Net message tutoring required - GameCreators Forum

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Person6

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Posted: 20th Nov 2011 08:00

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I apologize for not searching in-depth for this topic before posting, but how exactly can I search for my exact question.

I am wondering about Net Messages, I'm trying to make a multiplayer game that has a server running, and 8 clients attached. But it's really confusing me how, all I have to do, is send a net message and receive it, but I don't understand how the server can determine what message it's looking at, whether it's looking at the integer message that contains my X value, or the message that contains my bullet's Y value?
Is there some form of net message tag system I'm not aware of? such as labeling them in the same way we label objects?

Please help, I can't continue till I figure this out.
Thanks

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Rudolpho

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Posted: 20th Nov 2011 12:33

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You simply send some more bytes telling the packet (message) type

Ie.

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Offset  Data type     Data
0       WORD          Packet type
2       WORD          Client id (can be good to know too)
4       BYTE*         Packet data (positions, whatever).

"Why do programmers get Halloween and Christmas mixed up?"

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Because Oct(31) = Dec(25)

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Person6

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Posted: 20th Nov 2011 21:48

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How exactly do the bytes work?

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Darkzombies

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Posted: 20th Nov 2011 22:20

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they go from 0 - 255, that's all I know though lol.

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Person6

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Posted: 20th Nov 2011 22:27

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I appreciate the help, but I still don't know it's definition, what data does it hold other than a size number from 0-255.
I know it has something to do with memblocks, but I just don't get it.

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IanM

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Posted: 20th Nov 2011 22:52

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Each value means what you decide it means - it's all a chunk of data that represents the information you want to transfer.

You might decide that a type value of 0 is position information, a type value of 1 is an item status change (ie it's been picked up, or has been respawned) - it's basically up to you.

When you set the type, you also provide the relevant information for that type.

For example, you may have the following information for positions:

+ Code Snippet

Offset  Data type     Data
0       WORD          Packet type = always zero
2       WORD          Client id (can be good to know too)
4       float         x position of client
8       float         y position of client
12      float         z position of client
16      float         y rotation
20      float         move speed
24      float         rotation speed

Item status change might have the following information:

+ Code Snippet

Offset  Data type     Data
0       WORD          Packet type = always one
2       WORD          Item id
4       BYTE          Status (0 = picked up, 1 = respawned)

So determine what information types you want to transfer, then work out the data required for each information type, then write the code to assemble and/or decipher that information within your client & server programs.

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Person6

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Posted: 21st Nov 2011 21:42

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Okay, I'm starting to get it, but I still don't understand the way you guys are displaying this,
Offset Data type Data
0 WORD Packet type = always zero
What's with the offset? I see that nowhere.

And also, to get another question out of the way at the same time, I have 2 exe's for my program, one is the client, the other the server, I use this code to determine when a player joins, and when they leave, and it also assigns them a player number when they join, from 1-8, but every player that joins ends up becoming player 1, help?

+ Code Snippet

If LPC# <> Net Player Created()
	Print "A new player has joined : ", Net Player Created()
	LPC# = Net Player Created()
	If LPC# = 0
		Send Net Message Integer 0,1
	EndIf
	If LPC# = 1
		Send Net Message Integer 1,2
	EndIf
	If LPC# = 2
		Send Net Message Integer 2,3
	EndIf
	If LPC# = 3
		Send Net Message Integer 3,4
	EndIf
	If LPC# = 4
		Send Net Message Integer 4,5
	EndIf
	If LPC# = 5
		Send Net Message Integer 5,6
	EndIf
	If LPC# = 6
		Send Net Message Integer 6,7
	EndIf
	If LPC# = 7
		Send Net Message Integer 7,8
	EndIf
EndIf
If LPD# <> Net Player Destroyed()
	Print "A player has left : ", Net Player Destroyed()
	LPD# = Net Player Destroyed()
EndIf

I know for certain that the players are in fact connecting and receiving a number, because if they don't, then it doesn't load crucial objects 11-19, so far I can only distinguish the problem as everyone receiving the same number.

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IanM

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Posted: 22nd Nov 2011 14:38

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Quote: "What's with the offset? I see that nowhere."

Because once we get beyond toy applications, we switch to sending memblocks to and fro.

You'll soon see that there's only so much you can do with integers or floats on their own - sending a float, how do you know what player it's for, or what it represents (position x, y, z or rotation x, y, z or speed or many other things).

Quote: "but every player that joins ends up becoming player 1, help?"

Sending a message to player 0 sends the message to everyone except for the sender.

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EricB

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Posted: 22nd Nov 2011 14:45

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If I understand you correctly your question is "how do I know what the offset is?".

As IanM stated before you create the offset with a definition of your data type.

An OFFSET if simply the number of bits from the beginning of the data type until the particular information you are interested in occurs.

Imagine this 32 bit sequence of ones and zeroes as your message to the server:

0x0010110101010011101101101011100

The first "00" could denote that this is a positional data packet and not a "player message" packet or a "weapon firing solution" packet which would change the type. The next four spaces of 1011 could denote player ID and Team ID. The next 26 bits could denote X,Y,Z positional data in single bytes of 0-255 and a two bit checksum.

You as the programmer create this data which then is sent via the DBP network calls and then layered into a UDP or TCP datagram by the OS and sent down the pipe.

You do not even have to resolve to this level of detail if you use a type as IanM suggested you will only need to know the position of the data within the type.

As to the question regarding the code snippet I will leave that to someone with more experience with the network side of things within DBP.

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Person6

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Posted: 23rd Nov 2011 19:38

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Thanks, that gives me a little bit more of an understanding, but I think I'll have to play around with it a bit to understand it fully.

And as for my other problem,

Quote: "
Quote: "but every player that joins ends up becoming player 1, help?""

Quote: "
Sending a message to player 0 sends the message to everyone except for the sender."

I tried sending it to player one before, and that didn't work, but I just remembered that I was trying to send to player 1 before, but player 1 is the server.

But, my problem persists with my variable LPC#, which is Last Player Created. I set
LPC# = Net Player Created
Shouldn't that make LPC# the player number of the last player joined?

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EricB

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Posted: 23rd Nov 2011 22:14

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I have taken a second look at your code. According to the documentation net player created () returns an integer not a float. As I'm not that familiar with DBP I am not entirely sure if this is the problem or not. You are placing an integer into a float which looks like this: 1 (as an integer) becomes 1.0 (as a float) which is not logically equal to 1 within the IF statements you have written.

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IanM

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Posted: 24th Nov 2011 19:03

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I'm not sure how we can really help, because you've not provided any runnable code for us to check.

So, here's some very dirty code I wrote some years ago that you can use to see that player numbers do work, and work correctly:

sync on
sync sleep 1

add$ = "192.168.2.3"

print "Press S for server mode, or C for client mode"
repeat
   k$ = lower$(inkey$())
   sync
until k$ = "s" or k$ = "c"

if k$ = "s"

print "Enter SERVER mode"
   sync

netsel = LocateTCPIP()
   set net connection netsel, add$

create net game "ChatProgram", "Server", 255, 2

print "Off and running"
   sync

while escapekey() = 0

` deal with new and lost connections
      New = net player created()
      if New > 0
         send net message string New, "Welcome"
         print "Another mug joined : "; New
      endif

Old = net player destroyed()
      if Old > 0
         print "Another one bites the dust : "; Old
      endif

` Get new messages, and bounce them right back
      message$ = CheckForMessage()
      if message$ <> ""
         From = net message player from()
         Name$ = GetPlayerName(From)
         print "Got message from "; Name$; "("; From; ") : "; Message$
         send net message string From, message$
      endif

sync
   endwhile

free net game

else

print "Enter CLIENT mode"
   sync

global mystring$

netsel = LocateTCPIP()
   set net connection netsel

perform checklist for net sessions

game=1
   join net game game, "MyNameHere"

print "Off and running"
   sync

clear entry buffer
   do
      SendNewMessage()
      Message$ = CheckForMessage()
      if Message$ <> ""
         From = net message player from()
         Name$ = GetPlayerName(From)
         print "Got message from "; Name$; "("; From; ") : "; Message$
      endif
      sync
   loop

endif

function CheckForMessage()
   Result$ = ""

get net message

if net message exists() > 0
      if net message type() = 3 then Result$ = net message string$()
   endif
endfunction Result$

function SendNewMessage()
   Msg$ = entry$(1)
   
   for i = len(Msg$) to 1 step -1
      if mid$(Msg$, i) = chr$(13)
         EnterPressed = 1
         exit
      endif
   next
   
   if EnterPressed
      clear entry buffer
      send net message string 0, Msg$
   else
      if mystring$ <> Msg$
         print Msg$
         mystring$ = Msg$
      endif
   endif
endfunction

function GetPlayerName(from)
   Name$ = "Unknown"
   perform checklist for net players
   for c = 1 to checklist quantity()
      if checklist value a(c) = from
         Name$ = checklist string$(c)
         exit
      endif
   next c
endfunction Name$

function LocateTCPIP()
   perform checklist for net connections
   nettotal = checklist quantity()
   for i = 1 to nettotal
      if checklist string$(i) = "Internet TCP/IP Connection For DirectPlay" then netsel = i
   next a
endfunction netsel

+ Code Snippet

sync on
sync sleep 1

add$ = "192.168.2.3"

print "Press S for server mode, or C for client mode"
repeat
   k$ = lower$(inkey$())
   sync
until k$ = "s" or k$ = "c"

if k$ = "s"

   print "Enter SERVER mode"
   sync

   netsel = LocateTCPIP()
   set net connection netsel, add$

   create net game "ChatProgram", "Server", 255, 2

   print "Off and running"
   sync

   while escapekey() = 0

      ` deal with new and lost connections
      New = net player created()
      if New > 0
         send net message string New, "Welcome"
         print "Another mug joined : "; New
      endif

      Old = net player destroyed()
      if Old > 0
         print "Another one bites the dust : "; Old
      endif

      ` Get new messages, and bounce them right back
      message$ = CheckForMessage()
      if message$ <> ""
         From = net message player from()
         Name$ = GetPlayerName(From)
         print "Got message from "; Name$; "("; From; ") : "; Message$
         send net message string From, message$
      endif

      sync
   endwhile

   free net game

else

   print "Enter CLIENT mode"
   sync

   global mystring$

   netsel = LocateTCPIP()
   set net connection netsel

   perform checklist for net sessions

   game=1
   join net game game, "MyNameHere"

   print "Off and running"
   sync

   clear entry buffer
   do
      SendNewMessage()
      Message$ = CheckForMessage()
      if Message$ <> ""
         From = net message player from()
         Name$ = GetPlayerName(From)
         print "Got message from "; Name$; "("; From; ") : "; Message$
      endif
      sync
   loop

endif

function CheckForMessage()
   Result$ = ""

   get net message

   if net message exists() > 0
      if net message type() = 3 then Result$ = net message string$()
   endif
endfunction Result$

function SendNewMessage()
   Msg$ = entry$(1)
   
   for i = len(Msg$) to 1 step -1
      if mid$(Msg$, i) = chr$(13)
         EnterPressed = 1
         exit
      endif
   next
   
   if EnterPressed
      clear entry buffer
      send net message string 0, Msg$
   else
      if mystring$ <> Msg$
         print Msg$
         mystring$ = Msg$
      endif
   endif
endfunction

function GetPlayerName(from)
   Name$ = "Unknown"
   perform checklist for net players
   for c = 1 to checklist quantity()
      if checklist value a(c) = from
         Name$ = checklist string$(c)
         exit
      endif
   next c
endfunction Name$

function LocateTCPIP()
   perform checklist for net connections
   nettotal = checklist quantity()
   for i = 1 to nettotal
      if checklist string$(i) = "Internet TCP/IP Connection For DirectPlay" then netsel = i
   next a
endfunction netsel

Run 3 copies of the code, 1 as server, and 2 as client - start the server first. As each client connects or disconnects, you'll see that it's reported correctly in the server.

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Person6

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Posted: 24th Nov 2011 20:53

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+ Code Snippet

  while escapekey() = 0

      ` deal with new and lost connections
      New = net player created()
      if New > 0
         send net message string New, "Welcome"
         print "Another mug joined : "; New
      endif

      Old = net player destroyed()
      if Old > 0
         print "Another one bites the dust : "; Old
      endif

      ` Get new messages, and bounce them right back
      message$ = CheckForMessage()
      if message$ <> ""
         From = net message player from()
         Name$ = GetPlayerName(From)
         print "Got message from "; Name$; "("; From; ") : "; Message$
         send net message string From, message$
      endif

      sync
   endwhile

It seems to make sense mostly, but if you check if old/new is greater than 0, but don't set it back to zero, does that mean the command does it automatically?
So upon a new player joining I have to get that info immediately?
Cause if so that both seems odd yet explains why my program doesn't work.

solo Game Dev

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Person6

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Posted: 24th Nov 2011 21:13 Edited at: 24th Nov 2011 22:32

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Sorry, my account is still new so my other message hasn't shown up yet.

Thank you guys so much both IanM and EricB, I did get it working, and now the players each receive their own player number properly and are represented by their own character...

But, if one of you could give me a small sample code of sending coordinates from a client, to a server, then back to the other clients, that would be appreciated. (because obviously trial and error only got me so far before) XD

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IanM

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Posted: 24th Nov 2011 23:20

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Quote: "does that mean the command does it automatically?"

The NET PLAYER CREATED and NET PLAYER DELETED functions will return each connected/disconnected player number only once - the next time you call these functions, DBPro will either return 0, or the number of the next player that connected/disconnected.

As for the variable being reset... well, no it's ALWAYS set to the value that the function returns. You don't need to clear it or pre-prepare it.

Here's another example I've dug up:

sync off
sync rate 30

perform checklist for net connections
Connected = 0
for i = 1 to checklist quantity()
    if instr(checklist string$(i), "TCP/IP") > 0
        Connected = 1
        set net connection i, "127.0.0.1"
        exit
    endif
next
if Connected = 0 then report error "Unable to locate the TCP/IP connection"

PlayerNo = default net game("MultiplayerMouse", str$(timer()), 2, 1)

LastMouseClick = 0

do
   ` Determine if a message needs to be send (mouse movement)
   if mousemovex() <> 0 or mousemovey() <> 0 or mouseclick() <> LastMouseClick
      if mouseclick() = LastMouseClick
         ` No click, so send a straight mouse movement messages
         make memblock 1, 12
         write memblock dword 1, 0, 0
         write memblock dword 1, 4, mousex()
         write memblock dword 1, 8, mousey()
         send net message memblock 0, 1, 1
         delete memblock 1
      else
         ` Click change, so send a full mouse refresh
         make memblock 1, 16
         write memblock dword 1, 0, 1
         write memblock dword 1, 4, mousex()
         write memblock dword 1, 8, mousey()
         write memblock dword 1, 12, mouseclick()
         send net message memblock 0, 1, 1
         delete memblock 1
         LastMouseClick = mouseclick()
      endif
   endif

get net message
   while net message exists() <> 0
      ` Only take action on memblock messages
      if net message type() = 4
         net message memblock 1

select memblock dword(1, 0)
            case 0
               ` Received a mousemove event
               OtherMouseX = memblock dword(1, 4)
               OtherMouseY = memblock dword(1, 8)
            endcase
            case 1
               ` Received a full mouse refresh
               OtherMouseX = memblock dword(1, 4)
               OtherMouseY = memblock dword(1, 8)
               OtherMouseClick = memblock dword(1, 12)
            endcase
         endselect

delete memblock 1

endif
      get net message
   endwhile

cls
   text 0, 0, str$(OtherMouseX)
   text 0, 15, str$(OtherMouseY)
   text 0, 30, str$(OtherMouseClick)
   sync
loop

+ Code Snippet

sync off
sync rate 30

perform checklist for net connections
Connected = 0
for i = 1 to checklist quantity()
    if instr(checklist string$(i), "TCP/IP") > 0
        Connected = 1
        set net connection i, "127.0.0.1"
        exit
    endif
next
if Connected = 0 then report error "Unable to locate the TCP/IP connection"

PlayerNo = default net game("MultiplayerMouse", str$(timer()), 2, 1)

LastMouseClick = 0

do
   ` Determine if a message needs to be send (mouse movement)
   if mousemovex() <> 0 or mousemovey() <> 0 or mouseclick() <> LastMouseClick
      if mouseclick() = LastMouseClick
         ` No click, so send a straight mouse movement messages
         make memblock 1, 12
         write memblock dword 1, 0, 0
         write memblock dword 1, 4, mousex()
         write memblock dword 1, 8, mousey()
         send net message memblock 0, 1, 1
         delete memblock 1
      else
         ` Click change, so send a full mouse refresh
         make memblock 1, 16
         write memblock dword 1, 0, 1
         write memblock dword 1, 4, mousex()
         write memblock dword 1, 8, mousey()
         write memblock dword 1, 12, mouseclick()
         send net message memblock 0, 1, 1
         delete memblock 1
         LastMouseClick = mouseclick()
      endif
   endif

   get net message
   while net message exists() <> 0
      ` Only take action on memblock messages
      if net message type() = 4
         net message memblock 1

         select memblock dword(1, 0)
            case 0
               ` Received a mousemove event
               OtherMouseX = memblock dword(1, 4)
               OtherMouseY = memblock dword(1, 8)
            endcase
            case 1
               ` Received a full mouse refresh
               OtherMouseX = memblock dword(1, 4)
               OtherMouseY = memblock dword(1, 8)
               OtherMouseClick = memblock dword(1, 12)
            endcase
         endselect

         delete memblock 1

      endif
      get net message
   endwhile

   cls
   text 0, 0, str$(OtherMouseX)
   text 0, 15, str$(OtherMouseY)
   text 0, 30, str$(OtherMouseClick)
   sync
loop

Run two sessions. The active application will send the mouse coordinates to the other. As it's a very simple example, there are only two message types. The first is the x/y of the mouse. The last is the x/y of the mouse, plus the mouse button state.

The format of these is as follows...

+ Code Snippet

Offset  Data type     Data
0       DWORD         Message type = 0 (mouse position)
4       DWORD         Mouse X
8       DWORD         Mouse Y

0       DWORD         Message type = 1 (mouse position + button)
4       DWORD         Mouse X
8       DWORD         Mouse Y
12      DWORD         Mouse button state

As I said, it's not a very complex system (and wasn't meant to be - I was learning the multiplayer commands myself at the time), so the message types aren't very complex.

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Person6

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Posted: 25th Nov 2011 00:21

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Quote: "The NET PLAYER CREATED and NET PLAYER DELETED functions will return each connected/disconnected player number only once - the next time you call these functions, DBPro will either return 0, or the number of the next player that connected/disconnected."

Thanks, that's good to know.

As for the memblock thing, if I'm understanding this correctly, you create a memblock by using the write memblock dword command, and you can write up to 255 different types of info into one memblock using partitions of bytes within it. You then read the memblock and the corresponding offset number with the reciever?

And also, can the offset be any number from 0-255? because in all of your examples you guys use only even numbers, and they seem to all be doubles, ex. 2 4 8, please explain.

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IanM

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Posted: 25th Nov 2011 14:31

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Um, no.

Memblocks are numbered from 1 to 255, but can be any size that fits into memory - they are basically just a chunk of memory that you have to impose an order upon. The offset we mentioned is the offset into the memblock itself.

The command 'NET MESSAGE MEMBLOCK 1' takes the incoming message and creates memblock number 1. The code then looks at the first DWORD of this memblock (offset 0) to see what data it contains: 'SELECT MEMBLOCK DWORD(1, 0)'.

When sending data, the first thing to do is to create the memblock ('MAKE MEMBLOCK 1, 12' - memblock 1, size 12 bytes), then to set it's type ('WRITE MEMBLOCK DWORD 1, 0, 0').

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Person6

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Posted: 26th Nov 2011 06:14

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okay...... it's making a little more sense... but I still don't entirely get it.
Could I ask that you explain it as you would if you were talking to someone who knew absolutely nothing about DBPro?

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EricB

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Posted: 28th Nov 2011 14:05

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A MEM BLOCK is a memory block or a segment of memory reserved by the program to use. As IanM noted above it can be any size you can create up to the maximum amount of memory available in a given system. When a MEM BLOCK is created with the MAKE MEMBLOCK command the first parameter is the memblock number then the size in bytes (8 bits per byte). The next portion of his example sets the type of data contained in the memblock by writing at offset 0 the data of 0. This is his usage you could write 16 in the same location and use 16 as your identifer for data type. This could actually be much more complicated as offset 0 is a DWORD long which is a rather large. Once the memblock is created and it's type is written any data that will fit can be written to the memblock. Once the memblock has all needed and required data written to it it may be sent to any or all receiving hosts with the SEND NET MESSAGE MEMBLOCK command.

If you are having trouble understanding these examples perhaps you should try working on the tutorials in the tutorials http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=115633&b=7 thread. I'm not trying to seem condescending as I have asked a few noobish questions myself. It's just that most of what you are asking I have answered by reading the tutorial threads or using the built in help. After working on the tutorials if you have specific questions regarding examples or why something behaves in some manner I will answer to the best if my ability.

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Person6

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Posted: 29th Nov 2011 20:40

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How do I know how much size any data requires? How do I know how big to make the memblock?

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Person6

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Posted: 29th Nov 2011 20:45

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Sorry, other message hasn't shown up yet...

EricB: I already read lots of those tutorials, in fact, I read them right before posting here in the first place, they lacked the info I needed.

And just for clarification purposes, what is the exact definition of DWORD?

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Cybermind

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Posted: 29th Nov 2011 21:06

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A quick question Person6, is your game to be played on a Local Area Network (LAN) or over the internet?

I think DBPro's network commands are for LAN only, but there are plugins that works over the internet

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Person6

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Posted: 30th Nov 2011 02:28

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My game is LAN

Okay, I've got it mostly, but I'm getting errors with the commands here...

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Make Memblock 1,4
Write Memblock Dword 1,1,1
Write Memblock float 1,2,pIX#
Write Memblock float 1,3,pIY#
Write Memblock float 1,4,pIZ#

It tells me "Memblock position out of range"

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EricB

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Posted: 30th Nov 2011 13:25

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Quote: "Make Memblock 1,4 Write Memblock Dword 1,1,1 Write Memblock float 1,2,pIX# Write Memblock float 1,3,pIY# Write Memblock float 1,4,pIZ# "

You made a Memblock 4 bytes or 32 bits long then you put a Dword into the first position which is 4 bytes or 32 bits long. Do you see where you went wrong now?

I strongly suggest that you do some tutorials to better understand how long various built in data types are and what the difference between floats and ints is. I suspect that you don't mean to use a float to describe a player position. in x,y,z format.

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IanM

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Posted: 3rd Dec 2011 21:23

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Quote: "How do I know how much size any data requires?"

You decide what data needs to be exchanged in each message type, and how that data is represented.

For instance, position is usually represented in 3D with 3 float values - each float is 4 bytes in size, so you need to have 12 bytes of space in your memblock for the position.

Another example is the message type - you may have only a small number of message types (ie, less than 256 types). Numbers from 0 to 255 can be represented with a single byte value.

Using the above:

+ Code Snippet

make memblock 1, 13   ` byte (1) + float (4) + float (4) + float (4)
Make Memblock 1,13
Write Memblock byte  1,0,1
Write Memblock float 1,1,pIX#
Write Memblock float 1,5,pIY#
Write Memblock float 1,9,pIZ#

Note that the numbering when accessing memblock data is from 0, not from 1. It's the offset from the very first byte of data within the memblock.

Here are the sizes of each item you can write to the memblock:
boolean/byte = 1 byte
word = 2 bytes
integer/float/dword = 4 bytes

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