Feedback Is it possible for a solo developer to create a multiplayer game?

Hello everyone

I'm a complete beginner in the game design business but have always had a dream of designing my own multiplayer game with more than 8 players in each lobby on different platforms, for instance; PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, XBOX, Mobile - using Unity.

I've listed some questions below and would greatly appreciate any feedback anyone could possibly give. Also, I love learning so if there are any websites, video tutorials or resources I can use to help or information that I've missed out and is necessary, that would be great. Thanks in advance!

• Is Unity the best software for developing 3D multiplayer games?
• What is the pipeline for creating a multiplayer game from start to finish?
• Any information about networking and how this works?
• Does it cost a lot to develop a multiplayer game?
• Would it be difficult for a developer to create a multiplayer game by themselves?
• How could I prevent hacking/ cheating as it is an online game?
• Any websites or videos on learning C# for games design?
• Are there any legalities and what would they be in terms of publishing a game on the market?
• How can I market and monetize the game effectively?

 

Most of your questions are such basics, that you can find tons of answers to each.
Have you tried look into answers for any of your questions first?

I can only indicate, that hard true is, you are far from being ready for that venture.
Expect at least few years, before seeing any feasible product.
That is assuming, you will be persistent in your goal and you put quite a bit of time every week.

But that should not stop you, to do some smaller hobby projects instead.

 

Make a small game first, then half of your questions will already be answered. The other half can be answered by googling.

 

Yes, however, for the record tic tac toe qualifies as a multiplayer game. You need to specify what kind of game you want to make.

Several platforms here require platform specific licenses and it would be best to aim low for the start.

No. As far as I'm aware, unity comes with no built in support at the moment for multiplayer data replication. You have to write your own stack and/or get assets.

Yes. It takes few years to develop larger games, and months to develop smallest one. Now guess your team size, then multiply average salary for each position in your region, by amount of time it takes. The number will quickly climb up.

• Would it be difficult for a developer to create a multiplayer game by themselves?

By striving to never perform any gameplay related calculation on the client and moving anything you can to the server. In general, you can't fully prevent it, but if you're letting the client say how much ammo it has left, that's a design problem.

There are so many of them, that you'll find the faster via a google than asking here.

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Basically, you're trying to plan too far ahead. Try to build something instead. Something small.

 

Thanks for the feedback, I will remain persistent and keep researching until I reach my goal.

 

Thanks for the feedback, I think I'm going to start developing the game and see where this leads me, hopefully I will learn a lot from the experience.

 

Are the licenses expensive or just difficult to get?
White Noise is a multiplayer game, would this mean that they created their own multiplayer code?
So its not possible to develop a multiplayer game on my own?

Thanks for the feedback, I understand that creating a smaller game would help me to understand the basics. Again, I'm going to start developing my game and see where this leads me, if anywhere, and hopefully I will learn something throughout the journey.

 

Actually, that would be great educational project for first-timers in mulitplayer.