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Multiplayer.MD

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Using the plugin in SE multiplayer

Overview

It is possible to control multiple game instances at once, each of them having the plugin installed. That means managing the connection for every plugin separately.

About multiplayer

There are 2 basic types of multiplayer in SE:

  • Lobby – a game is created by the local game process and one of the players is the "host" of the game.
  • Dedicated server (DS) – a game is created by the dedicated server. Dedicated server is not involved as a player.

The dedicated server and a single game instance can run both on the same machine. Just make sure you change the plugin port on either of them.

Setup

  • Make sure your Hostname and port (JsonRpcPort) configuration is correct, check your ivxr-plugin.config file, located either in ~\AppData\Roaming\SpaceEngineers or ~\AppData\Roaming\SpaceEngineersDedicated.
  • Hostname IP should match your network interface. If you don't care about interface setup, just set it to 0.0.0.0 ( all interfaces). This has to be done, especially if your current (default) setting is 127.0.0.1, which allows connections only from your local computer.
  • If you are somehow using multiple plugins at a single operating system (virtualization or using game + dedicated server at once), make sure that every instance has its own port.
  • You can use nmap, telnet or other networking tools to check ports being opened.

Loading game scenarios

Lobby

Do not use Session.LoadScenario, use Screens.LoadGame.* screen to load a scenario.

Dedicated server

There is no extra code to help with creating DS games, but it is possible to start a dedicated server directly with a scenario to load, example:

SpaceEngineersDedicated.exe session:${scenarioPath} -plugin Ivxr.SePlugin.dll -console -start

To kill DS by force, use:

C:\windows\system32/taskkill /IM SpaceEngineersDedicated.exe /F

Joining games

Admin API

Admin commands work only on the host who created the game, which is either a lobby host or a dedicated server. Calling admin commands on a game client will either raise exception or show unexpected results (we are trying to raise exceptions wherever appropriate).

Screen API

The screen API doesn't work on dedicated server, because it has no game screens and no GUI.

Multiplayer delay

Commands in series work a lot better in single player and when switching to multiplayer, series can start failing, because the actions take longer to show (ex. placing a block). Adding some delays or waits until the game state changes will help.

Synchronized values

Some values are not being synchronized over the network so even though API is returning values, they are set to a default value. We don't have definite list (TODO), but it is mostly logical and for performance reasons so just properties not required for clients to be known are not being synchronized.

Some examples of synchronized character properties:

  • Position and orientation.
  • Helmet state.
  • Inventory.

Some examples of NOT synchronized properties:

  • Character dampener status.
  • The current gravity on character.