How to Choose Your Multiplayer Backend

In this video I review 5 different strategies for choosing your game's backend server. Whether you're building a fast paced FPS or slower turn based game, I'll help you decide which option is best for you.
This is helpful for either Godot 4 multiplayer or Unity multiplayer games.

👋 Let's talk shop 👇

00:00:00 INTRO
00:00:38 WHAT IS A SERVER?
00:01:04 SERVER AUTHORITATIVE
00:02:30 CLIENT AUTHORITATIVE/HYBRID
00:03:55 1 DEDICATED SERVER BUILDS
00:05:33 1a NETWORK TECHNOLOGIES
00:06:38 1b CLIENT INPUT SYNCH
00:07:30 1c INTERPOLATION
00:08:49 1d GAME TYPES
00:10:44 1e WHERE TO DEPLOY SERVER
00:13:11 2 WEBSOCKETS
00:13:26 2a DEPLOYMENT OPTIONS
00:14:33 2b GAME TYPES
00:15:42 2c WIDELY SUPPORTED
00:16:30 3 LOWER LEVEL NETWORKING (TCP/UDP)
00:19:34 4.a P2P
00:20:41 4.b WEBRTC
00:22:05 5 SERVERLESS
00:24:43 HOW TO CHOOSE
00:25:28 COST BREAKDOWN
00:26:17 WATCH SERVER BUILD SIZE

#godot #gametech #gamedev #indiedev #aws #awscommunitybuilders #multiplayer #network #ec2 #websocket #serverless #p2p #unity #unity3dtutorial #godotengine

[db-]

I'm surprised you advise against using peer-to-peer given that it seems like a great choice for indie developers creating co-op games. No need to have any sort of server costs, no need to worry about cheating (not a competitive game), and you can use Steam's API for hosting lobbies, creating a signalling server, match-making, etc. Also, the code ends up being all client-side.

Would you argue that even for a co-op game, indie developers should still go the client-server route with one of the players hosting the server themselves as they play (rather than hosting or renting a dedicated server)?

IMO, peer-to-peer still has it's place and seems like it would be the more sensible choice for indies making non-competitive games.

[patrezze]

You could do a video about managing the servers after a game is deployed... Like, how do we monitor it, what are some common metrics and problems? It would be very nice and reassuring for new game devs like me.
But overall, thank you for sharing all this knowledge! I definitely wouldn't be confortable creating an online multiplayer game without your lessons

[olmrgreen]

So many great insights! I was currently struggling with an overall multiplayer backend concept and this really helped. Thanks!

[JonBonazza]

Just a heads up, the MultiplayerSynchronizer DOES NOT handle interpolation and client prediction. A lot pf tutorials for this node show it being used for player movement but it is NOT designed for this use case and while it looks like it works running locally due to virtually no latency, it will NOT work when the internet is in between the server and client

[flake]

So do I have to listen to this crappy trap beat that adds nothing to the video for the next 27 minutes or is that optional?