"Realm"/"Sector" servers as opposed to just "Game" servers

Hi all,

I was thinking that a dedicated PA server should be able to host multiple games (configurable, of course) within itself, without requiring separate server instances.

This allows players (and groups, etc..) to set up a dedicated server and not always require that a game be ongoing.

It also provides a bookmarkable resource for finding games, as well as potentially other features such as chat, etc..

I think it'd be a big deal for clans as well.

Re: "Realm"/"Sector" servers as opposed to just "Game" serve

ie. let players host their own list of joinable matches? Would definitely be useful, especially if (let's hope not) something would happen to Uber (like with Cavedog).

Re: "Realm"/"Sector" servers as opposed to just "Game" serve

Yes, so, essentially, a 'games list' would show the game name, followed by the 'Sector Host Name', etc... joining a game would take you to the lobby within that sector host.

You could also directly join a sector (or goto a 'sector list'). This means that to keep a server running with PA, I can just host a lobby and only consume game-crunching resources when a game is in session.

You could also enable admin / operator / member / guest privileges on a sector server, allowing you to specify who can join, who can create new games, etc...

With some configuration, you can also set up how many games can be hosted at once by the server (e.g., 1 or 2 depending on the server hardware, or for big servers, maybe several..)

Games hosted by an end-user would have no sector host associated with it, and would obviously vanish once the game completed (or if the host quit/crashed)

Re: "Realm"/"Sector" servers as opposed to just "Game" serve

I don't mean to bump this, but I saw the video interview from Total Biscuit -- so, can some players just host their own game servers from within the game client?

Re: "Realm"/"Sector" servers as opposed to just "Game" serve

If you've ever played an old PC FPS, I'd imagine it would be similar to setting up a dedicated server in one of those. You run the separate server software on a machine that you would like to designate as a host, and then you point clients in the right direction. You can still run a client on a computer that is running a host, you just need more processing power to pull it off.

For people who are just running a quick, casual game, there will probably be support for hosting a relatively small game through the client itself.

Re: "Realm"/"Sector" servers as opposed to just "Game" serve

This idea would actually serve a few really beneficial functions. Ever notice that after about 5-10 years a game "list" tends to get stale and in the case of games who's popularity drops or the company goes under the "hosted list" server goes down entirely?

Well this would solve that if done in a tiered fashion. Perhaps with a "Master List" server that is essentially a Level 1 list. Then you could have a Level 2 list that is a Universe/Realm list that could be setup for regions such as North America/Europe/Asia etc. Then drop down to a Level 3 list where you have each "dedicated server" instance with sectors/maps hosted and served by players. Then Level 4 that would be each specific level/map instance within the dedicated server program. The best solution would be to set up the client in such a way that EVERY SINGLE ONE of these list server addresses can be changed on the fly and that the players were given all the tools needed to host their own list servers at each level. That way if Uberent ever went down players could take over without having to hack up their own solution. Would also give players the ability to swap from region to region depending on where they wanted to play and what friends they wanted to play with.

Mechanically the higher Level list you change the lists below automatically adjust depending on what you set. If you change a lower level list it disables the higher Level's until you wish to use them again. That way you could even go as far as to setup a list based pseudo-lan where you are playing with a select group of friends and access to that list is restricted by only those who know about it or have the password to it or whatever.

That being said... one of those levels may not really be possible. If this game is going to be as beefy as I imagine it will be, the whole point behind having a dedicated server for the players to run will be so that everything can be bigger and better and the load can be managed by the server itself. Which essentially means that it might not be practical to setup multiple instances of games within the dedicated server software. That doesn't mean though that if the list software was distributed that you couldn't simply run multiple dedicated server instances and have them hook into your own list program which in turn could hook into the higher level list which in turn hooks into its higher level list and so on and so forth.

Re: "Realm"/"Sector" servers as opposed to just "Game" serve

Well they said they like using web/HTTP like services for the game so lets make it simple.

In LAN/Direct connect mode, allow a option to define a server list which could me

http://blah.blah/servers/list.php

which would output a formatted list of servers IP and port for the game to use.
This will allow simple and easy access to master lists for tournaments and keeping the game going years in the future.

Re: "Realm"/"Sector" servers as opposed to just "Game" serve

Wait, so this is something that we will actually be allowed to do? If so, great! Though maybe it should be added through a patch later, to encourage players more players to use the main server first. Then add this once the main server has a good amount of players.

Re: "Realm"/"Sector" servers as opposed to just "Game" serve

I was thinking something similar:

A) Client goes to game browser: 1) Client queries master server for a list of Sector servers / client-hosted games 2) Client connects to Sector server (if one exists), and then joins the game.

B) Client decides to directly connect: 1) Client enters IP address or hostname (either a client-hosted game, or sector server) 2) Client selects a game (if it's a Sector server) to join

--

A) Dedicated Sector server set up on *nix or Windows host: 1) Administrators are set up either in server configuration files, or through a server console 2) Administrators / 'ops' / or even 'members' can create games on the server through the client, subject to whatever restrictions are set up by the server

B) Client-hosted server: 1) Client goes to the multiplayer menu, clicks on 'Create game' 2) Game is hosted by the client (obviously, with additional processing restrictions due to hosting the server AND running the client at the same time) -- no Sector server associated.