• + Introduction

  Page 2

  • Multiplayer Games

    Page 2

  • The Architecture of Multiplayer Games

    Page 3

  • An Application Server for Games

    Page 4

  • The Darkstar Game Server

    Page 5

  • Your First Game

    Page 6

• + Clients and Client Communication

  Page 9

  • Server-Side Client Handling

    Page 10

  • + Client-Side implementation

    Page 13

    • ServerSessionListener

      Page 14

    • ServerSession

      Page 15

    • SimpleClient

      Page 15

  • Client-Server Authentication

    Page 19

  • Sending Objects

    Page 22

• + Managing Game State with Persistent Objects

  Page 24

  • The DataManager and ManagedObjects

    Page 25

  • ManagedReferences

    Page 29

  • The Challenge of Concurrency

    Page 31

• + Generating Action with Tasks

  Page 34

  • Creating and Running Tasks

    Page 34

  • Periodic Tasks

    Page 36

  • Tasks and Server Performance

    Page 37

  • Task Exceptions and Retry

    Page 39

• + Efficient Client-Client Communication Through Channels

  Page 39

  • Creating Channels

    Page 40

  • Managing Channel Participants

    Page 42

  • Channel Communication

    Page 46

• + Space Game!

  Page 51

  • Game State

    Page 52

  • Game Server

    Page 59

  • + Game Client

    Page 68

    • Serialization

      Page 76

So, you have a great idea for the next big multiplayer game. Maybe it's a virtual world based on your favorite sci-fi television show. Or maybe it's an online bowling league for you and your friends. Regardless, the challenge of building a networked multiplayer computer game goes far beyond having a great idea. It can be so significant that it prevents great games from becoming reality.

Darkstar breaks down this barrier of complexity. It provides an easy-to- use library of functions that handles the challenging aspects of networked game development for you. Further, it provides a robust, industrial-strength server that can scale with your game as it grows in popularity. With Darkstar, you can quickly turn your idea for a multiplayer game into a (virtual) reality.