[AS2] Network Game - Bomber Man

[Kevin Monk]

This is an idea that i'd really like to pursue. I've created two flash games so far but Im really keen to create a basic multi-user network game and bomberman is my all time favourite game. Before I embark on this impossible project I thought i'd better consult the actionscript oracles.

Is this feasible?

I'm not a hardcore coder. I tend to steer clear of heavy client side technology and leave it to the experts. I'm much more in to the pure flash and actionscript work where I can be much more visually creative but I'm quite capable of altering some pre-exisiting code.

There is a sort of flash based netwrok game that I have seen in places involving dragging fridge magnet letters around a screen and you compete with others to spelll out your message. I'm sure we've all seen something similar. ANybody know how this sort of network interface is established.

Anybody who is interested in taking this project on with me? I'd be interested to hear from you. ;)

[Kevin Monk]

Any links to other relevant posts would also be appreciated? I've tried searching the forums for other solutions. It is impled that I must build up an XML socket and build my own java server. What does this mean and what doees it entail?

[Kevin Monk]

I've been searching around for network games that use XMLsockets and I actually found a link from this website to an Bomberman network game but it was from 2001.

This is the link:

http://www.actionscript.org/forums/archive/index.php3/t-30956.html

It was from flashnexus but it appears to be long since dead. Any ideas if something similar exists?

Why are there so few multiplayer network games out there?

Will I ever get a response to one of my posts?:confused:

Am I really that boring?:confused:

;)

[martindwilson]

yes you are
have tou triedhttp://animation.about.com/od/flashanimationtutorials/ss/flashmxdropshad.htm

[abeall]

The fridge magnets game has probably been replicated in several different technologies, but the first one I was aware of ran on Flash Media Server (http://www.adobe.com/products/flashmediaserver/) (then called Flash Communication Server.)

There's a bunch of different technology options out there. For XML socket servers, you can look into ElectroServer (http://www.adobe.com/products/flashmediaserver/)(one of the most popular for multiplayer online gamiing), SmartFoxServer (http://www.smartfoxserver.com/), Palabre (http://palabre.gavroche.net/) (free), Moock's Unity server (http://www.moock.org/unity/) (free also), a bunch of others (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=FVG&q=Flash+XML+Socket+server&btnG=Search), or you can write your own basic one "fairly easily" if you know the right language. There's tutorials on how to do this (http://www.gotoandplay.it/_articles/2003/12/xmlSocket.php) out there.

Then there are RTMP servers. The advantage to RTMP is it allows live streaming of audio, video, and native ActionScript objects, from server and amongst clients. This is really great but there are not as many options and you aren't going to make your own. There's Flash Media Server which is really expensive, there's Red5 (http://osflash.org/red5)which is opensource, MilGra (http://milgra.com) also opensouce... I only have experience with Flash Media Server and I really like it, the server language is AS syntax and very simple to use, and it comes with many good components, plus a good user base and community. Rather than purchasing the server you can get more affordable third party hosting for it, like I do from Influxis (http://www.influxis.com/). You can also get a developer version from Adobe for free which allows 10 simultaneous connects and may even let you use it for commercial use (not sure.) Definitely start with that if you are interested.

I'll warn you, though, that making a realtime interactive game which is time sensitive is a real beast. It's a lot more than just a bunch of clients broadcasting their moves. But it's fun anyway, so good luck. :)