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This software is no longer available. Consider using Multisync instead.

News
8/May/2006 - 1.1.2 released. Change log:

+ Code Snippet

8/May/2006 1.1.2.0 ----------------------------------------------
* Changed THost to use 0.0.0.0 as IP address if none is specified
* Implemented LAN searching functionality. So far it is very basic
  and can only search on one port at a time. See included example
  for use.
* Added another variation of TJoin that allows you to use a game
  number rather than an IP address.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

3/April/2006 - Tempest is now compatible with DBC. For the most part it works, although I seem to get crashes when doing certain things(although the things I am doing are not things you would normally do with it). I have reuploaded the RAR to the same place, see below for the link.

----------------------------------------------------------------
After almost a year of on-and-off development(and still developing) I have decided to release this.

I created this plugin to allow speedy transfer of data between players, making it most useful for faster paced games. The two most important factors in this are the fact that it uses the peer-to-peer network model, and the low-overhead UDP protocol. I took into account the fact that UDP isn't a reliable protocol and I coded a guarantee system to ensure that messages would get to their destination(this can be used by specifying a flag when sending a message).

Features
* Reliable UDP
* Supports up to 64 players
* Easy message construction - most standard data types supported
* Uses a global player ID system
* Message IDs supported
* Allows retrieval of player addresses

Function List
+ Code Snippet

THost              - Starts hosting the multiplayer game.
TJoin              - Joins a multiplayer game.
TDisconnect        - Disconnects from the multiplayer game.
TSync              - Allows Tempest to update.
TSend              - Sends the message to a selected player.
TSendAll           - Sends the message to all players but yourself.
TGetMessage        - Grabs a message from the queue.
TGetSender         - Returns the ID of the player who send the last message.
TGetMessageSize    - Returns the size of the message.
TNewPlayer         - If there is a new player, this returns their ID.
TPlayerExist       - Returns 1 if the specified player exists in the game.
TSetLocalPort      - Sets the local port(can be a range) to receive data on.
TSetRemotePort     - Sets the remote port to connect to.
TGetMaximumPlayers - Returns the maximum amount of players allowed in the game.
TConnected         - Returns 1 if you are connected in the multiplayer game.

TPutByte           - Puts a byte in the message.
TPutWord           - Puts a word in the message.
TPutInt            - Puts an integer in the message.
TPutFloat          - Puts a float in the message.
TPutString         - Puts a string in the message.
TGetByte           - Gets a byte from the message received.
TGetWord           - Gets a word from the message received.
TGetInt            - Gets an integer from the message received.
TGetFloat          - Gets a float from the message received.
TGetString         - Gets a string from the message received.
TSetMessageID      - Sets the ID of the message.
TGetMessageID      - Gets the ID of the message received.
TLockMessage       - See manual for description.
TUnlockMessage     - See manual for description.

TGetThisID         - Returns your ID in the game.
TGetPlayerName     - Returns the name of the specified player.
TGetPlayerIP       - Returns the IP address of the specified player.
TGetPlayerPort     - Returns the port number of the specified player.

TRegisterGame      - Registers game via selected method.
TGetGameList       - Retrieves list of current games available to join.
TGetGameAmount     - Returns the amount of games that are available to join.
TGetGameData       - Returns information about a specified game.

This software is no longer available.

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Wow, generous This'un Ima have a look at alright...

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WoW thanks ben so much for gogetax saying it would cost

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Benjamin, i can not thank you enough, ive been waiting so long for this plugin, and was just looking at using directplay when i came to this page. Since it has all the function equivilents of what i use in my current engine using direct play, i can transfer it easily. Thank you, and when you release the new version i fully intend to buy it if it costs money.

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Awsome freebie for the cheapskate in your heart.

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actually, he decided to release a free version of it (not full version though) because he started the development long time ago, and he already wants that people will use it

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This is an excellent plugin, I've heard great things about it from the Blackout project. Your knowledge of networking really shows with the design used to benefit users.

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We need a board dedicated to ben

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I've been using this for a while, and I can safely say that no other multiplayer plugin can rival it. It actually contains more commands than just send & receive (shock horror), automatically keeps track & pings other players in sessions and all of that other goode stuffe.

(The 'Reliable UDP' is more useful than you can imagine... Because it can be switched on and off for each piece of data you send, you could (for example) send player positions as fast, unreliable, but bullet shots as reliable.)

Oh yeah, and it actually works. I give Benjamin brownie points for that.

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*runs test app*

Edit:
Routers blocked it

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Let me see ur networking plugin
U dont have it
Sorry U need to go download internet factory then
It should do it for you and Benjamin oops its TempestDude.


Very good plugin benjamin(probably, as I have not tried it yet)

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Thank you all for the kind comments.

It was originally going to be soley a commercial product, but I decided more recently to release a free version aswell.

Huh? Do you mean your firewall? Or are you trying to connect with someone else and your router isn't properly configured for it?

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Wow thanks very generous I could use this for my fps.

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benjamin rox but only if this is dbc compatible!

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Ben you legend !
Thats amazing stuff there my man. My project tips it's proverbial hat to you.
Once again thanks.

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Having used this plugin for a while now (probably over half a year), I can say that it is well worth using. Far superior to the DBPro commands, and very stable now.

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Happens with my other games sometimes it says bad proxy config on tm sunrise

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ben,

I seemed to have encountered an error, im sure its due to my fualty coding, but could you explain exactly what this error log seems to be reporting, and perhaps what could have cuased it?

+ Code Snippet

Tempest v1.0 Free Release

[14:41:51] Attempting to host...

-----------------Settings-------------------
Name : host
Local IP Address: 127.0.0.1
Remote IP Address: ?.?.?.?
Local Port: 3999
Remote Port: ?
---------------------------------------------

[14:41:51] Game started

[14:42:30] jase has joined

[14:42:47] Recv error 10054

[14:42:47] Send error caused time-out

[14:42:47] Connection with player 2 lost(Timed out)

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Ben, just a small question. Does the client also have to open his ports on his router/firewall? Thanks!

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@sage tech administrator:

Recv. error 10054 means that the Winsock socket had a timeout. During initial testing, I had this error several times... although (unfortunately) me & benjamin talk an awful lot, and I can't find the MSN log archive.

I'll get back to you on that. (Out of interest, try making sure that you are hosting on 127.0.0.1 and trying to connect to 127.0.0.1. Also make sure that your server settings are in reasonable bounds (i.e. not 128 players, that just stops ANY players from connecting)).

etc
Seeing your connection code would be lubbly too.

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10054 means "connection reset by peer"

it can happen for example if you send a UDP message to a destination where no one is receiving it (e.g. the partner closed its socket / or hasn't started it yet). Then you get a packet, and when you receive it, it will resolve into that error, simply stating that the other partner has reset the connection. It can be used to detect if someone disconnected.
It happens also in my plugin, when using UDP. So this error is not to be considered as dramatic, its rather normal I would say.

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It isn't quite compatible. Although to make it compatible I would only have to make a few changes I guess.

Thanks man!

Show me the log of the client that tried to connect.

Yes.

Yes, it happens when the socket is closed. However if the socket wasn't bound at the time of the packet being sent then the error would be 10061(WSAECONNREFUSED).

It is normal, if it happens where it is supposed to.

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Ben - Hmm, I replaced the Tempest_Blackout.dll with the new tempest.dll, and the TJoin bug seems to be back. You can only use TJoin once, whether it fails or succeeds the first time, it always fails from then on.

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Ben, I was woundering, can you think of any problems that would arise if i were to run tempest AND multisync in the same application? such as as the players movements being handled by tempest, and multisync for a chat server?

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@Sage Tech
You would be better off waiting for MultiSync 2 where you can send UDP and TCP packets...

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Its funny, everytime i think ive found what i need to continue work on my game, i find i need something else. Ahwell, guess il to some expirimenting.

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Oh dear. Well, unfortunately I'm also suddenly having trouble with TDisconnect, so for now you'll have to revert back to the other one.

No problems that I can think of.

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Note, the bug before I believe was that the whole program crashed out when trying to connect again, but now the command just fails (slightly less problematic).

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just as i was about to use tempest in my game

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It's not exactly a showstopper is it? Besides, I think I've fixed it(although I'm waiting on confirmation from Hamish).

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Wow. I love your plugins.. And this is greatest one smoothly fps

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the fps is even not up to the plugin..
i mean, i got tempest for long time already, and i didnt noticed it taking fps at all..

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Benjamin i need your help

In Dark Basic Pro I used Tempest and I must say it is rather good
your very useful cube example is all well and good untill I came to add collision. It is quite hard to explain so here is a code snippet...

+ Code Snippet

set window on

`Constants --------------------------------
#constant MAXPLAYERS 10
#constant SENDGAP 100
`------------------------------------------

`Types ------------------------------------
type playerstates
   keyup as boolean
   keydown as boolean
endtype
`------------------------------------------

`Data -------------------------------------
global OURID as integer
global LASTSENT as integer
global MSGAMOUNTS as integer
global MSGAMOUNTR as integer
global YANGLE as float

dim playerdata(MAXPLAYERS) as playerstates
`------------------------------------------

`Ask for choice of mode
print "1. Host"
print "2. Join"
Input "Choice: ", choice

`If no choice then quit
if choice=0 then end

`If choice is 1 then host a multiplayer game
if choice=1

   `Ask for username and IP to host on
   input "Nickname: ", nick$
   input "IP: ", ip$

   `If either variable is empty, set a default
   if nick$="" then nick$ = "Host"
   if ip$="" then ip$ = "127.0.0.1"

   `Host the multiplayer game
   result = THost(ip$, MAXPLAYERS, nick$)

   `If hosting failed then report to user and quit
   if not result
      print "Failed to host game"
      wait key
      end
   endif
endif

`If choice is 1 then join
if choice=2

   `Ask for username and IP to host on
   input "Nickname: ", nick$
   input "IP: ", ip$

   `If either variable is empty, set a default
   if nick$="" then nick$ = "Client"
   if ip$="" then ip$ = "127.0.0.1"

   `Join the multiplayer game
   result = TJoin(ip$, nick$)

   `If hosting failed then report to user and quit
   if not result
      print "Failed to join game"
      wait key
      end
   endif
endif

`Retrieve our ID in the game and store it
OURID = TGetThisID()

`Set up sync
sync on
sync rate 60

`Make the player objects and hide ones not in use
for x=1 to MAXPLAYERS
   make object cube x, 10
   color object x, rgb(100+rnd(155), 100+rnd(155), 100+rnd(155))
   position object x, 0, 5, 0
   set object collision to boxes x
   if not TPlayerExist(x) then hide object x
next x

`Make a matrix
make matrix 1, 1000, 1000, 10, 10
load image "sands.bmp", 1
prepare matrix texture 1, 1, 4, 4

do

if keystate(14)=0
msg$ = msg$ + entry$()
else
if entry$() <> "" then msg$ = left$(msg$,len(msg$)-1)
endif
text 0,300,"MyText: "+msg$
clear entry buffer


   `Output the framerate
   text 0, 0, "Screen FPS: "+str$(screen fps())

   `Show who is online
   for x=1 to MAXPLAYERS
      if TPlayerExist(x)
         text 0, x*13, TGetPlayername(x)+"("+str$(x)+") is connected."
      endif
   next x

   `Update everything
   HandleControls()
   HandleCamera()
   if TConnected() then HandleNetwork()
   HandleMovement()

   `Let Tempest update itself
   TSync

   `Refresh the screen
   Sync
loop

function HandleMovement()
   for x=1 to MAXPLAYERS
      if OURID<>x and object exist(x)
         if playerdata(x).keyup then move object x, 1
         if playerdata(x).keydown then move object x, -1
      endif
   next x
endfunction

function HandleControls()
   if upkey() then move object OURID, 1
   if downkey() then move object OURID, -1
   if leftkey() then dec YANGLE
   if rightkey() then inc YANGLE
   yrotate object OURID, YANGLE

   `This shows how the host can boot a player
   if spacekey()
      TKillPlayer 2
      repeat : until not spacekey()
   endif

   `This shows how to disconnect
   if shiftkey()
      TDisconnect
      repeat
      until not shiftkey()
   endif
endfunction

function HandleCamera()


`-------------------------------------------------------
rem this part is the collision bit
`-------------------------------------------------------

         Rem Detect collision
         If Object collision(ourid,0)>0 then position object ourid,X#,0,Z#

         Rem get player object position and store in X# and Z#
         X# = Object position x(ourid)
         Z# = Object position z(ourid)



   xPos# = cos(270-YANGLE) * 50 + object position x(OURID)
   zPos# = sin(270-YANGLE) * 50 + object position z(OURID)
   position camera xPos#, 30, zPos#
   point camera object position x(OURID), 5, object position z(OURID)
endfunction

function HandleNetwork()
   `Player states
   newPlayer = TNewPlayer()
   if newPlayer>0 then show object newPlayer

   `Send
   if LASTSENT+SENDGAP<timer()
      TPutFloat object position x(OURID)
      TPutFloat object position z(OURID)
      TPutFloat YANGLE
      TPutByte upkey()
      TPutByte downkey()
      TSetMessageID 2
      if rnd(10)<5 then TSendAll 1 else TSendAll
      LASTSENT = timer()
      inc MSGAMOUNTS
   endif

   `Receive
   repeat
      newMsg = TGetMessage()
      if newMsg
         inc MSGAMOUNTR
         from = TGetSender()
         write string 1, "From: "+str$(from)+" ID: "+str$(TGetMessageID())
         x# = TGetFloat()
         z# = TGetFloat()
         yA# = TGetFloat()
         playerdata(from).keyup = TGetByte()
         playerdata(from).keydown = TGetByte()
         XVAL = x#
         ZVAL = z#
         if object exist(from)
            position object from, x#, 5, z#
            yrotate object from, yA#
         endif
      endif
   until not newMsg
endfunction

the collision code should definitely work. I use it in every single Dark Basic Pro project of mine with no error. But when I use it with your Dll and when the player cube bumps into another object then the player cube just goes back to the start position? Please can you help me, the collision works in Multisync just fine but not in tempest using this example, what am i doing wrong???

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Well...

Your function for the collision:

+ Code Snippet

function HandleCamera()


`-------------------------------------------------------
rem this part is the collision bit
`-------------------------------------------------------

         Rem Detect collision
         If Object collision(ourid,0)>0 then position object ourid,X#,0,Z#

         Rem get player object position and store in X# and Z#
         X# = Object position x(ourid)
         Z# = Object position z(ourid)



   xPos# = cos(270-YANGLE) * 50 + object position x(OURID)
   zPos# = sin(270-YANGLE) * 50 + object position z(OURID)
   position camera xPos#, 30, zPos#
   point camera object position x(OURID), 5, object position z(OURID)
endfunction

This function sticks the object at X#,0,Z# when theres a collision right? - well in a function, these values are empty, your effectively putting the object at 0,0,0. You must have mixed up your variables somewhere, maybe these variables should be globalised? - something like that anyway.


Van-B

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yes, but in all of my other projects the code works fine and stops the player object at its current position if it comes into contact with another object. In Benjamins other dll, multisync it works fine also. I don't know if you have Dark Basic Classic but there is a tutorial "tutorial5" that I base all my collision on.

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There are two problems with that code. The first Van B pointed out, and the other problem is that you are creating 10 objects, and starting them and yourself at the same position, which means you won't be able to move from the start.

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oh, 10 objects ok but when i tested out that example on one PC using 127.0.0.1 i hosted the game then ran the exe again and joined the game but when i tried to join for a third time it failed? If it can handle 10 players (the example) then why can you only have one person join? Is is something to do with just using 127.0.0.1 that it only allows 2 instances running on the same computer?

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It is because by default it doesn't use a port range for the client when connecting. You can specify a port range using: TSetLocalPort portFrom, portTo

Use it before TJoin. But only make sure it does that if you are connecting, and not hosting.

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Hey I like this. [nod smiley]

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cheers