzMax got both reflection and threads (of which I am very pleased!) I expect we'll see other intressting rewrites or extensions of other modules. So whats next? BlitzMax on Rails? My point is: the limitation is not longer in the language. The limitation now is the imagination of us using it :)