RELEASED: JUMP Multiplayer for Photon PUN

JUMP facilitates writing simple multiplayer games with Unity and Photon Networking (PUN).

Available on the Asset Store here: http://u3d.as/uRe

JUMP provides:
- A simple flow for connecting to the server, matchmaking and starting a multiplayer game
- Authoritative local Server (using Photon Master Client)
- Streamlined Client-Server communication
- Custom Client Commands and Server Snapshots
- Sample Project and Prefabs to get started in 5 minutes
- Full source code access and great customization

Note: JUMP Requires the Photon PUNpackage, you can download the free version here:

See more details at http://maurgi.github.io/JUMP/

 

JUMP (Just Unity Multiplayer with Photon)
JUMP is a library that facilitates writing simple multiplayer games using Unity 3D and Photon Unity Networking.

I was working on a multiplayer game and found myself in trouble trying to handle events from Unity and Photon at the same time; ending up with fragile code - so I worked to streamline and simplify the scenario and build a reusable library.

Out of the box, JUMP Provides:

• A simple flow for connecting to the server, matchmaking and starting a multiplayer game
• Authoritative local Server (using Photon Master Client)
• Streamlined Client-Server communication
• Custom Client Commands and Server Snapshots
• Sample Project and Prefabs to get started in 5 minutes
• Full source code access and great customization.

Current Version
[0.2.0] - 2016-05-05

For details, see Changelog

Table of Content

• How To Install
• Scenario
• Object Model
• DiceRoller Sample
• Testing JUMP
• Features to Add
• License

How to Install
You can get the source code here or download JUMP from the Unity Asset Store.

Prerequisites
JUMP works with Unity 5 and requires Photon PUN to function properly:

1. Install Photon PUN Free or Photon PUN+
2. Configure your Photon Application ID - see Initial Setup

For more information about configuring PUN, see PUN Setup.

Note: JUMP was tested with Unity version 5.3.4 and Photon PUN Free version 1.67

Option 1: Unity Asset Store
The Unity Asset Store package includes the DiceRoller sample project.

• Download JUMP from the Unity Asset Store.
• Add all the scenes in the DiceRollerSample/ to the Unity build
• Open the DiceRollerConnection scene and start Unity.
• The DiceRoller sample should go to the Matchmake scene in connected mode.

Note: To test multiplayer games in Unity, you will need to run two copies of the game, so that they can connect to each other. The best way, is to build a copy of the game (File/Build & Run) for one player and start Unity debugging for the second player. See this Unity forum post for more details.

Option 2: From GitHub source code
In alternative to use the Asset store, you can create a folder in the unity project (under Assets) and copy all the files from the JUMP Multiplayer\ folder. Then you can use the Object Model and the prefabs.

Scenario
The scenario supported by JUMP is very simple and designed with mobile multiplayer games in mind:

• Two Players networking
• Basic matchmaking
• Streamlined UI flow
• Custom server
• Client-Server communication

Two Players networking
JUMP automates building Photon game rooms, easy.

Note: While it supports more than two players, we tested JUMP with the two players scenario

Basic Matchmaking
JUMP uses Photon Random Matchmaking without the use of the Photon Lobby making the UI and the object model much simpler to use compared to the use of the Lobby.

Streamlined UI flow
JUMP supports up to five different Unity scenes:

• Connection
• Home Page (Master)
• [Room] Waiting for players
• [Room] Playing the game

Note: support for multiple levels can be added to the Playing the game scene.



Custom Server
JUMP cannot provide a dedicated remote server using Photon Unity Networking or Photon Cloud, so it uses the Host model, where one of the clients also hosts the Game Server (sometimes calledLocal Server)

Photon provides support for this with the concept of Master Client.

Client-Server Communication
JUMP supports the concept of an Authoritative or Semi-Authoritative server using a Command/Snapshot Client-Server communication:

• The Client sends Commands to the Server
• The Server sends Snapshot to the Client

The model is similar to the one explained by Fast Paced Multiplayer, but we use the termCommand instead of Actions and Snapshot instad of New State



The slanted lines indicate that there is lag between the client and server communication, seeFighting Latency on Call of Duty III

While it is possible to optimize the client/server communication in terms of reliability and space utilized with delta compression of snapshots and queues of commands, JUMP simply uses Photon Reliable UDP to communicate, it is a good balance of reliability and ease-of-use.

References
JUMP Multiplayer with (Semi)Authoritative Server model is based on lots of literature on multiplayer games:

• Fast Paced Multiplayer (Gambetta)
• What every programmer needs to know about game networking (Gaffer on Games)
• Fighting Latency on Call of Duty Black Ops III (GDC 2016)
• Building a Peer-to-Peer Multiplayer Networked Game
• Unity3D Multiplayer Game Development
• How can I make a peer-to-peer multiplayer game?
• Unity Networking

 

This project is great for learning server architecture! Highly recommended. Do you think you'll be continuing development? Recreating the Gambetta demonstration inside unity for prediction and reconciliation would be awesome.

 

Thank you for the feedback!
The Gambetta demo (http://gabrielgambetta.com/fpm_live.html) is a pretty sweet idea - if there is enough demand I might go for it ...

 

Please make a Demo Video. Im a unity starter and dont know if i really could do anything with it.

 

*** VERSION RELEASE UPDATE ***

Newly released version 1.3 including support for Offline Bots -

See updated documentation at http://maurgi.github.io/JUMP/

Offline Bots allow a very simple interface to write bots and to ensure that your players can enjoy your even when there are not enough people online.

To create a Bot, you just need to implement the following interface, you will receive Ticks from the server and a pointer to your custom Engine - the Bot will be able to see the other players and determine the best strategy for an engaging offline game.

public interface IJUMPBot
{
void Tick(double ElapsedSeconds);
IJUMPGameServerEngine Engine { get; set; }
}

 

maurgi,
You referenced the Gambetta series on the Jump "details" page but, does that mean you implemented that type of prediction and reconciliation in the Jump code/examples?

Thanks.
-- Paul

 

Hey Paul -
No I did not have the time and resources to implement it but I think it can be done on top of what is there -

Thanks
Mauro

 

Hi does your project illustrate how to implement a multiplayer leaderboard with PUN

Thanks

Daniel

 

Hi Daniel -
JUMP it demonstrates connection, matchmaking and playing a multiplayer game with Photon in an easy way.

Leaderboards are usually an offline activity, you record the results of the games to a leaderboard service and then you compare your score with your friends or with the top players.
You can use a platform service like Game Center on iOS, or a platform independent one like PlayFab.

If you are talking about a scoreboard instead (the score of all the players during a multiplayer game), then yes, that is demonstrated in the sample, the score of both players is visible in the game, and can be generalized for more players.

HTH
Mauro

 

Hello, can this be used as a lobby for a project i made with UFPS Multiplayer ?