[noob] Idea behind a multiplayer rpg

Hey Unity-Com!
This is my first post here after I read my first Unity book.
I just saw a lot of multiplayer Tutorials and sample Projects, but what I need is the understanding of the following question.

At the moment I got a first sample Project running. (basic loot&level rpg)
I also got Enemys and of course a AI for them.

When I now want to make this game online playable, does the Server need to take this funcionality fully over?
At my current understanding most online games work like the game actualy runs on the Server and the Client just gets for example where the Enemys position is at this moment.

But can I create a "Server" programm which doesnt renders a game but still calculates the AI (and sends position to all clients) ?


Hope someone of you can bring a little Light in here
Have a nice week, Wurststulle

 

Fully possible, take a look at headless mode build.

 

http://noobtuts.com/unity/unet-server-hosting

This explains how to run a headless game instance on a Linux server.

It's a very good idea to have the server run all the calculations, since cheating becomes very easy otherwise. In fact you should assume that every single input sent to the server is a hacked message. - This is very advanced though, and not necessarily something you have to worry about right away.

If you want more information on this topic, I highly recommend these resources, although they assume that you already have a degree of knowledge about multiplayer games:

Spoiler: Sources

http://gafferongames.com/networking...ogrammer-needs-to-know-about-game-networking/

http://www.gabrielgambetta.com/fpm1.html
http://www.gabrielgambetta.com/fpm2.html
http://www.gabrielgambetta.com/fpm3.html
http://www.gabrielgambetta.com/fpm4.html

http://gdcvault.com/play/1022195/Physics-for-Game-Programmers-Networking
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014345/I-Shot-You-First-Networking
https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Source_Multiplayer_Networking

Best of luck with your game. I would recommend that rather than integrating the concepts described in the sources above, you begin with a simple more simple network structure, where the client simply sends his position to the server, and the server sends that position to all the clients, as well as AI and other serverside calculations.