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Some help understanding my server options

Discussion in 'Multiplayer' started by matthewcooper, Aug 4, 2019.

  1. matthewcooper

    matthewcooper

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2019
    Posts:
    40
    I'm currently making a multiplayer game for mobile but I'm hoping someone can help me with a problem.
    In terms of servers just as an example it's going to be like Clash Royale or something like that where everyone is on the same server, I was just looking at server costs and I don't fully understand. Obviously I have no clue if my game will get 10 people, 100 people, 1000 people or more playing, I'm of course hoping for more and I want to be prepared just in case if I do get more so there aren't any server issues, I also only have Unity Personal. Can someone recommend some options for me?

    Also can someone please explain to me a bit about UNET as I read that it's stopping, does that mean I shouldn't use it for the game I'm making? If I do use it and then Unity stops it will my game still work? Also if I use and it stops then will it be easy to transfer to your new server model? I'm new to servers so I'm sorry if I'm asking something stupid.
     
  2. Joe-Censored

    Joe-Censored

    Joined:
    Mar 26, 2013
    Posts:
    11,847
    If you are just starting your game, you should not use deprecated Unet. It is buggy, not actually finished, and its previous user base has largely moved on so isn't answering as many questions as say 3 years ago. If you go with the Unet HLAPI it ends up integrated at a high level in your game, so isn't super easy to switch to another API unless that API is itself pretty similar to Unet (like Mirror for example). If you use the Unity Multiplayer Service and it gets shut down, your game will just stop working until you set up your own replacement.

    It is hard to actually recommend servers without knowing what you are actually going to be doing on the server. There are network solutions which handle much of the server end for you (the Photon Cloud options), Smart Fox Server handles the server side process but you just need to put it somewhere I believe, or you can use a network API to roll your own server. They all have their pros/cons.

    As for the physical server, you could consider the various cloud services which would allow yourself to rather quickly increase server capacity and instances, but prices tend to be at a premium for what you get. I've found the best price/performance ratio is where you find a dedicated server rental for a machine that is a bit outdated. Often you can find them at a steep discount compared to a more modern machine, but your game may run just fine on it. Less flexibility, but more performance per dollar. YMMV
     
  3. matthewcooper

    matthewcooper

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2019
    Posts:
    40
    Thanks for the help, my game will most likely be a real time game and from what I can tell servers cost more for real time games, I don't currently know much about it but I heard that Amazon AWS might do servers for mobile, not sure how good they are.

    I had a look at Photon, I might be completely wrong as I admit I don't fully understand it but from what I can tell there is a limit to how many CCU (Concurrent users) you can have and I just worry that if I'm lucky and this game is popular than people will simply not be able to log in because of that limit.

    With the Unity multiplayer servers, I can't found a lot but have they said when they are releasing the new version of their multiplayer services?
     
  4. Joe-Censored

    Joe-Censored

    Joined:
    Mar 26, 2013
    Posts:
    11,847
    Servers for desktop or mobile are no different, unless you're referring to some add on service that interfaces with some mobile only features. Generally, an AWS instance is just a linux virtual machine not too dissimilar to what you could run on your own computer in something like virtual box.

    Yes there is a limit, which you can raise at any time with the purchase of higher tier licensing as needed.

    The new multiplayer services discussed in blog posts appear to be just Google Cloud instances with some additional Unity provided control functionality, but you're still either writing or otherwise providing your own game server software. This is different from the deprecated Unity Multiplayer Service which provided a peer to peer relay service and hosting for a lobby/matchmaker so you wouldn't necessarily need to set up your own server.

    Google Cloud, AWS, Azure, etc, all have somewhat similar pricing and are not cheap unless your server can get away with very limited resources.