Fish-Networking: Unity Networking Evolved! (FREE!)

Another performance update recently went live in Fish-Networking!

NetworkObjects can now be used with object pools, automatically or manually. You can use the included object pool that comes with FishNet or easily use your own!

Here's some clips of the performance difference with 1000 NPCs being loaded. Notice the large FPS dips without pooling, and how they're resolved with pooling.

 

For those making a physics based game the PredictedObject component is getting an improvement that is being finalized over the next couple days. Here's a video where I cover the changes if anyone is interested!

 

The PredictedObject upgrades were completed about a week ago and the results are amazing!

Here's a simple demo of a player interacting with dozens of real-time rigidbodies with excellent correction on a 200ms ping!

Who here is making the next Rocket League?

 

FishyEOS, our Epic Online Services transport is now in testing!

You can try it out here https://github.com/FirstGearGames/FishyEOS

 

Is fishnet suitable for MMORPGs?

 

Yes, but can you make a MMORPG? Thats a lot of work

 

A new title was released on Fish-Networking this Halloween, SAW Games!

Sponsored by known names GameStop, Lionsgate, InternetGame, Autograph, TwistedPictures, and more!



There's an abundance more nearing release as well; we cannot wait to show you them!

 

I've been waiting for years , to have such a solution for my physics based 2d Game
Please, are there any more detailed tutorials on PredictedObject Component ?
or maybe a project that contain that component so i can explore it more

Thank you

 

There's documentation on how to configure it and a CSP guide. There's example scenes but I think they are non-functional in the latest release; they will be proper next update.

 

Hello everyone! I having trouble to separate client and server side logic within a single Network Behaviour.
This doc helps a lot, however I miss some parts for deep understanding:
https://fish-networking.gitbook.io/docs/manual/guides/network-behaviour-guides

How these events are harmonised with standard unity MonoBehavior events? It would help a lot if this UML would contains everything.

I find out that after OnStartServer the Update will be triggered. However this leads to a strange behavior and I'm not sure if is this a bug or not.

The Update is called after OnStartServer and before OnStartClient. This means that if I initialize some variables in the OnStartClient, these variables are not initialized when the Update is called. I tried using the IsClient properly, but that is true even if the OnStartClient is not executed yet. Good separation for me would be to have OnUpdateServer, OnUpdateClient etc. for all MonoBehavior events.

 

The order of Unity callbacks in relation to the network ones are not guaranteed. The only exception is Awake, because it always fires before anything else. To ensure the best reliability of your code use the network callbacks when applicable. If you use the correct callbacks the content will never be out of order, ensuring you a reliable test environment for release.

 

If you want some sort of "NetworkUpdate", you could subscribe to the TimeManager.OnTick event

 

We just officially launched our business tiers! Existing Pro tiers are not changing!

https://github.com/sponsors/FirstGearGames

 

FishNet is approaching it's 1 year anniversary, with a lot of growth to show!

There have been over five successful published games with potentially a sixth coming this weekend!

At this time FirstGearGames communities are hosting over 12,000 members. Our support Discord currently has 5000 members while averaging 8-14 new developers a day, with a variable retention rate of 33-40%!

From January 2022 to December 2022, Fish-Networking has received:
- 182 fixes.
- 147 improvements.
- 194 additions(new features!).

We are very happy to say that our product has been extremely stable the past quarter and we expect nothing less going forward. We've kept our no-break promise, enabling trust among many developers and companies to remain on the latest releases.

With our no-break promise in mind, we are approaching another scheduled update to ensure the future of Fish-Networking performance, features, and maintainability. Around early January you can expect 3.0.0 stable to be released, and afterwards the next several releases will bring many anticipated changes and features.

Last but certainly not least, thank you to everyone using Fish-Networking. Thank you to all our helpers and supporters, Pro and free members. Thank you to the companies which have and still are trusting our product for daily use. Fish-Networking will never stop evolving.

 

Congratulations to another Fish-Networking game being released, LOCOSOCCER!

We'd like to welcome LOCOSOCCER as our second physics-based game, and the first fast-paced physics-based game on Fish-Networking.

LOCOSOCCER on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2173530/LOCOSOCCER/

Our showcase: https://fish-networking.gitbook.io/docs/master/showcase

 

Free: GameKit for Fish-Networking officially released! https://github.com/FirstGearGames/GameKit

GameKit is a flexible and universal solution for common multiplayer game mechanics.

All features and examples are server authoritative with client prediction. At this time of this post crafting and inventories are included but I'm going to regularly build onto this completely free asset.

 

They lack of support on it and i guess you need to pay in order to have some..
Since the solution is free but not tutorials and so.. you can see on their site that you need to pay a patreon thing to have access to tutorials and better support... what imho is a lame move..
I was thinking bout move from photon to fish but meh.. greedy people wont always help when you need..
Sadly

tbh i tried to use and i saw a laughable thing, you MUST download the examples cuz theres files that you need in order to make it work, like, if its so important it shouldnt be attached to examples.. but in a proper place..
When i saw that i was like... newbies
Bad support, in need to pay to have access to tutorials and even some updates and lack of understanding on how you should provide it, makes me wonder how long it will last.

 

Fish-Networking does not have any paid tutorials; all guides and tutorials are free. We also have a support Discord which includes a help channel. According to our server bot helpers have been thanked 15+ times already today. I also see you joined our Discord and posted a few things but never asked for any support.

There is a bug in the current release which will throw an infinite import error if you do not have any networked objects in your project. While annoying, this error does not prevent anything from functioning. It's already been resolved in the next release.

I assure you that the examples are absolutely not required.

 

I have to disagree


so then we go to your patreon
FirstGearGames | creating Unity Tutorials | Patreon


Theres no need for the examples?
what about this?!

someone had this error 9/12 and i had the same 2 days ago, only by downloading the exmaples we both had it working as it should..


An empty project giving errors just cuz we didnt download the examples..

Please, dont try to fool people.. you do ask for money to give some tutorials and so. Theres no problem in looking to make some money, its fine, its a very time consuming thing but just dont say thigns when we can prove you wrong.

for anything that isnt mmorpg your networking solution appears to be amazing, but mmorpg.. didnt see a thing bout it
pun2 isnt the best one but is better than mirror and since theres nothing on your side that gives 'mmorpg looking for networking' what to see, it is kinda hard to have an opinion..

sorry for my bad english.
Thanks in advance

 

1.FirstGearGames said FISH-NET TUTORIALS.

2.The ones on the patreon are for MIRROR.

3.FGG just said that the infinite loop issue will be solved on the next release

 

I need to update the description on Updates Only to say 'after joining any higher tier', but the other tiers are for my Mirror assets as r31o mentioned.

My FishNet tutorials/documentations/examples have always been free.

 

Heck I just googled, FishNet and seen plenty of tutorials for free on Google... So, if a developer is offering other services, to make money, I don't see anything wrong with that... Developers should be able to make a living too, but he also has plenty of free stuff online... That certainly is free..

How ever, if your looking to make a MMORPG, and asking for tutorials, I suggest to not make a MMORPG, as there is alot of work to it, I suggest to make smaller multi player and even co-op games before even thinking about an MMORPG.... You need alot of experience and skill before even taking on such a task, I have worked on a few MMORPG and ones with In house engines.... With alot of experience its a task... So, my advice, is to look at there "free " tutorials online.


I been looking at FishNet again, as I had in the past, and I notice he seems to be expanding what is is offering which got my attention to give it other look. I use Epic, and EOS all day, so it was nice to see that your offering that support, even though I would add it myself, its good for those that may not know how or for those that don't want to. So nice move to support EOS.. I like EOS, its free and super nice to use.


One thing I do suggest, I noticed your bottom tier is like 200$ a month. So if someone is making a smaller indie game, that is a bit steep, you may want to offer a tier, that is more affordable to solo , two man teams. Just my suggestion.


Also what are your pro features that are not included?? and what is the cost for one and two man teams?? I was not able to find that. I may have over looked.

 

FishNet grew up so fast and I've been so busy I've not yet given pricing tiers the attention they deserve. So by all means, I'm open to suggestions.

Here's more information on them, and once everything is moved to GitHub payments this will all be a lot easier.

For individuals if you want Pro it's a one-time buy in of $10 and $1.25/mo (cancel/renew any time) for updates. There's also an option to pay $60 once for lifetime Pro. As I tell everyone, Pro absolutely has its uses but in most cases you can get by on free just fine and purchase Pro at the end, if you even need it. I suspect many stay with Pro to support the project, which is awesome.

There's priority support tiers that give developers a bright Discord role and access to post in a priority help channel. These are any tier $10 or more. Per descriptions anything over $10 and you're tipping. The main difference is I seldomly check the public help channel because of time restraints, but I'll review priority help at most every couple days to make sure questions have been answered. Helpers check priority first as well.

You are describing my business tiers (still open to suggestions). Business tiers offer dedicated channels, hidden from others. All helpers have access but I also check them regularly on work days and sometimes off days as well. They all offer more perks than the previous per each description.

 

I can't find this option, can you provide a link to where this can be purchased?

Thanks

 

You just pay it at once or over-time and it's automatically unlocked. I'm going to be posting all of this nice and tidied soon enough. I'm working on adding github sponsors support first. I'm **really** close to being done.

 

We don't believe you should pay to have project stability.
https://fish-networking.gitbook.io/docs/#no-break-promise

I want to remind everyone that as a fellow game developer, and creator of Fish-Networking, I don't believe in this practice. With FishNet you can always safely update to the latest published releases without risking stability.

 

Hey PunFish, looks like you missed the most important question I had, I was unclear on your pro features, to free features.

So, if you could post that, that would be great. Just curious.

 

I must have, sorry.

https://fish-networking.gitbook.io/docs/master/pro
This also highlights them https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...Qd9BNOtvE8sp1ZQ4EgX1sI0RFA/edit#gid=233715429

 

P = paid ?
And please provide a pro version for $60 on the asset store and update on it.

 

Thanks.

 

agreed, I can't stand subs. I rather be charged a one time fee and be done with it. Its why I went to TNET from Photon Bolt. Not sure if I will use FishNet or not, but the pro features are interesting, useful.. I like looking at other options/tools, i'm always looking ahead . But as it stands, i'm not a fan of how its set up.

Just offer a one time fee. Bam done.

 

There actually is a lifetime payment option! And coincidentally, it is $60! You can pay all at once or over time. I'm working on making this information easier to find.

Edit for more:
If I post on the asset store I'll have to raise the price to no less than $80 because of asset store fees. This is strongly why I do everything through third party services. Less fees I pay, less you pay.

 

That's what I like to hear

 

Understandable, if you can post it some where, and we can count on it being supported, I will consider buying it. But I don't trust many assets these days, to many disappear after a short time, and I understand due to not making money, but now Unity is disabling legit assets, so if you dont have it saved some where, its all lost.. So, I tend to be picky about who and when I buy from people anymore, due to Unity behavior and some asset devs behavior, which some of it is understandable. ( Which is why I sold to real world vs the asset store) That 30% is a killer.. to lose off the top from Unity, we go through it with Steam, as well... Which is why I use Epic store now.. much cheaper.

Anyways, let us know if you can post it in a obvious place, and as long as it maintained. I will consider it.

PS: I rather all the money go to the developer than Unity anyways, they don't do jack S*** ... So, if I know I can count on you, for supporting it, then I will back you, I back certain devs now and for years, as I trust them, Such as Adam from Procedural Worlds, Aren, Tnet/NGUI, JB, from MS, and a few others... I have seen you around and use your asset in the earlier days.

 

I really want a feature, I want something to be sent with the spawn command, as soon as the network object is spawned it gets a config value from the server side.
Or if I could spawn an object on the client first and attach the connectionID to it later, without having to depend on the spawn command it would be great. This looks similar to the predicted object spawning feature.
If you have a timeline in the road map that's great.

 

It's not like the asset store adds any benefits to assets. It doesn't stop them from being pirated, it does not encourage reviews, policies enable refunds to be solely at the developers discretion, their suggestions algorithm is absolutely terrible, and I'm confident the stats are completely wrong. Not to mention the asset store does not mean lifetime updates; another networking solution developer has recently pulled/stop supporting several assets, some of which were several hundred dollars!

If anything the model I offer is the most fair. You get the PRO version of software for dirt cheap and you automatically unlock lifetime after contributing enough. It's essentially the best of both monthly and one-time payments.

 

The latter sounds like predicted spawning. The first is doable by sending a TargetRpc inside OnSpawnServer; or use a SyncVar.

 

Fish-Networking 3.1 is right around the corner! We will continue to investigate bug reports from version 2.6.6 but all future improvements and fixes will be done inside version 3.1+

Keep in mind that 3.1 is a major release, meaning it will contain scheduled breaking changes. These changes will likely only affect projects using client-side prediction. The upgrade guide can be found here https://fish-networking.gitbook.io/docs/manual/general/changelog/break-solutions.

Per usual I try to keep breaking changes to a minimal and ensure they do not leave you stranded. Importing 3.1 into two CSP projects only took a few minutes each to update, so don't expect anything too challenging to get on the 3.1 release.

I'll save the full changes for 3.1 until the official release, but in summary here's what it offers:

• Huge bandwidth savings for client-side prediction.
• Improved workflow for networking addressables.
• Few minor bug fixes from 2x.
• PredictionManager! Offering much more flexibility for your CSP.
• and few misc things.

In addition to smaller changes, 3x is the gateway to many massive improvements I've not been able to implement due to requiring a major release. Except to see a lot of great new things in 2023 across the board!

And of course, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Stay safe!

 

I'm extremely hyped for those bandwidth savings & the PredictionManager!

I use client-side prediction extensively in my game, and any improvements to that area are always a plus!

Happy new year!

 

3.1.1 is now available!!

After several weeks of closed testing 3.1.1 is now available to the public!

This is a major release, so you may experience breaking changes. Please see how to upgrade here: https://fish-networking.gitbook.io/docs/manual/general/changelog/break-solutions
Breaks are expected in client-side prediction projects but can be resolved in at most a few minutes.
* No changes are expected to cause problems for in-house nor third-party transports.
* FPSLand will require a small change to support 3x, this is already complete and will be published in the next few days.
* Lobby and Worlds should upgrade without issues.

3x is a starting point for a lot of the major improvements I've previewed over the past couple months. You can expect all of them to arrive in the 3x versions. There are already some that have made it into 3.1.1, and here are others expected down the road:
* Massive bandwidth savings for transforms https://forum.unity.com/threads/fish-networking-unity-networking-evolved-free.1297809/#post-8461889.
* Predicted spawning (first priority).
* More configuration CSP (now, and more later).
* Preloading pooled NetworkObjects.
* Rollback range for predicted objects.
There are still other planned changes within the roadmap https://fish-networking.gitbook.io/docs/manual/general/road-map that will likely make it into 3x as well.

Free downloads https://github.com/FirstGearGames/FishNet/releases (Free from the asset store is coming soon).
Pro downloads https://firstgeargames.com/

PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT to leave a review! Reviews take only a few minutes to complete and help tremendously with growth. Thanks everyone!

 

FPSLand as well Lobby and Worlds have been published for 3x on my website. You can also access the latest 2x versions.

 

I've said in the past we do not believe in charging for project stability, and it's time to prove it.

Both Fish-Networking Pro and Free received a branch dedicated to v2 LTS. As you would expect with LTS releases no new features will be added but bug fixes will be back-ported to ensure stability.

While the exact amount of time each LTS will be supported is not known but a minimum until the next LTS is certain. For example: if v2 has entered LTS it will continue to receive bug fixes until at the very least v3 enters LTS.

Version 2 LTS can be found here! https://github.com/FirstGearGames/FishNet/tree/v2_LTS

 

There's still a lot of planned content coming for our 3x releases, meanwhile here's some great stuff we just released!

Fish-Networking 3.2.1 released!

Documentation:
The network SceneManager in FishNet is no doubt a powerful system used by nearly everyone. Thanks to a contributor our scene management guides got a huge buff. The information available now is more plentiful, and better organized.

Several other areas have received new documentation as well. 3.1/3.2 features have been added to the documentation. Addressables prefab and scene documentation has also been added.

In the near future you can expect a variety of new guides, as well information on quality of life components.

Prediction:
We are always working to improve prediction with features, performance, and fixes.

3.1 brought amazing bandwidth saving results for prediction, as well new customization options.

3.2 focuses on improving the smoothing/desync handling, and also adds predicted spawning! With predicted spawning clients may spawn and use networked objects locally without having to wait for the server first!

Sponsors:
GitHub sponsors are now supported, and is now our preferred way for developers to support us and access Pro content. You can obtain Discord roles through GitHub sponsorship now. And by very popular request, you may opt-in for a one-time payment for lifetime Pro access using GitHub sponsors.

Another request we've received many times ... coming very soon the Priority Support and higher tiers are also going to have access to a private Pro repository. Unfortunately this is only available to GitHub supporters; Patreon does not allow us the option to provide this.

With that said, our Patreon option is not going anywhere, but we do encourage you to use GitHub instead. If you are currently a Patreon supporter we are going to soon offer incentives to switch, so keep an eye out!

 

Network Level of Detail update coming in the next few days!

An upcoming release will be providing network level of detail(LOD) for the NetworkTransform component. Future updates will expand the LOD feature to other networked parts such as SyncTypes and eventually prediction.

Here's a preview of how significant savings can be when using network LOD. Both test were run at 60Hz with 500 objects and 1 client.

No level of detail. See bottom left for bandwidth usage.

With level of detail.

 

PredictedObject component got a smoothing update. To make everyone's life easier, interpolation is now dynamically calculated and developers only have to choose from preset options.

Preview:

 

I love this active development, it will soon become the best network plugin. I am using it in my personal project and am happy that it is constantly updated.

 

I'm considering Fishnet, but still a bit torn on which networking solution to dedicate my limited time to. You say say it "will" become the best, so in your opinion what networking solution is currently the best? And what features are preventing Fishnet from being the best currently? I think the Fishnet developer would like to know this as well, since they seem very active here (a trait that is attractive to potentially adopting the asset, btw).

 

We've got another huge buff coming for CSP as well. It will make life easier for everyone (except maybe me haha).

I am certainly interested in what the masses consider is done better in XYZ vs FishNet. I strive to make a good product and a huge part of that is community feedback. Not everything that is suggested makes it into FishNet but a very large portion does.

I don't really consider any other free option better than FishNet. Yes, my opinion is biased and all that. But, on paper we still have the most features, best performance, and fastest growth. I know many appreciate our ethics both for practices and funding as well.

 

3.5.5 is released and sent to the Asset Store!
You can get the Pro and free now on my website, or GitHub.

As always we wipe out bugs first and managed to throw in some really awesome features, including the network LOD update featured above (https://forum.unity.com/threads/fish-networking-unity-networking-evolved-free.1297809/#post-8461889)!

Changelog: https://firstgeargames.com/FishNet/changelog.html
Pro downloads: https://firstgeargames.com/
Free (GitHub): https://github.com/FirstGearGames/FishNet
And on the asset store (once this release is approved); https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/network/fish-net-networking-evolved-207815

 

We also have a new GridCondition in 3.6 experimental which is similar to our DistanceCondition to cull far objects, but naturally uses a grid for better performance at the cost of precision.


For those not on my Discord here's where we are at now...
Our prediction code is getting a rework to be easier to work with, and should produce better results as well. There is no current ETA on this release but it's currently in the works.